Vintage Glam Bathroom Makeover - Phase 1

When we purchased our home two years ago, it definitely was NOT for it's beauty!


We actually fell in love with the location, the huge lot with the fenced yard, the layout, and the fact that it had a second kitchen on the lower level making it perfect for my home daycare. We loved the huge paved driveway, the garage, the neighborhood. The size was perfect for our needs and it had a large laundry room and a master ensuite which were two of the biggest things on my "dream home" list.


But beautiful? Updated? My style? This house is none of those things.


It didnt scare us because we are seasoned DIY'ers and home renovators. We actually enjoy the hard work that comes along with transforming a house and I love having the ability to make all the choices myself when it comes to finishes, rather than buying something that was someone else's taste and not being able to change it because it's perfectly good, just not my taste.


This is how the bathroom looked the day we moved in. Not TERRIBLE, but definitely not our style. And we lived with it like that for a while.

We did really enjoy having double sinks for the first time, but that was about all we enjoyed. The walls were painted that 90's country blue that was popular when people decorated with geese and wooden hearts. All the 80's golden oak has aged into an orangey toned, greasy looking finish and the floors were bubbling up around the toilet.

Did I mention it also has a blue tub? Oh yes. Yes it does.

One night after the girls were in bed we were discussing what we wanted to do to the bathroom. We planned out a 2 phase renovation hastily scribbled on some notebook paper.

Phase 1

-Replace the sinks and countertop. Remove the oak "tower" on the counter as well

-Scrape and paint the ceiling

-Remove the medicine cabinet and replace with two inset ones

-Move the outlet to be centered , replace the switchplates, get a new fan control and fan cover

-Paint the cabinet and get new hardware

-Paint the walls

-Hang art, build a shelf with hooks for towels 

This would leave us with a very pretty looking bathroom, as long as the shower curtain was closed. It would be a huge facelift that would help us to enjoy the room a lot more until we could afford to do the more expensive projects.

Phase 2

-Remove the blue tub, tile the walls and install a new bathtub

-Tile the floors (possibly also adding heated floors)

-Replace the window

-Replace the toilet

-Replace light fixtures

And suddenly, we went from dreaming on paper to ripping down a medicine cabinet and getting out the sledgehammer! Did I mention this was at midnight? 

The next morning when I got out of the shower and had no mirror to help me get ready, I made the comment that maybe we didn't think this through and should have waited to start demolition. I mean, we hadn't even ordered new medicine cabinets and I had no idea what I wanted to use for countertops! My search for square sinks had not turned up a single one that fit in our budget. I felt a big case of renovator's remorse in the cold light of day, standing there wrapped in a towel looking at a blank spot on my wall and a countertop littered with tools.

My wonderful husband listened to my stressed-out ranting, and then calmly helped me tote my blowdryer and all my makeup into our other bathroom where we did still have a mirror. He assured me that we would have new medicine cabinets in no time, and it would all be worth it in the end. 

That evening I came upstairs and burst out laughing.

After he taped out where we needed to make cuts for the inset medicine cabinets, my husband thought he'd make me some temporary ones to keep me happy! 

I spent all my spare time researching the best price for the faucets I wanted, trying to find hardware I liked, and ordered medicine cabinets that were super expensive but we both decided were worth the splurge.

 It took us longer than anticipated because of a pretty big health scare with my husband that occured shortly after we started, but we did get phase one finished! 

Ok, almost finished. I still haven't found the perfect artwork and the shelf with towel hooks still hasn't been made yet . . . 

We are thrilled to finally be proud of our bathroom and not cringe whenever a guest asks us the dreaded "Can I use your bathroom?". It really feels more like US and less like where the trends of the early 90's came to die. 

Juuuust as long as you don't peek behind the shower curtain!

Linking up with Sand and Sisal, Coastal Charm, Cozy Little House, Home Stories A-Z, Creatively Living, Savvy Southern Style