I’ve been promising to reveal our downstairs bathroom makeover for months weeks, and now the time is upon us!  The actual bathroom has been complete for a while, but I’ve just procrastinated in writing a post about it (on account of the millions of photos you’re about to see).  So, before I reveal what the bathroom currently looks like, let’s see how it used to look…

 

Yowza.  This is exactly what we saw on the day we first visited the house.  It’s amazing we didn’t run away screaming, don’t you think?  Fast forward to the day we moved in, with all the clutter removed, the bathroom revealed more of its potential…

Check out the sea-foam green wall paint, shell-shaped cultured marble vanity and green floral themed plastic mirror.  This bathroom was calling out for an update.

Just over a month after we moved in, Rick had demo-ed the bathroom, ripping out the vanity and toilet (which we offered for free on Craigslist and were snapped up within hours).  The wood floors had to come up as well because of the underlying rot…

The plumbing under the toilet was fixed, the missing floor joists were put back in and the sub flooring was reinstalled.  This gave us the basic canvas to start tiling with these large 18″ neutral-colored porcelain tiles… 

Whilst we were working on the walls, we decided to move the light switch closer the the door. 

For some reason, the previous owners had placed the light switch about 20 inches in from the door frame.  Meaning that short people like me had difficulty reaching the switch when entering the bathroom.  Rick removed some drywall and moved the switch much closer to the door.  As an added bonus, he changed the switch so it is now motion activated.  Whenever you enter the bathroom, the light automatically turns on.  After you leave the bathroom, it automatically turns off after about 1 minute.  Now we don’t have to worry about accidentally leaving the light on. Plus, we don’t have to worry about what kinds of germs might be on the light switch from unwashed hands.  So, this switch helps cleanliness and our electricity bill – score!

Next, we transformed a vanity we got for free on Craigslist…

… by painting it brown and installing new brushed chrome hardware, adding a new granite countertop, vessel sink and waterfall faucet.

Then we hit a snag.  A couple of the tiles developed small cracks running along the joint where the cement backerboard pieces met below the tile.  Although all the tiling was finished, we didn’t want to grout before this problem was solved. Solution?  To pull those tiles back up. It was a little disheartening to see all our hardwork being demo-ed again, but knowing that the tile would be set properly sans cracks made it worth it.

Once we tiled, again, we were ready to grout…

…and paint.  We also installed contemporary track lighting and ceiling molding to finish off the space.

A few decorative accessories and the bathroom was ready. And so here we are.  Finally. Here it is. The bathroom reveal…

The photo above shows the view as you enter the bathroom.  Below is a photo showing the opposite corner of the bathroom.

A shot of the madeover vanity:

Let’s see a close-up of that vessel sink and waterfall faucet.  As I mentioned previously, the faucet might eventually be changed to this one on account of the impossible-to-remove water stains on the glass.

Above the toilet are three photos depicting lighthouses on the North Carolina coast…

Opposite the facilities is a small magazine bin, so you can catch up with all your essential reading while you are … cogitating.

And here’s a close-up photo of the painting that adorns that wall.  It was the first gift I bought Rick on my very first trip to the USA.  The image ties in nicely with the lighthouse photos on the opposite wall and the color really pops against the gray-blue walls.

This is the new track lighting we installed to give the bathroom a more contemporary feel – gotta love that we found this on clearance at Lowes a couple of years ago for 10 bucks!  I also really like how the molding gives the whole bathroom a polished look.

So there you have it.  Our bathroom makeover. 

Let’s check out the before and after photos…

Rick and I are thrilled about this bathroom makeover.  The space seems a lot bigger and more contemporary after removing the large outdated vanity, installing tile and updating the paint and accessories. What do you think?  Do you like the transformation?  What’s your favorite part?

Tags: Bathroom, design, faucet, vanity