THE CAVENDER DIARY

“So…what’s the deal with that fireplace-shaped build-out on the sink wall?” you might be thinking…..

There’s a reason for the madness, I assure you.

It’s a small room, with absolutely no storage. And…we….kind of have…..a lot of “product”. Jamie likes his fragrances. I need pomade (like y’all thought my hair naturally dried like that) and quarts of mustache wax………and all that stuff has to go somewhere.

Somewhere, like this Ikea “Godmorgon” Mirrored medicine cabinet. Seen here with a handsome man reflected in it. (Notice his perfectly sculpted hair)

We’re actually looking forward to this because we’ve never shared a medicine cabinet before. Relationship baby steps.

Yeah!

The Godmorgon cabinet is wicked-huge. We went with the medium size, 27″ X 37″, should hide tons of cologne and wax and other beautifying stuff.

Problem is…..it’s 5 inches deep.

5 INCHES

That means it would hover over the faucet……which seems kinda weird……and there’s no way to recess it in the wall because the drain vent is in that wall.

Our solution: simply build out the sink wall a few inches. And Bonus: we also create a little ledge to rest even more stuff on. (I imagine an orchid and candles…… Jamie – cologne)

Here’s the wall, directly in front of the door where our sink will rest.

I just framed it out with 2 X 4’s

Our first thought was to extend the ledge across the entire wall into the shower. Perfect place for soap and shampoo. But the shower is sadly small to begin with. Believe it or not, we just couldn’t give up 4 inches of shower space……

We covered the 2X4 square in Hardi Board and left a little panel for the plumber to access the pipes.

That’s why it looks like a little fireplace.

Then, of course, Jamie used thin-set mortar on the seams and painted on a layer of pink water-proofer.

But wait……Something didn’t seem right

I checked the size with our tile sample on top of the ledge,

Crap!

I know better than that. (2 X 4’s are technically 1.5 X 3.5)

Even with the 1/4 inch layer of Hardie Board, we’re still a little shy of 4 inches on top.

…and we plan on cutting as few tiles as humanly possible.

So on with yet another layer of Hardie Board.

….and more thin-set mortar.

Much better now.

(Exhale slowly………)

Now it’s slightly over 3 3/4 inches. That quarter inch of  turquoise tile that we will plaster on the front should make it just right.

Way, More, Much Better

and it will all make more sense when we’re finished.

On to the shower pan portion of our bathroom.