Bathrooms are right behind kitchens in importance, so they are a great place to invest your remodeling dollars. Women especially spend quite a bit of time in the bathroom from our morning rituals to giving our kids a bath. One of my favorite memories is practicing multiplication tables with Ryan while he took a bath. Each time he got the right answer, I bounced a ball into the bathtub and it made a big splash.

Given the time we spend in the bathroom, there are lots of things we want to store there just in case we need it and somehow, there never seems to be enough storage space. That’s why updating a bathroom is so popular because you immediately benefit, and it helps when its time to sell your home. It’s wise to take time planning out your bathroom space in order to create more function, along with the look and feel you want. READ MORE

Bathrooms are really small. They’re the smallest rooms in the house and we try to stuff an incredible amount of “stuff” into our bathrooms.  The problem with too much stuff … is you can’t find what you want, when you want or need it. If you’ve had this problem, you’ll want to explore with us, how you can find and/or create more storage in your bathroom.

Adding hooks to the back of your door is a perfect solution for storing extra towels. Most of the time, the door is open and noone will even see what’s hanging behind the door unless you’re in the bathroom. Depending on your door style, you can install hooks on the top and bottom of your door which is very helpful with young children. Hooks are available as singles, doubles or there is quite a selection of multiple hook fixtures such as the one shown here (purchased at Lowes). READ MORE

A bathroom remodel involves many tasks, from removing fixtures that are being replacing to installing new fixtures and minor repairs. Once you set your budget and before you buy any materials, you need to decide who will do the work. Depending on how much you want to do, you can save money by contributing “sweat equity.”

Once you know how much work you’ll be doing yourself, you can start building your budget. Each item on your prioritized list includes both labor and material costs, although so for those tasks you plan to do, your cost in dollars will be zero.

You can use the table below to create a rough estimate for the items you want to include in your bathroom model. When you have determined how many items on your list fit within your budget, you’re ready to meet with one/more remodeling professionals to get proposals. READ MORE

Bathrooms are small rooms so they must be easier to remodel  than larger rooms? No! Remodeling a bathroom can be extremely challenging as there are more features tucked into a bathroom than any other room besides the kitchen.

A simple remodel where you replace just 1 or 2 features like the vanity, counter top and sink won’t be too difficult unless the new vanity requires moving plumbing as often happens when you pick a vanity with drawers.

This series on bathroom remodeling helps you sort through and prioritize your choices, to help you stick to your budget. We’ll point out up front which changes cost the most like a tile floor and replacing a bathtub or shower. READ MORE

Bathrooms and specifically showers and bathtubs are prone to leaks. Do you have a shower door that leaks or do the corners of the glass enclosure leak every time you take a shower?  If you answered yes, you may have noticed water damage on the sheet rock or baseboards outside the shower.  The problem and solution to shower door leaks may be less complicated than you think.

Dealing with water leaks is a common problem addressed by my handyman business, and often after the homeowner has tried to solve the problem unsuccessfully. Fortunately homeowners use their bathrooms regularly so they spot these problems quickly but have trouble figuring out what part of the shower or tub is leaking. READ MORE

This bathroom remodel started with the customer’s ideas – chocolate brown and lots of tile, including tiled walls up to 4 feet. The next step was a palette of colors and textures, our decorator’s interpretation of giving our customer an elegant, masculine bath.

From concept to the final results, it was an amazing journey with lots of twists and turns. Some changes were made to give the small bathroom more visual space while other changes were made to reduce costs as there are always trade-offs to be made. The customer loved the results! READ MORE

Toilets have a lot of moving parts, and these parts get used quite a bit so guess what? Toilets need more repair than most other things in your home. This makes learning how to do your own toilet repairs more practical as you’ll learn skills you’ll use multiple times. These repeat maintenance and repair chores are the best ones for homeowners to tackle as they might take forever the first time but you’ll learn and benefit when you find yourself doing the same repair a few years later. Handling minor home repairs can also save you time and money.

There are many books for plumbing do-it-yourself. If you’re planning to tacking minor home repairs, make sure to get a home repair book with lots of photos plus step-by-step instructions and diagrams to help you complete the repairs if not easily, at least successfully. As you try more small home repairs, you will get more comfortable and things will go more smoothly. Don’t be surprised or embarrassed when it doesn’t work and you still have to call a handyman. It happens all the time. READ MORE

You know the color you need to pick up at the paint store … until you get to the store. Paint manufacturers offer hundreds of color choices that can be overwhelming so here are some tips on how you can pick your color with confidence.

• Bring swatches from home to match at the store, like a curtain, pillows that match your couch or a sheet of tile.
• Get large paint chips to audition colors in your home, like the Benjamin Moore, 5 x 9 inch chips we used in the bathroom photos below.
• Get a small sampler pint and test in the room where you plan to use it.

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Updating a bathroom can be as simple as a new coat of paint and coordinated towels to gutting the bathroom and starting from scratch, or anything in between. A common problem when remodeling a bathroom is running over budget because you start out planning to change just a few features and then you keep adding more.

In fact a small bathroom remodel can involve 100s of decisions as often one change requires other changes.We’ll look at just one bathroom remodel and show how the customer’s initial requirements grew over the life of the project. READ MORE

It’s easy to “say” you want to remodel your bathroom but understand it’s a lot of work, even if you’re only responsible for all the design and product decisions. With a bathroom remodel you might want a tile floor and maybe tile walls? Maybe it’s time to update the shower and/or bathtub and there are some exciting new choices here.  Those are the big decisions, but there are many smaller decisions that take lots of time to plan for, plus coordinating colors shopping for fixtures and materials.

Most people think working with a decorator is expensive, until you see how much time decorators can save you by recommending colors and textures they know work well together. They can also save you money by recommending  alternatives that are less costly or where to shop for the top quality materials at lower prices. READ MORE