Now that I’m finished with the Columbia renovation and am looking for my next project (always husslin’ for another project!), I have time to finally document the process and today we’re talking bathrooms. This rental has 2 full baths and although I wanted to add another in the master bedroom since there was plenty of room, in the end I decided that it wouldn’t add enough value to the property given the cost. If I were selling the house, I’d absolutely add a master bathroom and I look forward to doing so! But because I rented the house the day after it was listed, not having a master bathroom in my rental didn’t hurt me any.
The basement bathroom was the worst looking of the 2 bathrooms and was a total gut job so let’s start there first.
I thought I would describe how hideous the basement bathroom was but I’ll let the photos speak for themselves…
I did keep the owl toilet, minus the owl because the toilet was fine, it just needed a new seat (and a good scrubbing).
Look at that faucet! It’s actually pretty cool since it’s so old, it’s now retro. Also don’t miss the aluminum foil wrapped soap tray or the wadded up tissue next to the sink…
Here are the after photos:
The contractor installed a new vanity with a new faucet. I also had him install a new shower. Although a tiled shower would have been swankier, again, as a rental it’s not worth the money. A vinyl shower enclosure is more expensive for materials than tile, but it’s less expensive overall since the labor cost is so much less to install it. Think about hours of tiling vs. an hour (or so) installing the enclosure. Vinyl enclosures are also easier to maintain in a rental since I never have to worry about re-caulking, re-grouting, or broken tiles. And, because I saved about $750 using the vinyl enclosure instead of tiling, I was able to apply some of that money toward a frameless glass shower door which always modernizes a bathroom.
The wall color that I used was a Home Depot reject color that someone never picked up and I love it! It’s the perfect blue for the space and it was discounted so I didn’t pay too much to potentially not love the color.
The bathroom is really tiny so I also had the contractor build some shelves in the unused corner next to the shower to store towels and other bathroom necessities. The shelf above the toilet gives a little more storage space.
Okay, now on to the second bathroom which is upstairs on the main level. It wasn’t in such bad shape like the basement bathroom, but it was still dated.
I kept the toilet, the shower (since it was almost new), and the floor and replaced the vanity, faucet, mirror, bathroom fan, and cabinet above the toilet. I also painted of course.
One thing that I like to do is that if I am replacing the mirror in a bathroom I install a medicine cabinet instead to add more storage which is what I did in this bathroom. It’s still a tiny bathroom with hardly any storage but now there’s additional storage not only in the vanity, but also the medicine cabinet and shelf above the toilet.
I really love this soft blue/green wall color since it really brightens up the space much more so than the apricot color that it was painted. The color here is Palladian Blue by Benjamin Moore.
One thing about this bathroom is that the prior owner installed 4 grab bars in the bathroom because she was handicapped. Although in my listing, I can’t say that it’s ADA compliant, because the entire house isn’t, I can certainly photograph and show the handicapped features of the property in case that is attractive to a potential renter who is either elderly or otherwise needs to use grab bars. I didn’t end up getting a handicapped tenant this go-around but in the future I might because of the photographed safety features.
So those are the two bathrooms that were recently renovated on a budget and I think they turned out great! Although I would’ve liked to build a bathroom from scratch in the master bedroom, there’s always time for that in my next rentals.
