Homestead Updates: Upstairs Bathroom
Hello, my friends,
I don’t know about you, but living in Minnesota the winters can get longgggg. I love the snow and love to get outside to hike or snowshoe, but winters can get so boring and I often find myself with little to do.
I have found that in the past two years, winter is my go-to time to update and fix things around the house that I normally wouldn’t want to do. For instance, last winter I was shopping at Menards, solely to pick up dog food, but saw that door knobs were on SUPER sale. I cannot remember the price (maybe $18 for all?), but it was a steal! I had no intentions of changing out our door knobs, but they really did need updating and I couldn’t pass it up!
I called Zach and said I was going to buy door knobs and needed to know how many to get. Of course, Zach being the voice of reason got annoyed that I was adding another project to the mix, but I didn’t care. I told him that I would do it and that he didn’t need to worry about it. And boy, I’m glad I trusted my gut and bought them because they helped with the aesthetics so much in our home!
Bye, bye brass!
Fast forward to this winter, I knew I wanted to finally finish our upstairs bathroom. When we first bought the house in 2019, we knew we really needed to update the upstairs bathroom. It needed to be painted, and the countertop, sink, faucet, light fixtures, and flooring all needed to be replaced. Being first-time homebuyers, we had our work cut out for us, but thankfully my father-in-law is an amazing contractor and helped us quite a bit.
2019- before moving in
Our first step was to paint. This bathroom is very small, so I wanted a lighter color that would make the space seem larger and make it brighter. We chose this white/silver/lavender color (I can’t remember the name) and it is absolutely perfect for this space. We also added a new mirror and called it good for the time being!
2019
When we moved in - new paint and a new mirror.
We lived with the bathroom like this for about a year, and then finally in 2020 (thank you pandemic) we decided it was time to update the vanity and countertop. We painted the vanity a really pretty blue and got a matte finish white countertop. We also changed out the faucet and light fixtures in brushed nickel!
2020
Painted vanity and added new hardware, countertop, faucet, light fixture, shelving, and shower curtain.
I absolutely and completely loved how this turned out - I still do! It made the bathroom look so clean, fresh, and just like a spa! We were so proud of ourselves and it completely transformed the bathroom.
The very last thing this bathroom needed was new flooring. The linoleum was discolored, outdated, and simply needed to go.
We knew this had to be done, but kept putting it off for about three years because we knew that it was going to be the most time-consuming and tedious part of this bathroom renovation and we were simply not ready.
So, why this winter did we finally decide to change it out? Because I found a steal.
I was in Menards again, getting more dog food, and decided to take a look at the tile. To my surprise I found the perfect tile for this bathroom, and low and behold, IT WAS ON SALE. You guys, it was $0.72/tile!! Meaning for our entire bathroom we spent less than $60.00 for flooring! I called Zach and said, I’m buying this. :)
A couple of weeks later, Zach, his dad, and our friend from college put the tile in. Of course, it took a little bit longer than anticipated and in true Zach and Anna fashion, some things didn’t work out (the door wouldn’t fit!!), but we finally completed the bathroom renovations almost four years to the date when we bought the house!
2019 2023
What a difference some paint, patience, and persistence can do for a place!
Enjoy,
