Welcome to My Fixer Upper: The Bathroom Makeovers Edition…
When I bought my current house it was in desperate need of some TLC! I love a fixer-upper so I was up for the challenge. In fact that’s what attracted me to the house! This is my third fixer-upper and I learn more on each one. I always make it a priority to get as much done as possible before I move into the house. I hate living in a construction zone! And I try to do whatever I can myself and hire out the rest. But that decision isn’t always just based on skill level. Sometimes workload factors into it. If I’m going to paint or stain cabinets, that’s a time consuming process. If the interior of the house also needs to be painted, I factor in the carrying costs of living elsewhere until the work is done and it’s often cheaper to hire someone to do it faster than I could get to it. That was the case on this house. And I love to paint so that was a tough one to give up! More about painting later…but first on to the bathroom makeover!
The bathroom was the first project on the list. The master and hall bath had 12 inch green tile, a fiberglass shower insert, builder grade oak cabinets, builder grade light fixtures, a frameless mirror and cultured marble counter tops. Pretty much everything I didn’t particularly want in a bathroom. See for yourself in the pictures below.
Master Bath…
Hall bath..
There is an order I try to work in that has served me well in a makeover. I’m sure there are different schools of thought, but this is what works for me.
- Countertops
- Cabinets (unless they’re being replaced. Then move up to #1)
- Paint
- Flooring
- Accessories
So keeping this order in mind, the first thing I did was go onto Angie’s List and look for a granite company. I have to say, Angie’s List has been hit or miss for me lately. I found some really great workers but I also hired some that had great reviews and yet I had issues with them.
I chose granite for a few reasons, but mainly because it’s a “neutral” surface. It’s not trendy, it’s not terribly expensive (depending on the grade you get) and it’s good for home resale value. I found a very nice man who said if I could find scraps in his yard, he’d give it to me for free and just charge me for the labor. Well, okay!
Side note: I don’t seek it out but I also don’t turn it down when I get a better deal because I’m a “damsel in distress”. Of course, the flip side also happens and often women are taken advantage of for their assumed lack of knowledge when hiring contractors. That’s why multiple estimates are a must!
I went to the scrap yard and while I can’t say if I had any granite to pick in the world, this is what I’d pick…it was free so I knew I could make it work. I chose one piece for the two counters in the master and another smaller piece for the hall bathroom. I also went to Home Depot and picked out some new faucets so he could measure the holes that would have to be made in the granite. Here’s how they turned out:
Cabinets!
Next was cabinets. I knew each bathroom would need a cabinet update but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do so I took to Google and Pinterest as I usually do for some inspiration. My first thought was to paint them as I’ve done several times in the past but I wanted something different. I happened upon a website called monicawantsit.com where they were staining bathroom cabinets using General Finishes stain and I instantly knew that’s what I’d been looking for! I couldn’t find General Finishes brand at my trusty Home Depot so I went on Amazon and bought a quart of General Finishes Java stain and a quart of General Finishes Topcoat. Click on this link to see a more detailed account of the steps I took in staining the cabinets… https://thetinkeringspinster.com/2017/10/12/cabinet-staining/
Paint!
Flat vs Satin vs Semi Gloss
If you ask 3 people you’re going to get 3 different answers but here is my take on the Flat vs Satin vs Semi Gloss debate. They have come a long way in paint formulation and it’s no longer a given that kitchens and bathrooms should be Semi Gloss, the rest of the walls should be Satin and the ceilings should be Flat. My personal preference is Flat for every room because it doesn’t have a reflective sheen. I don’t want my walls to pick up other colors. I want them to be the color I chose. Flat stays true to the color while Satin and most definitely Semi Gloss will pick up reflections of other surfaces, causing the color to look different depending on the amount of light in the room and the time of day. It used to be that Flat paint wasn’t easy to clean and wasn’t water resistant. Granted, it’s still not as easy as Satin or Semi Gloss but if you use a premium grade paint instead of a builder’s grade, Flat paint cleans just fine. Worst case, if you have excessive “jam hands” on your Flat wall and it’s not coming clean, a simple paint touch up with your left over paint takes minutes to complete.
On to Flooring…
Once the painting was done, it was time to tile the shower and floor. There was sooooo much flooring that needed to be replaced throughout the house (green tile everywhere!) that I hired a company to do the job. They gave me a bulk rate for 3 showers and an entire downstairs of flooring. (Ask for deals! All they can say is no.) Here’s a pic of the green floor. Did I mention it was everywhere!?
But wait…something’s missing!
