Small Changes, Big Results

Anyone who has done much home improvement has no doubt realized that sometimes small changes can yield HUGE results. Such was the case with the bathroom in my previous home. I started with a fairly nice, builder-basic bathroom--all white with a vinyl floor. I had big plans...I envisioned subway tile halfway up the walls with a travertine border and accent tiles, recessed panels on the clipped ceilings, and a built-in cabinet for towels in one corner behind the closet.



Bathroom Before





Another angle

I struck a deal with a builder friend to purchase enough walnut travertine to do the floor. He'd gotten a huge shipment of 18 x 18 tiles that he was using in all of the spec houses he was building at the time. My total investment was about $200. Now, I wish I could say that the more ambitious parts of my plan fell aside because I realized the bathroom just didn't need tiled walls or more built-ins. The truth is, after a month's worth of weekends, mornings of tip-toeing through construction debris, and hair-pulling trying to figure out the transition between my new travertine and the carpeting in the adjacent bedroom and closet, I was just ready for the bathroom to be done! (Full disclosure: ultimately, another builder friend spent a Sunday afternoon laying the tile!)

 So, a coat of paint and a new bargain floor later, my builder-basic bathroom looked like this:


Walls are Sherwin-Williams "Hopsack"



Pottery Barn "Porcelain Blue" Rugs

Paint and all supplies, there may have been a grand total of $400 spent on this bathroom makeover. I thought it made a huge difference though, and so did the buyers of my house. At closing, they remarked that the master bath is what sealed the deal for them.

This post is part of the Metamorphosis Monday party over at Between Naps on the Porch. Click over there for more before-and-afters!