Before & After: An Almond & Orange Bathroom Leaves the ’80s Behind

published Feb 5, 2016
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(Image credit: Submitted by Brandi)

I can’t believe it took us 10 years to renovate our small 1980s bathroom. With the hideous almond tub, loo, sink and the orange wood cabinetry, things should’ve changed long ago. After I took a week off of work and my husband took a few days, we got to work on demo on a Sunday. We expected to be done by Wednesday but had some buffer days just in case. We found we needed new plumbing to fix low water pressure which set us back on our timeline. My dad helped my husband install cement board in the tub surround. I worked at night waterproofing the tub walls. My husband futilely worked on replacing the cabinets with shelves one evening before giving up. The plaster walls and tiny space (8″Wx15″D) provided nothing to sink screws into.

(Image credit: Submitted by Brandi)

My mother-in-law taught me how to grout and we spent some quality time tiling the tub and its awkward slanted ceiling. By the time the flooring needed to be done, I was a pro and handled it myself. We used 1920s looking fixtures, schoolhouse lighting, and a mix of hexagon and subway tile to produce our finished bathroom. The paint is Glade Green from Behr, a soft mint green that fees spa like. My husband solved the tiny storage space with ClosetMade wire shelves for open storage. We spent approximately $4K including the handyman installing all new plumbing for the entire room, a new GFCI outlet, and installing the fixtures properly. We finished a week after we started, just in time to go back to work.

Thank you, Brandi!