THE BACKGROUND
Last month while I was away at a speaking gig in Tennessee, I received word from home that our the bath had sprung a bad leak (while my daughter was taking a bath) and that the bathroom was currently being demolished! GULP! The house that we live in is a rental but we have the best landlords......my in laws! Our home is an adorable mid-century bungalow in Southern California and because we rent it from my in laws, we have the flexibility to pretty much do what we like as far a painting and decor goes. When things like this happen though? You know, a WHOLE bathroom reno down to the studs....it gets a little precarious. After all, it IS an income property and we DON'T own it but we also don't want to put your typical "rental property" finishes in either so I got creative!
THE STRATEGY
We decided to not put another bath in this little bathroom since we already have another full bathroom and decided to go with a shower insert instead. That cut cost substantially. And since my husband and I are DIY'ers, (a blessing and a curse), we were able to keep the costs for the rest of the renovation down too.
THE BEFORE + DURING PHOTOS
Here's what the bathroom looked like when I got home from my conference!
Previously, the walls were a light blue and the flooring was laminate (by the way, don't ever put laminate flooring in your bathroom).
THE CONCEPT BOARD
Here is the concept board that I created for our bathroom - I wanted it to look bright and timeless.
THE PROCESS
The first thing I did was repaint the bathroom walls in Benjamin Moore Simply White (still my fave white). This bathroom is super cozy and the vanity even though it's traditional, was the right scale and still in good condition BUT the espresso wood finish and brushed nickel knobs were a little dated so I repainted the vanity in Benjamin Moore Black and added new satin brass knobs. We added in timeless subway tile and a ceramic tile that resembles classic carrara marble on the floor.
THE RESULT
