We know there are lots of you out there who are eagerly waiting for our nursery makeover project to begin. And it will. Just not quite yet. After all, the third bedroom (aka: soon-to-be-nursery) which normally looks like this…
… currently looks like this:
We know, it’s embarrassingly messy (you’d be surprised how many readers take comfort in the fact that we actually live in chaos from time to time). The reason? It’s ground zero for our last big, pre-nursery project: a total bathroom remodel! We’re talking about a gut job down to the studs- which even involves the rental of a mini jackhammer. Yeah, we’re pretty excited about it.
And for any of you who have been following along with our weekend sneak peeks via Twitter and Facebook, you’ve actually heard how some of that demo has gone. But before we put the cart before the horse, we need to talk about the whys and the hows of our one-and-only full bathroom makeover. We think the classic look of the original black and white tile, the basketweave floor and even the cramped quarters are all quite charming (and befitting of our 1950’s ranch).
Yeah, it looks pretty darn good from afar, but upon closer inspection is also has its fair share of flaws that we just can’t get over – shattered wall tiles (from what we assume was the house settling at some point), uneven and stained flooring, and a chipped sink just to name a few.
Oh well. The original bathroom served our house well for over half a century (what more can you ask for right?) and although we’re all about saving what you can and working with whatcha got, in this case we’re sorry to say that after a pretty serious cleaning and recaulking effort a few years back- which certainly tided us over for a while- the time has come to bring the bathroom up to speed. And after living vicariously through my parents’ two DIY bathroom makeovers (one seen here) – Sherry and I have finally decided to bite the bullet and get ‘er done. Like, now. But of course we’ll still be bringing in some classic tile and materials that won’t look too futuristic and out of place in our 50 year old ranch. Fear not.
The approach: well, we’ve already begun tearing things down to the studs and plan to build it all back up again with our own four hands (ok, and with my dad’s generous assistance as well since Sherry’s doing a pretty important job on the side). So there will be new walls, a new tub/shower surround, new flooring, and a new DIY vanity project before we officially turn our attention to the bean’s room. Of course we plan to donate as much of our old stuff (vanity, faucet fixtures, etc) to the Habitat For Humanity ReStore to give them a second life. And if all goes as planned, the entire redo should be done before Christmas. Fingers crossed…
Oh and because we know it’s coming, to answer the “where will you shower?” question (since it’s our only full bathroom in the house), we’re nothing if not resourceful: I plan to use the shower at my gym every morning on the way to work and Sherry will swing over to my sister’s house (we’re super lucky that she lives extra close) and borrow her bathroom in the evenings (she’s a night showerer- weird huh?).
And speaking of my lovely/quirky wife, she’ll be posting very soon about all the design details including a working mood board of sorts (since I’m sure most of you are now saying “ok, but what will it look like!?!”). And since we know that you like all the pre-planning details (sometimes it’s hard to know where to start) we’ll be including a ton of those as well so stay tuned for that. We’ve actually already selected a lot of the new materials (floor tile, wall tile, a chunky nightstand that we’ll retrofit with a sink and faucet) as well as borrowed/purchased a bunch of tools that we’ll be using… hence the nursery currently looking completely unsafe for a newborn. Fun, fun, fun.
But while we’re on the subjects of bathrooms, does anyone else out there have a bathroom that could be termed a “Monet” like ours (also known as: pretty from afar, ugly up close)? Are there any impending bathroom remodels on the agenda? Or recently completed bathroom sprucing projects? Anyone crazy enough to tear their bathroom down to the studs in hopes of having things up and running again before Christmas? Do tell.
Jessi says
I’m showing off my friends bathroom remodel, because I think it’s just great. And somewhat similar in style to what yours probably once was. From 1951 Ranch Redo, here are before and after photos of their bathroom. http://ranchredo.com/?p=269
YoungHouseLove says
Fun! We love checking out those links guys, so thanks so much for sending them our way! You know we eat before and after pics for breakfast, right?
xo,
s
Cate says
OOOhhhh, I am a little nervous about your bathroom redo. I have the very same bathroom down to the same long thin crack in the shower surround (except my wall tiles are cat’s-nose pink and the black floor tiles are covered by n-a-s-t-y vinyl flooring.) I can’t afford a big project now, so my stomach did a flip when I read your comment about “just wait until you hear what we found…”
Wah! I hope it’s not too bad.
