What do you do with a bathroom that had its heyday during the decade of big hair and shoulder pads? This master bath with its light pink toilet and tile floor was oh so very chic in the 80s but no so much today. It’s a classic case of trendy design now past its prime. For most of us, bringing this bath into modern-day means you’ll be DIYing most of the updates. Here’s a primer on how to go from not so Pretty In Pink to a Mod-Mother Nature Motif, a look that’s having its moment in home interiors. For this remodel, homeowner Julia Reilly kept the original vanity to save some money. To update it, she cut a hole in the top for a new sink and stained the base cabinetry with General Finishes gel stain in java at a cost of $30 a quart. The base cabinets required three coats of gel stain that Julia wiped on allowing for a 24-hours between coats to properly dry. Julia recommends waiting five days after last coat before applying the gel topcoat.
For a complete transformation of the original countertop, Julia used Envirotex, at a cost of $30, to create a shiny hard bar coating. Before applying the Envirotex, she painted the countertop white. To properly prepare the Envirotex, Julia recommends mixing it with 200 stirs and then pouring immediately to avoid it setting prematurely.
Resurfaced Vanity using Envirotex
“The Envirotex self levels but to avoid bubbles in the surface, you must blow put the bubbles with either your breath or a blow torch. Not a hair dryer. It's not the heat; it's the co2 that breaks up the bubbles,” advises Julia. Another tip: do this in an environment free of airborne debris and make sure the area is well ventilated. Although the countertop was painted white, the Envirotex turned it into a cream color. After reinforcing and priming the vanity, Julia installed a sink and faucet purchased from a salvage yard at a cost $75 for both. She purchased the new hardware from Lowes. To get rid of that pink shower tile, Julia stripped the shower down to the studs and built in a niche and support for a new single pane of glass to replace the shower curtain. Then, she tiled the shower with Serso black walnut grain porcelain tile in horizontal planks size 6-in X 24-in purchased from Lowes at a cost of $2.35 per square foot.
The shower’s Moen 4-inch single function wall mount hand shower with hose and slide bar in a chrome finish cost $166 and the Moen single handle posi-temp pressure balanced valve trim with metal lever handle cost $23.78 both were purchased from the online store www.faucetdirect.com. The bathroom floor’s pink tile was replaced with a very on-trend pebble tile that Julia found on eBay at a cost of $7.50 per 12x12 sheet.
For a clever vintage accent, Julia turned the existing medicine cabinet into a stylish framed chalkboard by painting the mirror with chalk paint and gluing on an old frame that she repainted yellow to match her DIY bathroom Barn Door.
DIY Barn Door for under $100
To finish off the look, Julia hand painted stripes on the bathroom walls.
She taped a striped pattern on the wall then painted the stripes in Benjamin Moore Whitestone in satin applying two coats with long strokes using a foam roller. She then removed the tape pulling along the diagonal. Like any smart DIYer Julia knew when to call in a professional to handle the tasks outside of her skill set. SB Tile and Stone did the floor and shower tile installation.
The total cost for this bathroom makeover is just $2,500. Consider that the average bathroom remodel costs $16,000 according to the National Kitchen and Bath Association and I would say this Mod-Mother Nature Master Bath is a refreshing example of sticker shock in reverse!!
