22
Huge thank you to The Home Depot for partnering with me on this post. All product choices and opinions are my own.
It's finally time to reveal our finished guest bathroom! I've got the before & after pictures, nitty gritty details, and all the sources below. We were lucky enough to partner with The Home Depot on this project. They were a dream to work with, and I'm thrilled with how this bathroom turned out. It went from boring builder beige to bright and beautiful! I'm honored to have our bathroom featured on their blog here.
We rented our previous homes, and neither of us grew up with parents who did much DIY home improvement, so we came into this project with very little remodeling experience (besides watching HGTV, which we all know is super realistic--ha!). We also had a pretty tight budget of $5,000. I love looking at high-end bathrooms for inspiration, but I think finding inexpensive alternatives is a fun challenge.
In order to make the most of our limited budget, we tried to make decisions with future resale in mind. I've heard a lot of people say, "it's YOUR home, do what makes YOU happy," and I agree with that sentiment whole-heartedly...but a bathroom remodel is also much more expensive and permanent than a painted wall or a patterned rug. Even my own tastes change over the years, so rather than being brave with trends that I love right now, I decided to choose pieces that are classic, neutral and timeless--and that I still LOVE. So yes, I'm hoping this bathroom will appeal to a wide range of buyers in the future..but even more importantly, I'm hoping that I will still love it in two, five, ten years--however long we stay here. A few years ago, we bought a bright blue bed and I loved it at first, then I got sick of the blue and wanted to switch things up. We moved that bed to our guest room and now we have a grey bed which suits me well...it's much easier to switch out accessories and art than it is to switch out the bed! I used that same philosophy with this room: neutrals for the big stuff that's hard to change, a little more personality with the accessories like the rug and lighting. Am I playing it safe or playing it smart? Maybe both, but either way I am super happy with the balance we struck in this bathroom! It's definitely "my style" but I'm also pretty confident that we improved our home's value by at least as much as we spent.
Speaking of resale though, one decision we weren't totally sure about beforehand was the shower. We went from a tub/shower combo with a plastic surround, to a tiled walk-in shower with glass doors. In this case, we did make the decision based on what we wanted. We both take showers at least 90% of the time, and we have two other bathtubs in this house for young kids and the occasional soak. I'm pretty sure taking out the third tub won't negatively impact our home's value...but if it does, oh well. We are REALLY enjoying the big beautiful shower, and are glad we went for it. In my opinion it's a huge improvement on what was there before.
One thing I did know I wanted was marble--somewhere, somehow. At first, I was thinking wall tile, but it was going to cost a lot to tile the whole shower with marble. So we decided to do marble on the floor since it was much less square footage to cover, and used budget-friendly subway tile on the walls instead ($1.76/sq ft). I found marble hex tile on sale at The Home Depot and a vanity with a pretty marble top, to give us touches of marble without breaking the bank. We also saved money by using a readymade shower pan that fit exactly where the old tub used to be (instead of a $$ custom tiled pan). Other things we vetoed due to the extra expense: multiple showerheads, tile baseboards, and a recessed shower niche. They could have been nice, but were not necessary to make this bathroom feel fresh and updated. Instead, we chose a showerhead combo kit that still feels luxurious, the same baseboards we have in the rest of the house, and corner shelves in the shower. One small but worthwhile splurge...we got epoxy grout which is supposed to be extremely durable and stain resistant. I'll gladly pay a little more upfront for less cleaning in the future! We used the Fusion Pro line (which our contractors recommended) in Platinum.
I've heard that a good way to prioritize a remodel is to think about what pet peeves you have with the current space, and solve those problems. For me, some of those things were minor details...and yet they are some of my favorite updates because I remember how annoying they used to be. Those improvements include: a single post toilet paper holder so it's easy to slide a new roll on (we used to have one of those spring loaded ones), a toilet with straight sides (so we don't have to clean around all those curves), two towel hooks instead of one towel bar (so we each have a place for our own towel), and generous corner shelves with plenty of room for shampoo, etc. (our old tub surround had barely any space and bottles were always falling off--the worst!).
Probably my favorite thing about this bathroom is the glass shower door. It really opens up the room and makes it feel bigger...and it's so nice to have lots of natural light coming in while you're showering. I'm also proud of finding the modern sink faucet (which looks verryyy similar to other ones that cost 5x as much), and the pink rug by Momeni. It gives off the same vibe as a cool vintage rug, but is super budget-friendly--which is funny since it's probably THE item that we've gotten the most compliments on.
