Thursday, August 29, 2013

Before & After: Downstairs Bathroom

Ladies and gentleman, drum roll please. We are DONE with the downstairs bathroom! It took us four months start to finish, with a huge learning curve along the way as we learned to do our own plumbing (shower, sink, toilet) and tiling (shower and floor), but we're all the better for it and finally ready to share some pictures.

First, let's take a walk down memory lane....

BEFORE



AFTER


And there you have it. I am going to pull together a few dedicated posts for some of our DIY projects in the bathroom, but in a nutshell here's what we did:

Sink: The sink stand was made using a simple $50 oak table from the flea market, outfitted with a bowl sink and brushed nickel bridge faucet. The wood looks rather dark in the photos, but does not appear as dark in person.

Mirror: The mirror was a $10 flea market find. It had a layer of chipping veneer, so I soaked it in the tub until the veneer peeled off easily, sanded the wood, and refinished with stain and sealer.

Medicine cabinet:  Again, a flea market find for $40. It had a bad paint job, so I sanded and repainted it.

Shower: We used a shower kit to build out the shower curb and floor. Josh poured concrete to angle the floor slightly so that water runs to the drain, rather than pooling. He also added pipes to move the shower head and installed an on/off shower dial in the middle of the wall. We hand cut small square tiles from our slate tile stock and tiled the shower floor and curb. We tiled the shower walls with white ceramic subway tile.

Floor: We tiled the floor ourselves with slate tile from the quarry.

Peg rack: We built a peg rack/towel bar by attaching 4 shaker pegs and this towel bar from the hardware store on a wood plank. We painted the whole thing white then mounted it to the wall.

Thanks all for following along on our first bathroom remodel journey! We are already brainstorming ideas for updates to the upstairs bathroom...

17 comments :

  1. I'm so impressed - you guys did an amazing job! I want to see more pictures :)

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  2. Claire,
    This is such a great bath remodel! We also did some similar work in our 1st floor farmhouse bath...and I love it. I really need to know where you found the ladder with buckets that is leaning next to shower stall...love that it looks like galvanized metal but must be fabric?!
    If you have time, check out our bath before/after on my blog.
    Happy remodeling...can't wait for your next post!
    Judi

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  3. Hi Judi, thanks for the kind words! The ladder is from West Elm: http://www.westelm.com/products/mrk-leaning-bath-shelf-d1332/?pkey=e%7Cbathroom%2Bshelf%7C1%7Cbest%7C0%7C1%7C24%7C%7C1&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCH||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_-Featured%20Shelves-_-

    You are right...the laundry basket at the bottom is fabric. The only complaint I have is that the ladder is not very tall, but otherwise I am happy with it. Good price too. Heading over to check out your blog now!

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  4. Amelia, thank you! I just checked out your blog as well. Loved browsing our before & after projects! You guys are doing a great job, I'm looking forward to following along :)

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  5. Claire and Josh
    Really impressive. You are now ready to tackle the Stoneglen Front Bath! Great work, seriously you are amazing.

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  6. Wow! This is a total bathroom makeover! It's like those home makeovers on television. I like how you made the transition from being outdated to an elegant room. And you made good use of the space! Kudos to that!
    Lida Swisher @ Waddle Exteriors

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  7. Woow, you're new bathroom looks fantastic! You did a great job down there. The only thing that i did with my bathroom recently, was adding a brand new whirlpool WHIRLPOOL AQUA 160 SQ - but still, i'm pleasured with my purchase! Thank you for the interesting blog post, Claire!
    Kind regards,
    Jane

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  8. I might be months late, but I would like to say 'Congratulations' on your new bathroom! You've done a great job in this redecorating project, guys! I'm also amazed with the fact that you managed to finish this renovation by using cheaper materials. Well, I do hope I can find a sink that's like yours. I can probably use a tub that looks like that. What d'you think?

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  9. This is an incredible bathroom remodel! This is just further proof that the current state of a room doesn't have to dictate how beautiful it can be in the future.

    Chester Jones | http://baystaterefinishing.com/bathroom-remodeling/

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  10. Wow, those after pictures look incredible! I have been wanting to remodel my bathroom for a while now, but have been pretty hesitant to get started. How much did all of this cost from start to finish?
    Andre Franklin | http://www.renovationsgroupinc.com/bathrooms/

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  11. What a beautiful transformation. It hardly looks like the same space after the bathroom remodel was completed!

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  12. I love how your bathroom looks now! It's a guilty pleasure of mine to look up remodels for the before and after pictures. Your current bathroom looks a lot more classy, especially with the brushed nickel! http://www.theremodelerpro.com/remodeling/

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  13. This is awesome, you rock! I like the new design.—Bathroom Remodeling Rhode Islandhttp://constructionrhodeisland.com/

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  14. You did an amazing job on this tiny bathroom! It is so inviting now, and taking out that old bathtub and replacing with a shower was a great idea and gave some much needed space! Thanks for sharing.

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  15. Great job with the home improvement project to your bathroom and very well done in that you were able to do so much and on such a small budget with so many recycled items. Easier than remodeling your entire bathroom, but still adds value and warmth. Would love it, but not for the bowl-style sink, leads to splashing, not my style, but works for you.

    Essie Reed @ Valley Home Improvement

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  16. Great job on the tiles and the shower area! I love how you have kept everything practical and with convenience in mind. It is a great renovation outcome and one you deserve congratulations for!

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  17. Great post and the bathroom looks lovely. thanks for sharing it.

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