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Cheap Bathroom Remodel Ideas
Renovating a bathroom is expensive. However, if you do not have a big budget, it does not mean that you have to live with a grimy, old-fashioned bathroom forever. It may seem impossible, but there are ways to remodel your bathroom for a lot less than the market price.
Most remodelling cultures make it look like bathroom renovations should cost an arm and a leg and that you must rip everything away and replace it with newer and better models. However, refusing to accept this concept is the first step to reducing your bathroom makeover cost. Therefore, if you are on a budget and in need of ideas on the cheapest ways to renovate your bathroom, read on.
Why Should You Renovate Your Bathroom?
There are dozens of reasons why you may feel the need to remodel your bathroom. It might be because a renovation is long overdue due to its outdated state or simply because you are unhappy with its current look. The following are some of the reasons why you should consider remodelling your bathroom:
Safety Issues
There are several reasons that might have you thinking that your bathroom is not safe. Some of the most significant reasons revolve around the tiles. You might have noticed that the tiles are broken or slippery. Your bathroom might also have a water leakage, which can make your walls damp and the floor slippery. If you have the above troubles in your bathroom, it is time to remodel it to guarantee its safety, both for you and the rest of your household.
Plumbing Issues
Bathroom plumb work is not permanent as it deteriorates with time. If you have constant plumbing-related problems in your bathroom, then it is time for that bathroom renovation. Instead of incurring recurring costs on small plumb works repeatedly, which may be annoying and costly, remodel the bathroom and get a permanent solution.
For Sustainability and Efficiency
If you have lived in your Adelaide home for more than 15 years, it is likely that the fixtures, toilets, and piping in your bathroom are not environmentally friendly. This is based on the fact that during that time, most manufacturers did not factor in environmental sustainability and energy efficiency. Remodelling your bathroom to ensure efficiency not only reduces environmental pollution but also saves you money in the long run. By remodelling, you replace all inefficient fixtures and pipes with those that save on water and electricity bills.
Your Bathroom is Outdated
The market keeps changing, and there are newer bathroom designs every day. If you feel that your bathroom looks old and outdated, it is time to renovate. An old and obsolete bathroom makes you feel unhappy. Now, keep in mind that the bathroom is the first place you visit when you wake up and probably the last before you turn in for the night.
How will it affect your mood and day in general? In addition, if you have an outdated bathroom, you may feel unhappy and uncomfortable with the idea of letting guests into your bathroom. Simply remodel your bathroom for that early morning spark that will translate to a better day overall.
Increase in Mould and Mildew
When you stay long without renovating your bathroom, you will notice the presence of increased mould and mildew. As a result, you are bound to waste a lot of time cleaning it, which can be pretty tiresome. If you are in this position, it's time to divert your attention and money to your bathroom renovation.
To Cater for Your Family's Needs
If your family is growing and you started out in your house without kids, you might have to renovate your bathroom to cater to their needs. This includes adding kid-friendly facilities, such as a smaller tub. Additionally, you might have handicapped or aged people who cannot use a bathroom as ordinary people do. Therefore, renovate your bathroom to suit their needs.
Increase Your Home's Value
Homes depreciate over time, and the bathroom profoundly experiences wear and tear due to moisture. One of the crucial factors that estate agents check during valuation is the bathroom. A well-maintained bathroom increases the value of your home. As such, if you wish to sell your home, it is essential to renovate your bathroom to increase its value.
20 Cheapest Bathroom Renovation Ideas
Remodelling your bathroom should not be an expensive task. Sometimes, easy do-it-yourself bathroom ideas make a huge difference, and only at a fraction of the renovation cost. Okay, you have decided that your bathroom needs renovation. Regardless of your budget for bathroom renovation, you have to start somewhere. If you know what you want but have no idea how to make it fit in your budget, these bathroom remodel ideas will inspire you. Whatever your needs, here are some cheap bathroom ideas to give your bathroom a plush look.
Paint the Wooden Floor
What should you do if your bathroom has a wooden floor? The ideal step is to rip it out and replace it with bathroom tiles. However, if you want to save time, energy, and money, that is not ideal. Instead, you can paint the floor with protective enamel.
Painting the wooden floor with protective enamel will increase its longevity and have it look better. However, keep in mind that a wooden floor should not be your first choice for your bathroom.
Touch Up Your Bathtub
Instead of refinishing your entire tub, you can simply touch up the gouges, nicks, and peeling paint. A simple touch-up is time-saving, cost-effective, and also allows you to keep an older design, such as an antique clawfoot tub, that gives character to a bathroom.
Install Another Sink Faucet
Getting a new sink faucet is an excellent cost-effective trick to give the sink area a sparkle without having to replace the whole vanity, which is costlier.
