A small bathroom gets a much needed renovation: Before & After

A rental property of mine that I purchased several years ago was in rough shape! I’ve purchased a lot of fixer uppers over the years, but this one was in pretty dire condition. I found the bathrooms in this property particularly unpleasant! They were dirty, stained and let’s say they had probably not been cleaned in years.

In the lower two-bedroom unit, there was a small bathroom, but I could see it had potential – high ceilings and a large window. But in addition to the gross factor, the room was badly laid out and really didn’t function. The bathroom door didn’t open because it hit the large claw foot tub and almost hit the toilet. Because of the door swing (inward), you would have to get in the room and close the door to even access the tub and toilet. The sink was small, broken and didn’t have any storage, there were odd exposed pipes running through the space. The fixtures were all formerly white and were dirty and stained. There was a 12x12 ceramic tile on the floor that was grimy and had dirty grout.

Here are some of the before pictures:

BEFORE: Small white sink - no storage!

The shower on the tub was suspended from the ceiling, the vent had seen better days and the door wouldn’t open!

BEFORE: the door hits the tub

BEFORE: The shower was duct taped on to the faucet

I knew the entire bathroom needed to be gutted and I felt I could come up with a much better lay out. After reviewing the floor plan and dimensions, I knew a tub really couldn’t work in the space. Instead I opted for a nice shower with a glass door and a sink/vanity that did offer some storage below. In most cases I would not remove a tub from a bathroom, but in this tight space there was no other option. I redid the floors in a new black hex tile, put in all new plumbing fixtures, moved exposed pipes to the interior walls, installed new water resistant drywall, added new electrical including a small baseboard heater, new vanity, faucets, towel bars, lighting, fan, subway tiles, mirror over vanity with storage, custom window treatments, etc.

The space was transformed into a small but functional white bathroom. The glass shower door really helped to keep the space feeling open and didn’t give you a closed in shower feeling. The white subway tile on the shower walls helped to brighten and lighten the room too.

Overall I was very happy with the results!

A few more of the After photos.

DEB'S TOP THREE: SPRUCING UP THE BEDROOM

I love small, unique accessories around the house. In a bathroom, you can incorporate some interesting décor items too.

1. Old bottles: antique medicine bottles have that old fashioned pharmacy look. I love the old blue bottles in the window. These are usually easy to find at flea markets or antique stores and you can also use them as small vases.

2. A large jar of shells. So simple and easy to showcase shells in a glass jar. In my case I have a lot of them, but even a few shells in a jar in the bathroom give it some sea side charm.

3. A fringed hand towel. I like a fringed hand towel over the sink because it has a relaxed look. This one sits on top of a couple of other towels and is personalized with a “D” on it!

B & A: THIS SMALL BEDROOMS POTENTIAL REVEALED!

At DND, we always love a good Before & After. There is something magical about seeing the possibility of what a room could be. When I bought my old 1844 house, there were many rooms that felt a little tired and dated. When I saw this space I wanted to lighten and brighten it up.

BEFORE

AFTER

Hereʼs what happened:

– All new walls and ceilings, although it doesn't show up in the before picture, all of the old plaster in this room was cracked and heaving on the walls and in the ceiling. New drywall and paint really changed the look.

– White paint! One of my favourites, I painted the walls, ceiling, floors and trim in white. This truly transforms a room!

–  One way to instantly brighten up a space is to expose more of the windows. Removing the sheers and full length drapery panels and going to custom made linen roman shades in the windows allowed more natural light to flow in.

– Room layout: the furniture placement in the 'after' picture is very different. The bed is placed in front of the window instead of on the wall on the right. Creative space planning had to happen in this room to fit that large antique cabinet you can see in the first picture.

There are terrific water views out both these windows! Iʼm going to be switching around the furniture in this room to see if I can capture more of the view! I'll be sure to share those results on the blog later this summer.

SUPER STYLISH BATHROOMS

I love the design of all these bathrooms. They range from decadent with slabs of marble and huge windows, to simple white mosaic tiles. I love the clean lines, gorgeous baskets and the black hex floor.  

I've also got a thing for these bathrooms, the details are pretty incredible!

Images: 1. Thedesignfiles.net 2. House & Home magazine 3. Remodelista 4. Feedly.com 5. Domaine Home

PEDESTAL SINKS & STORAGE IDEAS

Pedestal sinks might not be great for storage, but they make up for it in charm and character. I was happy I could re-use the original pedestal sink in my renovated and relocated bathroom (above). This one is quite old and very large, which makes it even more unique. Here are a couple of other bathrooms with pedestal sinks that also show where you can add some storage. You can add a large medicine cabinet on the wall, or even a bureau for all your storage requirements.

Storage on the wall.

Adding a dresser for more storage.

Or even a small shelf over the sink.