I realize four months isn’t forever, but it felt about 3.9 months too long to keep the last bits of old carpet upstairs—especially since it was in our bathroom. Carpeted bathrooms, ugh.
We didn’t remove that section (or the piece that extended into our closet) when we pulled up the rest of the upstairs carpet because we knew we didn’t want hardwood in the bathroom. Without a final flooring decision, the old wrinkly, creamy carpet just stayed—blending into the creamy walls and trim.
Yesterday morning (yes, about 24 hours ago) we finally decided to remove it for good. We emptied out the closet so we’d have full access to the floor.
We covered the steps in detail in a video, but here’s a quick recap of how the carpet came up. First we pulled the carpet away from the tack strips along the walls, rolled it up, and removed it. Then we tore up the blue foam padding, which came up easily from the staples holding it down. Those were the fast parts.
The sweaty part followed: prying up the tack strips with a crowbar and using a floor scraper to remove all the staples. Between that and sweeping and vacuuming, it took about an hour.
While I was doing that, Sherry was in the garage tackling something else (weekend nap time usually means a mad dash to squeeze in as many projects as possible). More on that in a bit.
As for new flooring, we don’t have a final plan yet. Long term we want tile in the bathroom, but that will require demo to combine the sink area with the shower/toilet area into one larger, more functional space. We may put hardwood in the closet eventually, or lay a low-pile jute rug wall-to-wall. We have leftover wood flooring to use, so that decision can wait—big reconfigurations are the kind of work we prefer to plan after living in a space for a while.
For now we’ll probably paint the particle board subfloor with floor paint so it looks finished and doesn’t feel so dusty. Then we’ll layer in a few sheepskins or area rugs to cozy things up until we make the harder decisions like knocking down walls and laying tile.
We also considered peel-and-stick tiles or a large seagrass rug cut to fit both spaces, but paint plus area rugs felt like the most practical short-term solution that won’t be wasted later. Since future tiling will require backer board and a proper substrate (you can’t tile directly over particle board), a temporary coat of paint makes sense.
This post isn’t only about removing carpet. It’s also about a mirror we found at HomeGoods last week. It instantly reminded us of the quatrefoil mirror we loved in our previous bathroom—in a very good way.
We needed a bigger mirror over the vanity to bounce light around the closed-off sink nook, and this one — over 40 inches wide — felt like a bargain at $89 (marked down from $299). The beaded border detail was a nice touch, but the rustic paint finish didn’t match our vision.
That’s what Sherry was doing in the garage while I pulled up carpet. She laid the mirror on a drop cloth, primed it, and painted it. It took one coat of primer and two coats of eggshell white paint leftover from another room. We considered a bold color, but decided to keep the mirror white so it would act like a window and reflect as much light as possible.
Removing the frameless half mirror that was previously in place was easy since it wasn’t glued on. We loosened the mounting clips at the top and bottom and it came down cleanly—no shattering, no drama.
We hung the new mirror and discovered it looked uncomfortably tight. Our measurements warned us it would be close, but the mirror felt even more cramped in place.
After a brief pity party we devised a simple fix: temporarily remove the light fixture. There are two lights in that nook (a ceiling light and one that wasn’t centered over the old mirror), so we capped the wires and installed a fixture box cover. That let us hang the mirror higher. Later, once we pick a light fixture we love, we can move the fixture box up about a foot—we already know the wiring comes down from the attic, so relocating it should be straightforward.
Sealing off the fixture allowed us to raise the mirror so it sits about 6 inches above the counter instead of nearly resting on it. The mirror now conceals the covered fixture, and we also temporarily capped and covered an outlet that will need to be moved in the future. Even without the finished floors, the new mirror makes the space feel larger and more balanced.
Because impatience (to remove the carpet) and serendipity (finding that mirror) got our creative wheels turning, we’re already sketching out a short-term plan to improve the space until we can commit to a full renovation. Sherry even mocked up a couple of ideas to visualize possibilities. Note: we’re still in the “changing our minds every second” phase since this all started only 24 hours ago, so plans will likely evolve.
Likely next steps include painting walls and trim (we haven’t chosen colors yet), painting or staining the vanity—possibly a muted grayed navy—adding new knobs for contrast, painting the particle-board floor, and building open shelving on the right side for towels. We’ve also debated closing that space in to create concealed storage if we can find matching doors. And once we select a vanity light, we’ll move the capped fixture box up and install it.
For now we’re just happy to be rid of the old carpet and excited to start working on a new corner of the house. What did you tackle this weekend?