The New Bathroom

I loved this bathroom! It was so cozy and unique. But, it didn't meet Ryan's needs and a total remodel was needed to do that! So last summer we sucked it up and did it. Ryan's adult services helped and the chaos began!

 We discovered holes in the wall when we took down the medicine cabinets! The cabinet on the right literally had a slice in the back for plumbing pipes. That meant that dust in the walls etc. had access to our toothbrushes and the like. Ryan is allergic to house dust among other things so this wasn't a good option! We had to drywall patch.

 We need to move a wing wall to accommodate the therapy tub Ryan needed. Unfortunately, this meant I had to say good-bye to my stackable washer and dryer on the first floor! I'm doing laundry in the basement, which is okay, it's just not the first floor, you know?

The toilet was too low and didn't have grab bars so we installed a comfort rise toilet with a non-peened grab bar to increase independence and safety. We put 18 inch peened vertical grab bars on both sides of the new tub and a 36 " diagonal peened on the back wall. (Peened just means textured, so you don't slip).

We priced a tub/shower surround but because of the size of the tub it would have to be custom made. The price was outrageous. We priced putting up tile instead and it was about the same money. To decrease the "institutionalized" look we went with tile.

The tub itself has two grab bars so we had, count 'em, FIVE grab bars in the tub area. We didn't put a deck on the tub because it wouldn't been too hard for Ryan to get in and out, plus there was somewhat of a space limit.

We replaced the medicine cabinet with one that was enclosed and that Ryan could open more easily. When it was all said and done we had a bathroom that fit Ryan's needs perfectly. While I missed my sweet amethyst colored bath, I'm learning to like this one. It's such a joy to see Ryan in his whirlpool! He got out one night and said, "Mom, I feel great!" The quality of his sleep has improved with regular whirlpools to say nothing of the sitz bath effect. All in all, worth the four months of hassle!

Here's the finished project:

You can see the tub surround in the mirror. Ryan chose the color Baja Breeze for his bathroom. Everything else is neutral.

Oh yeah, one more WONDERFUL feature of the tub is chromotherapy. Ryan is profoundly hard of hearing, ergo he is highly visual. We put in a chromotherapy light and now he can choose a color each bath (out of about six) for his water. A light shines on the water and gives health benefits.

There's a booklet that comes with the tub that gives "recipes" for various ailments for lack of a better word. For example, relaxation requires only the small therapy bubbles, the lavender light and medium intensity of bubbles. Joint or muscle pain (Ryan has Cerebral Palsy) is counteracted by the Orange light and large, slow massage bubbles.

This is a picture from the booklet showing the blue chromotherapy light. Our bath doesn't have the great artwork or lovely candles!

The tub also had the option of aromatherapy but Ryan has so many allergies we decided that it could be more trouble than it was worth.

At any rate, the bath is done and meets his needs beautifully. I LOVE the new toilet with grab bar and Ryan is fond of sharing that information! At any rate, thanks to Ryan's adult funding he is toileting more independently, getting numerous massages from his tub, able to use the medicine cabinet safely and sleeping better! So very many benefits with such a simple answer!

Take care and see you tomorrow,

Much love and joy,

Karen