Despite all the news I’ve been hearing of slowly coming out of the recession, I’m still feeling pinched. I get the feeling I’m not the only one. However, being in this economic condition lends me to re-think how I advise customers who want to remodel their home. Too many people think they’ll need more than $10,000 to get moving on their design ideas.
So here is the PlumbTile guide to remodeling your bathroom on a budget. We’ll try to get a kitchen edition out next month, or maybe a short one in between the next post.
Colors
The easiest and cheapest fix you can do is re-paint the room. If you don’t have a lot of elements going on in your bathroom, a solid wash of color across one wall will create a vibrant feeling in any bathroom. Choose a bold tone, like a deep red, or something cooler if there’s a lot of natural light.
A similar idea is to re-stain the wood on your cabinets. Depending on what your previous stain/wood is, going from pale to dark and vice versa is another dramatic change that will liven up
Increase the Size
If the bathroom feels small, making it seem bigger is easily accomplished by adding a large mirror. Go wide instead of tall- the lateral space will feel like a window into another room rather than a mounted surface.
A lot of perceived space in a bathroom is taken up by cabinets. If you don’t use much of their interior, then it’s wasted on nothing. Removing and replacing them with stand alone shelving will open up space around the legs, making the room feel less cramped in terms of where you can place your feet.
Add-Ons
If all the big stuff is too much for you to replace, tackling all of the little details may be the way to go. Be careful with this route- a lot of little stuff can add up to big bucks.
If you’re able to shop around as much as you can, tile shouldn’t cost too much per piece. Look for stuff that’s colorful and around $2-3 per square foot. Glass tile will be more expensive, but also more eye-catching. Find the balance that’s right for you. If a lot of tile is too much money, use a diminished design, surrounding it with cheaper tile, rather than a whole surface using the more expensive stuff.
Another concept I’ve seen that falls in this category is surrounding your tub with a concrete curtain (stone is too expensive for a budget remodel). If your tub isn’t much to speak of, this modernistic decision will increase it’s commanding presence in the bathroom and also add flat space for accessories and toiletries.
Replacing the knobs and pulls in your bathroom is another subtle move that will have surprising results. The stock pulls that come with houses are picked to appeal to the greatest amount of potential home buyers. Look around for something more suited to your tastes. You’ll be surprised at the variety of things out there for such an overlooked item.
New Stuff
If you can afford to spend more than $250, a new toilet can add value to your bathroom. Toto’s dual flush Aquia allows you to select how much water you want to use per flush. Their designs are also a bit sleeker than most toilets, so it wouldn’t functionality upgrade only.
A more visual redesign is a new faucet. If everything else is satisfactory in your bathroom, a sleek new faucet design will not only remove the creaky old stock fixture that came with your bathroom, but also attract attention as one of the most used items in your bathroom. These usually cost as much as a replacement toilet if you stay in the mid range, but even high-end faucet manufacturers offer models for less than $300.
You can find everything I’ve mentioned here (and more) at www.PlumbTile.com