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!

Beekeeperswife - I noticed the photo (FABULOUS) before seeing to whom it belonged and when I saw it was you, it made all the sense in the world. I still LOVE the kitchen you did that was featured everywhere - the backsplash is still my dream backsplash. And your use of Wasabi is the reason I have BM Wasabi in my house. I think you moved, though, since I was last on here actively, so I will have to hunt down what you've been doing lately! I showed DH the pic of your Dark Purple bathroom - he loved it and said "You could do that!". Sure....like that's not time-consuming. I would definitely consider doing that in a smaller space. Gorgeous! always1stepbehind - I love that kids don't have the same fears us "oldies" do when it comes to color! Looks like your DD made a great, lively choice! robotropolis - I'm not afraid of color as much as I am afraid of picking the "neon" shade - which has happened during the 1st year we lived in our current house. My sitting room and kitchen are currently painted BM Dark Salmon - which looks fantastic during the day - it's like being nestled in a bowl of ripe tomatoes - but at night? Holy smokes! It's electric dark orange and I HATE it. Same thing happened in our living room. I was trying to bring shades of California into our Texas home (transplants) and went with BM Opal Essence and Blue Seafoam. Toothpaste and aquarium. We felt like we were living in an aquarium. I thought the room could carry it off but even the south/southwest facing family room couldn't handle it. I finally did the family room and entry in BM Rattan and I really like it. My piano studio is in Kendall Charcoal (it was a can that a BM customer never picked up; the sold it to me for 1/2 the price!) and Concord Ivory. I'm planning on re-doing the kitchen (which opens to Rattan) and the sitting area (which opens to entry) in BM Papaya. I'm going for a lot more neutral than I'm use to but I like it. DD's room is Valspar Beet and BM Passion Pink and my son's room is in BM Midnight Navy and Patriot White (space theme). Still up in the air are the kid/guest bathroom and the mastersuite. My inclination for the kids bathroom was towards bright but I don't want to have to re-do a bathroom if it's neon again plus, now that I saw the glass mosaic tile frame around the bathroom, I'm thinking of doing that which probably changes my whole color scheme. Someone asked what was in the kids bathroom; I don't have a picture of it before I started making all the paint samples but it's basically always1stepbehind 's bathroom without the pretty touches: builder grade white tile around the tub, those hideous Hollywood dressing table lights above and builder grade sink/cabinet painted sorta-white (house built in 2000). Painted in Band-Aid pink with old world globe wall paper below imaginary chair rail line. Yes...it's as bad as it sounds. :) Runningplace - thanks! Family is good. Things never seem to go as planned when you (me) are the caretaker to several people in the family. But that's life! Our floor tile is sort of an adobe look which doesn't got with anything at all in the house! The previous owner must have gotten it on clearance before they put the house on the market. You know - thanks for writing about your tile - it made me think about my floor and now I'm wondering if I need to go with what I know best - Spanish Colonial style (we moved from San Diego/Santa Barbara where I learned so much about that style especially when we bought our 1929 Spanish Revival cottage there). Do you have a pic of your deep blue floor tile? AnnieDeighnaugh - your guest room is lovely! It looks like something about of a very high-end, old world hotel. I love the blues with the creamy yellow. nosoccermom - I haven't had a chance to get back to my BM store but will definitely be picking up a swatch of Mellow yellow. Sunflowers and Southern France is definitely a nice visual. JDez - SW Window Pane is such a pretty color! Tomatofreak - I'd love to see your tile surround. It sounds like something you can definitely work with! Well...off to teach. I'll be back!

Your place looks amazing. I live in a lake house full time. Something to consider is the way you use your home, especially the bathroom. I can tell you the number one best thing I ever did (aside from buying the house itself :) was putting a door to the outside in one of my bathrooms. It gets used constantly all summer and keeps the sand and grime some what contained in the bathroom. Before I did that we would walk all the way through the house to the bathroom...no matter how much you brush / off rinse off etc... you get lots of sand everywhere! The bathroom is the most worked room in the house! Now they can go in and jump in the shower at the end of the day and come out without 10 pounds of sand! Don't get me wrong I love the sandy days, but it is nice for everyone not to feel bad about traipsing through the house with wet or sandy feet just to use the toilet. I would LOVE to have a toy garage that faces the lake, so much easier to get all the stuff put away and drying at the end of the day. A place to hang the 64 thousand wet things...

"I really don’t care what the home looks like from the road." You should. Our first perception of a house is, or any building for that matter, a stong one and will carry though the entire experience, be it of a short or long term duration. And the Chesapeake Bay has more stringent impervious area criteria than what you listed. My lot was smaller (50'x250') and 22% max. impervious area so that's not a big driver if there's someone who can creatively work with the regulations. Don't get hung up on preconceived ideas. Another one being "am thinking that the existing house could become the garage and attach the new home on the lake side of that." and leave it to your architect to work through all your wants within the framework of your program. If he/she is a creative one, you might be surprised. One of the best things to hear is "I never thought of that!". A good architect, when given the chance, will provide a design that can give a client everything they want, but often in ways completely unexpected. But for that to happen it takes a critical element necessary on the part of the client in every successful project and that element is trust. Often during our initial meeting, the client will reveal their ability or inability to trust others. If I feel the element of trust is not there they will likely be referred to a permit drafter. A creative person should explore other approaches with you in the spirit of "That's great but have you thought of this.......". But for that to be carried forward successfully it takes a trusting client to not only allow the architect to expand on alternative ideas but to objectively look at other approaches in a collaborative effort with the architect. And that's an intangible that all successful projects are born out of. I can't tell you how many times a client sitting across the table from me has said "Wow! We never thought of that. We like the kitchen idea but how 'bout if we move the entry here and the...." As I hand them the pen. In some of those design sessions the client commands the pen almost as much as I do! Just be ready to expect any preconceived ideas to be questioned. They may in fact turn out to be perfectly valid but at least they've been evaluated against alternates as any good architect should do. Finally, regarding preconceived ideas, I've quoted before on this board before these two quotes by two creative people..... Henry Ford observed "If I had asked people what they wanted they would have told me 'A faster horse' ". And Steve Jobs mused “A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them. Everyone wanted an iPhone when they first appeared, but no one could have described what they wanted before seeing one". So put trust in your architect to carry you through the process in the spirit of Mr. Ford and Mr. Jobs and you'll have a home that is the very best.