When we first bought our house, the upstairs hall bath looked like this…

For real. Oddly enough, I agreed to keep this bathroom “as is” until we saved up money for a legit reno in…5 years. Clearly I must have had a few beverages before I shook on that. Kidding, I was admittedly sober, though obviously not in my right mind.

All jokes aside, deep down, I knew it was the smart thing to do since we had just paid an ungodly amount of money for a new roof. So I just kept the door shut on what I lovingly referred to as our gender neutral bathroom (pink AND blue). Out of sight, out of mind.

Then, a year later, it happened. The sink pipe corroded and leaked to the first floor. UGH. Not fun at all, but a good reason to renovate that bathroom earlier than planned.

Below is a (partial) pic of the after. With a cameo from Meercat who insisted she be a part of the pretty “after” photo. Clearly she was not a big fan of the original bathroom either.

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We actually did pretty well with our reno in terms of budget. Besides the pipes, the bulk of our money was spent on hiring a company to paint (epoxy spray) the walls, and the lovely blueberry colored tub. Yep, that’s the same tile and the same tub. Crazy, right?! The marble basketweave floor tile was a bit of a splurge, but I knew we didn’t have much square footage to cover so it ended up being a little less than $500. The huz protested my '“pricey” tile, but afterwards he agreed that it wasn’t that much money considering the big impact it makes in the room.

Maybe you’ve been wisely planning a bathroom reno. Or maybe you’re like us (sh** the pipes broke!) and you are “forced” into a bathroom reno. Whichever the case, I feel like it is not super fun to spend money on bathroom pipes when there are much more fun (and beautiful) things to buy. In light of this, I have put together 2 ‘affordable’ bathroom makeover boards. Notice I used the word affordable instead of cheap. This stuff is not cheap, except maybe the shower curtains. I realize that affordable is a subjective term, but chances are if you have the free time to read this blog you are not working 3 jobs to keep food on the table, and thus you can probably swing most (if not all) of the items on these boards. Perhaps it’s not possible to do all of it at once, but why not start by switching out your lighting and buying a pretty new shower curtain!

The first board would be a great fit for a home that leans on the traditional side like a tutor style home, a center hall colonial, or even a cape cod style home. I would call it updated traditional, or transitional.

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shower curtain // ceiling light // marble hexagon tile // marble field tile // faucet // sconce // mirror

Rest assured all of these items come with at least 4 star reviews! There's nothing worse than falling in love with that perfect tile only to realize that it's gotten 2 star reviews.

While the tile on this board could be considered a bit of a splurge, keep in mind that most bathrooms have a relatively low amount of square footage. It’s also rather easy to limit its usage, and therefore reduce the cost. For example: the hex tile could be used in a shower floor, or the floor of a powder room. The field (subway) tile could be relegated to just the shower walls, or perhaps all 4 walls in a small powder room. I would not necessarily make the same recommendations for a ‘budget kitchen reno’ since kitchens are typically larger and would require purchasing a lot more tile.

Next up is a board for those Magnolia Home (Joanna Gaines) lovers!

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shower curtain // ceiling light // large floor tile // ceramic field tile // faucet // sconce // mirror

This board is even more budget friendly, especially the large format ceramic floor tile! I’m also loving the handmade look of that field tile.

Well, dear readers, I’m wishing you all the time you need to plan for a bathroom reno. If you are not blessed with such luck, hopefully these boards will help turn a bad situation into something good (as in the case with our reno). If you have a friend who’s stuck with an unexpected bathroom reno, spread the love and pass this on.

Until next time friends!

-Sara