a make-do bathroom makeover! ~ Like Mother Like Daughter

Read article : a make-do bathroom makeover! ~ Like Mother Like Daughter

{At the end of this post you will find paint colors to update your almond fixtures, and notes about sources. The Amazon links are affiliate links.}

I have come to that point where either I show you some pictures of my bathroom makeover in its not-quite-complete form or I give up altogether, because in real life, the “done” things very quickly get to be decidedly worn out, even as you are trying to finish up the details.

And that would not be good, would it, for me to wait so long that the new things got old. So that’s what I’m doing — showing you the way it is in real life, namely, not quite done (or ever likely to be!).

I have one million things to tell you.

We redid two bathrooms at once, simply because they are right next to each other and it seemed to make sense in terms of economy of scale. I’m not sure if that turns out to be correct. It certainly makes sense in terms of one’s willingness to return to chaos after one stage has been dealt with. It also makes sense when the second one is completely unusable, as opposed to the first which is just crumbling.

Here is a diagram/plan of our second floor. Those of you who know me well, know my little attempts to give you an overview of things… which may or may not be helpful.

What this is conveying to you, in my own wacky way, is that in an old house, choices have to be made, usually according to things known as “stacks” — places where plumbing gets put in and it’s just simpler to go up with it to the next floor than to, you know, actually put it where it’s needed.

Thus, yes, I go a far piece to get to the bathroom. (The Chief also does, but, you know.) And those bathrooms are next to each other. Because, plumbing.

I will show you the other one at some point. We are putting shelving up and then I hope to!

Here are some befores. Please remember that befores are usually taken at the very last minute, after the leaks have gotten bad and pretty much when the demo has begun and suddenly you’re like, “Let me stop the hating for a minute, just for the sake of the blog.” So don’t judge me too harshly; it wasn’t quiiiittte this bad. Well, not till the very end.

BEFORE:

The leaks had sprung, and that’s what the towels are all about. In my dreams, I would have had an upscale construction company come in here and gut everything, and I would have put in black and white tile and white porcelain fixtures. There would be a freestanding tub with a shower; I don’t see what’s wrong with that! I like it, and it’s old-fashioned and timeless. Plus, way easier to bathe a baby in, versus a dumb jacuzzi and too-small shower.

However, that was not to be.

It’s just too expensive to rip out these built ins. Let this be a warning to you! Try not to build things in. That tub — not going anywhere. Likewise the vanity. It would just cost so much to replace it with its built-in sinks.

That meant that we had to work with the almond. I know. But because of that, I’m here to tell you the best way to do that in terms of decorating!

BEFORE:

Somewhere along the way, when I was still nursing that black-and-white dream of mine, we replaced the old almond (terrible and malfunctioning) toilet with this nice white one.

My reasoning — what would be the point of putting in new almond one if we were on track to gut this bathroom and make it all NOT ALMOND?

Yeah. After crunching the numbers (and recovering consciousness, and paying the tuition bill), we did end up getting one to match, and this beautiful white number is in the new laundry room.

Now, I want you further to note the golden oak trim. Baseboards, windows (sorry, no befores of that), and the radiator cover. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to incorporate almond fixtures and golden oak trim, and then I came to my senses.

The trim was getting painted.

AFTER:

I took the radiator cover down to the garage and spray-painted it. It’s at times like this that spray-paint earns its keep. Painting all that metal screen with a brush would have been a nightmare of drips and surfaces!

I also spray-painted the radiator underneath. It had been white and the white showed through the mesh and contrasted with the black. However, I would not do that again — spray painting inside is not a good idea!

We got a bigger shower. The space above the new wall is open on the theory that air circulation is a good thing.

The trick with the almond is to go a bit darker on the walls, and a white-leaning-towards-gray-taupe (taupe is beige with black in it, or brown/black with white in it, however you want to look at it) for the trim.

Black accents lift everything up out of the 70s-90s. I painted the light fixtures black and got new glasses for the sconces.

I do really love the flooring. It’s vinyl plank (not laminate sheets). It’s completely waterproof and floats on the subfloor — in this case, partial tile and partial plywood. Just covers it all up and provides a warm, easy to clean surface. I love the color of it.

I call it “Escape from Golden Oak.”

