Thursday, May 17, 2012

Bathroom Revamps (Before and After)

I feel like I've been waiting forever to have my bathrooms fixed up!  I've been dreaming of putting granite counters and non-shiney faucets in since I first purchased my townhome 2.5 years ago.  Finally this year I realized that this was an attainable dream and I started doing my research and putting aside a few dollars here and there to make this dream a reality. 

This was the first big home project I've ever saved up and paid for in cash.  And it made the whole process that much more exciting and enjoyable.  Actually, every area came in under budget, as well which left some money for fund accessories soon!  I can hoenstly say I'm proud of myself.  For saving the money, doing the legwork and research, and being my own 'contractor' on this project.

There wasn't anything 'wrong' with my previous set up, per se.  But I've never loved white countertops as they always seem to look dirty and the super shiney faucets they chose for the bathrooms when they built my place screamed 'cheap' to me.  As I think you'll be able to see from the before pictures the walls of the bathrooms were a cheap white paint that showed every splash, spill, or bit of dust....

Master Bath - Before.

 Guest bath - Before.
Guest Bath - Before (before I put all the stuff in it, obvi).

Note: When I returned from Haiti the mirror that was previously attached to the guest bathroom was not anymore.  Not really sure what happened there... but I saw it as an opportunity to replace said big piece of mirror with a framed mirror, since my painter offered to both fix up the wall AND hang the mirror for me after painting.  Score.


Paint on the left is the house paint.  Paint on the right is for the bathrooms only.  This was an unexpected purchase but I'm pleased that my painter suggested my color for the house would be dark and blah in my bathrooms. I think he was right!


This is the mirror I purchased for the guest bathroom.  Courtesy of Homegoods - the new one in South Tampa! (and a thank you to Mom for funding this find!)

The guys who replaced my counters had the cutest personalities.  They did this and then said 'well, have a good one' as they walked out the door with my old vanity top.  Funny.
 And then - ta da!

Guest bathroom counter.

I'm sure you've noticed what's still missing at this point...faucets!  But don't worry, a day later and with much drama and awkwardness they came into the picture too...

 Oh hey faucet hey!
Guest bath with faucet (I chose the same granite and faucets for both bathrooms)

Once the counter top guys, the plumber, and I did our parts it was time for the painter to get in there and do his.  He patched holes, fixed a few spots that got damaged from the removal of the old counters, painted, and hung the guest bath mirror.  He's truly amazing.  If any of you are thinking of revamping bathrooms I have some phone numbers for ya (assuming you live in Tampa, of course).

In addition to paint, patching, and hanging I asked the painter to do me one more favor and change out the old toilet paper hardware in the guest bath.  Since moving in I have HATED the one that the previous people installs.  All the hardware and fixtures in the bathrooms are silver and for some reason they still thought it would be a good idea to install this:


Why yes, that is bronze and brown, in case you were wondering. And no, it doesn't match ANYTHING else in the bathroom.  And yes, it's small and normally mostly covered with toilet paper but it's still been the bane of existance for 2.5 years of homeownership. And so I bought this one:




The new one is simple but it's brushed nickel like the fixtures in the bathroom and so it matches.  Ah.  The painter was gracious enough to accept the task of installing it.  Out with the old and in with the nickel, people.

So now here's the part where I show you that I'm not perfect, especially at being a homeowner.  I measured the width of the mirror but I didn't think through the height and this happened:
 

Very small floating mirror...eck.  And so I had to make a last minute trip back to homegoods to return this and get a bigger one which my neighbor hung for me with a little attitude...


 Here's Kayla and I with the new new mirror.  And with the vanity starting to come together.

Here's a close up of what the mirror looks like.
 
And the guest bathroom with the shower curtain up!  Woot woot.

And here's the finished master bathroom vanity:



This bathroom is actually just getting started. I have a new color scheme idea for my room and bathroom and I'll be saving for that and doing it slowly...so stay tuned. But I at least wanted you to see the counters, sinks, faucets, etc.

Thanks for all the encouraging words along the way..I'm so glad to have a freshly painted house (more picture of that soon) AND almost new bathrooms!

Love,
B
 

8 comments:

Jodi said...

Looks great! Too bad the round mirror was too small. I loved it!

Darby Hawley said...

This looks SO awesome Becca! You've done a great job!

Asha said...

Wow, what a great transformation! We changed our "generic" bathroom mirrors for framed ones as well and, wow, it makes such a huge difference!
You have great style, girl :)

Nichole @ casadecrews.com said...

lovvvve it! I don't know if I like the mirror or shower curtain, more!

Lauren said...

I seriously love that mirror and your countertops! :-)

Established: 2008 said...

Love the mirror! I would love the replace the mirror in our guest bath!

Katie said...

Love it!! The counters are gorgeous. I'd love to redo my bathrooms!!

Lydia - Running Wild(er) said...

Very nice!! Good job!