By the way, I have admired what you did with the bathroom before the renovation, and have been planning to use some of those ideas for my own 1950s “Monet.”
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Cate,
Fear not, we didn’t find anything that cost us an extra penny, it’s was just a bit archaic-looking once we got the tile down. It was a bit more work than we thought it would be, but oh so worth it in the end (and as long as we can DIY stuff it’s not a budget breaker so that’s nice).
xo,
s
Tran says
How coincidental that you (and so many readers) are doing a bathroom renovation!
Our master bath has MAJOR issues so it’s going to be down to the studs for sure. We’ve stopped using the shower for months now until we figure out what to do. I’m trying to figure out how much work is involved to swap the location of the toilet and sink (do you know?). We still don’t have a plan but I ordered a wet tile saw so maybe that and your project will get us going! http://homeowned.blogspot.com/2009/12/tool-around.html
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Tran,
We know it’s definitely semi-complicated to swap the location of the toilet and the sink (since you’ll have to pull up flooring to move things like the toilet flange and reroute pipes in the wall for the sink) so we’d suggest either doing some online searching for a few tutorials and videos or calling a few pros in for some estimates to see if it’s something you’d like to take on. That should make the decision a bit easier once you know what’s involved and how much it’ll cost. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Kristin says
Our bathrooms are no Monets, they’re ugly from afar too! The good news is they’re quite functional but need to go from 1992 to 2010 (can you say linoleum!?). So, my husband and I are taking over the complete renovation of our master bath (walls and bathtub will remain… forest green and white motif, tile, shower, vanities, everything else is going) and an almost complete renovation of our upstairs Jack and Jill bath (buh-bye linoleum!). Can’t wait to learn a thing (or 20) from your makeover. I know we’ll need the know-how!
Emily says
We have been planning a major master bath remodel – even had contractors come in and give us estimates. After some shocking estimates we have gone back to the drawing board and are going to attempt to do most of the project ourselves. The only problem is our bathroom has a weird layout and we would like to change parts of the layout (ie move the sink and tear down a wall). We haven’t started it yet – we are too chicken – but hopefully in the near future! Good luck with your project – can’t wait to see the pictures!
Lauren says
Good luck! Why is it that the smallest room in the house is seemingly the most tricky and time-consuming?
It took us 4 months to do our bathroom (complete gut job), but it was far worse than a monet! It is also our only bathroom but because we were moving the bathroom over slightly we were able to install the new fixtures before taking the old ones completely out (and only had to shower at the neighbor’s once!) (http://www.chezerbey.com/bathroom)
We also had the brilliant idea to gut our bedroom *and* bathroom at the same time. A few weeks later we had friends visiting for a long weekend so we were all sleeping in the living room and showering in our barely there tub surrounded by black plastic. I guess these are the memories we’re supposed to look back fondly on?? =)
Any thoughts on adding an electric radiant system under your tile? We did that in our bathroom and it has been well worth it. (Ours is hooked up to a programmable thermostat so you can have it on just in the mornings or evenings.) We used Warmly Yours and it was a fairly easy DIY project.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Lauren,
Hmm, no thoughts about an electric radiant system under our tile as of yet. We’re just too cheap and while we’re sure it’s amazing we’re trying to do things on a serious budget so it might just be a bare bones remodel without any perks like that. But a girl can dream though… it sounds amazing!
xo,
s
Jen @ homeinthecountry says
We had 3 weeks from our closing date until our moving date to revamp our only full bath! Yikes! It had CARPET on the WALLS, dusty pink fixtures, and ugliness everywhere… We ripped ‘er down to the studs and switched up everything, but managed to get it functional in 3 weeks. Here are before and after pictures: http://homeinthecountry.wordpress.com/2009/08/17/bathroom-reveal/
Our half bath is hideous. As in, we started graffiti-ing the walls because it’s all coming out once we have the time/resources to change it up. The 1/2 bath has carpet on the walls, horrible wallpaper (even on the trim!) and outdated cabinets. Also? The light switch doesn’t turn on the light – it turns on a radio stored somewhere in the ceiling. It’s amazingly awful.
Can’t wait to see what you guys do – we’re always inspired by your projects!