Install the Toilet Yourself
Plumbers are efficient but expensive to hire. Therefore, avoid engaging a plumber if you have the strength and knowledge required to replace your old toilet. Toilet installation only needs a few waterline installations. The most challenging aspect of toilet installation is actually putting the toilet into place. You can opt to purchase a low-cost hand truck or seek the assistance of a buddy for this.
Do Not Move Major Plumbing
There is no need to move your bathroom and toilet facilities from where they are. Moving drainage and water supply only increases the cost of your renovation project. If their current location fully meets your needs, then leaving them as is reduces your cost allowing you to redirect the saved money somewhere else.
Install the Vanity and Top Yourself
Bathroom tops and vanities are small and easy to assemble as they come almost completely pre-assembled. This makes it viable/feasible to install them in a couple of hours. In addition, you can purchase coordinating counters with a fused sink to eliminate the need for sink installation and caulking problems.
Be Your Own Designer
Bathroom designers will have a gazillion brilliant remodel ideas; however, they can alter your budget in ways you cannot comprehend. Since most bathrooms are not as complicated as you might think, you can save some money by doing some DIY bathroom design. Simply study bathroom layouts and understand the fundamental bathroom design rules. You can use suggestions from reliable online sources for inspiration to get started.
Replace Old Hardware with New Hardware
Removing old bathroom cabinets and installing new ones can be expensive. The most affordable way to uplift your existing cabinets is by stripping out the old hardware and replacing it with new ones. To ensure they align properly, match up the screw with existing holes in the cabinets. Doing so eliminates drilling labour and saves you time.
Install a Pre-Fabricated Shower
While getting a custom tile shower built by a pro can be unique, consider getting a pre-fabricated shower to reduce cost. However, if you must have a tiled shower, fuse a shower pan with tiles and save some dollars while reducing the hassle.
Paint the Bathroom Yourself
Painting an entire house might necessitate you to hire a professional; however, anybody can accomplish simple bathroom interior painting. The majority of the space in a bathroom holds cabinets, mirrors, showers, tiles, and bathtubs. So, in the end, you only have a few square meters to paint, which can take a few hours.
Add Wallpaper
Add wallpaper that can withstand humidity and is easy to clean. You can also make the wall covering easy to peel and stick to some graphic designs.
Add a Towel Rack
You can get an old coat rack and seal it with polyurethane to hang your towels.
Create a His and Hers Place
Get matching pedestal sinks instead of a new dresser model to save a few dollars.
Mixed-Material Floor
Combine textures like pebble tile and wood planks to give your bathroom an outdoor inside feel.
Get a Checkerboard Floor
Instead of installing a ceramic tile floor, get inexpensive vinyl tiles. You can then cut the 12-inch vinyl tile to small squares of about 4-inches each to get a square feel.
Paint the Old Tiles
The simplest way to achieve a new look for your bathroom is to paint it. Paint the tiles, cabinets, or bath without making any structural changes. You can also provide the walls with a fresh coat of paint to look new. Again, ensure that your paint of choice is suitable for wet areas to inhibit mildew and mould growth.
Add New Fittings
A new tapware or showerhead can give your bathroom a fresh look without denting your pockets. When purchasing the fittings, ensure that they align with the bathroom's colour scheme. Simple fittings such as matte black taps can give your bathroom a stunning look against the right tiling. However, consult a plumber if you need to fix a new mixer.
Create Storage to Declutter the Bathroom
Make use of the available space to create storage. Build some wooden shelves to store your plants, toiletries, and towels. In addition, ensure that you paint the shelves to protect them from moisture.
Get a New Vanity
Sometimes all you have to do to give your bathroom an appearance boost is to replace your old vanity. However, make sure that you take the measurements for the current one to match with the new one. If you can fix the new vanity in the same position as the old one, it will do away with unnecessary plumbing costs. If you want a unique vanity, get one tailor-made for you.
Replace the Shower Screen
Most of the time, dirty shower screens age your bathroom more. Simply replacing your shower screen can give your bathroom a fresh look. From a pivot shower screen to a sliding door, there are several options that can alter your bathroom style by far.
The Pros and Cons of Bathroom Remodelling
While renovating your bathroom is a thrilling prospect, there are many pros and cons to consider.
The Pros of Renovating Your Bathroom
• Dream design: Bathroom renovations should bring your dream bathroom to reality. It should give the bathroom a personal feel and make it a relaxing area in your home. As part of the remodelling, you can integrate some do-it-yourself skills in design and interior decoration.
• Going green: This will save you money and conserve the environment. The best thing about including energy-saving fixtures and features, such as water-conserving showers and low flush toilets, is they still retain the comfort while saving you a few dollars.
• Skill-honing: If you love do-it-yourself projects, then bathroom renovations should be a great challenge for you. If you don't have enough money for the renovations, you can split them into several parts and continue to use them. Again, you will not invest all your money at once.
