Inexpensive Bathroom Redo: Day 29

Today I decided to mix things up a bit and go to Lowes. I probably should have stuck with Home Depot because Lowes didn’t have two of the lights I was looking for and the cashier forgot to give me one of my bags so I paid for spray paint that I didn’t take out of the store.

I’ll be going back tomorrow to pick up my paint to redo the vents.

Today we worked on hooking up the washer and dryer (I also forgot to buy a plug) and building the new wall in the family room.

If you remember the room had sliding doors and mirrored blinds when we first moved in.

We removed the blinds and the doors because we are building a wall. The green room in the background will eventually become my office and a mud room and we wanted the family room to be a bit more cozy.

Since the room has paneling on two walls and brick on the other wall we decided to panel the wall to match. We got a lot of it installed tonight, especially considering the nail gun pooped out on me because the wood was too strong for the nails/gun so I had to drive the nails in by hand.

Here I am before the nail gun starting shooting double nails and all sorts of craziness.

I realize that 100 years ago everyone drove nails in by hand, but when you have an air compressor the size of a great dane sitting in your house you want to use it!

This room will have wood floors and I think it will be super cozy when we are finished.

In addition to the major renovations we are also doing a few small projects.

One small project is my bathroom. Our house has 4.5 bathrooms. We gutted the 1/2 bath, we’re doing a little work on the guest bath (it had wallpaper) and two bathrooms we aren’t touching for at least a year or two.

All the bathrooms are in good condition, especially for their age.

My bathroom is dated and I’d like to do an inexpensive upgrade that will last a few years until we can do something bigger.

Here are a few pictures so you know what I’m dealing with.

This is the view from the entry door. We have a giant mirror on the back wall next to the toilet. The door is a linen closet.

The tile is in good shape. The vanity is in decent condition and painted a shiny black with gold knobs.

The shower has mirrored doors which make the shower area very dark (although there is a light in the shower).

The bathroom has wallpaper (of course) which is in very good condition.

The faucets are an off white and chipped and not in great shape.

Here are my thoughts.

• Remove shower doors and frame. Replace doors with a curtain.
• Skim seams and paint over wallpaper.
• Replace caulk around tub and vanity.
• Replace faucets.
• Paint vanity and replace knobs.
• Possibly replace tiny toilet.

I figure that would give me an updated bathroom for only a few hundred dollars. I would probably just use leftover paint, although it would need to match the tile which is a beige/pink but more beige than pink.

I’m not sure I’m going to replace the toilet. It is in good condition but it is really small. I think it is fine, but everyone seems to think it is too small.

What would you do in the bathroom to help fix it up without spending a lot of money?

The painters come on Thursday so tomorrow I’m finishing the wall and installing trim.

I’m also hoping to paint the vents before the weekend. I looked at the vents in the family room tonight and they were so dirty! They need to be cleaned if nothing else. I’m sure all the construction dust hasn’t helped either!

This is part of our ongoing renovation project for our new home in Florida.  Our goal is to be done by Thanksgiving or else.  Follow the daily accounts of our real life during this DIY renovation process here.