I have a master bathroom. Two bathrooms in this little house of ours. It’s weird now that it’s done to look around and realize that every. single. square. foot of this home has been rebuilt by us to make it what we want. Not just painted. Rebuilt. Transformed from the inside out. 4 years ago this home was nothing more than a rotting shell of a house with nothing salvageable on the inside. Yet here we are. 4 years ago, my husband, daughter and I were living in the living room and kitchen with all the other rooms caution taped off. I was 8 months pregnant with our son and this house seemed impossible. Insane. Yet here we are. All this time of working hard, waiting, doing what we could when we could with what we had we are finally here. We’ve spread out as each room has been completed. Bedroom by bedroom, we’ve slowly made spaces for each of us. And now, to go with my master bedroom, we have completed the master bathroom. The end. No more rooms to renovate. No more 70s paneling to take down. No more avocado tile to remove. No more yellow toilets to remove. It’s just done. Which is weird and sad. But mostly wonderful.
I wish I could show what this space was when we bought the house, but hubby was so fast at ripping ugly old stuff out back then, I couldn’t even snap pictures fast enough. This space was once the dream of the people who owned this house before us. Sometime in the 70s they dreamed big and decided to renovate their garage into a master suite – bedroom, bathroom, walk in closet. They never came close to finishing. What we bought the day we signed on the dotted line and were handed the keys was a house that had been neglected for 30 years by a family who didn’t have the money or gumption to make it what they once thought it could be. The old garage space had plywood floors, laminate walls and what should have someday been a bathroom was just a framed room with an avocado tub/shower and an avocado toilet with no plumbing to anywhere.
While we worked ourselves like crazy to make the rest of the house cozy and livable for our family, this space was storage. It’s where the tools lived, where the things lived that would’ve otherwise gone in closets if we had them. We learned over the last 4 years how little we really needed that we’d taken the time and energy and space to store. Gradually we emptied the room and learned to live with what fit in the house. Finally the space was ready to become what that couple had dreamed of 40 years ago now. We made it our master bedroom with a walk in closet and master bathroom. As usual, we put our own twist on it – changing doorways and deleting a hallway. And we love it. It’s perfect for us.
It used to look like this:
I didn’t have a perfect vision for this room. All I knew was that I wanted it to match our other bathroom and I wanted a clawfoot tub. I got the clawfoot tub (on craigslist) and it became the painted clawfoot tub. I wanted it to be new old. I love old. Everyone who really knows me knows my heart is in old homes and the beauty and character they exude. I wanted all of that in this one tiny room.
My parents remodeled their master bathroom 4 years ago and gave us their pedestal sinks. After years of storing, moving, and dreaming of them being installed, they both are now – one in one bathroom and the other in this bathroom. After hubby knocked over and broke the pedestal a few weeks ago, we weighed many options. We considered changing our vision altogether and going with an antique buffet to turn it into a vanity, we considered buying a vanity, we considered simply replacing the pedestal to the sink. At the end of the day, hubby left it up to me and I chose to simply replace the pedestal. It wasn’t an easy decision but it was the reasonable decision. It would’ve been not nice of me to take his $150 mistake and choose a $1000 replacement as much as I would’ve loved an antique buffet turned vanity. Another day, another house.
So, here we are.
I wanted hooks for towels just like in the other bathroom, but this time I wanted no excuses for my kids to leave their towels laying around. 3 up high for us and 2 down low for them. No questions. No gray area. Just hang up your towel when you are done with it. We haven’t had it this way long enough to know if this will work or not, but gosh am I hopeful.
I went shopping for a mirror or medicine cabinet the other day and was annoyed at how expensive everything was. Thank you Lowes, but no I don’t want to pay $50 for a cheap mirror. I found this at a local antique shop for $12 and was practically jumping up and down to give the owner my money. I am so sick and tired of projects and spending money that the last thing I wanted was a $50 cabinet that was white or a $5 cabinet that I had to paint. I have probably never been happier to buy something than I was this mirror. I bought it, I brought it home, I hung it. End of story.
The hooks are from Hobby Lobby, the only place I’ll ever buy knobs or hooks from again. $1.50 each during the 50% off sale and I was more than happy. Anthropologie, I love your knobs but not their $8 each price tag. Again, happy thrifty customer.
The curtain is Pottery Barn and was $1 at a yard sale. I used it a long time ago in my kitchen as my frugal excuse for a curtain. When this room was done, I knew it was perfect for the space so I moved it and I love it here.
I realize that the room is completely empty except for the necessities. Right now, I am loving it this way. My mom bought towels and bathroom rugs for it but they are a Christmas present so we have to drip everywhere for a month. I am loving how open and simple and pretty it looks right now that I am ignoring the need for storage and stuff in here. Please just let me live in my happy, clutter-free space for a little while. It makes me smile ear to ear every time I walk in, even if there isn’t a towel or roll of toilet paper in sight.
All the details:
Floor: Daltile from Home Depot – no idea why they don’t show it online.
