Half Bathroom Face Lift; Before and After

This was my half bathroom before.
The only bathroom on the main floor.
The most used bathroom and the only one people not living in the house ever use. 
The biggest eye sore of the entire house. 

Nothing was liked about it except for the tile floor which we installed last spring.  Not the builder block oak cabinets, laminate counter and  boring mirror.  Not the fact that it had silver fixtures when the rest of the house has that hideous brass  nor the fact it was so very  off white all over.

That is much better.

Another before.  Like is usually looks, with a toddler’s pull-ups filling the trash.  I did not intentionally make it look worse by leaving the toilet paper rack bare.  It just happened to be that way. ha!

 After.  It feels funny taking pictures of a toilet.
This is the truest photo in regards to the paint color.

What we did
Re enamel counter tops in better color
Replace faucet, towel ring, and TP holder
Paint cabinet high gloss white
Give cabinet handles
Replace mirror and repair wall behind mirror
Paint trim in new high gloss white
Paint walls so they were not white.
Paint accessorize to match

The details.

1/4 gallon Behr High Gloss in Creamy White. $7.24
1 gallon Behr Semi-Gloss in Garden Wall.  $23.47
1 can antique white spray paint for accesorys. $3.44
9 foam brushes and one roller  $10.94
Oil Rubbed TP holder  $9.99 on Amazon
Oil Rubbed Towel Ring  $8.99 on Amazon
Oil Rubbed Faucet  $58.23  new on Ebay
Counter Top Enamel Paint in Cobblestone $19.48
Cabinet Handles   $0  Left over from Kitchen. 
New Mirror  $25 (I bought a mirror at TJ Max, that was a better color but a bit smaller.  I told my Mom and she said she would trade me this mirror that was on her dresser for my mirror I had purchased for the bathroom.  Hers was taller, and I kind of like that it doesn’t match perfectly)


Total 166.78

A close-up of what is one the wall.    I sprayed this white so that it added some light to the room.

Let me say that this took 10 days to complete.

We ripped everything out, and decided to start with the counter top.  We wanted to try to apply new enamel to change the color. But if it didn’t work we were willing to buy a new counter for the space.  It did work out eventually.I put the 1st coat of enamel on using a sponge brush and fine roller.  It went on too thick, it was heavy and started to sluff off the vertical surfaces.  I started to cry out of frustration.  Jake came, sanded it down  and fixed it.  Sounds about like every project I start.  Then it had to dry for three days before we could do anything else in the bathroom.

Another thing we found out about re finishing this room was that it was too small for both of us to work in at the same time. It was actually hard for me to paint just by myself because the room is too small to really fit a ladder in because it is an L shape.  I kept bumping into the walls and would have to touch up the wall over and over again.

The hardest part of the whole thing though was patching up the holes in the sheet rock that bringing down the old mirror caused.  It was industrial strength glued on there.  When we tore it off  we also tore off tons of the wall.

Like when we finish all home projects I am glad it is done, happy with the results, but not sure it was worth all that work and stress.
Also it is a little sad that a bathroom is now the nicest room in the house.

Published: January 13, 2011Filed Under: Bathrooms, Link Parties Tagged: Bathrooms, Before and After, Painting, Powder Rooms

About Cassity

Cassity started Remodelaholic with her husband, Justin, to share their love for knocking out walls together. She is an interior designer, wife, and mother of two. She and Justin have remodeled three homes from top to bottom and are working on their fourth. Making a house a home is her favorite hobby.