Finding new things to fix.

As I mentioned in my last post, I am a serial fixer. And with all the snow days lately, I've had plenty of time to plan my next projects. We had three snow days this week, and I had about had it with myself, as I'd been spending my days pinning ideas on Pinterest, but not actually doing anything. I realized I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon and things weren't going to happen on their own, so I went downstairs and, without putting too much thought into it, just started patching the peeling walls in our basement bathroom. Why the walls were peeling, I will never know... but I did know they needed to be fixed.

Well, wall patching led to unscrewing cabinets, and unscrewing cabinets led to undoing plumbing, and before we knew it, thanks to me, we started our "practice" bathroom.

Now we call this our "practice" because we want to have a bit of a warm-up before really diving into our master bathroom reno. Basically, we want to get all our mistakes out of our systems somewhere where we won't have to look at them every day! Of course, let's hope there are none, though...

But first, let me tell you. This basement bathroom is so awkward! We've been talking about fixing it since before we bought the house, so it's about time we made a move. It has those peely cream walls, a cringe-worthy beige tile floor, a nearly non-functional toilet, a monstrous vanity, and a weird, deep, mirrored cabinet. It's extremely tiny for a full bath, which is ok because it won't get much traffic, but the space right now is barely useable. Here are some before pics:

Our before pictures are terrible. I will admit that we realized after taking out the cabinet and sink that we forgot to take "before" pics, so we put everything back in. Those before pics are so important! We knew we'd regret not having them, so it was worth backtracking a few minutes.

Although this is a pretty tragic start, it can be dramatically improved. My max budget is $400.

Our plan is:

• Wall paint: ~$30 at Benjamin Moore. The walls are in rough shape, so we need a high quality paint that will be a bit more concealing than the typical stuff. For such a small room, we won't need much, so it should be worth it.
• Tile floor: ~$60 at Home Depot. We already have lots of materials (mortar and grout) from doing our kitchen backsplash, so we can probably get away with keeping it around that price.
• Pedestal sink: ~$60 at Lowes for a small one. This will make the place seem so much bigger. I can't wait to put that in!
• Toilet: ~$100 at Home Depot. Hubbs already has his favorite reliable flusher picked out!
• Faucet: ~$30 or we could save by reusing the one we have. We'll see how it turns out. 
• Mirror: ~$30 at Lowes. Or, if i'm feeling particularly crafty, I can frame a beat up one that we have left over from our half-bath reno. We will see how we're doing on budget.
• Lighting: ~$30. Rough estimate, as this is the one thing I haven't made a decision on yet. Again, the starting look is so terrible, anything will be an improvement. Better get looking!  
• TP holder: ~$20. Recessed, to maximize space. 
• Towel bar: ~$20. These suckers are surprisingly expensive! Or maybe I can find some small shelves that will work better. Decor is the last step, so I can hold off for a bit.

If we come in under budget and the finished product still isn't quite there, I have my eye on a snazzy way to spruce things up:

• paint the almond bath-fitter shower a crisp white using Rustoleum tub and tile paint. See page here for inspiration. $26 on amazon. 

Otherwise, we will take what we end up with.

I'll leave you with my "during" photos of how I got spackle-crazy:

Things are already looking better without the huge mirror and cabinet, but man do I hate that floor! I can't wait to get it out. Next up, demo and tile!