Number of bathrooms in home: Two, one master bathroom and one full bathroom. Lori’s current project was remodeling the full bathroom.
Project scope: Partial remodel. Replaced old linoleum floor with new linoleum tiles; painted vanity; added a new trim to the mirror; painted walls; replaced sink faucet and towel bars.
Total Cost: Around $600.
For the complete remodeling story, read below. See more photos of the remodel here.
Romance novelist Lori Borrill has an active imagination, but while writing allows her creativity to flow without many restrictions, her small bathroom remodel was subject to one major constraint: a $300 budget.
Lori and her husband had lived in their current home for a year when they decided to remodel the full bathroom. Their home is a tract house that was built around 20 years ago, and the bathroom they were remodeling had never been updated.
“The linoleum was in poor condition, the fixtures were basic contractor brands and very outdated,” said Lori. “Luckily for us, the bath was rarely used by the previous owner, and while it was a basic white tile enclosure, it was in almost pristine shape.”
Not having to replace the bathtub and surrounding tile certainly helped keep the project cost low, as did Lori’s decision to keep the vanity. While Lori and her husband considering purchasing a new vanity, it would have required moving the bathroom’s only light fixture. So they decided instead to update the vanity’s look by painting it a deep, chocolate brown.
“I think if anyone is trying to save on remodeling, painting or refurbishing cabinetry instead of replacing can be a huge cost savings,” said Lori.
The remodel was meant to be entirely a do-it-yourself project, but Lori and her husband decided that they weren’t comfortable installing a new faucet on their own, so they called a plumber to replace their sink faucet. Then the plumber noticed that the pipes underneath the sink needed to be replaced as well. Not only was the DIY dream over, but so was the $300 budget. The plumbing costs alone came close to exceeding the $300 budget and the final tally for the entire project was around $600; fortunately Lori knew from prior experience that most remodeling budgets are meant to be broken.
“Expect to pay twice as much as you budget,” she said. “Every project we’ve done turns out that way, despite the fact that we do lots of pricing and research at the beginning. Something unexpected always comes up, or small items you dismiss end up costing more when you add them all together.”
But while Lori had a knack for remodeling her bathroom on the cheap, coming up with a romance-novel-like title for her project seemed to be a little more challenging. “How about, ‘Romance author gives an old bath new steam’? My editor will tell you I’m not good at titles!”
Read about the one part of Lori’s project she wishes she could do over in the Bathonista Blog.
