Bathroom Makeover - Reveal!

This is the story of how our bathroom went from this . . .

to this!

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When we bought our current house eight years ago, we knew this bathroom needed help.  There was a large leaky window in the shower.  Over many years, water had gotten into the track of the window and our fear was that the wood had rotted underneath.  We tried to block out the water and prevent further damage as best we could with a shower curtain, but it didn't look nice.

 

The faucet in the shower was cracked and leaked.  The white tile and grout always looked dirty no matter how often it was cleaned.

 

 

The rest of the bathroom looked pretty bad too.  Ugly sunflower wallpaper . . .

bright gold light fixtures . . .

 

ugly marbled counter tops and more old and leaky faucets at the sink.

The dated 70's dark wood cabinets had already been painted over once.  It looked like someone had tried to touch up the paint in places, but the paint didn't quite match.  The drawer pulls were bright gold to match the gold light fixture.

After looking at so many beautiful bathrooms on Pinterest, I couldn't stand it any longer.  Something had to be done!  Last year we began remodeling our hall bathroom.  My DIY skills are pretty limited, so we hired a contractor to remove the old leaky window in the shower, rebuild the wall, re-tile the shower, and replace the shower fixtures.  It was money well spent. (And luckily, the wood below the window wasn't rotted!)

I love the new tile!  It's so much prettier than the basic boring white.  The new fixtures also look nice and don't leak!  We kept the tub, but it got a good polish and looks like new!

We even got a little niche in the shower which is great for shampoo bottles.

We used a big part of our budget on the shower so we decided to be thrifty with the counter top.  There wasn't anything physically wrong with the counter top - it was still in good shape.  I just didn't like that ugly marbling.  We hired someone to spray the counter top with a faux finish.  Yes, I know about the Rustoleum Countertop Transformations kit and have seen the amazing before and afters.  I just wasn't confident that I could do it well and be happy with the results.  I was worried it would look painted on and I wanted a more professional finish.  So in just a few hours, we went from this . . .

to this! 

 

We also replaced the faucet and fixtures at the sink.   In this picture, you can see that the cabinets got a new coat of paint and have different drawer pulls too.  Next it was time to tackle the wallpaper.  I don't think I need to say anything about how ugly this wallpaper is.  These pictures say it all!  I had never removed wallpaper before, but I felt like it was DIY project I could do.

I know there are a few different methods for removing wallpaper.  My mother-in-law recently removed wallpaper at her house with a steamer.  She let me borrow it and it did a fantastic job!  Just hold the steamer over the paper for 3 to 5 seconds and then peel the paper off.  In stubborn spots you may have to scrub with a wet sponge or wet rag. Just be careful not to get the wall too hot or too wet with the steamer or scrub too hard with the sponge, because it will damage the drywall.

After the wallpaper came off, I scrubbed down the walls to remove any glue residue that was still left on the wall.  I painted the walls two different shades of beige.  That top color is the same color I used in my laundry room makeover.  (More information about the paint colors is at the end of this post.)  

After the walls were painted, I added trim to the mirror.

 Go here to get the step by step directions.

I also added trim on the walls where the two paint colors meet.

The door hinges were rusty and looked like this.  Yuck!

I painted the hinges and the door knobs with Rustoleum like I did for the laundry room.

 Go here for the step by step directions.

I added some little details like some art work and a new towel holder.

It took us a year to do and I'm so happy with the results!  This is the hall bath, so can you believe this is the bathroom that guests had to use!  I'm happy to say I'm no longer embarrassed about the bathroom when guests come over!

Here's what we did ourselves

• replaced the light fixture
• replaced the sink fixtures
• repainted the cabinets
• replaced the cabinet drawer pulls
• removed wallpaper
• removed the medicine cabinet & patched the drywall
• painted the walls
• painted the hinges and knobs on doors
• framed the mirror
• added chair rail trim
• we replaced the toilet too (sorry, no pictures were taken of that project!)

Here's what someone else did for us:

• removed the window in the shower
• rebuilt the wall
• re-tiled the shower
• replaced the shower fixtures
• refinished the countertop and sink

I used Valspar Signature paint from Lowe's.

• The light beige on the top is Waverly Home Classics Natural WV37001
• The dark beige on the bottom is Waverly Home Classics Tawny WV40002
• The off white on the trim and mirror frame is a custom color match color. 

Be sure to check out my laundry room makeover too!

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