Small Master Bathroom Remodel
Our master bathroom is very small. Too small to have two sinks or vanities. I was determined to transform this room into not only a well functioning bathroom but also a beautiful one too. I knew this small master bathroom remodel was not going to be easy so I gave myself time to design the plan and to feel really confident that it will work well for us.
Although we didn’t have an unlimited budget there were a few items that I knew were must haves in order for this space to function better.
- Two sinks and full vanities were not possible. I didn’t need another sink but really wanted somewhere to do hair and makeup.
- I wanted something in the shower to make shaving my legs easier.
- We needed a lot of extra storage.
- Beautiful tapware was a must to give such a small space a little bit of luxury. I wanted a handheld shower to make cleaning easier.
- Excellent lighting.
After months of trial and error I came up with plans that I felt were amazing and addressed all of the items we wanted.
THE BEFORE
The master bathroom was a very bad 90s affair. The only good think about it was that it was at least white!! The vanity had gaps down either side that you couldn’t get a vacuum or mop into which was really annoying. At this stage the vinyl wrapping was starting to come off the doors as well. The only good thing was that the shower was a reasonable size.
SMALL MASTER BATHROOM REmodel – DEMOLITION
I was project managing the remodel and we attended to the demolition, new wall sheeting and painting ourselves. The rest of the items were done by professionals. First thing we did was have the electricity and water disconnected.
I learnt a very valuable lesson, after chipping away at tiles for many hours! Cut the sheets out tile and all – saves a lot of time and effort 🤦♀️
Tony removed the floor tiles which was a pain in such a small space but he got it done. It was all downhill from there.
DESIGN PLANS
I’m so happy with the final design plan we came up with for the bathroom. I think it makes great use of the small space.
We chose to include the following in order to have the bathroom we wanted:-
- Custom cabinetry so that we didn’t have any wasted space and could get exactly what we wanted.
- 2 half walls to the shower – one for a niche and the other so that we had somewhere to add a towel rail. The niche would be put at the perfect height for shaving my legs!
- 2 tall wall cabinets for extra storage.
- 1 full vanity with sink.
- 1 small vanity for me to do hair and makeup.
- We were going to use marble tiles for the shower however the custom cabinetry was more expensive then we thought so we ended up doing a feature with marble tiles instead. It came up beautifully and was a great way to save money.
- Astra Walker tapware.
- Board and batten for the walls.
TIME TO REBUILD
Tony and I replaced the plasterboard in the shower. We then constructed the two half walls and repaired the plasterboard in the rest of the room.
The waterproofer came in next to do the shower and floor. Next up we had the tiler come to tile the floor. We chose to use the same large grey tiles we used in the laundry remodel. At this stage I also started doing some painting. As we were installing board and batten the walls would be two different whites. The top was Dulux Natural White while the bottom was Dulux Vivid White.
Next step was having the tiler back to do the shower tiling. We then had the custom cabinets fitted. The cabinets turned out just as we hoped they would.
Benchtops were installed next. We decided to use slabs of the the benchtop stone for the top and side of the half shower walls instead of tile. I’m so glad we did they look great.
We had the electrician attend to install the lighting. Good lighting was an absolute must for me. We chose to install a long overhead light above the vanity from Beacon Lighting. The wall lights we used came from Bunnings and were only $20 each!! Unfortunately I can’t find a link for them.
The plumber came next to install our tapware and toilet. I love the tapware we chose it is exactly what we wanted. I was part of the Olde English collection from Astra Walker. The links are below:-
FINISHING TOUCHES to our small master bathroom remodel
The last item on our list in terms of getting other trades in was the shower screen. We made an error in this regard . We should have had the installer come before we started the renovation to have a look at what we were proposing. It turns out that different angles affect how easy or difficult installing a frameless shower screen can be. Thankfully for us he was a top notch professional and was able to get around the issues caused by the angles of our half walls.
Once all these things were attended to we were free to install the board and batten and finish the painting. We then installed the towel rail and hooks etc. I’m so happy with the board and batten, I think it adds a lot of character to what could be a small uninteresting space.
As our house is a bit of mix of hampton/coastal style and modern country, I wanted to include a rustic item in the bathroom. To do this we also took the opportunity to include more storage. Firstly we went to our local salvage yard and found an old window. Tony then made a simple cupboard out of new timber, adding an old shelf from timber we already had. The window was added as a door. It came up so good and is also very practical as it stores our toilet paper.
THE PRETTY THINGS
The beautiful towels came from Bed Bath N Table. The style is Kinsley and the colours are Olive and Ash Rose. I picked these ones because the Olive green matched the pillows I used in the Master Bedroom. You can see that post here.
The beautiful small vase also came from Bed bath N Table. I couldn’t find the colour I chose however this is the link to the blue version.
The tray came from TKMaxx as did the greenery. I loved the leaves as it had green with a touch of pink and blended beautifully with the colours used in the rest of the bathroom.
This is the niche that was built at a height so that I could rest my foot while shaving me legs. Simple idea – but its a game changer for me. The beautiful bottles I found at Pretty Little Designs. I chose the amber colour and also purchased the labels.
The gorgeous little cupboard Tony built for the bathroom. Inside it holds two things that I absolutely love. One is the Mask & Co toilet spray and air freshener. I don’t like air fresheners normally as frankly most of them smell like toilet!!! The fragrances aren’t good. Enter, Mask & Co – these are unbelievable, they smell absolutely amazing. If you haven’t tried them before give it a go I’m sure you won’t go back. They are made by a small business in Byron Bay (this is not sponsored at all I just love them 😍). The other item I’m loving at the moment is the rose gold laser candle lighter from Dusk.
I hope you’ve taken away some information from this post for your next bathroom renovation. Particularly if its a small one like mine. If you want any other information don’t hesitate to send me a message.
