It is finally here! The day I get to share my (mostly) finished farmhouse bathroom remodel with you. This is the first home project that we haven’t DIY’ed, but were able to hire a contractor. What a treat! If you can swing it and find the right person to do the work, it’s amazing!!
While my husband is pretty handy, our ability to DIY has always been limited by his construction skills, or lack thereof. With our contractor, Jeff, every question and idea seemed to be met with, “I can do that!” And thus the farmhouse bathroom of my dreams was brought to life.
Our home was built in 1949, but the bathroom was last updated sometime in the 1960’s. The toilet, tub and plastic tub surround were 3 different shades of blue. We replaced the blue toilet with white a couple years ago.
The floor was yellowed laminate. The window in the tub area had never been framed out in my entire 15 years living here. The cultured marble bathroom sink had been painted white enamel and didn’t hold up. OK, I admit I did that. But desperate times call for desperate measures! And lastly there’s that fluorescent light fixture on that nasty old medicine cabinet.
A change was long overdue. The remodel took about 5 weeks, and cost us about $8,800 in labor and materials. I’ll share a breakdown of costs at the end, if you’re interested.
Bathtub
The white bathtub was the first new item to go in. This tub is going to get a lot of use! I am a bath lover, and I can’t wait to relax here on a nightly basis.
Walls
I chose beveled white subway tile for the walls with bright white grout. Jeff was able to create a niche for shampoo bottles using 4 of our floor tiles. The fixtures are matte black. And what is that I see there? A framed out window? Yaaasssssss!
Ceiling
Next up was the ceiling. These barn wood planks came from Home Depot. When they went up, I had some doubts because they really darkened the space. But the white shiplap walls went up next, and everything brightened back up.
Flooring
The floor is definitely my favorite design element in the bathroom. It’s lovely to have all white and neutral, but I have to have some color! The muted blues and grays in the tile will be something I can live with forever. Jeff is a self-proclaimed “tile guy”, and he hadn’t really worked with this type before. It’s very thick, and 4 tiles together make up a design. He was very meticulous about measurements and symmetry, and he always did a little happy dance when something came out exactly right for the space. For the floor grout, I chose Dove Gray because I wanted something that wouldn’t show dirt, but also wouldn’t look dirty by being too dark. This grout matched the tile perfectly.
Pocket Door
My second favorite design element is the pocket door. Sorry for the weird angle of the picture, but it’s in a small hallway and not much room to back up for picture taking. Previously, we had our linen closet in the hallway. We closed that in, and instead built out a linen cabinet inside the bathroom. We thought we would drywall the spot where the closet had been, but Jeff suggested doing something fancy with the woodwork. Then I had the brainstorm of using a second door to make it look like double doors. Since I couldn’t have a traditional sliding barn door due to privacy concerns in a bathroom, having a pocket door and a stationary door allowed us to get the look. There is a little edge of raw wood at the top there that I still need to paint white.
We got these doors from Menards. Again, I thought I wanted a more traditional barn door with a Z or X brace on it, but when I saw these arched ones, I knew they would be perfect. We bought them in natural Alder, and I stained them myself. Going for an old-world look, I used Dixie Belle Voodoo Gel Stain in black, brown and gray. I applied them in small sections randomly with a chip brush, and then blended them together and rubbed off the excess with a shop towel. I sealed them with Gator Hide. I love how they turned out! Jeff did a little magic framing it all out, so it looks like it is a big set of double doors.
I kept the pocket door white (Sherwin Williams Alabaster) on the inside. It’s the same color I painted the shiplap and all the trim.
Check out the little laundry chute door Jeff built with leftover ceiling planks. Isn’t it cute?
Vanity
The vanity caused a little drama. I ordered it from Wayfair, and they missed the estimated delivery date by a mile. For a while there, I thought I would have to go out and find something else I could buy in-store, but it finally arrived at a local warehouse where we were able to pick it up. The weathered wood finish was exactly as I had hoped, and it brought the ceiling together with the rest of the room. My hubby found that mirror at Hobby Lobby; he really nailed my style!
Linen Cabinet
Last, but certainly not least, is the custom linen cabinet that Jeff created. Maybe this is my favorite thing! I can’t choose. The top section is open, and has a little shelf that extends out further which is really convenient for setting clothes on. The bottom section has doors, and is where we store all our toiletries. I still plan to add knobs to these doors and the little laundry chute door.
Floating Shelves
I almost forgot, there is one more set of floating shelves! I haven’t put anything on them yet, but aren’t they awesome? I found the idea on Pinterest, and Jeff re-created it perfectly. I stained the wood to match the doors, and we spray painted the turnbuckles and eye hooks matte black. We plan to add a large turnbuckle across the bottom to hang a hand towel too.
I also still need to pick out a shower curtain, a trash basket, and a few more accessories. Here are a few before & afters to really drive home how much this room has changed.
Here is how the budget broke down, and where we sourced materials.
Resource List & Budget:
Plumbing materials $689
Construction materials $422
Pocket door and wall treatment (Menard’s) $362
Floor tile (Blume encaustic 8×8” Glazed Porcelain–Home Depot) $275
Mirror (Hobby Lobby) $84
Light fixture (Barrington 3 Light – Lowe’s) $157
Ceiling planks (Weaber weathered wall boards – Home Depot) $171
Vanity (Gracie Oaks Silvana 24” – Wayfair) $480
Wall tile (Beveled white 3×12” subway tile – Home Depot) $327
Bathtub (Home Depot) $362
Shiplap (Home Depot) $339
Sink faucet (Moen – Amazon) $97
Shower fixtures (Moen – Amazon) $308
Shower rod/towel hooks/tp holder (Amazon) $59
Linen cabinet materials $165
Labor $4,500
Total $8,797
If you’re interested in the stains and top coat I used on the doors and floating shelves, they are Dixie Belle brand and you can get them here:
Thanks for coming along on this bathroom journey of mine! It actually turned out even better than I had dreamed. I like to stand at the doorway and gaze on its goodness throughout the day! Most of all, I hope it gave you some inspiration and ideas for your projects.
Click on the picture below if you’d like more farmhouse inspiration:
