Small Bathroom Renovation Before + After

This small bathroom renovation before + after reveal might be a small space – but it was the biggest renovation we tackled in the townhouse.  The house had good enough bones.  On the main floor, the flooring was decent and the rooms were okay, so mostly we just painted, re-finished some wood…  a little bit of tiling and updating fixtures.  But upstairs, we tore up the carpet and completed renovated the main bathroom and en suite powder room.  To save money, we didn’t change the layout of either.  But everything else was updated!  This was the main bathroom before, with a 1970s peach toilet, tub, tile, and sink.  Normally, I’d embrace a vintage bathroom but this was in rough shape!

Before: original peach tub, tile, toilet and sink but everything was in terrible condition!

A Blend of DIY and Pros!

We did some of the DIY work ourselves, including demo-ing the vanity, toilet, floors, etc.,  But we hired pros to install the tub and tile because I pictured it tumbling down the stairs with me running ahead of the tub like in the cartoons.  Plus I was scared to have this important part of our house be our first DIY tile job!  The tub and tile was a package deal, which saved a lot of money.  We were “upsold” on the soaker tub—it is, apparently, a good feature for resale.  But I wish I had also splurged on more unusual tile—even just subway.  The plain rectangular tile we have was oodles cheaper as part of the package and, at the time, cash was tight.  I at least wanted the plain tile installed in a brick pattern, but the salesmen talked me out if it.  Sarah Richardson just recently installed the same kind of tile in an unusual pattern on her show “Sarah’s House” and it looked great!  I wish I’d trusted my gut, but it was difficult, being so green at renovating and having an expert tell me something won’t look right.

At the end of the day, the white tile looked so much better than what was there before – so fresh and so clean!  So I really can’t complain.  White walls and white tile might not be an “inspired” design choice, but nothing beats an all white bathroom for making a small bathroom feel larger.

After the tilers were done, we installed a new vinyl sheet floor (again: no money!), and a new vanity and toilet.

Completed Bathroom:

After all the work was done, we had a lovely if a touch basic bathroom.  The vanity was also a package deal (the vanity, counter, sink, cabinet hardware all came together), and I did love the little marble counter top with the pretty edge.  It felt special in this space.

So much fresher!

We ended up changing the light – and also built that simple medicine door cabinet as an easy DIY

After a Little Styling:

I painted a bright yellow abstract for the room, thrifted a colorful seascape painting along with a cheery yellow bowl.  These little touches helped add a little bit of character to an otherwise neutral, grey and white bathroom design.

Looking for More Bathroom Renovations?

Since this small bathroom renovation before + after was posted, we’ve also renovated the matching powder room.  Below is the BEFORE (this time, yellow fixtures!).  Click the link for the reveal.

We also did a very budget friendly spruce in the main floor bathroom.  The final look is below, but you can see the different stages and the before by clicking the link.

We have since moved houses and in our new place, a little lakehouse, we have also renovated these spaces:

Mid-Century Modern Inspired Bathroom Renovation

Turquoise Powder Room Makeover