A New Nill: Before and After: Downstairs Bathroom

So let's see. We have one full bathroom on the main floor of our house. It is quite small but nonetheless I am very happy to have it! It works really well for guests (the guest bedroom is on the main floor also) and I like that it is located kind of out of the way/in a private spot. When we moved in, it looked like this.

Very plain, VERY white. The floor tile also left a little to be desired and the grout was a dingy tan.

Because this space is pretty small, I thought it would be nice to have a glass shower, one that would open things up a bit because there are no windows. Realistically, something like this:

I also thought, if we are taking out the tub and making the shower space smaller, we could squeeze in some built-in storage on one side:

And add a pocket door, since the current swings into the bathroom and makes it feel even tighter.

I set about getting some quotes for the remodel. Most of the contractors didn't call me back; I think they are used to people assuming they can do this type of project for $5k and when they learn the actual cost, they fall dead of a heart attack and then the contractor has a funeral to go to. Contractors are too busy for funerals plus no one wants an accidental death on their hands. Despite the risk, I had three of them willing to take the chance on me and I received the following estimates: $15,000, not including ANY materials, $22,500, and $29,550. $29,550. I could feel my chest tightening!

I might add, that did not include my storage or my pocket door - I was told no by all three on both of those things. I said to Jason, "This guy wants almost thirty thousand dollars and at the end, we will have a still-small-and-only-moderately-nicer bathroom??" [Choke] [More tightening, but not life threatening, as it turned out]. Phew.

So you guessed it...we did it ourselves!

Side note: you know how they say, if you want a fire lit under you to get a project done at your house, throw a party? Ashton's big 5th birthday was coming up and we wanted to get this bathroom all ship shape and shiny! So we had our "need by" date clearly set and hit "Start!" (What actually ended up happening was a combination of this eventual deadline plus Jason taking the sink off himself to do the beadboard and the minor plumbing emergency that ensued. Want to know what speeds up a DIY project and significantly at that? A leak that continues to drip even though the water is shut off.)

This is not exactly in order but more or less what to do if you want to follow in our footsteps.

Step 1. Go to Lowe's, pick out a nice new toilet and a nice new sink, and have a plumber switch them out. This was probably our most expensive step, like around...$1,200? Somewhere in there. But these two things made it instantly better.

Step 2. Paint. I chose Benjamin Moore Rhine River totally off the cuff and it was perfect!

Step 3. Install crown molding, beadboard and chair rail. Caulk it all.

Jason and I have lived first in a condo, then in a house in Watertown, and now in Natick, and we have had a bathroom in all three places that is this style. Beadboard is a nice upgrade for how easy it is to install (easy for Jason I mean. NOT me. Can you imagine?? I have zero interest in learning how to use tools. Or the grill.)

Step 4. This step actually was me though. Gulp. The tile floor. We knew we were not going to pull the tiles up and were told we could not reglaze them. We briefly considered going right over it with new tile but the toilet had already been replaced and it was too complicated. I bought a Miracle Grout Pen thingy at Lowe's and started painting.

There weren't many color options for the pen so I went with a bright white. It worked surprisingly well! The white paint went on pretty smoothly over the old grout but it did take a couple of coats to fully cover. It was a LOT of lines and I made sure to complain how long it was taking.

Step 5. Have the tub reglazed. This was another biggie - $425. The original cast iron tub was just flat and depressed. There were some stains and in general it wasn't the nicest place to get clean. It worked out great actually, the guy came while we were on vacation so we could avoid the fumes. It is sparkling! So shiny and white, I couldn't wait to get home to see it (yes, I know how that sounds, but these things are what excite me now lol). It's very hard to tell in the pictures but:

Before

After

Trust me. This was in important step to get everything feeling new.

Step 6. Hang up shower curtain and decor, take pictures, do a blog post! Ta-da! Overall, we spent maybe...$2,500? A far cry from $30,000 that's for sure. And it's perfect. Not fancy, but fresh and happy, which is all I wanted :)

The original before: