When I bought and moved into my present home built in the late ’70s, its two bathrooms were both completely functional, but completely outdated. I knew I would get around to updating both eventually. I’d done a total updating on the bathroom in my previous home before, so I knew this can be a lot of work and expense, but has a huge impact. Well, the time has finally come to tackle my hall / guest bathroom here. Here’s how it looked before I started:

Here, I just want to point out that the third photo above was taken when we thought we’d try to update the bathtub faucet ourselves. The tub spout came off with a little wrenching, but the water was not turned off, so the result was a fire hydrant effect of having water shooting straight out of the wall, right across to the the back wall of the tub and deflecting all over the rest of the bathroom like a water spray park. This is just one of the examples of why I included the tip about knowing how and where to turn off the water main to my Top 10 List for Staying Sane during Remodeling and Home Improvements!

BRINGING AN OLD Bathroom vanity into the modern era

CONSIDERATIONS FOR REPLACING WITH A SMALLER VANITY

I replaced the original 68 inch wide vanity that went wall-to-wall with a 49 inch wide stand alone vanity. I did not want to move the plumbing for the sink which was center-mounted on the old, wide countertop. So the new vanity would have to remain on center to the plumbing in the wall, and so I knew that it will not meet the wall on the left hand side. But now, instead of a long counter to fill with clutter, we have room for storage shelves between the vanity and toilet!

The big mirror was the width of the old vanity, and went wall to wall without any framing. I wanted to put it back up, and knew it would be more of a focal point on the wall now. I think I will frame it in the future, at least on the top and bottom edges so that some of the chips at the bottom are masked.

Project designed and materials sourced by me. Installed by The Honey Do Services of Keller.

• Vanity: Blakley bathroom vanity with countertop, by Home Decorators Collection (The Home Depot)
• Sink Faucet: Venturi 8 in. Widespread 2-handle bathoom faucet, by Pfister (The Home Depot)
• Cabinet Hardware: Wide Foot Cabinet Bar Pull – Oil Rubbed Bronze, by Koofizo (Amazon)

WHAT ELSE DID WE DO?

Follow me here and @erinxplores on Instagram for updates to this story on how the rest of the bathroom remodel went and other stories.

• Wall Demolition to open the room
• Replacing a Toilet
• Replacing a Bathtub
• Retiling the Floor