Stacie says
Hey There! I love reading all about your DIY’ing projects, you guys have given me so many ideas! The “honey-do” list keeps growing! :)
We’re at the tail end of a kitchen reno but wanted to point you to our bathroom gut we did last November. It’s the SAME layout as yours!! We had the same gross, cracked floor tile and sink that went lovely with our old, outdated vanity and mirror, yuck! In just a few weeks we transformed it into a space we didn’t dread entering anymore!
We gave it a fresh coat of neutral paint, installed new floor tile, a new vanity and top, mirror, light fixture, faucet and hardware. Throw in some new towels, shower curtain and voila! It looks SO much better! Can’t wait to see what you two come up with for the design of yours! Good luck!
See Pictures Here:
http://stacieandkevinmullin.blogspot.com/2009/01/hgtv-call-me.html
Jennifer F says
Ah, yes, showering at the gym during the bathroom remodel. We did that for a while during our remodel as well, which included moving a wall to expand the space into an unused hall closet. Our project also included our first and second tiling projects on the floors and surrounding the tub. It definitely took us longer than we wanted, since we did much of the work ourselves, but it is much better now. Unfortunately, we painted the bathroom walls in Benjamin Moore’s Aura paint (back when they thought it worked in bathrooms)….BenM has since come out with a new Aura for bathrooms because the original blend is NOT a good fit for high-moisture areas…so our bathroom ceiling is a bit of a monet already…but we will get it fixed up eventually.
Catherine says
I’m so excited to watch this bathroom renovation unfold! We are hoping to redo our main bathroom this spring and while there’s nothing absolutely terrible about it, we have those problems that appear upon closer inspection too! Shower head too low, dark and always dirty looking grout, a mix of blah granite, etc.
One request: would you please, please, please share a thorough budget breakdown when the dust has settled? Where you started, where you ended up, and what were the surprise overages (or unders, if you’re so lucky!)? I really have no idea how many pennies to stash and would love to see how you tackle the $.
Thanks and can’t wait for more!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Catherine,
Just like our big kitchen reno we definitely plan to include a total budget breakdown when the decorating dust settles so stay tuned!
xo,
s
BeckyS says
Hi J & S! Congrats again on the lil bean…and thanks for all the positive musings. Here is our first little swing at RENOS…Wellll, my husband and I just got the keys to our new house last week. We were generously given slate tile for our laundry room and adjoining powder room (and kitchen back splash!) by lovely family members in the biz. They are also coming to install this sometime this week but asked we do the prep (No Problem o of course!) Well we start gutting the powder and laundry and lurking behind baseboards that are looking decrepid is: MOLD. So Hubby cuts all the mold out and now we have to get drywalling and this pushes back our tiling by a few days I am sure. PLUS! I cannot forget about the 3 layers of lino (through the decades, our home is a 79er). The best part? Its on concrete! Here I am trying to be all positive, but it bites! hard! BUT it will look lovely, I know. Soooo, any tips on how to remove 30 years of glue?? Hope to have some pics up on my little blog soon of the road to a healthy powder/laundry room SANS mold. I HATE MOLD!!!!!
Your bathroom has always been so pretty…glad you are keeping with the black and white and I know you guys will do it justice! Bonne chance!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Becky,
We totally feel your pain! Assuming the glue is on the concrete, your best bet is to get rough with it and chip or scrape it off with brute force. Of course if that doesn’t work you can always ask your local home improvement store experts what they recommend. They might have some new tool or chemical stripper. Hope it helps! Good luck with everything.
xo,
s
Megan S says
We have wall-to-wall pink tile in our bathroom. Seriously. The vanity is 7 feet long and it’s… you guessed it, ALL pink tile, but for the pickled oak drawers. Ugh. The toilet is pink, the bathtub and the sink. The floor looks similar to yours (ours is a 1957 ranch-style), but it’s… PINK! We’re toward the end of our kitchen remodel and hopefully the basement will follow, so the bathroom’s going to be pink for awhile. I’ll just have to sustain myself watching your reno! Good luck!
Amy says
At least your bathroom looked good from afar. We were “blessed” with an orange and black tile bathroom. Besides it being one of my least favorite color combinations, our bathroom, like yours, plays the part of looking put together far away, but up close it’s falling apart. We’re hoping to tackle a bathroom reno in the next couple of years.
Krystie says
Good luck Sherry and John!
