Bathroom: Complete!

Our original time frame for this bathroom was about a month, but I am now seeing that, from start to absolute finish it was more like 3! It took me a super long time to get all the little details straight in this bathroom. We've had it "done" since May, but not exactly finished.

Finally, this week, I got photos for our frame and hung our little towel shelf. We may still add another glass shelf below the mirror if we realize we need more storage, but until then we are all set. Check out the finished project below, with the before and after alongside. (Super small bathroom = tricky photos.) What a difference!

This was a semi-before taken while I was doing drywall work, but note the monstrous vanity sink and very high mirror. We minimized that with a pedestal sink so the toilet and shower would both be accessible. I also adore the new light.  

Before, you could barely get to the toilet with the sink in the way. What a cluttered mess! We changed out the toilet and replaced the shelves with a sleek glass shelf & towel bar combo. Flush mount TP holder gives even more space, with 2 extra rolls on a bar beside the tank.

The shower was a minimal change, but we moved the bar up and out to conceal the shower a bit, and the mesh portion gives the shower light without having to be completely see-through! Not pictured is the towel hook mounted beside the shower. 

Let's remember that our original (naive) budget idea was $500. Here's how it all turned out:

• Wall paint: estimated at ~$30 at HD. Actually $50 at Benjamin Moore. Worth it!
• Self-leveling concrete: not included in estimate. Actually $25 + $9 for primer. Both LevelQuik at HD.
• Tile floor: estimated at ~$60 at Home Depot. Actually $35 for Marazzi tile and $15 for grout. We already had mortar laying around.
• Baseboards: not included in estimate. Actually $20 at HD for MDF, per Adam's request.
• Pedestal sink: estimated at ~$60. Actually $54 for Glacier Bay pedestal.
• Lighting: estimated at ~$30. Actually $50 at HD.
• Toilet: estimated at ~$100 at Home Depot. Actual price $199 at HD. Splurge here.
• Faucet: estimated at ~$30. Actual price $25 at HD.
• Mirror: estimated at ~$30 at Lowes. Actual price, $30 from HD for a beautiful oval. Yay!
• TP holder: estimated at ~$20. Actual price $25 at Amazon.
• Towel bar: estimated at ~$20. Actual price, $24 for shelf + towel bar, and $9 for towel hooks.
• Other decorative items were gifts, with the exception of the shower curtain and rod, $20 from Bed Bath and Beyond, and $10 from HD. 

Estimated total reno: $380 with some wiggle room.       
Actual reno: $600 exactly, with all materials included.

We clearly forgot about some items in our estimate, and so we totally went over. Since this was our first bathroom reno, we had NO idea what to expect! We could've done a few things differently to save about $150, but we had extra set aside just in case, so it wasn't a big deal.

For example, we could've gone with a cheaper paint, but since I had done so much drywall work, I wanted a quality paint that would cover imperfections. Benjamin Moore paint is truly fantastic, so it was worth it! You can barely see my drywall work, even if you look really hard.

Also, we could've sanded and repainted our original baseboards, but Adam wanted to go with the taller ones to give the room a classier look. I agree that they look nicer, and they saved me the hours of work of getting the old ones to look decent. Totally worth $20.

And, obviously, we could've gone with a cheaper toilet. Since I designed the whole bathroom, I let Adam have his way here :-P. Toilets are very important to him!


So our next step in the house is to redo our 2nd bathroom upstairs. We are estimating about a $1000 budget and are already expecting everything to take twice as long as this one did, and even longer for the finishing touches. If we start this month, we probably can expect it to be completely finished by Christmas. Look for that starting soon! :)