The Bathroom Remodel, Under $500

I’ve been busy. Life has sort of taken me by storm. In the midst of it all, while trying to do some simple painting in our hall bathroom, I noticed a small little thing…the vanity was rotting. Like crumbles when you touch it rotting. Then I noticed the vinyl tile, it was coming up around the toilet. Bummer. So a simple paint job turned into a full remodel of the bathroom, all for under $500. Yes. Be impressed.

Here’s the whole remodel and how we did it for under $500.

The Original Bathroom
I took these pictures when we first saw the house back in February. It was staged and they were taken with my iPhone so please excuse quality and the bird house/accessories, not my choice.

The Process

Ok so it was this can of paint that began the remodel. I must thank you again Martha. Martha Stewart Paint $25, except Home Depot was running a special so I got a $5 mail in rebate. Score!

After I saw the stupid leak from the toilet we gutted the bathroom (everything except the tub). Our good friend Bill is so awesome, he came over and helped us with the whole project. We never could have pulled this off without him. Especially when we realized it wasn’t just the toilet leaking but also the sink area. So key #1 to an under $500 bathroom remodel, have a friend help you who knows what he’s doing. 🙂

And you’re thinking, “Oh your husband works at Home Depot, so you got a discount on everything, that’s how you did the whole remodel for under $500.” Yeah well, Home Depot does not give an employee discount. I know, shocking right? Its also horribly disappointing. I suppose sticking your tongue out a little helps?

New tile! We went to a place called Floor and Decor Outlets, they were very helpful and we got the tile, thin set, and grout for about $80. Not too shabby!

The Big Reveal

We got the vanity at Home Depot as well, on sale for $169. It included the sink. We were going to just use the toilet we had, but I figured the few hours I was going to spend cleaning the tank and everything was worth at least $68 so we just bought a new one for…drum roll…$68, which included all the insides. We bought new trim, it was roughly $15. The trim paint was around $15 as well (and I have a TON left over). I went dark which was a brave step for me, but it turned out awesome.

As far as the accessories go I had most of them already, but in case you’re curious…The shower curtain I purchased when we first moved in for $15 at Wal-Mart. I had the rug and accessories, they’re from Bill’s bachelor days, but they are pretty cool. The towels I had as well, but they are Thomas O’Brien from Target, Best.Towels.Ever. So plush and awesome, and very well priced, around $15. The tulips are made of metal and about three years ago I managed a cafe that was inside an interior design/boutique/art/market thing. They were in a booth directly across from our cafe and I lusted after them for months until the manager of the market bought them for me for Christmas. 🙂 They hold tea light candles and I just love them. The frame was a wedding gift and it has photos in it I took when we went on a cruise last October.

I still have to hang the mirror. I purchased a basic beveled mirror from Wal-Mart for under $10 (you can see it leaning against the wall in the first picture). I’m going to frame it out with fat wide trim and paint it with the same paint as the trim in the bathroom. We’ll eventually update the shower head and the light fixture but this was project we weren’t really planning on doing so it will have to wait until later. Also, Sam Dog snuck into the second picture, she’s the black blob near the bottom of the shot. And yes, that is a book on the back of the toilet, its titled What’s Your Poo Telling You and I highly recommend it. And that’s our bathroom remodel for under $500!