What input are you seeking?

Since you know what elements are costly, it would seem fairly easy to eliminate or change those features.

Do you have an actual budget that you want to spend? Since you are working with a designer, you can determine which elements are important to you and worth spending money and which you can compromise on without breaking your heart -) Give her the budget and ask her to provide you with a design within that budget - assuming the budget is realistic for a bathroom remodel.

I finished a bathroom remodel fairly recently and opted for some expensive design features which I don't regret at all since I really like the results both aesthetically and functionally. However, I didn't particularly care whether I would get back renovation expenses if I resold since I have no plans to sell and so this was done totally for me. I also could afford what I wanted without guilt since I wasn't borrowing for it - my choices were expensive = e.g. Encore tiles and marble floors and counter but not as expensive as they could have been - e.g. no Motawi tiles that were the inspiration for my shower :-).

Really it's such a personal decision, Although bathrooms are expensive to remodel, people do remodel with perfectly lovely results by using tasteful but relatively inexpensive design elements and features. Do. you want a Ford Fiesta? A Honda Accord? A Lexus or a Maserati?

Who is purchasing the fixtures, tub, etc? Is it him or you? I found that shopping around really helped with coats. I used build.com for SO many things like faucets, sinks, light fixtures, etc.. You don’t need tile behind vanities for a great look. You can use wallpaper or paint. I fell in love with a huge tub, found out it was $10k then searched online and found a very similar one for $2,500. So what I am saying it if you shop around you can cut costs without cutting style. I am certain contractors/companies charge premiums on these items when you can just shop for them yourself. That is why I went with a contractor that was labor only, and I was in charge of the purchases, they weren’t “allowances”.

I did the same thing K R is describing. But I did get the approval of the tradespeople on all products. There were a couple of things that the tile pro got for me because he was able to get them at a really low price. In choosing tile, especially, it’s important to get approval from your tile pro, ask if there are installation problems with such and such, have him/her inspect tbe product, etc. That’s how we did it, and it worked out well for us. If you want to do that it’s important that you have a good working relationship with your contractor. One note about doing it this way: it’s important that you have most of the materials onsite before the job starts, or else you might be the cause of any delays and that will cost you. my contractor told me what I needed to prioritize and choose before the job, and there were a few things I had a little more time to find.

I happen to like chrome, so was happy to see it was less expensive than the other finishes. Our large soaking Kohler Underscore tub was less than $1000. We bought Ferguson brand sinks that look identical to Kohler Ladena. Used Delta faucets, Kohler toilet. We used Carrara marble (which I prefer) for vanity which I was surprised to learn was way less than quartz.

Surprising to me, hiring a custom cabinet builder was more competitive than I thought it would be. It was a wash compared to ordering from a semi-custom place, and I got exactly what I wanted.

IMO the tile pro is the most important pro on your job. Hire a certified, experienced pro, or make sure you GC hires one, not just a random “tile guy.” A skilled pro can make moderate priced tiled look like a million bucks. A tile hack can make expensive tile look horrible, and then you start wondering about the waterproofing.

Don‘t rule out Home Depot for tile. I’m not talking about what they have in the store. They have thousands of tiles available online from Emser, Daltile, etc. you can order a box, pick it up, show it to your contractor, return it, order something else. We did that for 3 upstairs bathrooms. Sometimes I just opened the box at HD and returned in right then.

For the master, we got tile from Emser Tile. If you use large format tiles, they are less $$ than fancy mosaics.

If I think of anything else, will let you know. Don’t skimp on the labor. The really good contractors are probably pretty busy, so after you choose, you’ll probably have time to gather your materials.

I also bought my own fixtures, tile etc. Allowances were built into my contract but were written so that if I spent less than the allowence, my total contract cost would be adjusted downward. I had the option of purchasing myself or ordering through the contractor. I was actually able to come in below the allowance on certain items like tile and vanity and splurge on some others like countertops while keeping the overall reno cost on budget. I used chrome fixtures. I like them and didn't realize they were less expensive until I started shopping. It's extra work and you need time to shop at multiple stores and compare online prices. I also found build.com to be a good source. They will often, but not always, beat a price you find for the same item on amazon or home depot. You just have to ask. For tile, look at Home Depot or Floor and Decor. I like that they allow you to return unused tile, unlike most tile stores where you are not able to return opened boxes even if you just need a few tiles.

Would you please post a current layout, drawn out on graph paper, and desired layout, inspiration photos, favorite colors/style, and such? There are a lot of great pros on here that can help in so many ways, including cost savings.

Also, to clarify, I’m not a mathematician, but if the quote went up 30k (and that’s 50%), does that mean the original quote was 60k and the new quote is 90k?

We live 40 miles north of Houston, in a fancy-pants planned suburb. We gutted and completely remodeled our builder-grade late 90’s master bathroom, had vanity, large linen and pull-out laundry cabinet built by local cabinet builder, improved the closet by said cabinet pro rebuilding the broken drawers in the built-in chests of drawers, added pull-down rods in the crazy-high closet, painted closet, bath and bedroom, and fixed wood floors. We did not move toilet, tub, or shower drain. We did go from split vanities to one with 2 sinks which just required capping off one pipe and adding plumbing to make the double vanity work. Plumber did it in about 20 mi items, no big deal. Lots of beautiful tile, very nice electrical upgrades. Our final price was about $62,000. But remember this was bathroom, closet, and. painting the whole area including the bedroom.

We are in a “lower than average” cost of labor area. But that’s not a good thing IMO in this area. In this area, that means low low skill. It’s like the Wild West here. You can’t even beg any local agency to do an inspection, a flood test, or anything. A lot of GC’s hire cheap, unqualified subs and then you’ll end up in a fight over re-doing a shower after bad tile work and/or waterproofing. A lot of GCs here hire cheap, unqualified fake pros. Hopefully that won’t happen to you, but watch out for that.

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I can’t tell where all the doors are leading to. My first thought is you don’t have enough room for a free-standing tub. You’re not going to be able to clean around it or ever be able to paint the wall behind it.

What is the purpose of the hallway? Could that space be incorporated into the bathroom instead?

Where does the door on the left side lead to? Are you still going to be entering the bedroom by going through the bathroom?