House Remodel - Half Bath

Rancho Not So Grande is taking shape! Well we are finally living upstairs, we have been in the house a year now and the remodel process has taken longer than we both thought, but the best news is that our house is going to be exactly how we wanted it...rustic, western, repurposed and comfortable. I think that a lot of people forget that last one when they are remodeling or working on their houses...if you can't live in it comfortably then what is the purpose of having it?

So here is the first part of the house we are sharing. Our half bath is a very small space, it is right inside the garage entrance hallway and has enough space for a sink and toilet, which I guess is all you need in a half bath. When we moved in the half bath was functional but just dated, as was a lot of the house. Our house was built in 1990 and since the previous owners hadn't lived in the house for the last 10 years there hadn't been a lot of upgrades, but the nice part is that the house was built right when they built it so cosmetic changes were all we have had to make and those were just for personal preference. So anyway back to the half bath...I hated the sink and felt that the oak vanity was nice but it was a lot of oak...hardwood floors, trim and vanity so our solution was pretty easy:

Before

1. Remove and replace the vanity top and sink/faucet
2. Update the light fixture and mirror
3. Upcycle the existing vanity
4. Update vanity hardware
5. Paint the walls
6. Replace the toilet

 

After

After

After

Starting with the paint we used a nice darker tan called Saddle Suede, which is the same color we used in the master bedroom and master bathroom. I removed the hardware from the vanity and removed the doors and drawer fronts. I rough sanded the wood and used the same color of red we used on our accent wall in the great room to dry brush on some color so you can still see the grain of the wood through the paint. After the paint dried I lightly sanded (with the grain) the edges of the doors and places where natural wear would occur then I used a sock to rub on a dark stain which I rubbed off to create a worn look. We reinstalled the doors and added conchos for the drawer pulls. There are kits you can buy for around $10/6-10 that can turn any concho into a drawer pull.

To replace the vanity top we reused our old decking boards and Jake made it custom to fit the space, I poured resin epoxy on it (3x coats) to give it a smooth finish and make it easier to clean and we trimmed out the top. A lot of people are scared of the resin and if you read the instructions you will understand why. I presonally didn't have any problems with mine not mixing or setting up right. We used a small hand held torch to pop the bubbles, again the instructions will help with this. We purchased a vessel sink and old pump style faucet and installed them into the new vanity top.

This is what the vanity top looks like up close without the facet and sink on it.
I will say, I do NOT recommend taping off the wall before you pour the resin on
because the reality is that the resin will level itself off on the wall and if you do
what I did then the painters tape will be stuck to your wall and you will
be required to trim out the top of your boards.

The light above the mirror is an outdoor barn light purchased from Lowes. The problem is that the light goes directly onto the sink and left the toilet area a little dark so we opted to add a light/vent fan combo above the toilet to replace the vent fan that was there, sorry I don't have a picture of that it just isn't that exciting. But I love my barn light, plus it was super cheap as compared to a lighting store.

The mirror and towel bar are both from Hobby Lobby. The mirror is 5-6 years old but the towel bar I purchased this winter. This total remodel ran around $500 with the sink, faucet, toilet and bathroom fan taking up the bulk of that budget. I've included a resource list below, I often get asked where did you get that...so here you go. Everything except the mirror was purchased within the past year.