• Boost your home's value: A well-maintained contemporary bathroom increases the value of your home. Improving surfaces such as tub surround, faucets, countertops, or paint can attract potential buyers.
• Better bathroom aesthetics: You cannot imagine how much you will enjoy your bathroom space after a renovation. Instead of getting annoyed over the pilled paint and outdated fixtures, you start enjoying the appearance and functionality of your bathroom. Yes, the world does not revolve around looks, but in this case, they will help you enjoy your space more!
The Cons of Renovating Your Bathroom
• Unpleasant effect: Your home can quickly turn into a nightmare for you and your family during renovations. This is due to the debris, dust, and people's movements. If you are allergic to dust, this will affect you, and sometimes the results are not worth all the suffering experienced during remodelling and may harm the total home value.
• Cost: You may know how to hack a thing or two to reduce the overall remodelling cost, but regardless, such an undertaking is never cheap. Some of the things that you should take into consideration are the cost of mirrors, tiles, pipes, and paint. Additionally, you should budget for labour costs which may increase if there are old and damaged pipes.
• Time: Despite the plans, most of these projects always extend. Sometimes the workers are not punctual or more details crop up in the project. Therefore, never be rigid when planning a one-week project as it may take longer. While you can work on the bathroom yourself, the best results always stem from the experts. Experts know what to do and commit to completing the task quickly. On the other hand, do-it-yourself remodelling can't give you quick results.
Things Nobody Mentions About Bathroom Renovations
When it comes to bathroom renovations, your space should be serene, hyper-functional, luxe, and practical. However, there are a thousand decisions to make, from prices to fixtures, before the end product. So, what should you know before starting a bathroom renovation project?
Know How Much You Are Willing to Spend
Do you think you can renovate your bathroom from scratch for a few thousand dollars? Sorry to break this for you, but you should know that an average bathroom costs about $1400 to $5,000 and could go up to $25,000 for a top-of-the-line bath.
Do You Require Flattering Lights?
Most bathrooms are small and have mirrors; they require careful planning and placement of lights. The simplest way to light your bathroom is to have a single diffuse light in the centre of the bathroom. Again, avoid installing lighting fixtures directly above countertops; instead, place them over the vanity. Are you a fan of make-up? Fix a vertical light on both sides of your mirror.
What Should You Know About Tiles?
Your contractor will have hundreds of tiles to show to you. However, all you should know are the required type of tiles in the bathroom, i.e., hardy and timeless tiles such as glass, natural stone, and porcelain. With that in mind, the only thing you need to decide on is the colour choice and shape, and you are good to go.
What Should You Do With a Small Space?
If your bathroom is small, get a compact toilet. Toilets do not have a standard size. You can get a modern, wall-mounted, water-conserving, or traditional toilet.
You Do Not Have to Remodel Your Bathroom
Did you just move into new premises and cannot stand the bathroom tiles? Or are you renting your home and cannot renovate the bathroom? Well, the good news is that you do not have to remodel the bathroom. If it is the ugly tiles, upgrade with tile refinishing. You can also change a few fixtures such as faucets or lights and notice a significant change.
Check that You and Your Contractor Are on the Same Page
If you are working with a contractor, spell out every detail of the plan and never assume you want the same thing as your contractor. Ensure that the contractor follows every stage of the renovation as agreed upon.
Do Not Forget the Outlets
You do not want to complete the renovations and realise that you do not have enough outlets. Think of these errors; you want to dry your hair, but you cannot do it while using the mirror because the outlet is on the other side of the bathroom. Maybe you forgot your spouse's outlet and only installed one on your side of the vanity. To avoid such mistakes, include the outlets in the plan before renovating.
Plan for Storage
Sometimes a serene bathroom is a result of good storage. Seize all the storage opportunities when making your plan to integrate them but do not include them as add-ons.
You Do Not Need a Statement Bathtub
You may want to upgrade your bathtub to a deluxe one. But it is not practical. Do you hate cleaning? Do you like long baths? Do you prefer showers to baths? Do you live in an old house? If you answered with a decisive yes to the aforementioned questions, you do not need a freestanding bathtub.
Make Your Bathroom Renovation Project Successful
When purchasing bathroom materials for renovation, ensure you they can withstand moisture, from waterproof paints to bathroom flooring and sealed tiles and other products that can resist water. These products are not necessarily expensive; if you want the high-end products, fine, but is that the cheapest way to renovate your bathroom?
On the other hand, cheap may be expensive. Do not compromise on quality; there are quality products in the market at a fair value. Make your bathroom beautiful for less! In addition, keep in mind that you can always engage the services of professionals near you for a successful bathroom renovations project. They have the skills, knowledge, and tools required from the start to the end of the project.