Colour Scheme of dark brown, mid brown, beige and cherry red
You don’t have to break the bank to do a bathroom renovation. It just takes some careful shopping and a willingness to adapt as you go. It also helps to collect all the fixtures that you will need, ahead of time and at ‘Special Purchase’ or ‘Clearance’ prices. An example of this is the tap set for the vanity. It was purchased for $29.99, marked down from $129.99!
This Master Ensuite was desperately in need of updating and everything but the relatively new shower stall needed to be replaced.When the house was built 25 years ago, the bathroom was rather nice. It had a modern oak vanity with a one piece marble vanity counter with sink and nice white (instead of beige) cushion floor, a huge mirror and a stylish light fixture and a corner shower. The fixtures were all the latest bone colour too. Also, it was huge by 80s standards – 5′x10′ unlike the usual closet sized ensuites found in most homes at that time.
Fast forward to 2012. The poor old oak vanity is dated and too low with no drawers and the one piece cultured marble top is pitted and stained. The mirror has been replaced twice and the silvering is peeling again. The toilet has already been replaced once and this one needs updating. The fixtures are two different colours. The flooring is just plain awful and the seafoam green paint is not only dated but no longer coordinates with the bedroom. Oh, and the towel bars have pulled right out of the wall a few times which means the wall has had to be repaired on the fly, and needs to be done properly.
So collecting all the new components began with a fabulous sale at Lowe’s. The fixtures would be white. (White is back in style for the first time since the 50s). We spot a ‘BOGO’ sale on toilets, buy one, get one free, and the other bathroom could use a new one too! They are the long bowl style with a higher seat and dual flush and best of all they have a solid, smooth base instead of that curly dust catching, hard to clean, base. Perfect.The toilets cost about $110 each, based on 2 for 1 pricing.
The new flooring needed to be low cost, and easy to install for a DIYer but good looking and hard wearing. A product called Allure was found at Home Depot. It could be floated right over top of the old vinyl instead of having to remove it. We chose the white with grey marble tile pattern. Allure Tiles are strips of 3 tiles each that stick to each other rather than the floor beneath. A box is $60 for 24 sq feet, so the flooring cost us $120 plus tax.
Now it was time to find a 36″w vanity. Vanities and counter tops and sinks can get pretty expensive, but we found a fabulous deal at Home Depot. It is a tall, Shaker style wood vanity with two spacious drawers, 34″high with a one piece white counter top and rectangular sink, all for only $379. We finished it with the Peerless chrome faucet set mentioned earlier, that only cost $30. So the vanity, counter top, sink and faucet came to a grand total of $400 before tax! Wow.
The brushed nickel 24″ long towel bars, ring, hook and toilet paper dispenser were a Walmart find at only $40 plus $15 for the extra towel bar, substantially cheaper than any other retailer.
The bath towels, hand towels, washcloths & bathmat were on sale at Walmart and cost a grand total of $50 for 4 bath towels, 2 hand towels and 4 washcloths and the bath mat.
I already had the big print over the toilet, but it too had been an XS Cargo deal and cost $12, I think.
The mirror was a freebee, someone else’s cast off. The light fixture was new not long ago and coordinated with the new brushed nickle accessories and was therefore recycled.
I am awaiting delivery of a 2″ faux wood blind @ $39.90 (all in) from selectblindscanada.ca
The paint was left over from the bedroom, so I did not have to buy wall or trim paint (all my trim is Benjamin Moore ‘Cloud White’ so there is always some at hand.)
So you see, it is possible to Renovate your bathroom for a small investment and lots of elbow grease. The bathroom cost around $800. Even if we had replaced the shower, we could have done it for under $1100
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Shelf Liner – Dowdy or Cool?
Posted in Comments/Opinions, Decorating Dilemmas, tagged Is shelf liner necessary? on April 5, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
The first few years that I kept house, I thought that shelf liner was too ’50s housewife’ for me! I didn’t see the need for it, thought that it was just being persnickity. Boy, was I wrong. Most cupboard shelves are made from MDF or pressboard and need to be protected from damp dishes and everything else. Your cupboard shelves just get destroyed without it. And it makes them far easier to clean (when you finally break down and do it).
You can use anything you want for the job, as long as it has a relatively waterproof surface. Mactac is often used but kind of hard to apply neatly and the low tad shelf liners are really easy to use but pretty uninspired – but functional. Vinyl wallpaper works well. Oil cloth, cut to fit and laid in place can be a funky and colourful alternative. although it has no adhesive, it is heavy and stays put well. Even way paper is fine. That lumpy, non-skid stuff that you buy in rolls, works well, but you can’t slide things in and out very well. In other words, anything that is slightly moisture proof, easy to cut and lay and also removable, is fine. (It is far nicer to wipe or replace than scrubbing out marked and bubbled shelves.
So the answer is that it doesn’t really matter if it is dowdy or cool, it is just plain necessary, so have some fun with it!
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