Wall color: Behr: Blue Fox (we chose one shade darker than the master bedroom for coordination)
Tub: Craigslist, painted Behr Blue Fox by us
Sink and toilet: Kohler Memoir series
Hooks: Hobby Lobby
Light fixture: Home Depot
Curtain: Pottery Barn
There you have it. Our new old bathroom that I am in love with. That I can’t believe is done. That I adore my hubby for making a reality for me.
linked up with Centsational Girl’s budget bathroom makeover linky.
I love the simple, yet elegant, feel of this room. It is lovely and inspiring!
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Beautiful!!! I love the colors and the tile floor looks fantastic! You will have to let us know how it goes with the hooks!!
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Looks SO pretty and serene! I’d love getting ready in there.
Congrats on the completion – wow, what an accomplishment!
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It’s beautiful! I love the claw foot tub and the tile floor. How serene! I am amazed at your perseverance. Enjoy!
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LOVE it! I have the same sink, toilet, and faucet as well as those PB curtains:). I could move right in! I just love blue.
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GORGEOUS. I love it! I cannot wait until we can say we’ve touched every square inch of our house and made it OURS. That must be an amazing feeling for your family!!! Great job!!
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So, it is possible to completely make a house your own? Because we just bought ours in October and I feel like it’ll never be ours because there is just too much to do. You’ve given me hope! Your master bathroom looks simple and elegant. Congrats!
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Congrats! We too have spent years renovating our home, but we are on year 11 and still no master for me. Yours is beautiful…bravo!
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I love it!! Excited to show you mine when it’s done! The tile is actually cheaper than I thought it was from the last time I saw it online! woohoo!!
Beautiful and I love it ‘clutter-free’
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That is beautiful! You did an amazing job.
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I love your black and white tiles on the floor, they are just what we want in our bathroom! We have an eighty five year old Queenslander…lots of wood and very solid, but the bathroom is a mess and needs a total renovation. Your bathroom is beautiful now.
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Love it! I adore the bead board!
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I love this bathroom!! I wish I could start remodeling mine! Enjoy living clutter free for awhile, there is always time for clutter later
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It is beautiful! I just love the blue.
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It is beautiful. And very well done.
Now on our third home renovation ( that we have lived in while we renovated) my hats off to you!
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Love what you have done with the room …the wall paint is so pretty!!
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I love it! Congratulations on finally being finished!
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so crisp and clean…i want to steal your bath tub.
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It’s flippin gorgeous…and the pics are awesome, too!
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Wow! It looks so beautiful…hats off to you and your family. It must have been hard, fun, long thing to do ..to transform something that is broken into a beautiful home for you and your family. congratulations!.
ps I love love your blog. I have read it, and have reread the few of the posts..so true and I so agree with it.
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Very, very pretty! I love the beadboard wainscoting…so crisp and clean looking and it’s very in style, right now. Nice work!
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What you two have done is really amazing! “Well done” doesn’t even come close!!!
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Your bathroom is awesome! I LOVE it. You guys did an Ah-Mazing job!! The tile on the floor is my favorite part…and the tub…and the sink.
It’s all beautiful. I am sure you are very, very happy and satisfied to know your work was worth the effort.
-FringeGirl
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It turned out beautifully! Congratulations!
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I love it too!!! So clean and fresh
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Oh this is just lovely. It is exactly the vision I have for our front bathroom. My husband has trouble envisioning MY visions, so thank you for posting this. It will help him see what I have been thinking!!!
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Your bathroom is beautiful!! I love how you did it – and on a budget.
I have a tip for getting your kids to hang up their towels. Mine (7,5 and 4) each have their own towels and I got tired of them laying around their rooms when they were done taking a shower. The rule is if I have to pick up your towel you lose it for your next shower. I know it sounds harsh, but it works! They’ve all had a few times where they just stood their, cold, “drying” off with no towel and it only took a few times before they got it.
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emily — it’s beautiful!
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That looks utterly amazing, you must be so pleased with it
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Wow! Gorgeous! I can’t imagine how much work you’ve gone through with your entire house. It’s a labor of love! I know how stressful it is to live in a construction zone, but it turned out great in the end! I’m thinking about a very similar blue paint color for our master bath as well.
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What I would give to have a bathroom that size. It is truly gorgeous Emily!
-Rene
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I am in love with your bathroom!!! The black and white tile is my absolute favorite. It was a great choice to paint the outside of the tub.
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What a beautiful transformation. I love that tub. I linked over from censational girl.
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Found you on CG today. I love your writing style – so heartfelt. I love the clean, simple bathroom. It just whispers “serenity”. Congratulations on being DONE!
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Yowza – what a great transformation! I love everything about it.
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I love your new old bathroom, it is so charming and that floor is my favorite, How lucky for you to have a claw foot tub. You really kept the character of vintage,Kathysue
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As the wife of a guy who is rockin’ his 3rd-annual Novembeard, I tolltay vote for No Facial Hair November. P.S. I’m pretty sure my husband got a head start and stopped shaving in mid-October this year.
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