Posted by: Brenda Kula | August 12, 2008 This is the UGLY master bathroom before they started remodeling it last month. Note the ugly carpet, the tub/shower that’s really tall and isn’t even a jacuzzi. Why do builders put carpet in bathrooms, and tall tubs that you hit your shins on when entering and exiting, I wonder?


Note the ugly wallpaper (pink and gold…) and the horrid linoleum. Who on earth thought this matched or even complemented one another?


And I just can’t fathom what they were thinking putting in "popcorn" ceilings. Due to the skylight, moisture had caused little pieces of the "popcorn" to fall onto the ugly carpet. Which means I had to clean that up every day or two.


Okay, enough of the ugly tour. Now on to the remodeled version.


No more too-tall tubs to step up over to take a shower. Now, the whole thing is a shower! Took the vanity all the way to the shower. Before there was a gap of about a foot. Now there’s a built-in trashcan. (Uses the big kitchen-sized bags too!)


No more ugly linoleum and pink and gold wallpaper! I see I missed some dust around that toilet. Sorry.


Beautiful granite countertops and new sinks. Ordered the mirrors and lights online.


The below photo is what we refer to as "the tower," for lack of a better word. There was a place in the middle of the two sinks before where it was customary to pull up a chair to do makeup or whatever in front of the wall-length mirror. But it was just wasted space. So they built cabinets in that space that have drawers, which are covered by doors in front. They built it up higher just to give it a different look, and to break up a long counter. Behind the doors is an electrical outlet, where you can leave your hair dryer plugged in all the time. No more unplugging that thing once it’s cooled off and sticking it in a drawer! Lots of room for medication, etc.


They just repainted the existing doors. So there was a shell to work with that they blended into the remodel.


Little canine inquisitive minds just want to know…


A HUGE shower now. And a bench to sit on if need be.


No more 1980s style gold shower doors and plumbing fixtures. Now there’s a visually appealing glass door that stretches across the wall. And venetian bronze plumbing fixtures.


Travertine tile floors placed on the diagonal. I rotated this photo before I posted it, but obviously it did not stay that way. Have to turn your head sideways to imagine the real effect. Sorry…


Gone, gone popcorn ceiling!


Isn’t the granite pretty?


So that’s the tour. Wish I could have gotten better angles in which to photograph, but the space was simply not there in which to do so. It’s amazing what can take place in just a few weeks. Tearing out and the aftermath of dust. Endless people wandering in and out. Add new paint, travertine, granite, plumbing fixtures and cabinets plus hardware. New mirrors and lights. A new taller toilet for us folks looking just a bit over the half century mark (so the getting up and sitting down is bridged by a few inches.)


Now on to the rest of the house… Another bathroom that sits like an empty shell without paint or flooring (bared down to the cement). A hole in the wall from a plumbing disaster, in which I must keep a large painting placed over to keep the cats out of the dark hole. Two other bedrooms with cement floors due to aforementioned plumbing disaster. Then take up the same ugly carpet that remains in the living and dining room. And replace it with the same Dupont laminate flooring put in the master bedroom and hallway. Redo the entryway, which is really blah and boring. The kitchen was remodeled back at the first of the year. So that one is out of the way.


Oh boy. But at the end of however long this takes, hopefully the garden home we purchased back in January will take on a new life. One I can feel at peace in, as I do in my garden outside.


And yes, there above the skylight (minus the popcorn ceiling) you can see the ubiquitous East Texas tall pines looming overhead.


Cherie Paro, owner of The Granite Girls, who put this renovation together and gave me lots of good advice, I thank you for your expertise and professionalism. And especially my pretty bathroom!


Posted in Decorating


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Responses



  1. Brenda,


    That is a dramatic makeover! I love your granite countertops and the sleek look of the shower,


    You have great taste,


    Diane





    By: Diane on August 12, 2008


    at 1:42 pm



  2. What a dream bathroom! I especially love that walk-in shower. Being in that over-50 set myself, I detest stepping up and over the side of the tub to get in and out of the shower.



    By: Renna on August 12, 2008


    at 2:00 pm



  3. Wow! Worth the wait huh? Please post follow-ups as the rest of the work is done! Congratulations!



    By: Carla on August 12, 2008


    at 2:01 pm



  4. Beautiful job.



    By: Nancy Bond on August 12, 2008


    at 2:38 pm



  5. Brenda, the makeover is amazing. Your “new” bathroom is gorgeous!



    By: Pat on August 12, 2008


    at 2:39 pm



  6. It’s a beautiful remodel. I especially love the vanity.



    By: Alexandra on August 12, 2008


    at 4:21 pm



  7. How beautiful*!* Love that skylight…hope you don’t have any tree-climbing peeping Toms.

    I actually love that hanging light fixture from your before photo*!*





    By: Dianna on August 12, 2008


    at 5:23 pm



  8. Ahhh, now that is nice! I, too, despise carpet in bathrooms. UGGGGH! We just replaced ours. I lived with the sub floor for a year to avoid the horrid carpet. One day my husband came home and NO more carpet !



    By: amy on August 12, 2008


    at 5:35 pm



  9. Oh, Brenda, your new bathroom is gorgeous! What a change! I know you’re just loving it so much. We have one of those holes between our double sinks too and I’ve thot the same thing – what a waste of space. You’ve given me an idea! I love those little nosy fuzzy faces!!

