Deciding to Take on a Bathroom Reno…Ourselves

Since I’ve been neck deep in bathroom design I thought I would take a sec and talk about what goes into a project like this.   This is the earliest I have started actively pulling together a design for the One Room Challenge and rightly so, this is going to be the biggest challenge I’ve taken on for myself since our full kitchen reno 4 years ago.

Why am I taking it on?  Because I hate it.  But let’s start with the good things it’s large, good layout and it has a fireplace.  The bad; it’s brown…like everything is brown.  Brown tile, brown granite, brown cabinets.  It has issues like the shower floor was installed incorrectly so it doesn’t have proper drainage, there’s no access panel for the drop in tub and the closet sticks out blocking precious light from the single window.

For now all you are getting are these 2 shots from ages ago.

Horrific lighting

Brown tile everywhere, icky drop in jetted tub.  Are you excited to to see the rest yet?! ewww

This giant mirror is something I have been wanting to take down since we moved in…8+ years ago.

 I’ve been thinking about this project for an ORC for the better part of a year but was way too chicken.  I finally decided I was going to do it and we are going to DIY everything. (unless we run into issues and need a pro for something).

Yes I said DIY everything.   Just saying that makes me panic a little bit.  Given the enormity of the job we are planning to start a few weeks early to give ourselves a bigger window to get everything done. (approximately 8-9 weeks) We have some DIY chops so I am confident we can do it, the time frame is a whole other animal. (in full disclosure I am interviewing some local tradesman to get estimates as a backup, cause I might end up needin em)

Then there’s pulling together the design and the materials.  I’ve got my tile ready to roll and pinning down flooring, what kind of tub, fixtures.  Then there’s what to do about the almost 11ft vanity I hate, make it over or do something different?  Can’t forget vanity tops, sinks, mirrors, etc.

Here’s a sneak peek at just a few of the materials, I can’t share it all or there would be no surprises!

The pink marble and white subway tile are going ery’where and one of these wallpaper samples will be an unexpected pop.  Which one do you like?!

 Now that I think about it I probably should have started this even earlier haha.  But I decided I’m going to do it and I”m damn well gonna get it done!

A little bit of fear can be a good thing I think.  It can push us outside of our comfort zones, whether it be something like adding color to your space all the way up to a full on remodel.  Sometimes you just need to go for it.

It’s going to be a wild ride and honestly I have about half of it figured out at this point.  But one way or another I’m going to have an amazing bathroom I like to get ready in!

What’s something you have been afraid of doing?  Did you end up going for it?  How did it go?

I always love to hear from you so hit me up in the comments!

And don’t forget to pop over in the subscribe box so you don’t miss a thing!