We are currently redoing our 50+ year old bathroom too. We took ours all the way down to the studs as well. Ours looked similar to yours but change the tile color to teal and add some fancy wallpaper… it wasn’t pretty. We started the project over a month ago and intended on having it done on a very short time line but that didn’t go as planned. We only had weekends to do the work so we were a bit unrealistic! All in all, it has gone well.
We had to call a plumber to cut the drain of our old tub. My husband broke two tools to unscrew the drain and a saws-all blade when he attempted to cut the drain himself. Not sure if your tub has been in place that long but wanted to let you know just in case.
PS. Congrats on your pregnancy! I am pregnant with my first child too. I’m due two days after Sherry.
Love your blog!
Jenna says
Oh, I can’t wait for all the details! We are in the (very long and drawn out) process of buying our first home, and should be under contract by this evening. Hurray! Anyhow, the master bath and half bath need total overhauls. I’m looking to you guys for inspiration and money saving tips. Fortunately, for us, my dad is a general contractor and all the know-how and help will be FREE!
Tran says
To BeckyS – I encountered the same situation in our kitchen renovation of linoleum adhesive on concrete: http://homeowned.blogspot.com/2009/03/kitchen-gutting.html
I highly recommend Jasco Premium Paint and Epoxy Remover. Stinky, strong, fumey stuff but it works!
Kate says
You know what its like… you buy a house, you want to do it all. we bought a bathroom suite for our house 29th december 2008 and still haven’t fitted it. the rest of the house grabbed our attention instead – i cant find the tiles I want! .we still haven’t moved in and we bought the damn house a year ago!!!
i love reading your blog! We could easily be Young House Love UK edition – renovation, wedding, diy and cheap as chips enthusiasts. We just don’t have a Burger. Or a baby. Yet. :D
meryl rose says
Our bathroom is an EVENTUAL project that we have sort of worked on here and there, but it really should be a bigger priority. It’s in BAD shape, the sub floor is so rotten that when we started chipping away the tile with a roto hammer you could see the ground below the house! But before we chip more away we’ll have to find someway to move the nearly 300 lb original tub (seen at the end of this post)
http://picardyproject.blogspot.com/2009/11/tarps-held-up-mostly.html
Denise says
Over the past several months, we’ve been under renovation while living in our old farmhouse. The addition includes “2” brand new bathrooms from the ground up, along with a mudroom and a laundry room. Our existing, tiny (ill-placed) bathroom will be converted to a much needed pantry after the holidays. Meanwhile, all I want for Christmas is a nice long soak in our new freestanding tub!
Good luck on meeting your “before Christmas” deadline and I know your new bathroom will be beautiful. Can’t wait for all the updates. You’re very wise to do this project before the baby arrives.
Congratulations on your happy news!
Amy says
Are you planning to move anything around in your bathroom, or are you leaving the same layout as before, just with new stuff?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Amy,
We do plan to work with the original layout since it seems to make sense to us and we’re going to be keeping the tub and re-installing the toilet (we replaced it a few years back when we moved in so it’s in good shape). So although the major changes won’t be in the layout, we’ll be adding new floor tile, a new tile tub/shower surround, a new vanity (made from a table that we’ll retrofit with a sink and faucet) and lots of new accessories along with a new wall color. Can’t wait to get started!
xo,
s
chacha says
Can’t wait to see all the pictures – both during and after!
We plan on gutting our master bath at some point, maybe next year – all depends on savings and if my husband can get out of this unemployment rut (really, when gets a job, all kinds of stuff will get fast-tracked, like flooring upstairs, master bathroom, pool, etc).
We gutted our kitchen down to the studs and thankfully we were only without a functioning kitchen for about 8 weeks – just in time for Turkey day last year.
Megean says
Perfect! My one and only full bath is in desperate need of a re-do as well (peeling paint, tiles falling off the walls, etc.) so I can’t wait to follow the re-do to see if I am up to the challenge as well!
Sarah says
I’d be keen to know how you are going to “dress” up the bathroom! We recently moved into a house with a gorgeous remodelled bathroom, but it just seems a little bland and the way its shaped makes it hard to put things on the wall. I was considering a wall sticker, but havent seen it done by anyone yet, or some greenery! so Ill be watching very closely to see how you jazz yours up!