It's no secret that most remodel projects run into unwelcome "surprises" along the way, and we had a few. Thankfully, they were minor and easy to remedy (that's one good thing about buying a relatively new builder house!). The biggest thing was that the old light was off-center from the vanity, which was hidden since it was mounted with a bar backplate. Rather than messing with the electrical work and patching the wall, we found another light with a bar backplate. It turned out to be a happy accident, because I really love this light--more than the one I originally picked. The modern shape is fun and unexpected, and the brass finish brings in some warmth to a room that is otherwise very cool. I got some brass knobs for the vanity to tie it in, and I'm going to hang some art in a brass frame as well. Mixing metals is very trendy at the moment, but I decided it wasn't a huge risk to try. None of those items are super hard to change if we change our minds in a few years, and I'm loving the look right now!
The other thing we had to modify from our original plan is the mirror. I originally picked this beautiful, round, chunky, wood mirror that I thought would be a statement piece in the bathroom...but it was a little TOO chunky and it hit the faucet (dangit!). This black rounded corner mirror was my second choice and I think it works, but I'm not sure if it's right. It's a great mirror, and a great price ($81!) but I might try one more mirror. Since we changed the light fixture to one that makes a statement of its own, I think a more slim and low-profile mirror could work better. What do you think? I moodboarded and measured the heck out of this bathroom, but it's still hard to tell how everything will work together until you physically get it all in the space. So I'm cutting myself some slack...if the mirror is the only thing I'm not 100% satisfied with, then I did pretty well!
I'm always curious to see how much remodels cost, so here is a budget breakdown of the main design elements:
Floor tile: $237 (on sale for $7.99/sq ft) / Wall tile: $154 ($1.76/sq ft) / Grout: $110 / Glass door: $586 / Showerhead: $167 / Shower pan: $233 / Vanity: $899 / Knobs: $6 / Toilet: $269 / Rug: $39 / Mirror: $81 / Light fixture: $209 / Faucet: $68 / Towel hooks: $27 / Towel ring: $19 / Toilet paper holder: $16 / Paint: $30 / Pothos plant: $17
Total = $3,167
We also hired out part of the labor and paid for miscellaneous supplies like backerboard, silicone, thinset, etc. Overall, it was a pretty budget-friendly bathroom remodel!
We use this room every day since it's the only bathroom on our first floor, and it still gives me a jolt of satisfaction every time I walk in. We debated between starting with the guest bathroom or our master bathroom, and I think we made the right decision--especially since we can still shower down here, but we can't exactly have guests use our bathroom.
We truly recommend all the choices we made and could not be happier with this remodel. Now I'm eyeing all the rooms in my house like, "who's neeeeexxxt???"
Read more about this project on the Home Depot blog!
Related Posts:
I follow you on pinterest and didn't realise you had your own blog. You have done a great job on the bathroom. It's lovely!
Awww thank you so much! There's so much inspiration out there, it was hard to narrow down all my pins. ;) But I'm happy with how it turned out!
I LOVE this room! You did such a great job and I love all the choices you made. I totally agree with switching from a tub to a glass-door shower. It makes such a huge impact, and you don't need that many tubs. This is such a cute room!!
Aww thank you Kerry!!!! That means a lot coming from you, as I've loved the renovations you've done! I was so nervous with all the decisions but I'm super happy with the result too. If I do say so myself! :P
Hello! Love your blog! What kind of shelving did you use in the shower? is it made of ceramic or plastic?
Thanks!
Hi Elsie! Thank you! The corner shelves are actually marble. These ones, in the Bianco Venantino: https://www.wayfair.com/storage-organization/pdp/ephesus-stones-corner-shelves-wall-shelf-trmk1162.html?piid=20510455
Hi! Great job you Guys! Bathroom looks awesome! I am thinking of updating the shower, we currently have the plastic insert as yours, did you Guys have to drywall the wall before you tiled or it was already waterproofed and all? Thanks
Thank you Lucy! We had to do cement board with waterproofing (RedGard) before the tile went on.
Where did you get the shower shelves?
It's really a fantastic list that you have shared with the readers. These kind of articles are a great source of inspiration as it helps to gather new ideas and tips required for your home renovations and remodeling.
Very nice article and love to see the valuable information! A well-written article that covers ground on home remodeling.
Aw! This is a really cute compilation of your before and after bathroom remodel. Surely, you guys did a great job in coming up with this idea. Even more so, your bathroom remodel easton ma can be a reference for anyone who would like a bathroom remodeling! Really love it!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this budget-friendly bathroom remodel post! 💡 The creative solutions and cost-effective ideas are not only inspiring but also practical. The use of affordable materials without compromising style showcases a keen eye for design. The step-by-step breakdown and before-and-after visuals make the entire process feel achievable for anyone looking to upgrade their bathroom on a budget. Kudos to the author for sharing these fantastic tips and making the journey to a stylish bathroom remodel seem both accessible and enjoyable!