The paint and a bunch of the black we had already decided on in the last go-round (the real before featured blue wallpaper, which, who puts wallpaper in a bathroom I ask you, and blue is not a good way to uplift almond). The vanity had been golden oak; I hadn’t thought to take a before picture (there is a similar one on this blog), but I was very pleased with how the hardware went from blah to fab, just with the color change.

We did update the faucets. Surely you can see why…

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I will say that the surround of the tub and the countertop and backsplashes are all Corian. I like that surface. I would have liked it not to be almond, but oh well.

One little note you might not think of: The nice-looking black and chrome toothbrush holder from Target (as seen in the before pic just above)?

No good.

No matter how much you rinse the toothbrushes, the dried residue is white! Making your holder look gross. I spray painted mine white.

There are nice touches in old houses…

Before:

After:

Things I would do at some point:

Touch up the black of the vanity and the frames of the mirrors

Spray paint the towel ring between the two mirrors black

Replace the window over the tub so that it opens (which, among other things, would allow for it to be cleaned on the outside; it’s over the roof of the garage, so a cleaning isn’t happening otherwise!)

Replace or paint the faucet of the tub

Line the curtain to make it look a bit more substantial — this requires coming across a good length of muslin at some point

Paint and sources:

Walls: Olympic, Sienna Sand (which may be the Benjamin Moore name which we originally used, but they can make it at Lowe’s)

Trim: Valspar Cliveden Mist (first we primed the oak well)

The black is just some random black in the case of the vanity (I don’t remember, but just don’t get a blue-black) or black spray paint

Ceiling paint: Take a tip from me and use glossy paint for your bathroom ceilings, preferably one that is mold-resistant — this was a huge upgrade from the regular ceiling paint that had been on there before

Flooring: Shaw’s Matrix Regency Vinyl Plank Flooring in Gunstock, from Lowe’s (I bought this after buying a similar product from Home Depot; I was actually hoping for a lighter color (which I think doesn’t show as much dirt). I was checking out with enough flooring for both bathrooms and caught sight of a sample laid out. My, it was ugly! So I turned right around and returned it all! After much texting of photos to Rosie and a considerable amount of agonizing over the fact that some colors are in stock and some are decidedly not and anyway how are you supposed to tell, I found this one at Lowe’s. I love it.)

Toilet: Gerber

Shower: Got it from the plumbing supply store — it is 5′ wide and has a built-in seat! The door is from Lowe’s and is suspended from the top, making it easier to clean

Faucets: Ufaucet from Amazon. These are very nice and the pop-up drain is metal, not plastic, and the price was right

Towel racks/hooks: Spray painted regular hooks black; Phil made the peg board; carved wooden hook from Marshall’s

Paris map: Available at art stores that sell wrapping paper, for under $4, or here on Amazon for more. I decoupaged it onto a spray-painted piece of particleboard that we had, so the whole thing cost me $5

Curtain fabric: JoAnn’s

Other art: Thrifted, or decoupaged greeting cards — the “abstract art” is actually a picture of a Gee’s Bend quilt, and however much a source of contention it is in my family, I love it for the sweet thriftiness it represents

Shout-out to Bridget who helped me choose the fabric and who did a lot of painting!

Share this:

Related

9 Tips To Ensure You Get Your Dream Bathroom Remodel

Read article : 9 Tips To Ensure You Get Your Dream Bathroom Remodel

This bathroom remodel ideas post is sponsored by Sears Home Services.

bathroom remodel ideas" />

In our last house, we thought we were in our forever house. We bought it when the wee ones were almost 3 and not quite one. At the time, we planned to live there until they graduated high school or longer, and we treated the house that way. We replaced all the windows, we made an amazing front walk and redid all the landscaping. My favorite project included a gut of the master bathroom, and a complete kitchen remodel was next on our list.

Plans change, and we sold that house five years ago now. This house is now our forever house, except that forever is definitely a much shorter horizon. We built the new garage last year and just finished a roof replacement on Monday. I met with the house painter yesterday, and a completely redone basement (needed due to water issues that we’ve since fixed). Are you surprised that our master bath is on the list again?

We learned from our last house, and I have a ton of bathroom remodel ideas, both ideas we incorporated as well as some new trends that have sprouted. Our new bathroom won’t happen overnight, but even small changes can make a difference. I pulled out the brass and chrome fixtures from throughout my bathroom already. Just that little thing helped make our bathroom (built in 2005) feel less dated.