Erica says
My old apartment had that exact same tile. I loved it, but it was in the same shape yours is- cracked floor and wall tiles, stains and paint that just won’t come off, etc… I wouldn’t mind to redo a bathroom in the same style though. My bathroom right now looks ok from afar too, but the floor tiles are cracked and there is a place in the shower where the tiles are white instead of the almond color of the rest of the tiles. I also just really hate brown, so I really hate these tiles and would LOVE to replace them with pretty much anything else. However, if I pull out tiles, then I’m going to end up doing a little rearranging of the bathroom and part of the kitchen… so I’ll be saving that project for several years, I’m sure. Or at least until I pay off my Home Depot credit card!
Robin says
So I have been neglecting all of my favorite blogs and instead have been obsessing about my news of having a new baby on the way in May/June. So……you too! Congratulations. I can’t wait to get some great nursery idea’s.
LindaS says
As a fellow night-showerer – I should say – it isnt weird at all!
Our remodel will start in the new year – the bathroom is currently tiled with a hideous beige & browny-green tile with a pattern that looks like mould! This is in addition to the green suite. Doesnt even look good from afar!
As a mama I have to say having a bathroom which are functional & beautiful is essential – your bathroom reno will make your lives post baby so much easier!
Crystal L. says
I’m excited for you guys! I’m currently redoing my downstairs half bath. Its a weird huge space almost too big for a half bath and it had some super weird asymmetrical business going on. There was a 60 inch space with only a 36 inch cabinet in it, and the sink was way over to the left of the space. So being total ocd, I decided to rip out the countertop, get a new one to center the sink. I reused the cabinet by centering it, repainting it dark chocolate brown (It was that ugly builders standard) and getting new hardware. On the remaining space on either side, I’m putting in open shelves to house tp and hand towels. I’m so very excited! (Even though I discovered a huge hole in the wall during demo!)
Traci says
We’re currently in your first stage…. prettying up what we’ve already got. We stained the oak vanity Mahogany, repainted the walls, and framed out the large mirror over the sink with our demo-ed chair rail molding from the prior hall remodel.
I eventually would love to get a new sink and marble vanity, new floor tiles, and new fixtures, countertop to ceiling….. and a new tub!
Ashley says
We also have bathrooms in our house that look decent from afar, but upon closer inspection could seriously use some help.
(You can find some pictures here: http://sites.google.com/site/thedomesticwannabe/our-first-home).
I am also pregnant, due April 10th, and we are considering redoing one or both of them before the baby arrives. I suppose we better get cracking!
Deb says
Speaking of bathrooms….my December/January project is to redo my girls bathroom upstairs to include new tub, new toilet (or “potty” as it is affectionately called in this house) wallpaper stripped, cabinets stripped and repainted and broken tile floor replaced. Quite a big project – especially since I’m finishing up grad school – but I’m SOOOOO excited to get started!! Can’t wait to see how yours turns out! I’ll be watching:)
Nina says
We did our bathroom a year ago. It was our last big project before the baby came in April. We ended up having plumbing issues and since my hubby isn’t a big DIYer our bathroom took months. I was tiling when I was 8 months pregnant! I’m so glad we did it and I love how it turned out. Can’t wait to see your new bathroom.
K @ Prudent and Practical says
Can’t wait to see what you have planned. We installed new tile on our bathroom floor and installed a new bathroom countertop/sinks/fixtures and lights, but haven’t decided on the walls. We live in a small midwest town and we’re “sprucing up” to move so we can’t get too crazy!
I would LOVE to get rid of the white 4×4 tiles. They go halfway up around the entire bathroom except for a small section. We don’t want to screw something up before we move.
Also… have you taken down any wallpaper border? The previous owners had country outhouses on the border just above the bathroom tiles. We took it down but it’s left lines on the walls – even after priming twice. We have yet to try spackling or sanding.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey K,
We have removed wallpaper and wallpaper borders. The key is to get down the glue after peeling the wallpaper, which is what’s leaving you with those lines. We recommend warm water and lots of scrubbing but a steamer also does the trick. But once you’ve primed over it you’re right about needing to spackle or sand since it’s “sealed” in at that point. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Dana says
Guilty as charged: I am totally one of those people who are relieved to know that your house gets messy sometimes. We are in the middle of a huge mess right now too. ( Check out the blog http://housetweaking.blogspot.com/ ) We keep telling ourselves that it will be worth the moola we save by DIYing and living in a mess for longer than we’d ideally like.
