Bathroom Makeover Reveal!

When we originally bought this house, one of the first things we planned to do was gut the master bathroom since it was so incredibly ugly. We hated the handicapped bars in the walk-in shower. I wanted to get rid of the shower and install an antique clawfoot tub. We couldn’t stand the forest green tiles with the pale green walls. The sink and countertop were made out of some awful, really porous material that kept every stain (that really did not work well when coloring my hair). The sink also had a leak, and the vanity was starting to rot away. We also didn’t love the glass block windows since they looked a bit outdated, but I did appreciate how much light they let in. It seemed like we would definitely be tearing everything out and starting from scratch.

However, our first major project had to be the kitchen since that was barely even usable when we moved in. Then once I got put on pregnancy bed rest, we decided the bathroom project would have to wait since I couldn’t walk all the way to the guest bath. Before you know it, I was sitting in my hospital bed after E was born, reviewing  a handicapped products catalog with an occupational therapist. Suddenly, I felt like our hideous handicapped bathroom was actually a blessing in disguise from God, saving us a major expense and project. I decided that I would make some lemonade out of a huge lemon, and see how I could improve the bathroom without having to do a complete remodel. Now that I have to use a shower chair, I can’t use our tiny guest shower in a practical manner since it is a bit too tight.

The first thing my husband did was remove the vanity and sink. He used leftover bits of bamboo counter from the kitchen to make the new bathroom counter. He cut a hole in the wood for the sink, following the instructions from the sink manufacturer. Unfortunately, we then realized that the instructions they gave were for a hole that was too big, and made the sink sit way down inside the counter. To counter this problem, I came up with the idea of surrounding the bowl with a mosaic. It took me a long time to get that mosaic perfect since the pieces I used were all of varying thickness, but we absolutely love the end result!

Next he replaced the medicine cabinet to something with a bit more style. He bought lights but soon realized that he would need to replace a big  chunk of wall to switch out the lights since the previous owners left a mess behind the light fixtures. The lights are going on the “good enough for now” list. 🙂

After that, I started working on finding a way to make the existing colors and features in the room feel cozy and intentional, and less outdated. I painted the same dark tan that is in our bedroom, which I love against the forest green and brown flooring! I re-stained the grout to freshen everything up. I brought in tons of amazing exotic plants, a bohemian dream of a shower curtain that I found at World Market, and some other little finishing touches that really seem to complete the room. One of my favorite things is the plant hanger next to the window. Suddenly, with the plants there, the glass block window doesn’t bother us anymore! The best part was that the plant hanger display that I put together for the window was all with bits and pieces of things that I found around the house.

I absolutely love the end result, and am perfectly fine if we never get around to a “full remodel”. My most hated room of the house has quickly turned into my little bohemian spa retreat and I am so happy. 🙂

Here is the before picture:

And the after photos….The flooring isn’t really shown in the new pictures since it is still the same (and that is the one thing that I still do not love). Eventually we will get around to replacing that once we decide if we are going to reconfigure the bedroom layout and redo all of the flooring at that point.