Before & After: A 75 Year Old Tub (and the Rest of the Bathroom) Gets a Makeover
What was initially supposed to be a cosmetic upgrade turned into a much larger project for Courtney and John after they discovered some water damage. Undeterred they set about turning Courtney’s parent’s bathroom and laundry room into a guest-ready space.
Courtney writes, “This bathroom is in my parent’s pre Civil War era house. Over the past 20 years, it was the only full bath shared by my parents, two sisters and myself. It also served as our laundry room. A couple of years ago, John and I added a new ensuite bath to my parent’s master bedroom. And, now, with us out of the house, this space doesn’t see much traffic aside from the occasional house guest and use of the washer and dryer.
With an “empty nest” my parents are looking forward to hosting more family and friends, and wanted to makeover the hallway bathroom for visitors.
Initially John and I estimated the renovation would take one month. On our first day of demo, we learned that there was extensive water damage to the hardwood floor under the toilet (from a leaky seal) and along the tub. This discovery made us reassess the initial $2,000 budget. Repairing the original hardwood floors became cost prohibitive, so we decided to install a floating laminate, which turned out great.
The largest expense was reglazing the original American Standard bath tub. But the results were worth every penny! We hired a professional re-glazer and were astonished with the end product. The 75 year old tub looks brand new!
If you are planning on reglazing a bathtub, do your homework! Get multiple quotes, and ask for referrals. It should be easy for a contractor with a good track record to provide a list of happy customers you can contact. Any contractor that can’t produce such a list is a red flag in our book.
The goal of this bathroom renovation was to bring function and style into an otherwise neglected space. First and foremost, this space would be used as a laundry room, so we drew inspiration from fresh, crisp laundry to help guide our decisions.
By incorporating nods to its past, the renovated bathroom feels original to the historic house. We found the perfect nostalgic sage green wall color and oil rubbed bronze fixtures that pulled everything together.
Instead of hiding the clothes drying rack we made it a focal point with a dark hardwood shelf and incorporated vintage hangers that would look great, even if unexpected guests stopped by.
Thank you Courtney and John! You can see more on their blog Content + Company.