I have a little bit of a light fixture frustration. I bought the same fixture for all three bathrooms before realizing that the electrical box in the guest bath would force the fixture to hang too low. Since I was planning on keeping the mirror (and the medicine cabinet behind it), there is a little bit of a conflict.
I needed to get the mirror door open to finish the last of the wallpaper removal. I’ve removed all but what’s in the upper right corner. Problem was, I couldn’t get the mirror door open without busting the middle shade on my new fixture.
Once removing the shades, I could freely open the door. I also wrestled with the fixture to get the wallpaper surrounding it removed. To do so, I had to unscrew the fixture and peel off the surrounding paper with one hand. You’d think such a thing would be easy, but standing on a stool with your arms lifted, wrestling with a light fixture for a half hour is actually pretty tiresome. I suppose I just need to work out more.
Once it was open, I realized that my ex maybe didn’t clear things out as well as I thought before he left (he’d installed the fixture before moving out, and I assumed everything was gone). A year ago. Gross. Chucked it all in the trash with the remaining pieces of wallpaper.
The middle shade came off easy, but I realized my previous attempts to open the door scratched a little paint onto the shade. But now that I have the opportunity, I’m wondering if I should remove the cabinet altogether. I already have to put in a new square of drywall where the vanity was removed, so it probably wouldn’t take up too much more time than I’m already spending. The alternative would be to leave the cabinet closed forever (I like the light fixtures so I won’t be getting rid of them). Clean and debris free, of course.
It’s not much of an update, but it means I’m back in the bathroom to tackle things once and for all. With summer semester drawing to a close, I’m hoping to start fall semester with a new bathroom. Only four weeks away, so I’ve got to get a move on! What have you been up to this weekend?
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Hey! Have you thought of rotating the light fixture so that the lights face up? I replaced the mirror in one of my bathrooms and did that. It looks good!
Jen
Yep, I did. But I'm stubborn and I like it down :)
We had a similar issue and ended up rotating the light. At first I thought it was stupid, but it's been almost a year and I love it!! It actually gives off better light, because it reflects off the ceiling.
Ugh. It looks like our bathroom cabinets when we moved in. Cleaning those out was fun. We didn't do any house stuff this weekend, we are still recovering from replacing all our downstairs flooring with new laminate and finishing up trim work. I am bookmarking all your bathroom posts though, because one day we hope to totally redo our 80s bathrooms.
Looks like you had your work cut out there Sarah! I'de just keep the mirror & lights and glue the wall unit shut!
Or strip the wall unit off the wall and buy a nice mirror!
Hello there! Personally, I would just keep it closed! But I'm like that! I like the idea of the lights becoming up-lights. I may go change mine in my bathroom! Never thought of that! :-)
Hi Sarah! I met you at Haven and I'm just now getting around to going through all those business cards that I collected (blogger fail!). I love that light fixture! I would leave it too. I'm a new follower! Looking forward to reading more!
@Maury Kilgo I hear ya! And welcome!