Master Bath Reveal
- rachelanndittmer
- Jul 5, 2020
- 7 min read
I don't usually make entire blog posts on one of our room renovations, but to fully appreciate one of my least favorite rooms becoming one of my favorites, I decided to give it a whole post to give it the attention it deserves. Now, to present you with the journey to our
We moved into our beloved fixer upper a little over two years ago now. When I say that the entire place needed remodeled, I mean it. One of the previous owners smoked, so all ceilings needed painted, the whole main level needed to be leveled, we moved two staircases, had pink carpet & wallpaper that needed gone, added two bedrooms downstairs with 2 egress windows, a couple closets, expanded the bathroom downstairs & converted it from a 3/4 bath to a full, and got carpet added downstairs (among other things) only to then have 3 tornadoes that ran through our city that somehow broke one of the new egress windows and flooded our new carpet. That ended up being such a faithful reminder that God would provide through the storm with amazing friends that helped us in our time of need. While insurance didn't cover the carpet damage, it did get us a new roof out of the ordeal & we actually recently painted the whole exterior of our house & have started working outside now as well, but that's another story. My husband still works full time, and I've been staying at home through all of this with our five kids & 2 cats & trying to find ways to stretch our budget & get everything done. As a result, our bathroom was put on the backburner.
We had planned on working on our bathroom last summer & I bought a tub then as a result that ended up sitting in our garage for about a year. It was so disheartening to see every time I went into the house. Not to mention, it would be the first bathtub we've ever had in our master bathroom & our first deep tub. While we worked on the downstairs' bathroom, I had to shower upstairs in our daughter's bathroom. When we finished the downstairs' bathroom, it meant carrying all of our clothes up & downstairs & showering/moving around kids' toys every time I got in. To say that I was ecstatic to get started on our own bathroom after two years of this would be an understatement.
While we hired a plumber to move our toilet line and plumb our bathtub and shower, my husband did the sinks and said it'd be easiest if I found a vanity with door fronts instead of drawers. We have never had double sinks in our master bath (until now) & really wanted to make it happen but had a very narrow space to work with & I was struggling so much to find a vanity in our pretty much nonexistent budget by that point. To buy a new one with the dimensions we'd need could easily be $3-5 THOUSAND dollars & that's really not even making it as narrow as we'd need which could easily double that for a custom piece. To say I looked endlessly on all the rummage sites would be an understatement. At one point, these people were selling one fairly cheap & said they have more for sale only to drive over half an hour away & see them sell it to the people in front of us knowing we were on our way & even setting up a time to meet with no mention of anyone else interested when I double-checked before we left. I was devastated as it was the only vanity with door fronts I had even found in months of searching. It seemed like it would be impossible to find.
After praying for God's help in the process, I just happened to see an entertainment center with door fronts that looked cool, but was too big for our space & out of our price range. However, it got me thinking more outside of the box. While I had looked up cabinets & other various pieces, I had never thought to look up "entertainment center." I put it in the search bar only to find what looked to be cool library shelves taken apart & stored in a garage that I wished were available when I was looking for our library shelves in our living room. They were just a ridiculously good price and looked like they had potential to be amazing. While I didn't need shelves for our living room any more, my brain started turning & I started wondering if there was any way I could make it work for our bathroom as they had all door fronts. Sure enough, it just happened to be an inch or two short of our width, three inches less depth than the previous vanity, and the exact same height. It felt meant to be. The lady was asking $299 & said she could come down to $249 when I asked if she'd accept anything lower as we were really strapped then.
I still wasn't sure how we'd make it work as I wanted to take out the shelves on the sides to put in mirrors & lights & just use the middle shelves & my husband thought we should just use the bottom piece & wanted nothing to do with the work it would take to make the top piece work. He said if I wanted it done, I would need to work on it. So, after almost completely taking it apart and finding out each shelf was attached on each side by several 3 -3 1/2" long nails that were well hidden & so much work, I was so thankful and extra appreciative when my vision became a reality. I don't think it could have turned out any better than it did as I think it not only maximized our spaces, but actually makes it look bigger too. Plus, my husband can't take any credit for the work on it-you know, besides the plumbing underneath & adding in under cabinet lighting up top like I asked him to. ;) He also made the shelves above our toilet from the shelves I took down. :) I told him the measurements I wanted, & he added the hardware I bought & hug them up. We were given both pieces of art above the shelves from my sister getting rid of stuff, I had the vase leftover from when a friend bought me some flowers, & I filled it with leftover rocks & fake flowers from our wedding. The Kleenex box we had from a gift we were given when we were first married (13 years ago on the 7th).
My husband & our brother-in-law tiled our bathroom as well. I tried to tie in the styles of our other bathrooms while making it coordinate with what I had to work with. We had a whole box of those bullnose edge tiles left and one more sheet of the glass tiles that they no longer sold anymore & I couldn't find anywhere as well as the little beveled trim pieces. It sparked my creativity all the more & I bought the handmade tree art tiles from a lady on Etsy that I couldn't be happier with. Both walls to our shower are exterior walls & niches wouldn't be the best idea even with some out of the box thinking with how cold it gets here, & I love how our little shelf turned out. The only tile with the right colors I could find in store that were still a good price were 12" x 24" & I found out there were no smaller ones in the same colors for decorative areas so we had to get creative & for the middle part & the guys were able to cut some of the bigger pieces down. I love how it turned out. :)
SHOP MY ROOM I've heard quite a few times I should be a personal shopper for others as I am great at finding deals, reading reviews, and creating quality looks for less so I thought I'd share some of my finds with you. While I got the vanity off of a facebook rummage site, I figured I could include some of the pieces I bought in store & online to point you to the artists that made them & give credit where it is due. I am so happy with all of the pieces I bought. :)
Tub & shower faucet trim Tree of life tile set was bought here Towel (technically coat) hook rack in "red mahogany" Flooring Toilet seat Bathtub Hand towel hooks (though mine are bronze, not gold, & I think I got them on sale in store) Wall brackets under homemade shelves Soap dispensers Q-tip/floss pick holders
Mending plates I spray painted matte black & Drew bent to attach upper shelving to wall
Blue/gray picture frame on shelf
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. If you enjoyed this, please pin it, like it, or share! I started this site to hopefully bless and help others with the talents God has given me and make connections to establish a career as my kids get older, but can't really do either of those things when it doesn't reach others. As we come to a pause on the amount of projects we are able to do until we save up more (the deck will be one of the next big ones), I am hoping to invest more time in illustrations & writing & even on here as well. We've cleared out a little space under our stairs that is going to be my art room! :) Until then, feel free to look around & let me know if anything speaks to you or if I can be of any help. I really appreciate the feedback.
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