One hazard of having written almost 3,500 posts is that occasionally (only occasionally!), I repeat myself. So I’m glad I looked back in the archives for January 2020, because, sure enough, I had already written a post called “Bye Bye, Bathroom.”

As a result, this post does not share that title. But it does share that sentiment. Because, encouraged by the success of bathroom remodel number one, we are embarking on bathroom remodel number two. 

This is a trickier proposition because it includes a shower (which, unlike a tub, must be built) and because it involves bumping out an interior wall and installing a pocket door — all to gain enough precious inches to put both the toilet and the 48-inch vanity on one wall. 

Yesterday was for demolition: In the space of a few hours out went the fiberglass shower, the down-on-its-heels builder-grade vanity, and, most notably, the mirror. Without it, the bathroom looks the size it is, roughly that of a broom closet. 

But it was a room like any other in this much loved, much-lived-in house. And when I saw it last night all stripped down to its barest essentials, I have to admit … I felt a pang.