So glad to see that you are being practical by reusing some big things (toilet and tub) and keeping the original layout.
Oh, and Sherry, I’m a night-showerer too! I like to go to bed clean and do not blowdry, so my hair dries overnight. Is it creepy that I get all giddy inside every time I find out something we have in common?! Let’s see, ponytails…quick labors (hopefully for you!)…basket obsessions…and now night-showering?! Seriously, we’re practically twins.
Renee Smith says
Guilty of a wacky mess in converting our third bedroom to a guest room from a junk room; the mess creeps in and out of the third room, but right now it is at bay behind a closed door!
Our house was a total Monet when we bought it, and after our foundation repairs has returned to that status. The previous owners had tons of wallpaper, smoked in the house for 40+ years, and had recently pulled out a lot of carpet (so the smell was at bay when we were looking). After extensively (and oil-based-ly) priming and painting the house we discovered some serious foundation issues (omitted during the house buying process by the agents and the seller). So now the year-old paint is cracked and needing spackling and caulking and repainting. Luckily we were ready for a bit more color anyway. But oye vey!
You guys are brave, and I commend you for tackling such a project while pregnant. As they say, though, its now or never when a baby is in the picture. We are working at a snail’s pace on the 3rd bedroom because our 11 month old is quite busy while awake, and his naps are getting shorter and shorter. Good luck!
Jessica Pieri says
I am so excited to see your progress on your bathroom remodel and some diy inspiration! We are in need of a bathroom overhaul as well. Grout is coming loose on some of the floor tiles and the puka shell vanity is a little over the top for us! lol
valerie J. says
I was ripping down painted over wallpaper in our master bath just this evening. Demo is seriously therapeutic. So now when I take my oh-so-weird night showers I contemplate what other things still need to be done in there…like lots more lighting, refinishing the cabinets, new hardware, paint….
I’ve been using “Wallpaper Chomp” which is a premixed spray-on wallpaper remover that is non-toxic. It is by far the best wallpaper remover I’ve ever used. Strip off the top paper layer to expose the backing paper then spray on, wait about 5 minutes and peel!
Can’t wait to see what you all are going to do in your bathroom…I’m sure it’s going to be fabulous. :)
Sunny's Life in Rehab says
I love you guys, but you are complete amateurs in the messy department. That room is merely a little cluttered. Your clutter even looks dusted.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Sunny,
Haha, you should see our bathroom right now. You would not be disappointed. Every surface imaginable is covered with dust and it’s gutted down to the studs. We have definitely surpassed “clutter” to obtain full on “messy” status. Pics to come!
xo,
s
Megs says
I am anxiously awaiting your design because my bathroom has the EXACT same layout. (Except my linen closet is on the sink side.) My tiles aren’t original to the house but they don’t go with the floor tile (with is nearly the same as yours too!) Can’t wait for your updates!
Cha Cha says
Our bathrooms both need major work, the master is tiny only the width of the shawer stall, and the other is huge with room for my girl to dance around, the laundry is also in the large bath we plan to move it and knock down wall between the two bathrooms and redistribute the space. but then there is the antique clawfoot bath tub with the rust mark stains all over the inside, the pedistal sink that is not pratical for two girls to share and apull chain toliet that needs a little attention. I love all the parts but need it to all be refreshed.
Leanne Diggett says
We are currently in the process of gutting and remodeling our entire house…purchased a month ago today! We are making great strides and will be sure to share pictures. We have decided to leave the bathroom however to a later date. I am jealous yours is on the brink of a remodel. My entire house will look brandy new except my bathroom…but we have decided to wait until we can get it exactly the way we want!
