I’ve had a bathroom renovation on the brain for months now and I think we’re finally getting close to having a plan (and a few free weekends) to make it happen! When we found our house two years ago, the size of the master bathroom and closet area were definitely a compromise we had to make in exchange for lots of other items on our checklist (nice yard, mountain views, good location, etc).
While I am grateful to have an attached master bathroom at all, ours is the size of a postage stamp and terribly designed. Here’s a look at what we’re working with and what we plan to change.
Welcome to our teensy master bathroom. The vanity area is open to the rest of the room, with the shower and toilet in the room to the left and the closet to the right. The two things that finally annoyed me enough to make this renovation a priority were that vanity (the countertop! the oak! the lack of useful storage space!)…
… and the fluorescent light box above. As you know, we are not fans of fluorescent lighting in this house (see how we took out the light box in our kitchen HERE), so this one will have to go.
Another thing that makes this bathroom less than functional is the lack of elbow room. The vanity is barely 36″ wide, which basically means only one adult can use the sink area at a time. When we do try to get ready in the mornings or evenings at the same time, one of us always ends up halfway into the shower room while the other uses the sink and mirror.
Continuing to look to the left into the shower room, you can see our little shower with chrome and frosted glass doors. Those things are a bear to keep clean.
Because we had so little storage space in this bathroom, we added these stained wood shelves above the toilet about a year ago. These work really well for us and may stay in the room, depending on the rest of the design plan.
The doorway to the toilet room is super narrow and made narrower by the towel hook on the back of the door. The room used to be white with a wide yellow stripe, but I painted it the same gray as our bedroom last year (Silver Drop by Behr) just to banish the yellow. When I painted, I removed a towel bar from behind the door. I always thought the towel bar would make more sense there if the door didn’t open into the room.
The tile in the shower is a pinkish cream color. It’s not in terrible shape, but it could use an update. We did replace the shower head, but as you can see, the knobs are original. 😛
Check out that flooring! The tile and carpet combo is gross and has to go. When I was getting this photo ready to post, I thought to myself, “Sure, go ahead and watermark that one. Somebody is definitely going to want to steal that picture!” NOT.
Backing up into our master bedroom, you can see the bathroom has a skylight. One of the possibilities we’ve discussed for this space is removing the wall between the vanity and shower rooms. If we move forward with that plan, the new door would go across this entrance, closing the vanity off from the bedroom.
One item we’ll have to consider is that the skylight actually goes past that entrance wall into our bedroom ceiling by about 6-8″. This means that we won’t be able to do a traditional wall here with a pocket or regular door. We’re already brainstorming creative solutions for this doorway.
When I think about our house as a whole, this single room suffers most from poor design and lack of storage. What kills me is that about 1 in 5 homes in our neighborhood have this exact floor plan! Can you believe that?
Now that you’ve gotten the tour and heard our issues with the space, here are our options.
Option 1: (lowest cost) Paint the vanity, add new hardware and mirror, update the countertop, add new light fixture, possibly add backsplash and new floors
(inspiration images: shelves | vanity | lighting | rug)
Pros: Easy cosmetic changes – quick and low cost
Cons: Does not address the lack of elbow room or poor vanity storage
Option 2: (lots more work, slightly higher cost) Remove the wall between the shower room and vanity nook, replace vanity with a wider one with drawers, add new mirror and light fixture, repair drywall and/or add backsplash, remove old tile and carpet for new tile floor, add door to new bathroom for privacy
(inspiration images: shower | vanity | countertop | lighting | tile)
We would consider a DIY modern vanity like the one above or repurposing a dresser like the one below. I’m still trying to determine if our shower doors could be removed and replaced with a shower curtain. I love this green one!
(inspiration images: shower | vanity | countertop | lighting | tile)
Pros: Fixes elbow room and storage issues, updates most of the worn/dated finishes
Cons: Does not address shower tile or fixtures, decreases privacy for multiple bathroom users
Option 3: (most work, much higher cost) Same as option 2, plus we’d replace the shower pan, tile, doors, and faucet
(inspiration images: shower | vanity | countertop | lighting | tile)
Pros: Same benefits as option 2, plus we’d be able to select shower finishes to complement the rest of the room
Cons: Most likely requires subcontractors for shower work, dramatic increase in cost
I actually wrote most of this post before this past weekend, and if you caught my instagram stories on Saturday, you know that we started work on the bathroom already! It took some convincing, but we are going with either Option 2 or Option 3. We’re taking out the wall! Stay tuned for more progress – here and on facebook and instagram.
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I really love option 2! My favorite about option 1 is that I’m really into navy and gold right now, but 2 is definitely still my favorite!
Thank you for your input Karen! Yes – I LOVE navy and gold as well. I think Option 2 is still open to different color combos. Maybe navy and gold will still be the winner. 🙂
I love this post because we are in the process of remodeling our bathroom and looking for some inspiration. I really love option 1 and 2, I can’t decide which one I like more. We will definitely be referring to this when we begin remodeling later this summer!
So glad you found this inspiring, Christiana! We are going with Option 2, but I’m not set on the colors yet. I should have another post ready soon showing our progress so far!
Your inspirations are gorgeous!
Thank you Kate! I appreciate you stopping by. 🙂
I love the round mirror! But what I really love is the skylight – it must be so nice to have a great source of natural light!
You’re right! I didn’t realize how nice that skylight was until we had to turn off the power to move the electric during the remodel. Then it was really nice to have daylight to see what we were doing! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
I really love the idea of all white tiles for the shower. It just makes it look so clean. kimballandkedzie.com
Me too, Tuyet! I think the shower will be getting all white tiles at some point. We might just end up calling this part of the remodel Phase 1 and the shower Phase 2. 😉
I think you were wise to go with one of those options as well. In the end, it may cost you a little more; but you’ll probably end up with less regrets. We redid a bathroom as well a couple of years ago and it was very expensive and involved moving our attic stairs to a different location and other complicated things; but I ended up loving the final result. Don’t regret the decision at all!
Oh my goodness, that sounds like a lot of work! Removing the wall is the hard part, I think. Once that’s done we can update the shower as we have the time/budget without changing any of our other bathroom plans.
Wow I really love the white tiles, super clean and modern looking!
Me too Rachel! That inspiration picture is my dream bathroom!
I love the last option. the gold and white look so elegant and clean.
XO
Shreya | https://mymagicaltrunk.com/
Me too Shreya! All white bathrooms are my favorite, with little touches of metal and color. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
i LOVE the white and gold option! It would look so pretty and bright in there! I live in Denver too!
Hello fellow Denverite! I love the white and gold option too. Even if we don’t tackle the shower during this phase of the remodel, there will be lots of white and gold in here, regardless. It’s one of my favorite color combos!
Such a tricky space to work with but you seem to have some great ideas, I would definitely choose option 2 or 3 depending on the budget.
Thanks for the input, Courtney! I’ll have a post on our progress up soon, but we are definitely going with option 2 or 3. The wall is DOWN! 😀