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What would you upgrade (on a shoestring) in a guest bath

11 years ago

We are planning to sell this house in the near future. The 3/4 guest bath in the basement is horrible. Think nasty safari wall paper and a black painted??! countertop with all the lovely watermarks and peeling that show you that painting a countertop is a bad idea. When we moved in 7 years ago we thought we would do something about it but could never come up with a plan that satisfied all our other needs in the basement space so of course we did nothing. Now we are going to sell and I want a bathroom that isn't going to turn the buyer off but that won't break the bank either.

Obviously we are going to strip the wall paper and paint and replace the lovely cheap vinyl strip baseboards. The toilet and shower are in decent shape. What else would you do?

Change light fixture? it is pretty dated
hardware on vanity- matches the faucet but kinda boring
Granite counter top? (I found a 30" on craigslist for $75 with a sink) or just go with laminate?
The faucet? not bad, not my style but not horrible
The vanity? It is painted white wood, in average decent shape
I am not crazy about changing the vinyl floor (maybe stick tiles?)
Put up shelves? (not much storage in the 30" vanity)

I will get new towels and bath mats and all that stuff.

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Comments (5)

booboo60
11 years ago
I would do as much as I could for cheap. All the things you mentioned that you are doing for sure are good, to get the "safari" feel out of there. Lol! Don't know if I would do the floor either, if you think it could be neutral enough or not be noticed too much, just leave it. Way to go on the craigslist find, love it!
pricklypearcactus
11 years ago
Can you share a picture? It's hard t say without seeing it. $75 for granite sounds pretty great if it'll fit.
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I have two bath mats in my guest bath. One in front of the tub and one in front of the sink. I would agree that if your doors will not open and close over a mat, then I would consider cutting off some of the bottom of the door. If you keep this door closed most of the time, it will improve air circulation as mentioned above. In the master bath because I didn't want to cover up the tile pattern in front of the tub by leaving a mat on the floor all the time, I use a mat like you find in a hotel that is towel material. It hangs on the side of the tub when not in use and gets washed with the towels once a week. They are thinner than most bath mats so that might be another option. As far as fecal matter from flushing the toilets, we close the lid before flushing and bath mats are washable. We originally started closing them when we got our first cat and now it is habit. It only takes a second and l realized I much prefer how it looks when you walk into the bathroom.
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Lovely sense of style! Bravo! We investigated porcelain marble look-alike tile but we decided on real marble which we will have to care for without any acidic products. Beware that there is a repeating pattern in marble look-alike porcelain tile like (on wall paper which will give away the secret.) We found great deals on Amazon and at Lowes for Bianco Carrara subways, pencils, chair rails and floor and shower floor hexes (1/3 the price of tile stores). We found a gorgeous remnant for our shower bench at a marble and stone shop at an amazing price. I can't wait until it's done to post photos! But back to your house... it's gorgeous!
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The only thing I would worry about is the exterior of the guest house. If it looked noticeably worse than the main house, I might try to spiff it up (paint, or something). if its exterior looks fine, then I don't think I'd worry that much about the fact that the inside isn't luxury. New counter--that's $2000. And if the laminate is in good shape, why bother? New windows? through the roof! *maybe* *maybe* I'd redo the floor, if the vinyl tiles looked cheap and were beginning to look worn. (not all do; you may know they're vinyl tiles and think they're cheap, but somone looking at it fresh, without your knowledge, may just see "tidy floor in good condition"). But I'd still redo w/ something relatively inexpensive.
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"The pull of that tub on the first floor for young families is a real selling point here. Any mom who has had to run up stairs constantly to stay with pre-schooled aged children in the tub, while trying to do laundry and get supper on the table can appreciate the usefulness of a main floor tub. " Yeah, um, no. As a mother with two little kids, I NEVER used the full bath on the main floor for bathing. If I'm making dinner and doing laundry, there's no way on God's green earth I've got kids in a tub as well. Kids in tubs need to be watched. If their bedrooms are upstairs, then that's where I bathe them. No slipping of wet feet going upstairs, no water tracked through the house to their bedrooms. However, my caveat to this is your house wouldn't be on my buyer's radar because I need a kid's bathroom with a tub upstairs, and if I could find a house in your price range where I didn't have to bathe my kids in the master bathroom, I'd take it every time.
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gmp3
11 years ago
I think you are on the right track. Keep an eye out for a Craigslist vanity too, if you can swing it. Again pictures would help.
abfabamy
11 years ago
I agree about the Craigslist vanity top. The bathroom in our new house had received a small ""touch up" before being put on the market...it included paint, peel and stick floor tiles, a new comfort height toilet and a big box granite top with undermount sink and new faucet. We were pleased to see that the bathroom had been "updated" when we walked through. Of course, 2 years later and we are ripping it out and redoing it for real! But, at the time of walk through, seeing the minor improvements were enough to satisfy us then.
mabeldingeldine_gw
11 years ago
I'd snatch the granite CL vanity top, and design around that. Paint the vanity to coordinate, paint the walls, add a shelf for towels/storage. If the vinyl flooring will look ok with the granite, I'd just keep it after cleaning it withing an inch of its life and coating with Mop and Glow or some other shine enhancer. If not, replace it with new sheet vinyl, or vinyl planks, it is not a difficult DIY project in a small room if you are at all handy.

Probably a new light fixture too, as you can find some good-looking inexpensive ones at HD or Lowes. I just bought one for less than $80 that will work until that bath reaches the top of the list.

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