Mirror, mirror, on the Wall....

After we finished the kitchen, we moved on to the bathrooms. My husband gutted them, pulling out the sinks, vanities, mirrors, tubs, showers, lights, doors, knobs, towel racks, the flooring and even the toilets. You can't get more remodeled than that.

This was not a cheap endeavor. There is no such thing as unfinished bathroom cabinetry, to save money on. So you've got to decide if you're going to save money and get some rickety, el cheapo cabinet that's going to fall apart before you finish getting it installed, or upgrade and get something nicer.

I soon realized that the sky is the limit when it comes to upgrading your bathroom! The least expensive is obviously the least desirable, but how to decide how much more do you want to spend? You can sell your soul to the devil for less than you can upgrade your bathroom.

I tried to adhere to a strict budget of buying what looked pretty nice without being ridiculously expensive. The bathroom is the nickel and dime place in household remodeling for sure. Make that the buck and quarter place.

Things to think about. If you're replacing your light fixtures, consider choosing your towel racks the same day, so it will occur to you whether they match or not. Some people will lose sleep if all their bathroom hardware isn't coordinated. I'm not one of the people, but since I was replacing the whole shebang, anyway, I might as well have matched it all up perfectly. afterall, I might be trying to sell the house to a woman who will decide it's a no deal because of this all important issue. *sigh*

Now, this is no brag, just fact, my husband did a bee-you-tea-full job installing tile. He transformed the bathrooms, and they truly are a work of art. But one last little thing to wonder, however, is about the decision to tile the floors. As lovely as they look, they are a huge pain to keep from cracking. Clunk goes the makeup bottle, crack goes the tile. Chip, chip, chip, out it comes, in goes the new tile..... clunk goes the......

Downstairs the floor is cement, and most definitely uneven. We put in some linoleum that doesn't require anything but rolling out. It was a little more expensive, but worth it. It's lovely, easy, and doesn't crack! I'd go for more of that, next time around.

But for the showers-- tile all the way, that is also worth it compared to the fiberglass inserts, and not as hard as you might think-- from the point of view of the watching wife! Ask my husband, if you wonder about his perspective. Did I tell you? He's the diy doctor himself! Check him out at www.diydr.blogspot.com !

Joy in the Journey