Making bathroom renovation dreams a reality and when the results end up better than you ever imagined it’s life changing. This is final post on the master bathroom renovation including all the small details and process photos.
Making the best use of the space with a master bathroom renovation in a 1740 saltbox farmhouse. A small master bathroom with tons of charm and DIY projects.
It’s clear this master bathroom is small but that doesn’t mean it can’t be amazing. I tried my best to get good photos that show how we transformed this outdated master bathroom with a non-functioning bathtub into a beautiful gem complete with a large, functioning, walk-in shower. This is a master bathroom renovation from start to finish.
The view above is from the new entry which was the old hallway linen closet.  This bathroom is a rectangle shape about 8′ long by 7′ wide. We re-mounted the linen closet door to swing into the bathroom.
BEFORE:
The old linen closet is now the new bathroom entry and the old entry is a sealed up wall that became the shower wall. Â It was a tough decision to loose this linen closet space but we have two more closets off the master bedroom and a large linen closet upstairs. Â While some would argue I should not have taken out the closet I truly believe having a larger master bathroom is worth it in this case.
Demo:
In regards to the actual construction I had my contractor and his guys do all the demo, framing, electrical, plumbing, tiling and sheetrock. For this master bathroom renovation I did the finish work of painting, building the vanity and wall shelf.
Above is the space after demo, the old subfloor was rotted through (under that piece of plywood) and you can see the blue tape I laid out to mark the new layout of the sink and shower.
Standing in the bathroom where the old tub used to be and facing towards the old entry you can see the other closet in the hallway and our biggest obstacle: three lines of HVAC.  The guys were able to re-route these lines over to the right about 12″ then we made a new wall between the closet and bathroom to hide this venting and provide a back wall for the shower.
Once the new framing, plumbing and HVAC were in everything started to take shape and eventually we ended up with this awesome space.
AFTER:
So worth every ounce of dust!
Tiling:
The tile guys leveled out the floor with mud (that pipe in the toilet waste line is there only to prevent mud or grout from getting in the line).
Then the tile went down. Â It took one man two days of work and then he came back to grout.
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Bathroom Tile Specs:
- shower walls: white ceramic subway tile
- shower floor: white honed carrara 2″ hexagon mosaic
- bathroom floor: glossy 1″ hexagon porcelain tile
- shower grout: white
- bathroom floor grout: light grey
Vanity and Sink:
You can see a sneaky peek of the vanity above. I covered all the vanity details in this post here.  It’s a DIY project and I’ve included the free plans if you’re looking to build something similar for your master bathroom renovation.
The vanity and sink have their own dedicated posts here and here.  The medicine cabinet is this classic wall-mounted medicine cabinet. Behind that medicine cabinet we have a large wood beam in the wall running at a 45 degree angle. And I wasn’t sure if the guys would be able to recess the cabinet at all but they did and it’s awesome to not have it protruding out into the room.  (Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of this process because we were away on vacation when they installed the medicine cabinet.)
I painted the buffalo check design on the walls and detailed the entire process in a post here.
And the sconce above the sink is from here. Â It’s simple and clear and very heavy!
Toilet:
The toilet is the only fixture that we kept in the same position in this master bathroom renovation. Â Truly I didn’t want to hassle with moving the waste line because it falls in between two stone walls of foundation and there was just no reason to move it. Â We do have a beautiful new toilet from the nice folks at American Standard, more details about the toilet here.
Finishing Details:
I added this simple shelf above the toilet made from an old floor board. So my friend was ripping out some old flooring and she gave me a pile of useable pieces and I made this shelf. But in all honesty we use this shelf for towels and a basket of extras, these props just look prettier in the pictures.
The window shade has a privacy liner and functions top – down and bottom – up. Â I’m pleasantly surprised with the quality of this shade, it’s hefty and solid and I highly recommend. Â The source is here and I choose Aruba Walnut color.
These super functional wall hooks from Ikea (no longer available) were purchased months before the master bathroom renovation ever started. But I love them and they are perfect for the hand towels.
And above you can see the old closet door is now the new bathroom door.  The interior has been painted white with new hardware.  You would never know that corner was originally a linen closet. And this master bathroom was so small and tight and had a bathtub that leaked.  It still amazes me what a few weeks time and a ton of hard work can do for a space!
SHOP THIS ROOM:
For more details about the wall mounted sink and toilet click here:
This looks so good!!! Love Love Love the vanity and the sink. You do such great work!
Can you provide any detail on the shower? I'm thinking about doing a corner shower, and I wondered what size this one is/how roomy it feels/how well you like it/etc. Thanks!
I LOVE this makeover! Great job, Jaime!!
it looks great Jaime, the only thing I can think of when I see that vanity is "omg her inset doors look totally perfect" – I went insane trying to build inset cabinet doors. Do you cut dados on a table saw or use the compound miter? I don't have enough covered workspace outside to set up a table saw there and I feel kinda stuck.
anyway love the tile ! xx
Absolutely gorgeous!!!
This is simply incredible. I don't even know what to say. I keep looking at it and finding something new that I love. The walls just speak my language. I love them so so much. But the vanity, tile, shower … it's all gorgeous. Well done, my friend.
Very creative ideas. You did a great job .It’s really informative blog about Bathroom renovations Austin
Love this bathroom! Thanks for the inspiration! I can’t believe you painted that buffalo check. Wow.
Thanks Monica, we’re still loving it 3.5 years later. But I’m so glad it’s paint so when I tire of it I can easily paint over it – which I’m sure may happen some day down the road. 🙂