Bathroom Renovation | Downstairs Bath

Round Three: the last of the bathroom renovations in our Young Victorian. There’s one big benefit to renovating multiple bathrooms back-to-back. Once you’re in the mode of working with tile and bathroom fixtures, each subsequent project just feels a bit easier. You establish a rhythm to the process and it doesn’t feel like starting over each time. The tile cutter is already out, you’ve got the mortar and grout mixing down to a science, and you’re motivated by the results of the previous projects.

With both the upstairs guest bath and the master bath projects complete, we looked to the smallest of our bathroom projects next, the downstairs bath. This was not only the smallest bathroom but it also had the least amount of renovation necessary.

Small Bathroom; Small Changes

We were leaving the antique claw-foot tub, replacing a small pedestal sink with a regular vanity, installing new tile, new lighting, and new paint. Because we were laying new tile, we did need to remove everything from the room. That meant we lived with a tub and toilet parked in the foyer for a short while, but it’s amazing how quickly you look past such oddities when in the thick of a project. Our “bathroom” was even in the foyer the first time we hosted our brand new small group from church! But as we moved through the project, and our turn to host rolled around each time, the group was always excited to see our progress!

This was a super budget friendly project too. We scored the vanity from a Habitat For Humanity ReStore for a sweet price. It wasn’t our style but that was nothing a quick coat of chalk paint couldn’t fix. We hung a cute little thrift store chandelier. And because we were using the same mosaic floor tile as we used in the other two bathrooms, there was far less waste from each of those projects making all three projects less expensive. There was one unexpected design element too; and it was a fun one!

When You See Something You Love…

For years now, Warren and I have enjoyed picking up old things that may not have an immediate purpose. When we see something we like, we buy it knowing that at some point, it will find its perfect use/home. And most of those previous finds that we were holding onto did in fact find their perfect home in this house during the renovation.

There was one treasure though that had not found a home. We had picked up two stacks of this incredible antique beadboard. We got both stacks for like $5 at the ReStore. This stuff was awesome; we’d never seen such thick beadboard. Every step of the renovation, we contemplated a way in which to install those boards. We never figured out a way to use it and the house renovation was winding down. It was sad to think that we weren’t going to find a home for it. Until, the downstairs bathroom renovation started.

Where There’s A Will, There’s A Way!

At one point, I looked up at the ceiling of that little bathroom and asked Warren if he had ever figured out how many square feet of the beadboard we actually had. He hadn’t so he quickly measured the ceiling space for me and then went out to measure the beadboard. And YES! We miraculously had just barely enough material to cover the ceiling. Barely as in the ceiling could not have been any bigger! We were so excited. The beadboard had finally found its home and our bathroom ceiling was going to look so cool! And to really make a statement, we ended up painting it black which looked amazing, especially with that sweet chandelier hanging from it!

This bathroom went from being incredibly outdated and sad to a very hip little bathroom with so much style, it was silly. And with the completion of this project, our massive whole-house renovation was done! I mean there were still a few projects we had planned for outside, but the planned inside projects were done! Or so we thought…but that’s for another post!

Blessings,
{Shelley}