DIY Bathroom Remodel

DIY Bathroom Remodel

Well Gosh has it been a while. It has been a crazy busy 3 months...4 months?...I'm losing track of time here! A lot has happened since I last posted. We moved back to the home we own in Mankato, MN and decided to get it ready to sell. We have a list of projects that is well on it's way and I haven't had a dull day for weeks. I am most excited about our downstairs bathroom "remodel" that I finished (almost) all on my own. That's the other kicker, since moving back, the hubby has been working like crazy and had a trip to fish in the boundary waters so I've been doing a lot of the work around nap times and propping the boys in front of a movie.

     All right! So now to the fun stuff, the bathroom project! Here it is in all of it's glory. (I still have a few finishing touches but most are not too pertinent)

The Before

 I am embarrassed to admit that I painted the peachy color that is on the walls. (it was dark blue when we moved in 4 years ago) Not the best choice I do admit. I think I did much better the second time around though.

The After

Voila!

New paint, new color scheme and new vanity sink. So here's what I did...

I really wanted to do everything right this time around so I started off by sanding and washing the walls, then filling in every hole and uneven surface with wood putty and/or spackle. Then I primed.

 

I had originally thought to add a pedestal below the sink to hide the ugly plumbing so I left it in place to begin with. (I later discovered this type of sink was not made for a pedestal to fit underneath, ugh)

I chose a color by Dutch Boy called "Popcorn" for the walls and ceiling.

I wanted to paint the ceiling the same color as the walls to help the room look larger. I went with a semi-gloss even though I was working with some pretty blemished walls because this bathroom retains A LOT of moisture being so small. I knew that the bathroom needed more than just a light neutral color so I decided to add a thick stripe 1/3 of the way up the wall. For that color I chose the next color up on the swatch called "Grand Stand Tan".

When I was picking the colors from a pile of swatches I thought that the the color would be different enough from the white trim so that I would only need to touch it up...I was wrong.

After finishing the walls I really didn't like the white on off-white look. :S Who would? So I opted to also paint the trim the "Grand Stand Tan" after looking at some pictures on Pinterest that also had light walls and tan trim. 

 Big improvement. (here you see the gap the previous owners left when cutting the switch plate to size, we will be replacing this and doing it right)

I didn't want to make a "pillar of darkness" in the corner of the room by painting the tall cupboard all tan so I thought I would probably paint rectangles in the centers with the "Popcorn".

Before starting the paint job on the cupboards, I bought a new sink!

I decided to take the shape on the sink cupboards, and paint one on the large corner cupboard to tie the two together.

Then I had to address the space on the wall where the previous sink had been.

I sanded, spackled, sanded again, primed and painted it.

(and also cut away the baseboard to make the vanity flush with the wall)

Then I sanded, primed and painted the vanity cupboards to match my corner cupboards.

Add the fixtures and accessories...

and I freaking love it!

I also decided to spray paint the door knob to match the fixtures. I should have taken a before because it was pretty gross looking.

I am so happy with the way this whole thing turned out, all that is left to do is replace that switch plate, finish installing the sink and move some hinges on the corner cupboard so that those bottom ones close properly. (previous owners and their "quick and cheap" job)

All in all it has been a very successful remodel that only cost a little and took about a week!