9 Bathroom Remodel Ideas

Add heated floors.

This was the best thing we did in our remodel. Hands down it was the best idea we had. Since we ripped out (all three layers of) the old flooring, we laid heating coils under the new floor. Nine months of the year, we used this floor and loved it. There is nothing worse than a cold Chicago morning and dancing from rug to rug to avoid frostbite on your feet.

We set it up to include a programmable switch. It turned on ten minutes before we headed to the bathroom each morning, so it was beautifully warm every time. It turned off by itself, and oh my word it was worth the investment. This is hands down the best of my bathroom remodel ideas ever. I’ll never do a remodel without one again.

Create a point of interest in your bathroom.

As much time as we spend in bathrooms, you want to enjoy the look. In our old bathroom, the towel rack hung over the far end of the bathtub. We had to walk from the shower over and climb in the tub or carefully reach over it to get our towel. That towel rack went away in the remodel, but initially we had no idea what to do with that blank wall. There was an identical blank wall on the other side of the tub.

Fortunately, my contractor came up with a fantastic bathroom remodel idea. I knew I wanted a window from my shower to make it feel bigger since we couldn’t increase the size of the shower itself. We chose an arched design, and our contractor suggested a tiled arch shelf built into the wall to hold some knick knacks and bath oils, etc. It turned out gorgeous. A shelf like this may not be the best fit for every bathroom, but it created a great point of interest on an otherwise boring wall. How can you give personality to your bathroom?

bathroom remodel ideas" />

Make sure you have enough storage.

Our current second floor has no linen closet. In fact, there’s nowhere to really store towels and sheets and other items in general. There is some wasted space behind the bathroom door, and we purchased a wooden shelf that we painted white to act as a temporary closet. It isn’t the prettiest, but it’s functional. For now.

When thinking about bathroom remodel ideas, don’t forget about storage. Do you have enough with your current setup? In our last house, we added a storage tower between the two sinks. We had a large bathroom and a long sink area, so this worked well. It separated my husband’s stuff from mine, and all our “things” stayed out of sight.

When we remodel our current bathroom, we won’t put a tower between the sinks because our bathroom is narrower. On the far edge of our vanity, we have wasted space there, and we’ll extend the cabinet up to create storage for towels and sheets and add some vertical interest with a change in heights.

And yes, we’ll build in a real linen closet where that space is currently wasted.

Choose the right sink.

Growing up, sinks were all the same. They were slightly oval and mounted into the counter. Now? Oh my word, the options! In so many bathrooms, a vessel sink looks amazing. It’s so sophisticated and so many have the personality many bathrooms lack.

They can be pretty expensive, however. A more traditional sink now comes in a variety of shapes. We chose a rectangular sink that gave me more room to presoak laundry in the “extra” sink since we had a second floor laundry and no laundry sink. It was large and gorgeous. An undermount sink worked great for us there because it minimized dirt that got stuck around the seal of the sink. In our current bathroom – because storage is at a premium – we know we’ll do a top mount sink that gives us more room in the vanity, but that doesn’t mean we won’t find one with the right look for our bathroom.

Choose the right fixtures.

Now that you have your sink, make sure your fixtures fit the aesthetic of your bathroom as much as you sink does. If you have a vessel sink or pedestal sink, make sure your faucets have enough room for you to wash your hands and more.

When it comes to the shower, it’s easy to find a showerhead in the same family as your sink faucet without it being identical. Do you want a showerhead you can move easily? Do you want an overhead shower for a more spa like experience? One of the bathroom remodel ideas I nixed last time was a steam shower. I didn’t think it was worth the money. Once we were done, I regretted it. Now there are smart showerheads that create that spa-like experience.

More and more fixtures provide great spray while still saving water. I miss the days in my old Chicago apartment where my shower beat on me. When I think of all the water wasted, I cringe. I can regain that experience with many showerheads now available without the need to hang my head in shame for the excess water.

Build a niche into your shower.

I am not a fan of the shower surrounds. When I do my bathroom, I want tile everywhere, which allows a ton of customization. My current bathroom? Yep, it’s a surround. And there’s nowhere to put shampoo or soap or anything. Shaving my legs? I’m balancing with a foot on the wall, and it isn’t pretty.

