Renovating the Bathroom Part One

Our bathroom did not always look like this. I'm sorry I don't have any good "before" shots, but trust me, it used to have several layers of peeling and curling linoleum. And it had fifties era Formica, complete with little gold specks.

It also had very mid-century looking built-ins (I happen to like the mid-century aesthetic a lot, but this is a Queen Anne bungalow). And it had a chipped, cracked, generic oval sink--like you see for twenty-nine dollars at every home improvement outlet.

And then there was the tub surround tile. Icky. It had been installed badly by a previous owner, the tiles were crooked, and the grout was failing. In fact, a few months before we finally replaced it, we taped up a huge plastic sheet to protect the wall from water damage! Gross!

Knowing we had a major renovation ahead of us, my husband and I hit the re-use stores. Our favorites are ReSource, and any of the Habitat ReStores. We found beautiful, basket weave mosaic tile for the floor.

We trimmed out the vanity doors, so they would fit the

home's pedigree a little better, and added beaded board and a chair rail.

And we found subway tiles and accent tiles for the shower.

We ran the tile vertically, in a running bond pattern, 

to show off this bathroom's high ceilings.

And that gorgeous black quartz tile we found for the counters? It even has some gold specks as an homage to the old Formica!

 By sourcing materials from close-outs and salvage yards, we were able to 

splurge on professional tile installation.  This was definitely worth it, as this 

bathroom turned out to be the crowning jewel of our little bungalow. 

A good tile setter is also an artist.  I love the way our artist beveled

and honed the edges of the tile, and used unsanded black caulk, instead of grout.

Did you see that amazingly deep sink? From a ReStore! The new fixtures were found on close-out, as were all the towel racks and hooks, and hardware.

We definitely did this renovation on a tight budget, but by sourcing the materials ourselves--which involved a couple months of Saturdays spent shopping at the salvage stores (these were our weekly "dates", and we loved them!) -- we were able to splurge on skilled labor. Definitely worth the cost to get a quality product!


**edit:  We ended up putting this house on the market early in 2010, and it went under contract the first week!  Our realtor really felt this bathroom renovation helped sell the house quickly.  

See Part Two of this renovation here, and see Part Three here.

This post is being linked to:
A Few of My Favorite: Room Re-Dos at The Lettered Cottage