One Small Kine ‘Little Grass Shack’

When Mr. Remodel developed the ‘Grass Shack’ theme, he saw himself sitting in the bath looking out towards a tropical beach scene. With the right plot of land you can do that in the Tropics but it is a bit harder in So Cal, especially when the other sides of the walls are the garage and the neighbours upstairs bathroom. So to bring this idea to life meant putting up a …. a…. a….. (takes a deep breath) A MURAL!
There I’ve said it. A Mural.
Why the drama? It’s a M-U-R-A-L!


I hate murals. I have nothing against wallpaper but the idea of a very large photograph on paper on your wall is just so wrong. It’s a trend from the 70’s (like some others) that never should have been allowed to escape into the future. Just like a wall of mirrors really doesn’t make you think you have a whole new room beyond the edge of the room, who is really convinced that you actually have a wood, ocean, or Italian piazza at the end of your living/bed room?


It’s a beautiful picture (of an island in the Cook Islands), which I wish I had taken because that would mean I would have been there, but in this format it’s just too big.
So why is it up on the wall? Well, I’m not into baths (I’m a shower person as I’ve mentioned before) so once the downstairs bath is finished; I won’t be in this bathroom very often. So I won’t need to see it. Meanwhile Mr. Remodel is delighted.
The Mural is from a company Mr. R found on-line called Murals Your Way. They have an array of designs offering what I agree is a nice feature. You can choose which part of the design you want which they will custom print for you. Ours cost $250.

Interestingly, the opinion of those who have seen it so far has been divided pretty evenly between lovers and haters.


Vent fans are so much less loud these days. One we looked at was so quiet you couldn’t really even hear it was on. That was over $100 and we were concerned we would keep leaving it on all day. A quieter one we chose didn’t fit so we got this one – not too quiet, not to loud and about $60
On the left is the vent cover for the central heating system, which we found at Lowes in brown in the right size.


We didn’t absolutely have to change the interior doors but they were pretty funky-looking so we decided to do it. We knew we were going over our budget but we realised that the old ones needed a lot of work so they wouldn’t show up the new décor, so we would bite the bullet and get new ones. This is a off the shelf door from Lowes (about $80). We are keeping it the natural wood colour on the landing side to match the other doors but on this side, it looked too light with too much contrast.


So we stained it dark.


A final touch was a Price Pfister toilet roll holder that matches the towel rack, a mirror that matches the sink unit, and a new brown wooden cover for the single plug outlet at the right of the picture.

It’s done. I can’t believe it. Our first room! Let’s review.

Here is what we started with.





Here is how we ended.




Oh and one more final touch – Mr. Inspector’s signature on the final inspection.