I’m finally sitting down to write about our bathroom renovation, it was the first full renovation we did on our own and it was quite the labor of love. It took months, but was so worth it! My biggest regret was not taking any before pictures, I’m so sorry. I can tell you the vanity and shower had brown tile from the 70’s that was falling off and the floor had tan peel and stick linoleum tile. Mostly it was just gross, moldy and basically unusable.
I started the design with the floor, I really wanted black and white tile. I’ve never installed tile before but I figured after a few Youtube tutorials I could figure it out, haha. After falling in love with many expensive options I knew I could achieve the look and feel with a cheaper version. These tiles I found at Lowes and they are always in stock so I didn’t have to wait for tile to be delivered and could return what I didn’t use. They really were a great option for our budget.
Another budget friendly decision was our shower surround. For some reason installing tile vertically rather than on the floor seemed much more difficult and out of my comfort zone. My husband came up with the idea of using a product called Ardex (basically a thin cement). It took about 3 and a half bags to cover the shower walls and each bag costs just under $40. We had to seal it with two different types of cement sealer, but even the cost of all of that was still cheaper and easier than tile, mortar, and grout.
I absolutely love how it turned out. Its durable, beautiful, very easy to keep clean. And I think the variation in color just adds to the charm.
Lastly, I want to talk about this black wall. This wall was originally a doorway into a bedroom, but it was kind of awkward and really unnecessary.
We’ve learned from previous projects that mudding sheetrock and trying to match the wall texture is not something we are gifted in. We knew shiplap was trendy but also a little country and thats just not our vibe. We found this tongue and groove wood at Home Depot and decided to paint it a moody matte black to modernize the look a little bit. I think it tuned out great and plays off well with both the tile floor and cement shower.
There are so many more details I could talk about but for now I’ll just say that if you want to make a major change in your home but are afraid of the unknown or don’t think its in your budget, get creative! You are much more capable than you think and with the resources out there you can actually do a lot. When we demolished this bathroom we only left the tub and this whole bathroom cost less than $1000!
I know a whole renovation is not for everyone, but there are hopefully some aspects you might feel the confidence to take on yourself. I would love to hear your questions or design challenges, let me know below.
These Spaces Between 