You’re brushing your teeth in your bathroom, staring into the mirror as you go about your morning routine. You take a hard look at the place you spend hundreds of mornings and realize… you hate it. Sound familiar?
That was my wake-up call three months ago, standing there thinking about how my grout was cracked, my mirror was nicked, and how it was time for a change. The problem is, upgrading your bathroom always costs way more than you initially plan for. It’s easy to think you can get away with just painting the walls or changing out the shower head, but then you mindlessly pin “Budget Bathroom Inspiration” on Pinterest and suddenly you’re glued to the Self Evidence “How Much Will Your Remodel Cost?” quiz trying to justify spending $10,000.
Sound familiar? Well, dear reader, allow me to introduce myself: I am the woman who came face-to-face with her bathtub grout and spent the next three months renovating her first floor bathroom without going completely broke.
Here’s what I learned along the way: Sit down and make three lists.
Yes, you will roll your eyes at me right now but bear with me. List number one: write down what needs to be changed or replaced in order for you to truly enjoy your space. For me, it was the shower head (did someone turn it down to a trickle?? ), the gross vanity light fixture, and the medicine cabinet that wouldn’t stay closed.
I spent the next week thinking really hard about things that bothered me when using my bathroom. You’d be surprised what you notice when you start looking for it. For example: I never thought about how dirty my tub made my hands until I realized I didn’t have a cozy towel bin to dry them off with.
But dang it if that wasn’t the thing that annoyed me most about my space! List number two is where you can get a little snobby. That towel rack you’ve been lusting over?
Add it to list two. That rainfall shower head that makes you feel fancy as hell? Yeah, list two.
That chic floating vanity you’ve pinned dozens of times? You guessed it… …but before you get crazy with the thrift-shopping credit card, take a trip to your hardware store and price check everything on that list. Some items may be more negotiable than you think – I ended up scoring the towel rack I’d been eyeing for half off on clearance.
It was meant to be! (£89 instead of £178, FYI). Same goes for your list three. Write down all the things you think you “NEED” or have been dreaming about for ages, but truly could live without.
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That super luxe yet practical-looking rain shower head? List three. The vanity upgrading marathon that involves dropping a grand on some quartz-countertop heaven?
List three. The thousand-dollar frameless glass shower door? You’re getting the picture.
If I had to splash out on one thing from my list three, it would’ve been the shower head. Hands down. Don’t get a funky-ass shower head that turns your shower into a migraine-inducing nightmare (ask me how I know this).
Splurge on a good shower valve that you can use with multiple shower heads down the line, then spend a reasonable amount on the head itself. Trust me. You’ll use that thing every day and it’ll make all the difference.
Not to mention, you’ll never have to worry about anyone flushing the toilet downstairs while you’re trying to get clean ever again. Stick to your lists ladies (and yes, men. Men renovate too, I’m sure).
Once you know what you need, what you kind-of need, and what you don’t need at all, you can shop from a place of knowledge instead of walking into a tile store wondering where to start. Head to that tile store knowing you want subway tiles, and pick the plain white ones instead of the patterned. Then pop down to the paint store and splurge on that nice grey grout color you’ve been wanting.
You spent half as much on tiles because you were strategic about where you spent your money!
The project took me six weeks from start to finish and cost me exactly $2,400 – $100 under budget! Again, credit those lists.
If I started browsing around and pinning “Things I Might Want”, I would’ve blown that budget in two seconds flat. Trust me. Three months in and I honestly feel refreshed everytime I step foot in there.
My counters are clutter-free, my hair looks way less greasy in the mornings thanks to that vanity light, and I can actually stand under the showerhead without dancing sideways. Small changes, friends. We often forget how the small things add up when you’re focusing on all the things you can’t afford to upgrade.
PS: FYI everyone thinks my bathroom looks expensive because I splurged on that new mirror and nice-looking grout. No one cares about or even notices the expensive Italian tile I decided against or the smart shower head I skipped. Live your truth, renovate how you want to live – not how you think someone should.
