Before and after - bathroom

OK.... so you have seen my kitchen, it was the one thing  in my house that I didn't do on a tight budget, the consequences were though, that I ran out of money for the redo of the bathroom and it was ugly and I mean UGLY!!! 

This is how it looked when I bought the house....nasty....but the dilemma is (yes I know I have a lot of decorating dilemmas) what could I do with it with practically no money??

Do you love the combination of colours, green tiles with the occasional floral tile randomly thrown in, a few pink touches and blue bath. Then there is the unusually shaped custom vanity with the return end at a weird angle... the blind that must have been new in the 70's and the rusty radiator on the wall or the slanting mirror.

So it was time to gird my loins and buy a bigger power tool!! I do own drills, jig saws, sanders etc but now it was time for the big boy .... a circular saw (OK I know a drop saw is bigger but this was big enough to always worry me that I would cut off my fingers!!).

STEP 1 I removed the basin and top of the vanity and rebuilt the side return to square it off and make it into open shelves. I made a new top out of cement board and trimmed it with decorative timber on the edges and tiled the top in white mosaic tiles. Finally I got the plumber to put in a new counter top basin and mixer tap.

STEP 2 I sanded back the peeling ceiling and painted it white and the walls got a couple of coats of a fresh pale green.

STEP 3 Time to tackle the tiles, I used a 3 part system to paint the tiles on the walls, this does not work on the floor tiles which luckily in my case are quite pretty green and white mosaic. The paint is by White Knight.

Clean all the tiles thoroughly with the White Knight tile and laminate cleaner, do not miss this step!

Once dry prime all the tiles, this will allow the paint to stick, I painted it on with a small roller.

Finally once the primer has dried for at least 4 hours, topcoat with either the tile paint for a gloss finish or the laminate paint for a matte finish, this can be applied with a small roller and then brushed off lightly with a good quality brush

STEP 4 I then tackled the bath, this would need something even tougher...again from White Knight Tub n' Tile a two part epoxy paint. Read the directions carefully or the surface may fail.

You must follow the instructions for preparation. Thoroughly clean the bath and then sand all the gloss surfaces and clean again, wash and allow to dry. Mix the two parts together then tip half into a tin, seal and put in fridge. Allow the other half to sit for an hour then paint the first coat. I painted with a brush, it is a self leveling paint and you will find that the brush marks will disappear. Allow to dry. The second coat must be used between 12 and 36 hours after the first coat. Allow 5 days before using it.

STEP 5 I finished the bathroom by replacing all the tapware with simple chrome taps, a mirror from Ikea and a painting I have had for a long time.

So here is the end result.... I am very happy with it....  it has gone well for over 2 years now!!!

I forgot to mention the cute little crystal pendant lights that I added to hang down and help light the room plus the extra details I added to the doors of the vanity to give them a shaker look and new knobs. Hope you like the new look....it wont last forever but it will do for now.

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