The Frugal Master Bath Makeover

Remodeling on a budget?

I'll give you two tips: 1. Marry an amazingly talented guy who can master just about any task he sets his mind too and 2. Do it in steps, so you can save up the money and shop for deals.

Oh, and please, you don't have to marry the above kind of guy to tackle this project, you can do it yourself. But I love to see my man in his work gear and so I'm all for the hubby doing most of the work while I take the pictures.

Okay, I'm getting off track. Anyway, last year WB redid our shower. We had a leak that was causing big problems for our dining room ceiling. My dear father-in-law fixed the ceiling (my MIL obviously also knows my tips on marrying ). But the whole shower pan had to be replaced, which meant tearing up the shower floor which lead me to getting a whole new shower. That's how things work around here, one little thing leads to one big thing and off we go.

Here are some before pictures:

Okay, the wall was green when we bought the house, obviously it used to be this red color. Even with the toilet tank on you could see the red peaking through. Did the person who painted this really just walk away and think no one would notice?

My vanity area

Sink area

Tub area after WB tore off the old tiles.

And here's the plan. We are going to paint the walls first, so we don't have to worry about dripping paint on new tiles or floor. Next is the tub will get retiled to match shower with brand new faucet, yippee. Since WB is also good at soldering pipes he will be replacing the leaky tub valve while we're at it. See those 2 by 4's along the tub. We will be making a little ledge covered in tile. My sweet man thinks I need a place for some candles, bubble bath etc. So we need to add extremely romantic to the above "what kind of guy to marry" list above.

There is a plan to put a cedar beam across ceiling above the tub to frame off that area. Next we'll save up for the floor tiles. No more icky, yucky peeling up laminate floors! Then finally we will replace the counter tops and paint the cabinets. Painting is much cheaper than replacing. Some day I'd love to update the lights and mirrors, but we'll just see how that goes:)

I'll share more pictures tomorrow of the paint job. I was scared, really of my color choice and of my technique, but I'll tell you about all that tomorrow.