Guest Bath Remodel - Extreme Makeover Style
To say our house is a work in progress is quite the understatement. We bought our home 5 years ago and have lived in it for 4.5 years. We renovated for six months before moving in, and in those six months, only a third of the house was actually worked on. Unfortunately, it was mostly the expensive, yet not very exciting things (HVAC, windows, sagging infrastructure, roof repairs, etc.). In the meantime, we had two children and purchased a historic commercial building that was in such disrepair it made our house look new. Simply put, there's been little time, energy or resources dedicated to desperately needed renovations.
Over the summer we offered to host out of town guests, so our guest bathroom quickly became a priority.
This was our own mini extreme makeover because lets be honest, this room complete with cherubs on the tile, peeling wallpaper, missing sconces (all the lighting was stripped from the home before we purchased it), a textured ceiling and two pedestal sinks (one not even hooked up), was AWFUL!! But after a lot of sleepless nights, we now have this beauty!
BEFORE:
I wanted the room to be neutral, but a bit playful and this Serena and Lily wallpaper fit the bill perfectly.
It's neutral, but the pattern is fun and not something I will quickly tire of (a big problem of mine). I usually build a design plan around the rug - but in a bathroom, the rug is not typically a focal point, so I started with the wallpaper.
Here's what else I knew - the room needed to be completed start to finish in THREE weeks and we were doing the majority of the work ourselves. Therefore, everything I purchased had to be in stock and ready to ship. I also wanted to keep the budget to $5,000 or less.
Here was my vision.
I needed a vanity with some storage and had to figure out a way to get a tub and/or shower in the space. I fell in love with the color of this vanity (although I will probably change out the hardware at some point), and my rep at Wayfair did an amazing job making sure it arrived with one day to spare before our guests arrived.
I debated long and hard over a walk-in shower, but in order to make that happen walls would need to move and that was not in the timeline or budget. So instead, I decided on an undersized clawfoot tub with a shower kit. Seemed simple enough at the time, but the size I needed did not come in acrylic and getting 500 lbs of cast-iron up three 3.5 flights of stairs was no small feat.
I've said it before, but if I can give one piece of design advice, it's this - do not skimp on lighting. I know nice light fixtures are not cheap, but the right light can literally make, or break an entire space. I have always loved the Cadence pendant by Feiss and t he sconces are amazing, too. They are a great size and the antiqued brass is so pretty. A modern take on the traditional lantern, they were a perfect fit for this room.
The one place we skimped was the flooring. White ceramic 16" tiles would not be my preference, but I also could not justify spending the time or money to tear out a floor of a bathroom that gets used 5 times a year. Instead, I painted the tan grout a light gray...and for $10 and 2 hours worth of work, the floor is now palatable.
My plan was to cover most of the floor with a runner. I love the runner in the design plan and it looked SO pretty in the space, however I did not take into account how close together the feet on a smaller clawfoot tub are, and the runner does not fit in between them. :( Originally, I had my husband lift the tub and I slid it underneath, but that meant it couldn't easily be moved and that did not sit well with me especially in a bathroom used by sometimes poor aiming little boys.
Finally, I had already committed to the antiqued brass lights, but finding a clawfoot shower kit in anything but a horrible polished brass is almost impossible (unless you want to drop a couple grand on a piece of metal). Since I love mixing finishes, I went with brushed nickel on all my plumbing fixtures.
We finished the room off with some crown molding, new baseboards and with MANY late nights, were able to get everything done within budget and just in time for our guests to arrive.
Over the summer we offered to host out of town guests, so our guest bathroom quickly became a priority.
This was our own mini extreme makeover because lets be honest, this room complete with cherubs on the tile, peeling wallpaper, missing sconces (all the lighting was stripped from the home before we purchased it), a textured ceiling and two pedestal sinks (one not even hooked up), was AWFUL!! But after a lot of sleepless nights, we now have this beauty!
BEFORE:
I wanted the room to be neutral, but a bit playful and this Serena and Lily wallpaper fit the bill perfectly.
Here's what else I knew - the room needed to be completed start to finish in THREE weeks and we were doing the majority of the work ourselves. Therefore, everything I purchased had to be in stock and ready to ship. I also wanted to keep the budget to $5,000 or less.
Here was my vision.
I needed a vanity with some storage and had to figure out a way to get a tub and/or shower in the space. I fell in love with the color of this vanity (although I will probably change out the hardware at some point), and my rep at Wayfair did an amazing job making sure it arrived with one day to spare before our guests arrived.
I debated long and hard over a walk-in shower, but in order to make that happen walls would need to move and that was not in the timeline or budget. So instead, I decided on an undersized clawfoot tub with a shower kit. Seemed simple enough at the time, but the size I needed did not come in acrylic and getting 500 lbs of cast-iron up three 3.5 flights of stairs was no small feat.
I've said it before, but if I can give one piece of design advice, it's this - do not skimp on lighting. I know nice light fixtures are not cheap, but the right light can literally make, or break an entire space. I have always loved the Cadence pendant by Feiss and t he sconces are amazing, too. They are a great size and the antiqued brass is so pretty. A modern take on the traditional lantern, they were a perfect fit for this room.
The one place we skimped was the flooring. White ceramic 16" tiles would not be my preference, but I also could not justify spending the time or money to tear out a floor of a bathroom that gets used 5 times a year. Instead, I painted the tan grout a light gray...and for $10 and 2 hours worth of work, the floor is now palatable.
My plan was to cover most of the floor with a runner. I love the runner in the design plan and it looked SO pretty in the space, however I did not take into account how close together the feet on a smaller clawfoot tub are, and the runner does not fit in between them. :( Originally, I had my husband lift the tub and I slid it underneath, but that meant it couldn't easily be moved and that did not sit well with me especially in a bathroom used by sometimes poor aiming little boys.
Finally, I had already committed to the antiqued brass lights, but finding a clawfoot shower kit in anything but a horrible polished brass is almost impossible (unless you want to drop a couple grand on a piece of metal). Since I love mixing finishes, I went with brushed nickel on all my plumbing fixtures.
We finished the room off with some crown molding, new baseboards and with MANY late nights, were able to get everything done within budget and just in time for our guests to arrive.