Vintage Bathroom Makeover -- The "Thrifty Highlights"

Okay, so this is the outdated main floor bathroom.

You can see that we were up against a tight, long space.

It was going to be a huge project to get it looking attractive.

And cost a bundle in labor alone.

So anywhere we could save a few bucks, we did.

Here are the thrifty highlights.

The three backspash areas around the sink were put together from

a box of scrap tiles that were purchased at a garage sale for $5.

The first challenge was putting them together artfully.

They were applied to sticky contact paper the same dimensions as the wall space.

(The second challenge came when the contractor had to

try to replicate the design on the wall.)

 Salvaged 4" wood.  I literally got them out of a barn,

but we think they were from an old building that was torn down.

Lots of interesting nails and nail holes. I bought them on a Monday,

washed them at the above carwash on Tuesday (it took about $14 worth of quarters),

and the guys installed them on Wednesday.

 Flooring. I needed something easy to clean, waterproof and that would blend

into a vintage bathroom.  I found three boxes of this vinyl flooring at Home Depot.

Clearanced for $11 a box instead of  $45.  I also applied for a Home Depot credit card and

received a $25 credit.

Thus, the whole floor cost me $8.

You are actually looking at three "budget" areas of the bathroom here.

Top left are two "bullseye" trim pieces that I bought to go above one of the doors.

I paid $2 each for the trim pieces. The door originally had similar ones, which had been removed when the ceiling was dropped. We were also able to locate a matching top trim piece, to fit between the bullseyes over the door.

The vintage milk glass & porcelain light fixture was only $5 at a garage sale.

We knew it would look great above the white porcelain "vessel" sink and mosaic backsplash.

 We only used the cabinet doors and hinges off of the cabinet, which I paid $35 for.

Do not be sad for the cabinet, one of the guys cut some of the project barn wood to cover

the hole in the top.  I already sold it at my vintage booth.

See how the whole bathroom came together in the "after"

reveal, click here.