A wise man once said, “You go to take a shower with the bathroom you have — not the bathroom you might want or wish to have at a later time.” Perhaps we’re paraphrasing, but how happy are you with your current master bathroom? This should be your oasis; an escape from the drudgery of your workday, and a place to sink into soothing bubbles with a glass of wine and some mellow tunes.
That can’t happen in a bathroom that is dingy, dank and depressing.
Are you ready to upgrade your outdated bathroom? Here are some affordable ways to make your restroom truly restful:
Buy Used or Imperfect
In a perfect world, you could be replacing your sink, countertop, tub, shower and even toilet. That can end up being an expensive proposition if you buy everything brand spanking new. Instead, be smart about your fixture purchases. Start with Craigslist; you might discover someone has a few used items in good condition from a rehab job they’re looking to unload.
Speaking of rehab, you can also check out the Habitat for Humanity ReStore that sells all the materials they can’t put into a home. Lots of bargains to be had there.
As for your granite or marble countertops, think imperfection. There will be many slabs of stone that are deemed imperfect because of minor discoloration. These slabs are also less expensive than pristine pieces. Suppose those imperfections are actually around the areas you’re going to cut out or place fixtures? You might not even see the problems, but could end up saving a bundle.
Bring in the Heat
How many times have you gone into a cold bathroom and had your toes nearly encased in frostbite from the tile flooring? Maybe it’s not that severe, but it’s still a discomfort that diminishes your ideal bathroom. If you’re going to replace tiles with affordable options, you might want to consider adding propane heating for the floor. Utilizing propane for heat can actually save on energy bills. You won’t need to blast the whole house with heat when you just want a warm bathroom. Plus, this is an upgrade feature that can add significant value to your home.
Caulk Again
The caulk or grout around your tub, shower and sink could be looking a bit grimy. A great and affordable improvement is to scrape it up and lay down a clean line of new caulk. It’s a perfect way to freshen up the bathroom, especially if you’re not going to swap out the tub or sink.
Think Green
As long as you’re upgrading, you might want to think green with regard to your toilet and shower head. Low-flow is the way to go, and it will help you save money on your water bill. Just remember to also check your water regulator, which is where your water is piped into the house. Lowering the pressure from that point will also not only save you money by reducing water flow, it will also protect your pipes.
When in Doubt, Repaint
Finally, the most affordable way to redo a bathroom is to give it a fresh coat of paint. Two things to avoid:
- the color white
- any paint that isn’t a high-quality satin finish
When repainting a bathroom, you want to take extra care to tape off all the areas you’ll need to paint around. That high-quality satin finish will also be a good protection against mold or mildew, as it tends to repel moisture.
As for the color palette, you have a wide world of choices that can provide a splash of personality for your bathroom. White is OK, but it’s also very sterile and, some may say, boring. Express yourself!
Once your bathroom upgrade is complete, make sure you take some time to enjoy it all — because it’s a safe bet that the kitchen will be next.
Photo Credit: Xurble
Propane heating for the floor? I’m all for in-floor heating, but I think I’ll stick to the non-explosive, non-flammable ways to do it.
Even faster and cheaper (Those ARE all good ideas in the column!) is cleaning out your medicine cabinet and bathroom linen cupboard. Discard obsolete meds, dried up half used tubes of ointment, any things you haven’t used in a year or two. Wash out the interior of the medicine cabinet, put back the pared down collection of stuff. Every time you open the door the newly de cluttered interior you will feel better. Go through the towels and wash cloths. Demote any really ratty ones to the rag collection and buy a few new towels in a color which lifts your spirits. Those really threadbare bath towels are depressing and they don’t dry properly when they’re too thin. I just got three pretty, thick, lush bath towels at a yard sale and they’re nicer to use than the old ones though which it was possible to read newspaper headlines.
I loved this article. It was very practical. Keep ’em coming!
Keep in mind to work with the real world you live in where your home is. If the water where you live has minerals that will discolor white fixtures then pick a color that hides the stain in all fixtures and grout. If the sun beating down is super intense then make sure you design in shade for the house; it will result in a lower power bill that better fits a fixed income.
If you want a staggering reality check to give you guidelines for what you will be able to hold onto in really bad times, check and see what unemployment will provide monthly. How little you will have coming in will be a real shock, hopefully you will use it as an alarm clock before the crash hits. Remember 2007?
If I lived in CA I would install enough solar panels on the cheap to at least power a couple of fans and a light, they seem to shut down the power as the new normal.
Good tips, Debbie. As someone who has water with lots of mineral content, I whole-heartedly agree. Here’s another tip for those with really hard water: if you get a chance, replace the copper pipes with PEX flex tube because the calcium tends to hasten copper pipe corrosion, especially on the pipes carrying hot water.
White might strike a person as sterile but it does allow the use of any color bath towels and it makes a room look bigger. Buy nice quality bath towels at yard / estate sales. So many people discard almost new towels when they change color schemes. When the towels get thin and worn they’re demoted to kitchen dish towels. Worn dish towels are cut up into dish rags (We hand wash dishes.) The most ragged rags are used for “one time” projects like picking up cat vomit or spilled oil and then discarded. This saves us lots of money on paper towels. Rags get washed along with the work clothes so there is no cost. Much of the year we air dry the laundry outside to save money and does not beat up the clothes and towels which hastens them wearing out (Dryer lint is your clothing being worn off the garments by the tumbling.). When the heating season is over we use two dish pans in our double sink, one for washing and one for rinsing. The dish water is used for watering the decorative plants on the front porch and the minor amount of Dawn dish soap helps protect the plants from aphids. I don’t like to waste anything!
Love those towel tips, Karen! Way to go!