Oh happy day. Here are the after photos from our bathroom renovation, plus a complete timeline and budget breakdown detailing every step of this month-long, weekend-and-evening project.
Before we dive in, let’s remember how rough the room looked at its lowest point. Major renovations often get messier before they get better — our bathroom was no exception after John demolished the whole space in about 24 hours. It’s worth pausing to appreciate how dramatically things changed from that stripped-down stage.
Now look at the same room rebuilt. Everything finally clicked in the home stretch and the bathroom has become one of our favorite rooms in the house.
We hung a dark wood mirror (a $27 clearance find at Target) above a similarly toned vanity, which picks up the mocha veining in the discounted marble floor tile we scored for around $2.50 per square foot at Lowe’s.
For wall art, we made vintage-style wood signs instead of buying prints. John suggested creating signs inspired by old NYC subway signage to add personal meaning — we met and fell in love in New York — so we picked two stops that mattered to us. We bought a $6 board, had it cut into two pieces at Home Depot, painted them white with craft paint so some wood grain showed through, printed our designs at home, roughed the prints up for a weathered look, and used Mod Podge to attach and seal them for bathroom-friendly durability.
We attached a chrome toilet-paper dispenser to the side of the vanity so it wouldn’t be visible from the hall, and placed a simple white ceramic tray on the toilet tank to corral our soap pump, a shell accent, and a small plant. A thin strip of rubber rug-pad beneath the tray keeps it from sliding.
We shortened and saved the vanity drawer so it still holds essentials — toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant — neatly organized in a bamboo tray, along with contact cases and John’s grooming supplies.
Under the vanity we store extra towels (picked up for $6 each at TJ Maxx) and small decorative touches like a loofah in a faux clam shell and a scalloped plate with a guest soap bar.
We rehung our white waffle shower curtain and tiled the shower all the way to the ceiling, which adds real height and drama. We installed an inside-mount bamboo blind from Home Depot ($25) to echo the mocha tones in the floor and vanity.
At the end of the project we had the original cast-iron tub professionally reglazed for a like-new finish. Reglazing cost $399 (it would have been $299 if the tub hadn’t been reglazed previously). We chose reglazing over replacement because the tub is original, heavy, and in good shape — refinishing gave us the refreshed look without the expense and landfill waste of removing it.
John tiled the tub-to-ceiling subway tile himself — it looks professional and we’re proud of his first tiling effort. We added a simple chrome shower caddy to keep the surround clean and uncluttered.
We replaced the shower fixtures with a $69 chrome set from Overstock and paid $100 for a pro to remove and solder the old fixtures and install the new ones to avoid plumbing issues. We were able to recoup $30 by selling the old fixtures on Craigslist.
We removed the linen closet door and tiled the closet floor so the mocha tiles run seamlessly across the whole bathroom. Organized baskets and bins hide clutter while keeping frequently used items accessible.
We hung personalized towel hooks and added a small towel bar next to the sink. Little finishing touches — towels, a bath mat (a $9 clearance find at West Elm), and a few accessories — pulled the room together and softened the darker stone floors.
Budget breakdown: two contractor estimates for the full job came in around $10,000. We planned on a DIY budget of about $3,000, but ended up finishing under that. Here’s the itemized list and final total of what we actually spent:
- Demo: $67 (demolition hammer rental and supplies)
- Subway wall tiles: $101
- Marble floor tiles: $120
- Grout, spacers, sealer, caulk: $70
- Drywall, furring strips, hardibacker, plywood, nails: $136
- HD truck rental: $19
- Trim, quarter-round & supplies: $100
- Thinset & notched trowel: $75
- Manual tile cutter: $15 (shared)
- Wet saw, circular saw, miter saw: borrowed
- Drywall mud, tape, sandpaper & spackle knives: owned/borrowed
- Primer: $11
- Paint: $26
- Vanity: $410 (nightstand, sink, faucet, varnish)
- Shower fixtures + installation: $169 ($69 + $100)
- Toilet: already owned
- Professional tub reglazing: $399
- Towels: $30
- Mirror: $27
- TP dispenser and towel bar: $37
- Art: $6 (wood; paint & Mod Podge already owned)
- Bath mat: $9
- Blinds: $25
- Other small accessories & miscellaneous: $67
- GRAND TOTAL: $1,819.00
Note: we borrowed major tools from John’s dad. Purchasing those tools could add around $450; tool rental is a lower-cost option.
We were thrilled with that final number — well over $8,000 less than hiring pros and more than $1,000 under our DIY estimate. The renovation lasted 40 days without a shower, though that time included holidays and breaks. It actually amounted to about 123 hours of work spread over five weekends and some weeknights. Here’s our timeline:
- Pre-project planning & shopping: ~5 hours
- Removal of toilet/vanity before demo: 2 hours
- Tile demo: 24 hours (two 12-hour days)
- Installing drywall, hardibacker and new plywood floor: 42 hours
- Tiling the shower surround: 17 hours
- Priming and painting walls: 2.5 hours
- Tiling the floor: 11 hours
- Grouting & sealing: 3 hours
- Buying, cutting, installing & painting trim: 9 hours
- Reinstalling toilet: 30 minutes
- Building and installing the vanity: 5.5 hours
- Hanging mirror, art, shower curtain, towel bars, etc.: 1.5 hours
- GRAND TOTAL: 123 hours
This was our biggest DIY project to date; we learned demo, wet saw use, tiling, and mitering along the way. It proved that with research, patience, and persistence, a full bathroom makeover is achievable for motivated homeowners.
Below are a couple photos showing how the bathroom looked when we bought the house three years ago — yes, the previous owners had carpet over the old tile — and how far it’s come.
You’ve come a long way, old friend.
Would we do it again? Absolutely — though we’d probably be faster and more efficient with the experience we gained. For now, a long soak in the newly refinished tub sounds like the perfect reward after all the hard work.
Have you recently completed a similar DIY bathroom remodel or are you about to start one? It’s intimidating at first, but once you begin the work it becomes empowering and surprisingly enjoyable. Happy renovating!