Jenna says
Hey Youngsters! My husband and I have the pleasure of living in a 90 year old 2 bed, 1 bath home. We’ve been remodeling the bathroom in stages so we’d still have a usable bathroom in the home. The final stage (shower), is due to start and (hopefully) finish right before Christmas. Fingers crossed! Having an older home, we’ve run into quite a few surprises during these renovations, everything from interesting plumbing layouts, hidden HVAC components, some beautiful original tile that unfortunately couldn’t be saved, and some minor electrical problems. Best of luck to you!
tabby says
We just moved into a 3bed 2bath house at the end of summer and with it we inherited 1 bath that everyone calls “safety orange” that is sloppily painted that blazing color from the walls all up over the CEILING and back down again. I guess it “compliments” the gold shower doors (ha!)and the 1980’s over sized oak mirror cabinet over the sink :) So after we tackle that bath we will be on to our master bath that is painted in a similar fashion (up and over the ceiling) but in a bloody red color. nice. LOL We’ll be sure to send the before and after pics when we do.
Alison says
I have the exact same tile (floor and wall) in both my full and half baths. I can’t wait to see your mood board and see what you do!
Marine Corps Bride says
I can’t wait to see what you do with your bathroom! I’ve been dreaming of a bathroom makeover for years!!! I’m sure your work will provide lots of inspiration :)
Jillbert says
My bathroom is not a Monet — it’s just plain ugly! Imagine your cracked tiles & dirty corner grout with flesh-colored tile and bad plumbing and you’re getting close. Many is the time I’ve wanted to take a sledgehammer to the walls just to force us to redo the room. I’ll be watching your makeover for inspiration. Maybe I’ll be buying a sledgehammer of my own soon……
Tracey says
We are currently doing the same with our only full bathroom (and we have 6 in our household). It all began with a leak at the base of our toilet. We brought up the old vinyl (yuck) and underneath found a wet and mouldy subfloor. We’ve removed everything and are doing all the work ourselves. I plan on doing the tiling. We chose porcelain tiles–but my absolute fave is the classic, small, octagonal tiles (in cream colour would be ultimate). However,we went for something more economical and easier to work with being it is close to Christmas. We’re hoping to be done by then also. Best of luck!! I can’t wait to see how yours turns out!
Alyssa says
Hello Youngsters,
believe it or not our entire bathroom came out the day after thanksgiving (tub, walls, ceiling, floor, three layers of varying degrees of tub surround with a surprise window hiding behind it, grossness!!!) and we plan to re-do it ourselves by christmas. oh, and did i mention we both have grad school finals coming up? apparently we aren’t that smart. Luckily we added a brand new 2nd bath from scratch this spring, so our confidence is up, and we can still shower. best of luck, and I’ve been chronicling our experience, maybe you would like to see it when we’re done!
love,
alyssa (and bernie)
Samantha says
We tackled a bathroom remodel down to the studs, but we did it before we moved into our house, since it’s also our only (only!) bathroom. Here’s our before and after, which was completed in about a month as well down to the studs and back:
http://iheartminiblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/bathroom-remodel.html
We didn’t really keep with the 50’s feel, since we wanted a clean contemporary vibe. But we peekaboo original pieces throughout the house. In here, it was the exhaust fan :) I can’t wait to see yours!
Melanie says
We redid our bathroom. It was a chore, but the reason it was such a chore was because the bathroom had been redone in the 70’s (we know because we found copies of The Tennessean in there from 1974) and when they did it they used PLASTIC tile. & regular old glue. So we took all the walls down and in the bathtub walls we found a LOT of mold (which explained why I was having trouble breathing in there with my big ole mold allergies!). It wasn’t the proper wall for a bathtub, just regular wall. But we took it all down, put up the proper walls (I forget the name) and put real tile up in the bathtub.
On the floor of our icky old bathroom was carpet. So we pulled that up and there was three different types of plastic flooring on the ground. So we took it all the way to the studs and refloored and then tiled. Got a new toilet and a craiglisted pedestal sink in and it’s looking a lot better and it’s 10x better for my allergies.
Rebekah says
I second Catherine’s request for a budget before & after breakdown. Our master bath (which is not so masterful right now) needs to be entirely redone – i think it’s a very similar job to what you are undertaking but a smaller bathroom. Do you have a budget in mind right now??? My husband and i will be watching this project like a hawk – so excited to see how it goes!
Thx,
Rebekah
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Rebekah,
It’s definitely a plan to share our budget breakdown so rest assured that it’s in the hopper once we’re finished. Right now our budget is “as cheap as possible” – which we’re right on track to hit since we found amazing deals on tile, a vanity, a sink, and a few fixtures. And of course we’re saving money doing a lot of the demo-ing and tiling ourselves. Stay tuned for more details as we go!
xo,
s