Bathroom Update

Since our "master" (and only) bathroom is very small and had a laundry list of issues, we decided to do a little updating. So first, let's remember all the issues...

1. Size - not much to do about that since our house is only about 1,000 sq ft
2. Bathtub size - it's only about 52" long. standard is 60" - again, not much to do about that unless we did a complete reconfiguration and would have to use a smaller vanity (yeah, not happening)
3. toliet - don't get me started on how much I hate that toliet. it's short (who likes sitting on the pot with their knees in their face?). it doesn't flush well (and it's a custom-style flush system so we can't do anything about it - thanks kohler). it squirks water out the top sometimes while flushing (you may notice saran wrap sticking out of the tank if you come over...). and the worst part - we can't replace it with anything other than that model. anything longer will get in the way of the door. great. which leads into #4.
4. the layout - who thought it was a good idea to put the toilet right by the door? most bathrooms with a galley-type layout have the vanity followed by the toilet followed by the tub (all along the same wall). instead we have a toilet that will block the door if we got a longer one and a bruised right knee from one of my "fights" with the vanity to get to the far side of the bathtub.
5. POS vanity - it's an obvious pre-packaged deal which isn't so horrible except it wasn't cared for well. it had water damage (especially at the floor), the veneer was peeling up, the top was chipped and had a nail polish stain, and the facuet was low and hard to get under (or behind for cleaning - it was nasty-sauce).
6. Medicine cabinet/mirror - this was probably one of my most-hated pieces in the bathroom. you know that low faucet I mentioned? yeah, hitting your head on the medicine cabinet when you lean forward does not help with that! It also had water damage on the inside shelves. One of the most annoying features of the cabinet was the mirror. It's only about 30" wide, but it's split into 3 sections so the cabinet had 3 vertical doors. Try doing your makeup looking at a crack in the mirror! The cabinet also got in the way of the one outlet in the room and the light fixture. We got a new fixture when we moved in because the existing one shorted out (and was ugly so it didn't take much motivation). The fixture could have the lights pointed up or down. Well the cabinet forced us to point them up. That makes for weird bathroom lighting. And I think water condensation was getting in the fixture because one of the lights started to short-out a little.

Whew! The sad things is I could keep going on some little, ticky-tack things. But those were the driving forces in the decision to upgrade.

Before pictures:

So here's what we did.

1. New paint
2. New vanity set and faucet
3. New mirror
4. Flip the light fixture
5. New, matching towel bar
6. New wall cabinet

During pictures:

Goodbye stupid medicine cabinet...

Goodbye open shelving over the toilet (really, when is that ever a good idea?)

Goodbye midget vanity

mini roller for corner touch-up

hello fixture that doesn't get condensation in it

goodbye excessive amounts of caulk (that was a pain to get off)

hello new vanity and faucet

doesn't that look so much better?? (still no cabinet up at this point)

and the mirror doesn't block me from plugging in stuff (like a wallflower so I can have a good smelling bathroom!)

view from up top

So it was like that for a couple months and we finally got around to buying the matching cabinet and putting that and the towel bar up. So we just finally finished officially!

ta-da!

So like the nerd I am, I saved all my receipts to do a final breakdown of the costs (but then I got lazy and rounded all the numbers).

Paint + Supplies = $50
Vanity with top = $260
Faucet = $80
Towel bar = $30
Mirror = $70
Cabinet = $100
Grand total = $590 (plus a few plumbing supplies)

We went cheap on the vanity mostly because there is a big jump between cheap and middle of the line. Besides, the one we found was a big step up from the existing one and the granite top gives it a much nicer look (even though I'm not a huge fan of granite for a bathroom - it doesn't get along with water)! We splurged on the faucet (and had to get the matching towel bar of course!) since that gets heavily used and it makes such a big impact. It makes everything fit better for us tall folk (helps the vanity itself it 1-inch taller) and it has a pop-up stopper (no stupid rod to pull up that only gets nasty stuff caught in it).