1950’s Bathroom Remodel: Before & Plans

Hey Guys!

This is going to be the first post of probably too many regarding our bathroom renovation. *jaw drops*

I cannot believe we are really starting this. I’m super excited and I have so much to say about it.

I guess the best way to start on all this is to start with where we started and where we want to go (with some explanation as to why).

Our house has 1 single full bath. How totally non-2015, right? For a lot of reasons we settled on this house. But we always knew there were things we needed to budget for/borrow money for/DIY to update and make the house better for us and better for resale. Fixing up the bathroom was a major point for us.

The bathroom came with almond tile covering every wall, original bath fixtures and tub, floors that were newly tiles (with the cheapest ceramic tile available- it was disgusting and raised more than an inch and a half higher than our hallway floors, guests were constantly stubbing their toes or tripping), a new vanity (that was about 10 times too big for the space), old bathroom vanity lighting and a new (but not really stylish) medicine cabinet. None of it my style, all of it pretty bad.

We completely anticipated giving the space a facelift. I wanted to tear out the ugly floors and put in something nicer, paint over all the almond tile just like Pinterest told me to do, and replace the vanity. Add a few cute accessories and call it a day. I’ll talk more about what happened when we tried to start all that next week, but it went bad fast and we had to step back.

We are not tilers, we have no experience or knowledge how to replace drywall or plywood and as much as the internet makes all that stuff sound easy and fun- I tried tiling. It. Was. Bad. If/when we ever add a second bathroom, I’ll plan to give myself time to take a class or two before actually trying to tile by following a Youtube video. (And maybe pay someone to babysit myself through part of it).

That thumbs up disappeared quickly…

So we’ve hired out a lot of help. We will still be doing things in the space, but we’re letting our contractor take lead on caring for the bones of the space. I was thinking about doing a post to share how we found our contractor, would you find that helpful? If you would, let me know and I’ll definitely get it together.

So that’s pretty much all of the “before.” My goal for this space is for it to have a global feel, specifically with Mediterranean/Spanish/Middle Eastern influence. Mixed with that I want the space to have a craftsman feel to it and, of course, some boho flair (boho may take over… it’s the nature of my ways).

What do you think? Naturally, I’m smitten. Emily Henderson is a huge inspiration in the space, but I’m not out to replicate the space you’ll see above in my mood board. White I like the all white palette, brown is my go-to. I love brown as a base for a room because of the warmth is adds. So I will definitely have more brown in the space- like baskets, floor tile possibly, art and accessories, and oil rubbed bronze towel bars/faucets/etc.

Essentially none of the decisions are made, so I’ll be taking you along on that journey. I hope you’ll want to help me make some decisions. It’s been so helpful when you guys speak up with your thoughts on Facebook. So, what do you think? Got any favorite places to shop for bathroom stuff? Any tutorials or inspiration pics? Leave them in the comments below!