Master Bathroom Remodel

The finished product:

The upstairs bathrooms of our house had always needed a bit of a face lift. The white counter tops were starting to yellow in some areas, sinks were cracking, pop-up drains never worked correctly, and layers of bad paint jobs were very noticeable and drove us crazy. We are planning to move within the next couple years and had to decide what type of upgrades made sense for us to put money into. We chose to paint and replace the counter top, faucets, mirrors, and light fixture. The existing cabinetry is in good condition and we felt like we would be taking on too much for our first ever remodel project if we were to rip them out as well.

I started this project as I start everything - by creating a mock-up in Microsoft Word. Its incredibly unofficial, but I do all my mock-ups in MS Word.

When it came down to the physical work, neither of us have done any remodeling so this was a good first adventure with some help from my Dad. We started by removing the large builder grade mirror, side splash, and light fixture and then patching and repairing the walls. Once the walls were ready - we were able to paint. While the sample of it made us nervous, Benjamin Moore's First Snowfall ended up being the perfect shade of light, barely there blue I wanted.

Scroll through slideshow to see our progress during these steps >

Once all the tedious painting and wall repair work was completed, the fun part could begin! My Dad came over to help us pull up the old vanity top and install the new one. It was surprisingly easy to remove other than having to wedge the heavy top out of the narrow space between the two walls. They put down some clear silicone on the cabinet tops and laid on the new counter top, then the back splash and side splash. From there we installed the new brass faucets and hung the mirrors. After a few quick hours of work with Dad's help, we felt confident we could finish up by hanging the new light fixture on our own so off he went to his next job. *Foreshadowing* ... we were wrong!

Well, we were wrong about the light fixture. That darn light was the hardest part! On the surface it looked like your standard wall mount and in most houses it would have been a 15 minute job to attach it to the existing mount. It turned out that there was a plastic plumbing air pipe running right up through that center section. The builder used a mount that is actually intended for use with ceiling fans and it had a nailed rod that ran between the studs. This just wouldn't work for our new light since there was only one mount point, whereas the previous light screwed into the drywall on both sides. No matter what we tried it was wobbly and driving us crazy. We tried several things, including a trip to Lowe's, with no luck. Finally my Dad supplied us with a fix - a piece of wood to hold things taut behind the drywall so that we get a sturdy support for our new mount.

Obviously a good remodel calls for some new decor. This was the perfect opportunity to purchase a piece of art we'd had our eye on - a Maren Devine print, Warrior Girl Bo. I forgot finding large frames doesn't come easily, but was really happy with Frame It Easy and how it turned out.

That's it! New paint, counter top/sinks, faucets, mirrors, light fixture, and some new decor and we're feeling like we got a whole new bathroom! It turned out just as we had hoped and we hope it will someday help to catch the eye of the next owners.

A final before and after shot:

Sources:

Paint color is First Snowfall by Benjamin Moore

*Countertop/ sinks: Lowe's

Faucets: Jacuzzi Duncan from Lowe's

Mirrors: Target

Light fixture: Lowe's

Tray, soap dispenser, and cup are all old, I believe from Target

Art: Maren Devine

Frame: Granby in gold from Frame it Easy

Washcloth basket: Hearth & Hand from Target, appears to be sold out, this is similar

*Worth noting, I didn't think to research the counter top. I consider myself a big planner and researcher, but a counter top just seemed simple and if I liked how it looked and it fits, what else do I need to know? Well, after the fact we realized engineered marble is like real marble in that it etches very easily. It came with a warning to be careful with things like hand soap and toothpaste. That's right, they warn against using those typical bathroom items on this bathroom counter top. If we could do it again we'd pick a different surface as we can already see some light etching after only a few weeks. We'll have to be careful with it, but we did buy some special cleaner and polish that will hopefully help maintain it.