$4,700 for a toilet?! $12,000 for a shower!? C’mon. Don’t be a bonehead by spending big, big bucks on bathroom improvements that, in the end, still amount to just a john or water coming out of your wall. Keep it real.
That said, you can make sensible, simple improvements that add some sparkle, spirit and even sass to your bath without wiping out whole sections of your investment portfolio. Here are five easy fixes.
1. Change showerhead. Simple to do, and there are tons of fun, reasonably priced options available. Evolve’s model (photo 1) is marvelous for multi-taskers. It allows you to turn on the shower and then brush your teeth, answer the phone, wake the kids, whatever, while the water warms. No guilt over wasting water because when the water temperature turns 95 degrees, ShowerSmart technology causes the showerhead to automatically enter trickle mode. When you’re ready to shower, turn the toggle switch to resume normal flow.
2. Change faucet. My old sink faucet was a leaker and ugly, a carryover from the former owners. I replaced it with Price Pfister’s Catalina pullout faucet (photo 2), which doesn’t leak, looks great and toggles between streaming and spraying as you rinse the sink after shaving and washing your hair.
3. Install a curved shower curtain rod. Another simple change that costs maybe $40. It adds an interesting design element, and it reduces the claustrophobic feel of the shower.
There are several more of these simple fixes, such as adding a towel warmer, changing light fixtures, popping out the old medicine cabinet and inserting a new as well as creating your own art tiles. They can have a dramatic effect and they are empowering; you see that you can do a lot to make over a bathroom all by yourself—and without spending a bundle.
For fixes that are still simple and yet require more time, check out these last two possibilities.
4. Replacing stand-alone sink with a new sink and base. (This fix is from Dan Cary, Senior Editor at HANDY magazine.) If you’ve got a bathroom or powder room that could use an upgrade, consider replacing the stand-alone sink with a new sink and base. In most cases you can complete this project in a day, and it will cost between $200 and $600, depending on the fixtures you select. The process is not difficult and the new sink, faucet and base should all include manufacturer’s installation instructions.
Just a few years ago, the off-the-shelf options for a stand-alone lavatories were limited to pedestals, basic cabinets and institutional-looking wall mounts. But on a recent visit to one of my local home centers, I saw at least a dozen different base options and as many sinks and faucets. My favorite bases look more like pieces of furniture than cabinet. They conceal the supply and drain lines and still manage to offer a more open feel than fully enclosed cabinets. Most have open sides, exposed legs and open shelves. Some also feature a clever U-shaped drawer, designed to fit around the centered drain trap under the sink.
One potential limitation you may encounter is when you’re replacing an enclosed cabinet that was installed before the flooring. You have two choices. You can replace the bathroom flooring, which results in an even more impressive makeover, and then select any new sink and base style you like. Or you must select a new base that will conceal the area that has no flooring.
5. Paint and add bead board to the walls. (This fix is from Connie Bastyr, Senior Editor at HANDY magazine.) If you’re looking for an easy-and-quick project that offers a dramatic change in your bathroom, add a bit of bead board and paint to the walls. That’s what I did to a small half-bath, which already had some built-in charm, thanks to its odd shape and angled ceiling. Now this bathroom is awash in personality.
To create an old-cottage feel, I installed knotty-pine tongue-and-groove strips, which have interesting textures and irregular surfaces. For a more refined look, you can install manufactured PVC bead board panels. The wood I used is 1/4 in. thick and 3-1/2 in. wide. To get three strips from each board, I cut the 96-in. lengths into 32-in. pieces.
A brad nailer or finish nailer made installing the boards quick and easy, although a hammer and nails would suffice, too. You probably won’t hit any studs while installing the wainscot, but fastening the trim into the wall studs ensures that the wood is secured.
In case the walls were not straight, I used a level to check for plumb on the first strip of each wall so that each section would be vertical. Because I planned to paint the surface, I was able to fill gaps along the corners with a bead of caulk.
I used 1X3 stock pine for the base molding and the chair rail. The 1/4-in. X 1-in.rabbet that I cut into the lower back edge of the chair-rail strips concealed the top cuts of the bead board and allowed some wiggle room for adjusting the trim for level.
Once all the wood was installed, I applied a stain-blocking primer to seal potential bleed-through of sap, and topped it with a cream-colored satin-finish paint for a scrubbable surface and an old-world feel. Then I painted the beige walls above the chair rail a delicious blue-green color from Benjamin Moore, called “Beach Glass,” which nicely set off the soft, textural foundation of the bead board. The color looks like gray on the sample swatch, but trust me, it’s definitely blue-green on the walls. Whatever colors you choose, the architectural and textural addition of bead board will flood your bathroom with style and charm.
TIP: It’s well worth your time and effort to drain and remove the toilet’s water tank for easy access to the wall area during this project. You can still flush with a bucket of water if needed.