Master Bath Gets a Face Lift
February 20th, 2008 by ariana
Just as an update to my last post, with the addition of the deduction of the real estate taxes paid at closing our combined total state and federal refund came to $1600!
We haven’t actually received our return yet, but that didn’t stop us from spending some of our proceeds in anticipation, thanks mostly to our dog Sammy, who I’m convinced has doggie Munchhausens. Every six months or so she starts acting so ill that we rush her off to the vet only to be informed after hundreds of dollars in testing ($650 this latest time!) that they can find nothing wrong with her. She usually recovers on her own within a few days, which leaves us very grateful but also lighter in the wallet. Despite the set back, we knew we’d have enough money left over to get to one of the most cosmetically glaring areas of the house.. the master bath.
I’ve spoken briefly of the master bath before. It could use an entire redo, but because it is so tiny we figure that if we stay in the house, we will need to expand the upstairs and the bath so we don’t want to put a lot of money into it right now. All of the following changes are quick fixes but overall they add up to a much improved look.
So, here we go!
Master Bathroom Before & After
Before – Kiddie sink with ancient gold-toned faucets
After – new sink top (this one is white and not cream!) and silver toned faucet
Before – gold toned overhead light fixture
After, silver toned overhead fixture
Before – mismatched fixtures!!
After, all silver now!
Before- landing strip over sink lighting fixture..
Inbetween – three lamp fixture that we felt was too big for the space
After, same fixture but with two lamps that looks more balanced (yes, the wall still needs to be patched!)
So that’s pretty much it, but the redo wasn’t without the usual drama… the shower & bath fixture that controls the on/off hot/cold was of course one that isn’t really available any more. Poor Jeff must have gone to home depot 10 times or more, but none of the lever types of the handles was quite right. Finally, to get it to work he had to take matters into his own hands and buy a dremel to create the right fitting.
Like most projects in an old house, what we thought would be a 4 hour project turned into 4 days because of the fitting issue. I’m sure you can relate!
I can commiserate on bathroom renovations- who knew they could get so expensive?! I like the improvements you’ve made!
Very nice, very nice, but you forgot to add that you added a molding to your medicine cabinet/mirror. That looks very nice too. It would be stunning if the framing was painted black. . . don’t you think?
Blessings,
Sher
Nice! I love how little improvements can have such a big impact. Don’t you feel better every time you walk in there now? Great job!
Thanks Elizabeth.
Sher, actually, we cheated a bit on that.. we actually switched the downstairs and upstairs medicine cabinet doors and painted the trim white! ;) We did that so long ago I forgot to mention it!
Raisingirl.. I do feel better, the dingy gold toned stuff really depressed me lol!
Just goes to show the power of small changes! It looks great.
Nice update. Im sure its a lot nicer to use now its all matches!
I simply love the light fixtures!
Little things make big differences.
just a suggestion, looks like you need to regrout the tub also. gives a cleaner appearance but also keeps moisture out of the wall. just my 2cents. other wise nice choices. love the cabinet hardware though.
regards
thedirtyshow
Looks great!!!
I have the same faucet. Make sure to put some adhesive under the “H” and “C” caps or they will surely go sliding down the drain. The H and C cover the screws.
It looks so great! Very inspiring.
Joni
cote de Texas
Very, very nice! Your hard work paid off, it’s a beautiful bathroom.
@Jean, great minds decoarate alike eh? Good tip about the H&C, never would have known!
@ Dirtyshow, I will not argue with you there! Though in our own defense the tub was really clean the day before we started all this work.. and then I snapped these pics before we got to cleaning again :)
It’s amazing what little things will do for a space! I’d say it definitely paid off!
This is soooooooo much of an improvement – looks lovely!
Nice job! Would you believe that I am working on 6 bathrooms right now. eeek.
Hey–
Love your blog. I especially love your sofa! What model is it and where’s it from? I’m dying for a new one…
Maryam, 6 baths?? Oh my!
Becki, hmmmm, I don’t remember the model name, but its from Lazyboy of all places! They have some nice couches and a million fabrics to choose from including the Todd Oldham ones.
I just now discovered your lovely blog! And I realized that we have/had the same light fixtures in the bathroom. I HATE the gold one and I had no idea that they make a chrome model which looks so much better. And I’m glad to see that we can replace the lights above the sink too. Thanks for the inspiration!
Elizabeth, you are welcome! It does make a big difference. What were they thinking with that gold??