ug, that color is AWFUL! you have my sympathy. my friend had that tan in her bathroom combined with yellow tile and yellow and brown speckled linoleum. very very bad. i know what you mean about needing the bathtub...with a 1 year old you could use the kitchen sink...but with a 3 year old you really need the tub. when we were renovating our only bath, our 2 year old took baths in the laundry tub, which was a great adventure for her. is that a possibility for you? i can't imagine what would even go with that tan color..but if you were interested in a tile bathroom, you could do white in the rest of the bathroom (white tile, toilet, sink) and leave the tub and tub surround where they are. then in a few years you could tackle the tub and surround hiding it with a shower curtain in the meantime (or bathfitter). when your kids are older they would probably be ok using a temporary shower in the basement. one bathroom homes are hard...we picked a house with two baths needing renovation this time, just so we wouldn't have the "one bath" problem again. good luck kren

Building codes and get those municipal construction notices if necessary. Dumpster rental? Haul? I would talk to city/town first and find out what needs to be legally. Then: Walls. Insulation. Moisture barriers. Check for mold. Electrical upgrades. (wiring for appliances, lighting, supply sockets) Ventilation. Heat/AC supplies/returns. Then plumbing. Not sure if you are going to pre-purchase large items before install? Just be sure to measure width/depth and mark on subflooring just where everything is going. Do you have room for the elongated toilet seat when opening the door? Things like this. I don't know how many times I was sent back to get the right item once the wrong one just didn't fit. Some distributors will charge a restock fee for returned items. Be warned. :) Walls - taping, sealing, prime and paint/finish. This is when - after all is dry and looking wonderful - fans and lights too, are installed. Be sure as rain where they are to be placed. Once the hole is there in the ceiling...if it needs to be moved -- you will notice patching. Switch plates, etc. (might want to buy TWO of them, if one gets ruined) Some say floor next. (Heating in floor?) I say install tub/toilet/sink. Run the water to be sure there is no leaking/sealing probs. More than one time a nice floor has been ruined due to leaks between the sub and the flooring. Then tile or whatever. Vanity can be placed on top of flooring and probably should if you decide to change from vanity to pedestal type later. Unless you rip out the old flooring and start over... your choice. Then light fixtures. Once all the huge hammers, ladders, etc have been removed :) Broke a glass to a lamp during install that could not be returned or replaced due to it being on clearance. Had to change out the entire light fixture :(. Still sad about that but it looks ok. Hope all goes well and you have no uh-ohs at all that can't be cared for quickly. Getting ready to do a tiny reno on my upstairs bath too after the estimates from local companies went way over budget. OUCH! Glad the one downstairs is done but that light fixture!! ;) Remember, perhaps to buy 2 of some items, in the off chance something breaks during install. Just a suggestion. Video for later. Always fun to watch once it is done. Have fun! :)

Wow. First off, suggest you also cross-post on both the kitchen, and the bath forums. It sounds to me like you haven't really fixed on your goals. How much can you afford to spend? How long do you plan to be in the home? Do you need to revise they layout, or simply change out from old to new? Why are things falling apart? Age, neglect, or are there underlying structural or quality problems? Do you need to plan for future family changes? More/fewer kids at home, aging parents moving in? My personal opinion is to think about how it all looks LAST. That is just decor. FIRST you should think about structure, function, and the physical space. Also, what don't you like about your current kitchen and bathrooms, and how will this be fixed? Buy a few books/magazines on kitchen remodel plans. Look for kitchens that have similar physical size and layout as yours, and think about what you like and don't like about the function (not how it looks) Same thing for bathrooms. For example, when we remodeled, we knew we would be expanding the footprint of our existing galley kitchen with 5 doorways into the back yard, making a more squared up space. But 4 of those 5 doorways would still be in the new space. I scanned the design materials for kitchens that had this type of constraint, and saw how others had dealt with it. This has nothing to do with white cabinetry vs wood, or marble vs quartz. It's about getting the layout right. Then you will need to explore who is doing the work for you, and do you need an architect or engineer to proceed. We used a contractor, and needed an architect and structural engineer to get the plans stamped by the city permit/code department. And no matter what your budget is, plan to have an additional cushion amount of about 10-15%. Something always comes up. Best of luck.

Removed: * crown molding (in a bathroom???) * oak trim and oak baseboards * oak beadboard looking paneling on lower walls * plastic shower walls and gold corner glass shower doors * wallpaper looking drywall with oak trim at every seam No leaking showed until we took the plastic shower panels off the walls. If you think your old shower is NOT leaking, it probably is. You just can't see it. Mold on the walls. Masks on! Good thing we are removing the paneling/drywall. Of course, there HAD to be another layer of paneled drywall! No, there couldn't possibly be only one layer of this crap! We will gain an inch in dimensions with it gone. That brown paneled wall is a hall closet that is 39" and it may or may not be reduced to 24" deep. Depends on whether we put a shower or a tub in the bath. With a tub, we will need to move the wall. Note to the ladies: If your new cabinets are ready to be installed by the cabinet maker, and if you have been waiting on your significant other to demo for over a month, and he still hasn't done it, just start doing it yourself! (I am in my sixties.) Then, when you can't get a screw out, or you can't get the box blade knife to work right so you can remove a million pounds of silicone caulk, he will jump into the project because you are obviously "not doing it right" or "can't find a bit that goes with that screw", etc, etc, etc, (name your own problem.) I took a break, and he began where I left off. He could not help himself. Works every time! It is well worth the ten band-aids I now have on seven of my fingers! Tomorrow, we will remove the toilet, an L shaped vanity countertop and cabinet, towel cabinet, old lighting, wall mirrors, corner mirrored cabinets, and an oak shelf that the lights are attached to. That shelf is nothing but a dust catcher! Then, time to do drywall. While tearing out, we found that there used to be a window in the bathroom. I don't know why the previous owners removed it. So, I have a question. When is the right time to refinish the black, marble floor tiles? After drywall, texture and paint? Or after cabinets are in place? Thanks.