I laid 2" hex tile as my first tiling job - very easy. Comes in sheets, small tiles are easy to cut; there's less wastage and the layout isn't as finicky as it is with big tiles. Stacyneil has a post on this forum linked below, a very beautiful, traditional inspiration of a bath remodel, all DIY, and they did radiant floor heating, she explains how it's done. If you have any outside walls, now would be a good time to insulate them, ditto a cold ceiling or floor. You can put tile niches with shelves on either side of the shower plumbing. Your tub doesn't look as though it has a lip? flange? that goes up under the tile which might make water-proofing the walls for a shower tricky. That ex-window - you could build some decent storage there - can you take it all the way to the floor? A pedestal or console sink would look great with the limited floor space - a console giving more deck space and rails to hang towels on. And then you'd have exposed floor to be radiant. Is that off-white plastic grill next to the former window an exhaust fan? Here is a link that might be useful: Stacy's bath that I am in love with

Replace the flooring if needed. Remove dated wallpaper, paint or re-wallpaper (love the 2nd bath inspiration pic). Refinish or paint cabinet. Replace counter top, sink, lighting and hard wear. Replace the toilet to a more updated one. Keep walls clear other than mirror and art. I think this is one of the easiest and best updates you can do to your home! Good luck!

Thanks for remembering holligator--we did struggle. In the end it was, like anything else a series of compromises... We really had to examine our priorities but also I just sat back and watched the family and where everyone gravitates, how we operate...and used that to decide how to use the space. The "Big L" that consists of the kitchen, old dining room, old sunroom is now all opened up. Our biggest questions had to do with where to put the various components within that space--kitchen/dining/breakfast and bar--and we were toying with moving the front living room just to make it more confusing! Add to that the commitment to keep the builtins (thereby HAVING to reserve two corners for that)and there were no perfect solutions. The architect was strongly urging me to let go of my attachment to the builtins, as their elimination did provide many more options for use of space--it's the only thing I think he was way off base on. He was technically correct but totally missing the intangible value of those things. It became a joke between us really--every idea he had I'd be saying"but what about the builtins?" I'm so glad we saved them. Anyhow, I'm rambling. We kept the core of the kitchen in its original spot but once the wall came down we were able to push everything out a little to make that area a bit bigger, add a peninsula...and we went with the table-height bar/breakfast area on the opposite side of the peninsula. If I recall correctly, that idea got mixed reviews here --due to the perceived wasted space behind those seated at the bar and that "dead corner." Due to other savings we were able to actually put a bank of cabinets back there for a drybar, though...so now I'm really happy with that whole space. Window placement-existing and new was also a challenge. We decided to spend on really nice windows for that front "sunroom/dining room" rather than spend money on trying to reconfigure window placement in the rest of the "L" (all the original windows, save one, are set very low--only 25" off the floor--so negate base cabinets there!) and decided to keep a tall hedge that is there shielding the view of the neighbor's wall. I thought the window in the hedge, or staring at her house would look bad in my original posts, but now that we've done it--the tall green of the hedge (about 7-8 feet from the outside of the window) is a very pretty element. I decided to put the big table and dining up front there because it is the most light filled area of the house and we gravitate there for just about everything. By preserving it for that, and not erecting the kitchen there, it shares more light with the existing living room and kitchen/breakfast area. The living room remains small in its original footprint, but we changed the traffic flow a bit and with the wall down it certainly seems bigger, and I'll have a few more, if not many, furniture placement options than I did before. All of this of course is hard to imagine without drawings/pictures. I need to dig out the drawings and post them back up here with some of the final pictures. It really is like a completely different house! Thanks for asking...

I’m one of those who is about to list my house. I did replace all the carpet as it was all 20 years old and after 2 kids, their friends and I don’t know how many dogs it was a necessity. I chose a neutral greige. Not my first choice but it does lend itself to anything color wise it seems. I’m not doing anything to the bathrooms as I realize anyone coming in will probably gut and start over. I painted the kitchen cabinets a putty color. The old paint was yellow (we loved it but realized it was taste specific) and chipping enough to be a huge detractor to the average buyer with no imagination. The kitchen is a good size and layout, the appliances are above average and the countertops are the original quartz. My thought is that a buyer will probably want to renovate the kitchen, but that it will work just fine until they get to it. The only other things I’m doing before listing is repairing any glaring things, like a messed up window casing, that sort of thing. I’m very glad to read this post as 4 of the 5 agents we interviewed wanted us to do basically what everyone here seems to have a problem with, cosmetic patch jobs that wouldn’t increase the value of the house but would probably make their job easier.