How to Survive a Bathroom Renovation

When we moved into our new house in June, everything was in pretty good shape. We (i.e. my mother and her sweet friend) painted a few rooms, and we knew we wanted to add some landscaping. But other than buying a few rugs and lugging over our truckloads of material possessions we may or may not need, it was move-in ready (praise the Lord!).

We don’t know if this will be our “forever home,” as we’re not stray animals, but we’re loving it during this life stage. However, there was one room we (I) wanted to update. The house was built in 1982, and the master bathroom was showing its age.

It was difficult to actually pull the renovation trigger, though, because the bathroom was perfectly adequate. The tub and shower were in good shape. The vanity was dated but fine. And who wants to invite a parade of strange men into their bedroom anyway?

Apparently, the answer is…this gal!

Thankfully, we have friends in the reno business, so I had help from a gal with good taste and experience. Otherwise, I would’ve been Sally No-Decision Nerveball who had zero opinions. Plus, it’s nice to be able to trust the big dog in charge (I don’t know how he’d feel about me calling him that).

Here were the main issues:

1. The vanity was plenty big enough for two sinks, but instead of a second sink, it had that weird, lower section where women of leisure used to sit and apply makeup (I’m assuming).
2. The vanity was a weird pink color.
3. Considering it’s the master bathroom, a tub/shower combo seemed outdated and small.
4. The wall over the vanity showcased a giant mirror with a mirror frame. It needed to come down to join this century.

And that’s pretty much it. All cosmetic, but nothing as easy as changing out cabinet knobs (which, unfortunately, is about the extent of my DIY skills) or replacing light fixtures (the extent of my husband’s DIY skills).

In mid-August, I took the kids to the beach for about a week, and, when I came home, everything had been demoed thoroughly. I’m glad I missed that part, though it left my bedroom with a fine layer of dust (which remained there for the rest of the reno, because: lazy).

Side note: Apparently, in all the hubbub, I either didn’t take “before” pictures, or I deleted them along the way. Regardless, the kids’ bathroom is an exact mirror of how the master looked before we renovated. Instead of paying to demo their bathroom, we utilized our handy DIY skills a replaced cabinet knobs and light fixtures after my mother scraped wallpaper glue from the walls.

Yes, the oatmeal-colored tub and tile is original. I’m not up on trends, but maybe it’s coming back into style? Can someone call Joanna Gaines and ask?

And so, without further ado or more photos of mediocre bathrooms, here’s our beautiful, master-bathroom renovation. I chose a “greige” colored tile, so any future inhabitants could decorate with either gray or beige, depending on the whims of fashion. We added a bench in the shower (for leg shaving, obviously), and a beautiful teal/blue accent strip to give some color.

So, how do you survive a bathroom renovation? Well, I did so by sitting on the couch and awkwardly avoiding eye contact with the stream of strange men wandering into my bedroom…usually during my children’s naptime.

Any renovation stories to share? I’d love to hear horror stories (as it is October, after all!).

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