Another of those great bathroom remodel ideas? Build your shower to fit your needs. You can find a place to create a niche in a wall to hold your bath products. Make sure your contractor tilts it so water doesn’t stay in it. This is not only a functional addition, but it looks cool, too. We flipped the direction of the tiles we used elsewhere in the shower so they were diamonds instead of squares, and it looked fabulous. Major custom look without a major custom price. That inset? It’s a prefab option so my contractor didn’t have to build it by hand.

Create a bench, too, if you have room. We were able to have enough room for a bench so I could sit while shaving without feeling cramped in our last shower. Barely. Not every shower has that ability, but even in a standard size shower, you can build a foot rest into the tile so you have a secure place to rest your foot or booty while shaving. As with the inset for shampoo, just be sure your contractor angles it to avoid water pooling.

Don’t go too trendy.

Full bathroom remodels aren’t cheap. It isn’t the most expensive home renovation you can do, and it provides a great return on investment relatively, but you don’t want to go super trendy so that someone walks in and says, “Oh, yeah, this bathroom was done in 2016.”

That doesn’t mean you want to be blah or avoid any trends at all, but think about what has a longer term appeal. The pink tiles in my old master bathroom? I know they were from 1993. By 1996, I knew that. Avoid those traps.

If you plan to live in your house long term, create a bathroom that is your haven. You live there, not the person who’ll buy your house in 15 years. If it fits with the rest of your house design, go for it. What works in my 1925 more traditional home doesn’t work in an Italian villa style or in an ultra modern home. The overarching philosophy behind my bathroom remodel ideas is what matters.

Honestly, I can look even now at our bathroom remodel from five years ago and know that we chose too trendy a color wood that is too dark, especially with the granite countertop (which I do still love). This is where an expert designer comes in handy to help ensure you love your bathroom today and in 10 years. They have so many bathroom remodel ideas to make it fit you without being so trendy you’ll regret it.

Look for flooring with personality.

We chose rough stone tiles. Smooth is not your friend in the bathroom. The rough surface wasn’t uncomfortable to walk on, and we never had to worry about falls. Even better, the crags and such in the flooring meant we never had puddles when leaving the shower. We actually removed rugs from the bathroom entirely, which I loved. Why? The water that doesn’t evaporate quickly enough in a humid bathroom? Yuck.

While we love stone, that isn’t the choice for everyone. There are so many neat options out there today. Porcelain and ceramic tile come in so many neat patterns and textures now. Don’t do wood, as wood and moisture don’t get along. There are now wood looking porcelain tiles, however. Whatever you choose, find something that complements the entire style of your bathroom.

Update your counter surfaces.

We honestly may update our countertops in the master bathroom and in the guest bath on the main floor before we do a complete redo of the master bath because we have so many other major projects on our list with this house. Right now, they are a very cheap laminate countertop that doesn’t go with the aesthetic of the house. It bothers me every time I look at them.

Countertops aren’t as expensive as you might think, especially as bathroom counters tend to be a fairly limited area. Quartz is a great alternative because it requires no maintenance. You can find great designs with this. I love granite, personally. The uniqueness of granite and the personality it can bring to your bathroom make it worth the investment in my book.

Ready to Implement These Bathroom Remodel Ideas?

Just writing this, I’m excited to redo three of our bathrooms whether just a little countertop change or a full remodel. I’m not quite ready, but when I am, I know what I’ll do. Sears, of course, offers everything you need, whether you’re looking at a quick change like refacing your cabinets or a complete overhaul of your space.

Taking these bathroom remodel ideas and doing the whole thing? Sears has a savings of $500 on bathroom remodels of $1,500 or more through 11/30/2016.

Replacing or refacing your cabinets? Get $500 off a project of $1,500 or more through 11/30/2016, too.

Changing up your countertops? You can save $250 off a countertop purchase of $1,500 or more through 11/30/2016.

And of course, Sears offers free consultations on your projects so you can easily figure out what exactly you want to do and how much it will cost. Just know that if you’re anything like me, you’ll end up increasing the scope of the project as you go along, so make sure you budget for some changes!

What are your best bathroom remodel ideas?

great bathroom remodel ideas will give you a good place to start. Some tips on how to stay happy with it long term and some ideas you may not have thought about." />s

Share this: