the big reveal – bathroom makeover

Our bathroom is finally done! Let me just give you a little reminder of how hideous it was before:

So we gutted the whole room, pushed part of a wall back, took out a radiator, fixed pipes, put up drywall then tile. Then I painted and painted and painted. And here is how it all turned out:

I had dreamed up this chevron pattern bathtub surround after seeing this awesome picture of a wood floor on Pinterest. My friend Steve, who helped us with the renovation, helped me put it all together. We used a piece of plywood and then attached “hobby wood” (thin wood strips they sell at Lowes) in the pattern I wanted. I went to two salvage yards looking for some reclaimed wood to use but I just couldn’t find anything that was affordable and right for the project. I almost bought an old door to use instead but I am glad I went with the chevron pattern. I love how it turned out.

The hardest part of this whole project was picking out the tile. Our bathroom was so 70′s before I was terrified of picking something that would look totally dated in 5 years. I was also afraid of color after living with the avocado green and yellow for so long. So I decided to go with classic, neutral tile and add color on the walls and on the vanity – those things will be easy to re-paint when I get bored. I went to The Tile Shop to get my supplies and they were awesome. They really cater to the DIYer and even have free classes that teach you how to tile yourself. They helped me figure out how much to buy of everything and what kind of grout, etc.

I am totally in love. It is such a clean, relaxing space. The only down side, the rest of my house looks like crap in comparison!

make me pretty – our bathroom, part 1

We are in the middle of a bathroom renovation. It is taking a long time. We did it to ourselves – we have friends helping us and they are doing a really good job, and the price is right but we have to work around their schedules. So four weeks in they say it will probably be another week till we can start tiling. I just want to take a bath in my new bathtub!

But there have been complications, of course. An old house, two layers of tile, an un-level floor, crazy plumbing. So the pictures I am about to show you are not super pretty but any of you who have lived through a renovation will recognize this stage of joy! When the room goes from a giant pile of rubble into a room again. You can start to see how it is all going to come together and it is exciting!

Here’s a link to the before pictures if you missed all the green and yellow loveliness!

This is the granite we picked for our vanity counter top.

Look at all of these buttons! We have so many things to control. Things we have never had before, like a vent and a heater!

And, super bonus, we are also adding a closet into the master bedroom that was formerly closetless. A closet in our bedroom, amazing!

make me pretty – our 70′s bathroom

When we bought our house we new it was a fixer upper. The first thing to go? The carpet upstairs and the blue flower linoleum in the kitchen. But six years later we are still living with our horrible 70′s bathroom. I’m talking avocado green tub and yellow tile almost to the ceiling. And there is no vent so we have a bit of a moisture problem and therefore a mold problem. We actually had a mushroom grow out of the wall between two tiles. I have to try and find that picture!

So when we refinanced our house a while ago we took out a little money to tackle the bathroom. Then Emerson was born and once I had started to recover from that I realized I was paralyzed with fear. Have you ever been to a tile store? There are way too many options. I wanted something that I wouldn’t get sick of but I wanted it to be interesting too.

After many months of research, pinterest and online shopping I finally have a plan. I also have a bathtub sitting in my garage waiting for the renovation to begin next month. We are having a friend help us but we will be doing a lot of the work ourselves so it should be interesting.

Here is our bathroom now. I really hate putting these pictures up here. It really is that bad!

Under the yellow tile I found the original white subway tile but it is in pretty bad shape.

And here is my vision for our future bathroom:

I really want it to be classic yet modern and kind of cool. I don’t want to pick anything that is going to date it. So I am keeping all the tile black and white and I’m going to add color by painting the vanity green. I can always go back and re-paint the vanity if I get bored. That will be a lot easier than replacing tile.

So let me know what you think. Have any bathroom renovation words of wisdom for me?