We worked with a few different brands, who gave us discounts towards a few products you will see in the pictures below. A huge thank you to our friends at Wayfair, The Tile Shop and Active Kitchen & Bath Design Center!
Our late 70’s bathroom greeted us with stained vinyl flooring, a completely warped/worn tub and filth everywhere. It still boggles my mind how we went 3 years in this home without touching an inch of this space. One coat of paint on the walls and trim and we ran out of there and pretended the bathroom did not exist.
Kidding.
It was our main bathroom. So we were faced with it every single day.
Every pee spray session from our reckless growing boys that seem to forget where the toilet is.
Before and after each shower, attempting to scrub the stained tile grout.
I’d gag and whimper, reminding myself each day that we are lucky to have a roof over our head and not to be so dramatic.
But everyone deserves to be dramatic every now and again riiiiight?
We finally bit the bullet and came up with multiple mood boards and decided that it was time. We could not push back this renovation another day, another year. In hind sight, I am glad that we post poned this reno so many times, because our taste in decor has evolved so much.
Loves, take a look at what our bathroom was before we got our hands on it!
Yellow on yellow. Stains upon stains. Old upon older. It’s gives me the exact belly flipping icky feeling in my stomach like when I lift the toilet seat and see all of the dried pee my boys have left for me to clean off.
The above picture is the real-raw deal folks. Awful, ay?
I do have a hard time throwing away the bits and pieces to a room. The Abby you all know would revamp this vanity and give it new life. I always like to give furniture a second chance. But at nearly 30 years old, this vanity had a great life and I was more than willing to be the one to wave goodbye.
The demolition went smoothly, surprisingly! We knew there had to be a hiccup somewhere, and boy oh boy we had a few along the way. Take a peek at some of our pictures from demo day…
See all of that mold?? YUCK!
By far not a surprise,though. If anything we were surprised to not find more. I always go into a renovation expecting the worse and hoping for the best. These days, thanks to all of the popular DIY shows, many homeowners are well versed in renovation lingo, so just think naughty thoughts and anything positive that floats your way will leave you doing the happy dance!
The plumbing had to be replaced and shifted. We switched from a single vanity to a double, and older bathrooms always have a few quirks to work around. Thankfully, Dan’s Dad John is our right hand man with teaching us how to get the job done correctly.
Unfortunately in the days/weeks that the bathroom sat like the below picture, Olive (our cat) got herself stuck in a hole underneath our brand new tub (see the hole above with the pipes sticking out? Yep! add the tub, and tile in and thats where she was stuck days later). The panic and frustration was real. The tile was up, tub was set in concrete and there was a maybe 4×6 inch hole (if I am being generous) that she crawled into to have a field day running through the floor joists of our house.
It took nearly 6 hours and one can of tuna later to get her to come out of her hiding spot. The little brat had a hell of a time and enjoyed herself so much that we had to board the hole up in between putting everything back together. I thought we would have to cut a hole in the ceiling of our kitchen and pray she would “drop out”! HA!
Anyways ….
I flipped and flopped over what I wanted this bathroom to look like. This bath is our boys main bathroom, so I needed materials that would stand the test of time and a look that was functional and fresh.
Let’s cut to the chase!
Welcome to our very new, very fresh and functional new bathroom…
From the hexagon floor tile, to our shiplap trim around the room – there are so many great details to this space that pulls your eyes in yet keeps the room feeling open and roomy.
This VANITY from Wayfair was on my wish list for months and months. When it arrived I was extremely impressed with the quality – and the fact that it looks exactly as it shows online. Unfortunately we ran into SO much drama putting this piece in. From having to cut out almost the entire back to fit new plumbing to purchasing new faucets. Oh, and the marble backsplash cracked in half like a piece of chalk – I was mortified! My biggest fair warning is that the faucets do not come with directions, and are nearly impossible to put together with the plumbing – lots of shifting and complaining on our end. BUT – Wayfair, as always, went above and behind to help us take care of the issues. (the best customer service!) And after all of that drama, I still would not pick another vanity. I adore this piece.
The opposing wall to the vanity holds our towel hooks and two large Target prints that I just could not let go! They are 24×30 and as a two pack, you get both for under $80 right now!
The pictures above the toilet still have the original photos in them (whoops!) – found at Target months ago, for under $20 a piece.
You can find these simple and sleek coat hooks at your local hardware store, ours were less than $3 a piece!
Hold the phone. We need to talk about the lighting that we picked out for this renovation. Our friends over at Wayfair hooked us up, and we are always stoked to share with you guys TRULY affordable pieces that anyone can add to their home on a budget! This 1-Light Star Foyer Pendant in particular stops everyone in their tracks on the way to the john!
The Saltzman 4-Light Vanity Light was such a fun piece to add for the boys bathroom. It’s modern, yet rustic all wrapped into one. It comes in rubbed oil bronze (which is this one, that I think looks black) and brushed nickel. I went out on a limb when I ordered this, hoping that the color would lean more towards black and we lucked out!
It is actually flipped upside down – I insisted on this giant wooden mirror, and if we wanted the lights facing downward we would have to reroute the electrical …. SO. Hubby won with not having to do more work, I won being able to keep my mirror and we both lost at properly installing the lighting. Hey, every space has to have its quirks, am I right??
We went to The Tile Shop, in Mentor, Ohio – where shopping for tile is so much fun and the staff makes the process run so smoothly. I cannot tell you how many emails I had going back and forth for two weeks, changing my mind, asking to see more samples and rearranging what I needed. The service was amazing and I highly recommend going there! We chose simple subway tile for the shower, accented with black grout which in return took this basic and affordable tile to an entirely new level.
I had so many marble samples in my hands – and at the end of the day when we wanted to make this bathroom usable, and well, with 3 boys that are just growing like weeds, I did not want a space that I felt like I had to hover over them and worrying about the finishes.
The shower head is magnetized, which is apparently so yesterday, but so futuristic to the gal who has always had 30 year old bathrooms. Oh, hey, that’s me!
It was a one stop shop for the bathtub and faucets – and delivery was $10! We were thrilled!
If you’re local, make a stop at Active Kitchen & Bath Design Center in Painesville, Ohio!
Give me all of the hexagon tiles! Simple, classic and timeless all wrapped into one pretty 6 sided shape.
Max stands at the tub allll the time. Like a puppy begging for a treat, only he wants to take 10 baths a day if he could. He totally gets my excitement level for this new bathroom.
When the sun goes down, the light gives off the prettiest star pattern on our ceiling. The price for this pendant is out of this world, and if you need an affordable statement light for a room – BUY IT NOW!
I am forever grateful that Dan and I did not push this project back another year. It is absolutely amazing what you can do on a dime. It may have taken us weeks longer than expected, but here she is all pretty and shiny ready to be at the mercy of our boys.
Do you have a bathroom you are looking to renovate? Are you feeling inspired by our affordable bathroom renovation? If you ever need help designing a space, and picking out pieces for a mood board, email me TheThomeHome[at]gmail[dot]com for pricing.
Plus, it makes me feel kind of good because I recently did the soon to be kid s bathroom in our new home and it looks very, very similar to your reveal.