So, it finally happened.
In my ensuite, the previous owner must have done the work himself, and designed it very poorly. This is the progression of install: Pedestal sink -> Tile (no grout) -> towel bar (and other things) -> grout. So the entire walls are covered in tile, but literally buttup against the pedestal sink, instead of having installed the tile and grout first, then installing the sink on top of the tile. This means that the only way to replace the pedestal sink would be to find one that's EXACTLY the same size, or replace with something bigger in every dimension. The bathroom is laid out poorly, so there is no way to but a vanity other then something very tiny (but still bigger than the pedestal sink) , that would allow movemnet through the ensuite.
Well, this morning, my pedestal sink cracked (I think it's had a hairline crack for a while, but still held water). Now my options are to spend a bunch of money replacing the pedestal sink, which means I'd have to spend money repairing tile and grout. This option still leaves me with a dated and poorly laid out ensuite that doesn't function well.
The second option is to literally strip everything to the studs and rebuild the ensuite that we want. It probably needs to be done anyway - and we might as well get enjoyment of it for more years.
The current ensuite is a 4 piece bathroom, in a room not really big enough for a 4 piece. The toilet has been replaced already, but all the other fixtures are mint green. The 6' air jetted mint green tub probably cost a fortune when it was installed, but it never gets used, and its too big for our hot water tank to fill up with hot water. taps and trim are chrome and brass. Theres a giant mirror that was inset into the tile above the tub. The previous homeowner, when he did the work, apparently didn't want to re-stiple the ceiling, because he left the top plate in place where the previous wall was, and just drywalled around it. There is two types of tile on the walls, apparently he liked the design of the accent tile enough that he literally cut each side of the accent tiles down so that the tile would be the same width as the other type of tile he chose. Of course these accent tiles are also slightly thicker than the main tiles too - as you can imagine, it looks terrible when you look at everything closely.
I already put in a small frosted picture window this last summer along with the siding that was getting redone, which brought some natural light into the room.
When we moved in, there also wasn't even a door between the bedroom and this ensuite, but I put one in a while back already.
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