
Image sources: The Golden Sycamore, Tidbits & Twine, The Lilypad Cottage, Living Vintage
I missed you last week, but I promise I was working hard to make some progress on our little cottage bathroom. Because it’s in Wisconsin, there was just no progress to post, because we weren’t actually up there to work on it. We went up this weekend, though, and have some major updates to share.
We have a bathtub, my friends, and tile too!
I know, I know, we tiled a bit backwards (who tiles the floor before the walls?!), but my dad and I were working at the same (there are only so many hours in a weekend). I had a lot more to tile in the shower (or maybe I am just a lot slower at this tiling thing), and he was tackling the floor. We had to put down a piece of plywood to step on to disperse the weight. You can see some of the mortar seeping through, but nothing that a pen couldn’t remove before it dried.
We’re renovating on a major budget, $1,500 for the entire space, so white ceramic subway tile seemed like the perfect choice for the walls. At $0.15 a tile (I waited for them to go on sale, of course), and about 600 tiles, we’re talking $90, plus $20 for the bullnosed edges, to tile all the way up to the ceiling. The floor tiles were $2.57 a square foot, but when you only need 25 square feet, it only set us back $65.
The bathtub was $150 (I went with acrylic to save us some bucks) and the cement board, drywall, plywood for the floor repair, and odds and ends were $75.
I explained our plans for the vanity in my week 2 post, and that should only set us back $175 (and I’m hopeful that it’s going to be my favorite piece in the room).
Which brings me to the unnecessary splurge in the room – antique bead board, for the ceiling! This was salvaged from an old milk barn, and I am in love. It’s Douglas Fir and painted in white on one side and it’s original wood on the other. I made add a little bit of color to some of the pieces to give a bit of variety to the ceiling, but there will be more about that later. $80 for enough wood to cover the ceiling – I can’t wait to get started on it!
Because I love how everyone else has lists, and it will probably help me to get my act together, here’s what we’ve accomplished thus far:
Gut almost everythingReroute drain and plumbing for a bathtubRepair wobbly/rotted floor- Remove the last of the wallpaper (in the entire house!)
Replace and mud drywallTile showerTile floor- Paint walls
Vintage faucet towel rackCounter top cut at shop- Retrofit old washstand into a vanity
- Bead board ceiling
- Paint medicine cabinet
- New light fixtures and switches
- Install toilet
Check out the progress I’ve made:
Week 1: Flashback to the 1970s
Week 2: It’s gutted – and I’ve got big plans!
Week 3: Oops – we’ll just say I was working too hard to post an update…
Check out all the week 4 updates at Calling it Home by clicking on the image below.
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Oh wow! I cannot wait to see that ceiling!!! It’s all looking great so far and giving me a ton of inspiration to tackle our bathroom on a budget! Can’t wait to see how it all comes together!
Me neither! I was actually looking at the weekends left before the final post date, and I don’t know if that ceiling is going to be finished in time – but it will go up, definitely by the summer!
Wow!! This is a huge project and I love love love your choices! I can’t wait t see how it turns out! Great job!
Thanks, Karisa! It looks like it may have been too big of a project for 6 weeks, but either way, we’re making huge progress, and it will eventually get done!
You are moving along, to me. I love subway tile. Hang in there.
Thanks for the words of encouragement!
The tile looks great- both floor and shower! Great work!
Thanks, Erin! All that white tile is actually helping that tiny room to look a little bigger.
I love that you are doing a bathroom remodel on such a tight budget and that you’ve found so many ways to stretch your dollars! Can’t wait to see how that ceiling turns out; I think it’s going to make the room so unique!
Thanks so much! It’s definitely helping the budget that the room is so small!!
You’re rockin’ it girl!! Can’t believe the similarities in our bathrooms. I’m jealous though that you don’t have to use yours while remodeling. 🙂 I’m looking forward to the reveal!!