Reworking a 35-year-old Master Bathroom

We're all pretty conscious of the way we are spending our money these days. And you certainly want to make the best "bang for your dollar" decisions. Based on those two simple premises, which you will find are reoccurring themes, let's talk about a master bath I recently remodeled for an investment property.

First it was small and it didn't function well in its current layout. If you look at the before picture you can see the wasted space in the left corner- didn't make any sense when it was built 3+ decades ago and it doesn't now. I get a lot of requests for large showers in master baths so I decided to rearrange this space for a large and dramatic shower.

Before

After

Don't shy away from moving plumbing. In most cases it just isn't that big of a deal. To make up for the now twice the size shower, I made sure the vanity base had good storage- 2 big drawers plus a door. Installing good lighting, a much needed ventilation fan and new double towel bar and you have a highly functional handsome new master bath.

Budget stretchers on this project- the tile, sink and vanity base came from Home Depot. My tile setters took 18" x 18" travertine tiles (about $2.00 sq. ft.) and used them in their full format on the floor, cut them in 4" x 4" for the shower floor and 4" x 16" pieces for the shower walls. The glass and stone mosaic tiles were about $12/sq. ft. I called 5 shower door companies to get the best price on the shower door enclosure and saved $150 from the top bid.