Master bath updates turn into demo, renovations

Ever had a small project grow into a major one? :)

We needed a new tub and some tiling done in our master bathroom. Next thing you know, we were hiring a contractor to redo the master bath - tub, tile, floor and cabinet resurfacing. Once we went "all in" we decided to update the kitchen as well (counters & cabinet resurfacing).

And, of course, what was going to take one to two weeks took... eh hem... four weeks. But in the end, it was worth the mess, dust and the money to have two major rooms updated.

Now, here's a look at why we needed the renovations.

 

The tub was settling, allowing water to puddle at the bottom and we had some water damage to the faux tile boards.

And while we're at it, the red floor and the honey oak cabinets were pretty dated.

When we started this process I thought it would be fun and easy to choose tile - from the floor tile, bathroom wall tile, and my favorite, the glass accent tiles. Wow, there are so many colors and types of tiles it was overwhelming!

We knew we wanted something neutral and after a few weekends at every tile store, Lowe's and Home Depot (multiple visits and samples bought) we had our winners. Despite the long search, Joseph & I do have similar tastes so that made it easy once we found something we liked.

Here is what we used (I'll put the names/specifics at the end of the blog):

So, of course, phase one of the project - demolition.

To decide which way to lay our floor tiles we laid them out on the concrete floor. I thought I wanted them up and down, but once we laid them out it was clear they looked much better positioned the other way.

Then the tile started to go in.

 

From there, the crew took all of our cabinet doors off to take them to the shop to sand them down and re-stain them a darker, more modern color. The crew lightly sanded the frame of the cabinets, taped them off and sprayed the new stain on. 

Did I mention everything was a mess?

And now, the reveal of the finished project with the before and after comparisons:

We love how it turned out!

Here are the details of the products we used:

Floor Tile:
12x24 porcelain tile called "Beige Travertino" from Home Depot
Grouted with "Bone"

Wall Tile:
9x12 Daltile Briton Bone ceramic tile from Home Depot
6x6 Daltile Briton Bone ceramic tile from Home Depot
Grouted with "Snow White"

Glass Accent Tile:
Jeffrey Court Cottage Ridge Mini Brick 12x12 in from Home Depot
American Olean 1/2-in x 6-in Delfino Sand Glass Tile Liner 

Bathtub:
Jacuzzi Soaker Tub (no jets)

Bathroom Fixtures:
Moen Branbury Collection

Cabinet Stain:
Mohawk Finishing Products Ultra Penetrating Stain in Van Dyke Brown

Because of the scope of this project and with everything going on in life, we knew we wouldn't tackle such a large project on our own. But it was really great to see each step of the process to give us an idea of how we could tackle a similar project in the future.

One thing we did do ourselves is paint our master bedroom to coordinate with the bathroom. Previously our room was a deep blue, but we painted it a khaki color called Garden Shed from Martha Stewart's line at Home Depot. I was impressed with the BEHR paint plus primer that covered the blue nicely with one coat and just some touch-ups.

Next up: the kitchen transformation!