    Oh, about the Red Work – actually you don’t even have to use red thread, it could be green or blue or whatever. I guess then you could call it Green Work? I don’t know. lol


    Be a sweetie,


    Shelia





    By: Shelia on August 12, 2008


    at 5:42 pm



  10. Bravo…it’s fabulous Brenda. I swear guys are color blind. We had two estimates today on painting the house and replacing windows on the whole back side. They were showing me color sample chip boards. What they called green I called gray and what they called gray I called a light blue. I know I was right.



    By: Lynn @ theVintageNest on August 12, 2008


    at 6:45 pm



  11. I never understood the whole carpet in the bathroom thing …. garrrossssssss!

    Your new bathroom is wonderful ….. beautiful and lots of storage. Yay!


    Good Job,


    Rosie





    By: Rosie’s Whimsy on August 12, 2008


    at 8:09 pm



  12. I never understood the whole carpet in the bathroom thing …. garrrossssssss!

    Your new bathroom is wonderful ….. beautiful and lots of storage. Yay!


    Good Job,


    Rosie





    By: Rosie’s Whimsy on August 12, 2008


    at 8:09 pm



  13. I never understood the whole carpet in the bathroom thing …. garrrossssssss!

    Your new bathroom is wonderful ….. beautiful and lots of storage. Yay!


    Good Job,


    Rosie





    By: Rosie’s Whimsy on August 12, 2008


    at 8:09 pm



  14. Wow – looks great!



    By: TinaTx on August 12, 2008


    at 8:21 pm



  15. So pretty! I love the cabinet with the electrical outlet for the hairdryer! Great idea. I don’t like carpet at all. Just area rugs! After pulling up carpet that was just a few years old, well-vacuumed and seeing all the sand and gunk under it, I was disgusted! I’m a bit different, I couldn’t give up a bathtub. I usually take baths, not showers!

    Congrats,


    Lorilee





    By: lorilee on August 12, 2008


    at 8:56 pm



  16. Hi Brenda. I had carpeting in my bathroom too…don’t understand either. It was a happy day when that got ripped up. I love your remodeling. It looks fantastic.



    By: Judy on August 12, 2008


    at 9:02 pm



  17. Brenda, you new makeover of your bathroom is beautiful!



    By: anne fannie on August 13, 2008


    at 12:44 am



  18. Your new bathroom is awesome Brenda!

    Enjoy! And try NOT to think of how much is left to do!





    By: Rosa on August 13, 2008


    at 3:17 am



  19. Simply gorgeous Brenda! I love everything about it. How cool that you were able to use your existing cabinetry with a little reworking.

    Carpet in the bathroom – gross! I once bought a house with carpet in one of the bathrooms, and carpet even in the kitchen. You wouldn’t have recognized the place after the renovations.


    I know living in the mess is a pain, but it will all be worth it when it’s done.





    By: linda on August 13, 2008


    at 8:14 am



  20. Your bathroom looks amazing. I am soooo jealous of all the space you have. I love the color you chose and those cabinets are really great.

    Enjoy your new bathroom!





    By: Connie B on August 13, 2008


    at 10:01 am



  21. Beautiful! Stunning! I really do applaud your good taste. And you just increased the value of your house by thousands. I am in total envy of your shower. Thanks for the tour.



    By: CurtissAnn on August 13, 2008


    at 10:35 am



  22. I love the new bathroom. It looks great. I love the color of the walls & the counter top. xoxo, Joanna



    By: Joanna {sweet finds} on August 13, 2008


    at 1:01 pm



  23. Brenda,

    Spectacular! WOW! It’s even more gorgeous than I thought it would be. This country girl is impressed, big time.


    I only dream of travertine and granite. I can tell you thought of everything and it looks great. That granite is just the color I would pick if I ever have it.


    I know how happy you are that it is done.


    Hugs for a job well done,


    Gretchen





    By: Gretchen on August 13, 2008


    at 1:10 pm



  24. Brenda, What a transformation! And a gorgeous one too!

    I gave a blog award today. You really do deserve it!





    By: Betty @ She’s Sew Pretty on August 13, 2008


    at 1:13 pm



  25. Brenda, What a transformation! And a gorgeous one too!

    I gave a blog award today. You really do deserve it!





    By: Betty @ She’s Sew Pretty on August 13, 2008


    at 1:13 pm



  26. Brenda, What a transformation! And a gorgeous one too!

    I gave a blog award today. You really do deserve it!





    By: Betty @ She’s Sew Pretty on August 13, 2008


    at 1:13 pm



  27. I am coveting your venetian bronze plumbing fixtures! Post the name of that granite, that is the shade I want! Your cabinets are the same color, and similar in design to mine, so now I KNOW what will look good with them!

    Something tells me you are even more excited than your babies that the project is almost finished! Take a break before you tackle anything else.


    Your contractors did a fantastic job; it was worth the dust and commotion, I’m sure!





    By: nola on August 13, 2008


    at 3:38 pm



  28. The bathroom looks fantastic! I love the colors – the granite is very pretty. What a difference in a few short weeks!



    By: Jill on August 15, 2008


    at 5:21 pm



  29. It looks so nice! I think we must have had the same designer of the old bathroom over here…we have carpet in our bathrooms and one of them has that dreaded gold shower door. What was the rational? I can’t stand it, but feel a little better knowing that a total transformation is possible!



    By: laura on August 27, 2008


    at 7:19 am