Our DIY remodel on a 7x9 bathroom ran about $5000, a month of work with a few weeks prep beforehand and a month finishing afterwards (handles, baseboards, minor details). We closed off a doorway, replaced vanity and floor, re-enameled the tub and replaced the tub surround, kept the toilet. All in keeping with our compromise between too many ideas, and avoiding being the fanciest house on our fairly basic street. - $250 materials + 7 days to close off a door, reframe that wall, and drywall; also fix and skimcoat the manky old ceiling. - $550 lighting: $200 vent fan/light, $40 can light, $200 vanity lights, $75 or so on various outlets, switches, a timer switch for the fan, electrical boxes etc. - $500 flooring: adhesive, grout, and tile, Armstrong Alterna (powdered stone in a vinyl matrix, I love it!) - $1300-1400 Miracle Method: ~$500 for tub re-enamel, ~$800 for fiberglass tub surround fit/install. - $1800 for vanity setup: $950 60" vanity (RTA bamboo from Domain Cabinets Direct), $450 Swanstone top from Lowe's, $100 Delta faucet (internet order), $250 Kohler medicine cabinet, $50 handles - $350 finishing touches: $175 hardware (towel/shower bar), $100 soft goods (shower curtain, rug, towels), $75 paint and art. Add to that, another $500 in contractor fees for my father-in-law: several bottles of wine, and dinner at a good restaurant!

The local store is "The Powder Room" 540 N. Santa Cruz Avenue, Suite A Los Gatos, CA 95030 I met the owner, who was extremely helpful. I am pretty excited by the Ronbow vanity and I'll take DH to her showroom. She also had a Toto toilet complete with a washlet in her bathroom with the Fairmont toilet topper and a Fairmont vanity. It was great seeing the American Standard Town Square toilet in person with the soft close seat and ADH height. It has a map score of 1,000 and I'm leaning towards this toilet over a Toto. The one vanity that really caught my attention is the Ronbow Adara vanity, which is available in a dark cherry and I'm seriously considering the Ronbow ceramic sink top (integral counter and sink). I think it will be a snap to clean. It's also available with a transitional glass door or solid doors (the solid doors are cheaper). I also liked their Asian-style vanity, but it doesn't come in a 48 inch size. I'm having some second thoughts about the carrera marble top due to the fact that this is the most heavily used bathroom in the house. Therefore, I found the sink top to be a great option functionally and aesthetically! I really got excited about it! The link below shows it in a lighter cinnamon color instead of the dark cherry. Here is a link that might be useful: Ronbow Neo-Classical 48 inch vanity

I am doing all three of our baths at $1000/bath. You can say it's really half-bath re-dos because in the two full baths I'm leaving the shower or tub alone. Downstairs half bath, completed: got a Victorian style pedestal sink and toilet from Home Depot, $100 and $200 respectively. Ten years ago, don't have the exact figures. Settled for Kohler polished nickel rather than brushed nickel faucets at HD because polished was $180 and brushed would have been $200 more custom order. Four and a half feet of bead board for one wall, baseboard, some molding, cut down a wall mirror I found on the street and made my own inset medicine cabinet. Less than $100 for carpentry and paint. Inexpensive hexagonal floor tile, $50-80. HD light and GRCI outlet, receptacle box, couple feet of Romex. $60. Splurged on Thibaut wallpaper, Augustine hummingbirds, $200 there. Master bath, in progress: $350 Toto toilet, online. $120 tall NuTone medicine cabinet, online. $50 floor tile, HD. Sink, $64, online. Light, $30, HD, Romex, GFCI, new switch, call it $20. Wallpaper, $60, eBay. Wall mount faucet is going to be $60-$200, online. Plumbing conversion to wall mount is going to be less than $200 even if it means waiting until my brother comes up for Thanksgiving. Shower doors removed, $5 vinegar and Comet bathroom spray, steel wool and emery cloth, look new again. Left over paint for ceiling. Kids' bath, planning stages: 60" Pegasus Exhibit Vanity, listed $749 HD, negotiated to $600 price-matching, but bought it $360 new, Craigslist. Looking for double vanity top Craigslist, can get something for $100 but not quite what I want, cultured marble top would be $350 at Lowes, I have time. 3'x4' mirror, HD, $80. Light, $60, HD. Medicine cabinet, NuTone again, $60-$120. Faucets, $200-300. Shower curtain and curved rod, $100. Towel rods are inexpensive wooden drapery brackets and wooden closet rods, custom length so I can put them on the studs because children will do chin-ups, $30. Paint, $30. Floor tile, $80. Better try to cut back on the vanity top or faucets. Keeping toilet and tub. If you stick with neutral colors and simple lines, inexpensive doesn't look cheap. Stock items at the big box stores are half the price of custom orders. Online is often cheaper than big box. Craigslist and Habitat for Humanity resale stores can get you quality items for not much especially if you live in an upscale area. The guy I got the vanity from got it from HD's bashed-up cardboard carton outlet, I have to find out where that is. You get one splurge per room. Tradesmen are expensive; educate yourself to DIY. DIY can be better quality than tradesmen sometimes. Concentrate on the overall effect, and make compromises on individual items that don't compromise the overall effect. What would be the most expensive thing to change? Can you leave it alone and live with it? I left alone the pale grey tiled walls and terrazzo shower pan in my bath, and will leave alone the grey tub and toilet in the children's bath along with the white tiles finely speckled with grey. Neutral colors, simple lines; I can work with them. What do you hate? I hate 1960s busy mixed color tile floors; they were well done and will outlast Armageddon but I tiled over them. I hated the blue toilet and blue boxy sink in a grey-tiled bath. Gone. I hate marbled Formica chipboard vanities and metal-rimmed pea-green sinks. I hate low-end mingy 4" spread builder's grade faucets. Will be gone. I hate sickly fluorescent lights and vinyl floors in bathrooms. Gone.

And must it be Monaco? All those tennis players! A resounding YES!.... please, pretty please. Oh you need convincing do you? Let me roll up my Canali sleeves and get started. My best friend Carl lives here. Good reason. My 3 life desires are all here. Beach. Sun. Ocean. Warmth. Beach. Ocean. Sun. Big Mountain behind beach, 24 hour bullet proof security. Did I mention Ocean? It is the entire Cote D'Azur's best beach. It's actually a designated Marine Park and YES millions of stunning colored fish actually tickle you and egg you on to play. Even my mask gets overwhelmed! Carrefour- The most stunning Supermarket on the face on the earth. Our whole country is less than 3 square km's! Think of how toned we'll be walking back and forth. And don't worry about Venezia or Umbria, we can do those on weekends in the Alfa along with Verona! And Yes, you can have your Bughatti as the second car. Here is a link that might be useful: Verona