5 Tips for Remodeling Your Bathroom

1. Be Prepared: Breaking out your organizational side before you break out the sledgehammer could save you hundreds in the long run. The National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) recommends spending up to six months evaluating and planning before beginning. Research and organization will help you stay on budget and on timeline once you do get started working. Some things to consider are: why you are remodeling, and what items will bring the most value to you upon resell of the house—these will help you keep your focus on what changes are important and what can be left as is.

2. Make the Most of What You Have: Although your current bathroom may be hot pink with sad clowns painted on the walls, a lot of the infrastructure could be worth saving. You can cut thousands off of your budget by reusing existing plumbing instead of moving things around. Fixtures like faucets and door handles are less expensive to replace but can dramatically upgrade your look. Shop by finish or style to find hardware that matches the look you are coveting for your new bathroom.

3. Ventilation: This one cannot be stressed enough! Mold is costly to eradicate and can be dangerous to your health and the structure of your home, and bathrooms are typically the worst offenders. During your planning phase, ensure that you are ventilating air directly to the outside of the home, not just into the space between ceiling joists. You can find nearly-silent models these days, as well as humidity-controlled ones that turn on when they sense moisture in the air.

4. Lighting: Lighting is arguably more important in a bathroom than any other room in the house, and you will feel it in your morning routine. Installing new light fixtures by the mirrors and sinks can make your bathroom feel significantly bigger and even help you wake up—in addition to being more cost-effective than installing new windows or increasing the room size.

5. Trust the Experts: DIY-ing has grown drastically over the past few years, and it’s easy to think you are the next HGTV star. While some projects are perfect for DIY (painting over those clowns, for instance), know your limits and go with the experts on projects that are beyond your ability. Any plumbing or construction should be handled by a contractor or plumbing expert—and make sure you involve them in your planning process as well to set the right expectations.

In the end, your remodeling project could be the bane of your existence for a while, or with the proper planning and vision, it could be the greatest thing you can do for your property value. If you follow these bathroom remodel tips, you will be bathing—literally—in luxury with as little stress on your part as possible. If you’re working with a smaller space, check out our post for Big Ideas for Small Bathrooms and start planning today!