We purchased our home a few years back with the intention of potentially renting it out or flipping it down the line. As soon as I saw the space I knew it was a perfect fit for me and my family. The layout was perfect, each kid got their own room, and the jack and Jill bathroom consisting of 1 and half baths checked all of our must haves. I loved the space but the finishes not so much.
The traditional look of the bathroom just didn’t capture our esthetic, and when I say “our” I really mean me :). The brown and cream theme felt dated and dark. We knew we were going to make some cosmetic updates to our new space but because the bathroom was "recently remodeled" (SMH), it really wasn't on my husband's radar. He thought we could live with it for a while and tackle some of the more clearly outdated spaces like our kitchen and so we did.
Before:
Today I’m really excited to be writing this blog post to share some of the changes we made to the powder room, the mistakes I made, the steps you should take when updating your space :
First things first, the budget. Always, I repeat always, start with a budget. It's so easy to overspend when you don't have a budget in place. I allotted $2,500 for the space including labor and materials. I knew without a budget in place a small project like this one could easily spiral out of control.
Second, was putting together an inspiration board on Pinterest. This always helps me narrow down the look our clients want to achieve. Usually there’s a common thread/ theme in the inspiration photos which makes it easier to capture our clients style. I recommend this step to anyone looking to update their space.
I knew I wanted brass fixtures, plastered walls, something that would speak to both sexes in the house and materials that would be easy to clean up and durable for my autistic son. Every picture that appealed to me had brass fixtures and plastered walls. My biggest concern was the cost of plastering the walls and finding someone with the proper skill set to do it. Because I already had a budget in place I knew exactly where I could splurge and where I could save if needed.
Third, a plan of how I wanted to make this happen was crucial to getting the outcome I was looking for. I will confess one of the biggest mistakes I've made and I've seen many others make time and time again is starting a project without a clear plan in place. I don't know if you recall a few posts back on Instagram where I found some inexpensive tile and decided then and there I was going to clad the back wall with this subway tile by myself by watching a couple of
You tube videos. I knew better... I've had this conversation numerous times with my clients and here I was committing the same design felony, SMH... I knew it was a mistake but the price of the tile was so low I felt it would be the catalyst to get my husband on board to finally update the bathroom. What was I thinking!!! I ended up installing the tile, hating it, having it all ripped out and paying more in labor and material cost, lesson learned the hard way.
Getting back to my plan which was to keep the pieces that worked, source locally and online for the pieces I wanted to swap out and utilize a handyman service for the labor.
Portola paint was the initial company I was going to go with to get the plaster look I was looking for. During that time if I recall correctly I was not going to receive the sample chips in time to make a selection and order paint. So I went local, there's a Benjamin Moore paint close by and they had their own version of the clay paint, called venetian plaster. I selected the color I wanted and had it mixed in the venetian plaster finish. I want to point out that unlike Portola Paints, Benjamin Moore did not have chip samples of the mixed venetian plaster finish and they did not have a sample size to test the finish. Keep that in mind if you choose to go the Benjamin Moore route. I wanted a concrete look so I picked the color that I thought would most resemble that finish.
Design Plan:
A. Vigo Faucet B. Bathroom vanity C. Wall mounted soap dispenser D. Marble wastebasket E. Wall Sconce F. Medicine cabinet
That's all for now folks. I hope you found this blog helpful and I look forward to sharing more posts like this one as I dive into my home projects.
One last quick tip before I go. Don't forget about the mini changes you can do on your own that will have a huge impact and jumpstart your project. Changing out your door hardware and spray painting your hinges have such a huge impact. Initially I also wanted to change out all of the doors in my space turns out it was the door hardware and hinge that made the door look dated and cheap.
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