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| Before |
The solution:
- Paint. I painted the solid wood vanity a creamy white and replaced the hardware and hinges. I painted the wood mirror frame. I even painted the light fixture. I painted the walls and ceiling of course. I painted the plain builder quality wood door.
- New shower fixture. We removed the old rickety shower door and gave it away for free on Craiglist. This was replaced with a hotel style curved shower curtain rod. I hired a plumber to replace the dated shower fixture, upgrading to a hand shower system from the basic fixed shower head that was there before. This was a one day procedure.
- Backsplash. How hard can it be to do your own tiling? It's actually quite easy. We selected a small scale tile mozaic that didn't require the rental of a tile saw. With some great advise from our home improvement store, we had the new backsplash done in one weekend.
- More paint. I hired a professional to reglaze the tub and tile with a plain white paint. This was a one day procedure, and we were able to shower the next morning.
- New sink and toilet. These are relatively cheap and easy to replace yourself. My partner Rich and I studied toilet replacement on youtube over coffee in the morning, then by the afternoon our new white toilet was installed and functional. The sink and faucet was equally easy.
- Flooring. I had my heart set on installing hardwood flooring in the bathroom, but all conventional wisdom advised against it. Instead we installed a vinyl plank flooring that looks and feels like hardwood, and actually matches the colour of the rest of the hardwood in the house.
- Total cost for all of the above was around $3000.
