Our Small Bathroom Remodel: Before and After!

The Bathroom entrance before renovations.

I’m happy to say that we’ve finally finished the one and only bathroom in our small house. Or it’s at least done enough. It’s never really finished, is it? 😉

We did almost a complete gut job. The pictures don’t really show the sad shape the bathroom was in. Our house was a rental and was not loved for many years. The only thing we kept in the bathroom was the tub– which we had refinished. 

The Bathroom Door After

The bathroom entrance after renovations.

The bathroom had some issues when we bought the house. The wood around the window was rotting, so we knew there might be some problems with rotting wood behind the drywall. And what do ya know? When we tore out the drywall and demoed the whole house, we did find a bit of rotting wood in the wall frame under the window. It wasn’t as bad as we expected, luckily.

When the pros put up the new drywall, we had them use Purple cement board, which is a more durable base and we had our tile guy tile all the way up to the window to prevent leakage.

Small, Remodeled bathroom.

In terms of style, George likes farmhouse. He grew up on a farm. And I lean a bit more modern. So I tried to marry the two. We chose a subway tile, which can be overdone, I know, but to make it a bit different, we chose a matte white tile from Wayfair and black grout. We also picked out an amazing matte black penny tile, also from Wayfair, for the floor. I think it’s classic, but also still very modern.

The tub before renovations.

The tub before renovations.

The tub wasn’t in terrible shape, but the glaze was chipping in a few places and I knew it would just get worse, so we went ahead and had it refinished by a pro.

The renovated tub and shower.

The renovated tub and shower.

Bathroom decorBelieve it or not, we found our sink in the woods behind George’s parents house! George built the base out of old barn wood and I sealed it.

Renovated modern farmhouse bathroomSmall, farmhouse modern, remodeled bathroom For the walls, I wanted to paint them a rich black, but George wasn’t too keen on that, so we compromised on Valspar’s Muted Ebony. It’s a dark grey-blue and looks very crisp.

The sink and vanity before renovations.

The sink and vanity before renovations.

Bathroom sink and mirror.

Sliding Barn door closed in bathroom.

Sliding Barn door closed in bathroom.

Adding the sliding barn door was one of the biggest changes to the bathroom. It added so much room. With the old door, we used to have to squeeze into the bathroom and close the door behind us to do anything. Now we can slide it closed for privacy, or leave it open, if we’re just brushing our teeth.

Believe it or not, George pieced the door together with leftover barn wood and our house’s old molding. We bought the barn door hardware off Amazon and I painted the wood and added a moon on the door as a nod to outhouses. We live in Appalachia, after all.

Bathroom storage before renovations.

Bathroom storage before renovations.

Bathroom storage after renovations.

Bathroom storage after renovations.

The storage cabinet was a flea market find. I think we paid $30 for it. It was in rough shape, but I cleaned it up, painted it and now it adds some much-needed storage for towels and toiletries. The mirror was a flea market find, as well. I love reusing old items. It keeps stuff out of landfills and it’s usually less expensive than buying something from a big box store.

Vintage bathroom storage

Vintage bathroom storage.

Somedays it doesn’t feel like we’ve done anything on the house, but looking back at these before pictures shows me how far we’ve come.

Small farmhouse modern bathroom.

Onto the next room!

What do you think about our remodel? Was it worth the wait? 😉

23 thoughts on “Our Small Bathroom Remodel: Before and After!

  1. lwc

    love the sink, storage, tile and cut out half-moon door…oh, and the shower curtain and towels, too. Also, i like the modern legs and handle on the sink cabinet, and the wooden shelf above the sink. A perfect “marriage” of modern and rustic. 🙂 Great job of reuse, and congratulations on avoiding big-box, trendy crap. p.s. just noticed the cool locker basket, too.

    1. melanie Post author

      Thanks Molly! Yeah, I totally understand. It’s overwhelming. But your attic space looks like it has amazing potential. I’m excited to see your finished product too!

  2. Tremaine Kwasikpui

    This looks amazing Melanie. Kudos to you and George. Can’t wait to see you on HGTV!!

  3. Lindsay

    This bathroom is GORGEOUS. I don’t think I would change a single thing. It’s the perfect balance of modern, rustic, and dreamy. You did an amazing job!

  4. Jamie Lynn

    Just spent some nice evenings over the past several weeks reading your blog – you are a wonderful writer! Love reading about how you’ve chosen happiness with less. Truly inspiring. Really appreciate your perspective. I cleaned out the basement today and have a stack of things ready for selling/donation. Thanks for the motivation!! Also – this is a gorgeous gorgeous bathroom – can’t wait to see the rest of the house!!

  5. Catherine Tingelstad

    I love how you use things that you find at flea markets or even out in the woods! You are doing a great job – an inspiration.

  6. vina

    Looks fabo! I really want to put a slider door in my master, but I am not sure if it will provide enough privacy. What do you think about it now that it is installed?

  7. Steph

    Beautiful remodel. My husband and I also have a small single bath in an older bungalow. Can you tell me the dimensions of your bathroom?

  8. Holly Hartman

    Absolutely love the look of the new bath. Classic, rustic, fresh and modern. And finding that beautiful old sink in the woods will forever be a treasured part of the fixer-upper story!

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