The Kids’ Bathroom – Before and After

With the exception of a frame for our old mirror, our bathroom remodeling project is finished! I plan to write a more detailed cost breakdown, but I need to gather up all of my receipts and itemize them. Just off the top of my head, I estimate that this entire project, for which we did all the work ourselves, cost approximately $700. This includes the following:

Sink and counter top
Toilet
Shower surround
Tub refinishing kits
Detachable shower head and drain kit
Faucets
Miscellaneous plumbing supplies
Hinges, doorknobs, and cabinet hardware
Paint, caulk, and cleaning products
Light fixture
Shower curtain and rings
Bathmat and towels

First, to refresh your memory, this is what the bathroom looked like when we bought our house in 2004.

It’s kind of hard to see in this photo, but the floor was carpeted (why? WHY do people carpet bathrooms? I will never understand this). After we moved in, we tore the carpet out, and replaced it with laminate tile, but I didn’t include this in my estimated cost, simply because it was so long ago that I have no recollection of how much it cost, and I would have to dig through my record boxes in the shop to find out (which I have less than ZERO interest in doing). I also took down the wallpaper border, but that was the extent of our work in this room, because we felt that other rooms were of higher priority.

Here’s a close-up of the…ahem….lovely 70s vanity, and swirly pink countertop.

And isn’t this sink so pretty? It was so worn that it was impossible to clean, and I just hated it.

This was our tub. Oh, the pink, pink, and even more friggin’ PINK. And no shower…a major drawback, in my opinion.

After living with this for 7 1/2 years, I can’t even adequately describe how completely thrilled I am that our bathroom is no longer the color of something you drink when you have indigestion. Because now we have this!

Since this is the kids' bathroom, I let the girls pick the new shower curtain and bath mat, and I have to say....I really LOVE their bright and cheerful choices.

Our beautiful new (old) tub, with shower, courtesy of my skilled (and foxy) husband.

Could these shower curtain rings be cuter? I think not.

We gave new life to our old, ugly vanity with paint and new hardware. As I'm fond of saying, paint makes all things new.

We painted the doors and trim white (the trim pieces leaning in the corner are for the mirror frame), and we chose a dark counter top with subtle splashes of blue for contrast, since the vanity, floor, toilet, and tub are also white.

I found 2 of these at a consignment store, and 1 at Goodwill, and I painted all the mismatched frames black to unify the arrangement. I think they're so cute!

The cabinet above the toilet was a garage sale freebie that we updated with paint, and new hardware.

I love these pictures! I think they're perfect for a kids' bathroom.

I’m so, SO happy to have this done! This bathroom used to make me cringe – I always felt like I needed to apologize for its ugliness – but now I smile whenever I walk by and see all the colorful cuteness!

Up next…renovating the basement into bedrooms for the girls. However, I think we’re going to just bask in the glow of a job well done for a few weeks!

Tagged as: Debt Free Decorating