One of the first things we saved money to do at our new home was a complete bathroom remodel. We lived with the bathroom as-is for one year while we planned & saved for the renovation.

Living in the space helped me think through what I wanted and what I truly couldn’t live without. I knew I wanted white oak cabinets at a taller cabinet height. I also knew that I loved the look of marble, but I realized it probably wasn’t practical for upkeep, especially for a mom of three girls who regularly use every square inch of my personal space. Here’s a peek at our before-and-after pictures. Come along for a deep dive into what we purchased and from where!

Before & After Picture

What do you think?!

For the demolition we rented tools at Home Depot to remove the tile. This was by far the biggest job. We borrowed my father-in-law’s trailer to haul all the supplies to the dump, and the entire demolition took about a week.

The hardest part of the job, besides the tile, was removing the twenty-year-old wallpaper. I bought this Wagner 725 Steamer from Home Depot to help take off the wallpaper myself. Wallpaper removal took the longest, and several spots needed drywall repair once I was done.

Bathroom Cabinets in White Oak

I knew I wanted my bathroom remodel to include white oak cabinets. But I didn’t know what color stain to use on white oak to get the right shade. A friend in the design world steered me to Duracell stains. We sampled three colors and ended up selecting Duraseal Silvered Gray. This shade of stain was the perfect balance between keeping the natural white oak color but ensuring the color was not too yellow or orange. Two coats of stain left the perfect base color for our bathroom.

Cabinet Knobs and Pulls in Honey Bronze

We used the brand Top Knobs in the color Honey Bronze. I order three sample from Top Knob before deciding on these knobs and these pulls. I wanted to highlight honey bronze but I also wanted to mix metals in the bathroom with a combination of black and gold. The bathroom door hinges are black and so are the braces for the wall shelf. I debated using gold faucets with black knobs and pulls but ultimately liked the softer look or honey bronze for my white oak cabinets.

Gold Vanity Lights

It was so hard to find vanity lights that matched the color of our champagne bronze Delta faucets. We searched and searched for the perfect match before finding these lights by Millennium Lightings in the color Modern Gold. They are almost an identical color to delta’s champagne bronze. We hung the lights facing down not up and we used the three light for above the single sink and two sets for four lights for the larger vanity.

Bronze Bathroom Faucets

For the sinks we used these Delta faucets in champagne bronze. I loved the look of wall mounted faucets in bathtubs. I ended up choosing these Delta Cassidy two handle wall mounts for the tub.

For the shower we went with this Delta Trinsic shower head and this shower handle diverter for our handheld. We purchased all of our faucets through National Wholesale. They had a great showroom and were easy to work with.

Shower and floor tile

When selecting tile, my priority was functionality with a soft, spa-like look. I really wanted something easy to clean. For me, that meant larger titles on the shower walls and bathroom floors and less grout lines.

I also knew I wanted to avoid white grout in the shower and on the bathroom floors. And while I loved the look of marble, I wanted to avoid the maintenance and the upkeep of marble.

We ended up selecting the look of natural stone without the high price or maintenance. For the bathroom floors, I went with this 12×24 Venato II Matte Porcelain Tile from Floor & Decor.

For the shower floor, I chose these 13×13 hexagon porcelain mosaic tiles. Here’s a picture of the shower wall and floor tiles we selected next to the floor titles, all from Floor and Decor.

The full renovation took almost three months and cost about 10% more than we anticipated when the project began.

My biggest tips and lessons learned:

• Do note use white grout on the bathroom floor. Unless you like seeing dirt or plan to clean your floors daily, I suggest your bathroom remodel includes several shades darker than white on your floor tile. We are so happy with the soft gray grout we used.
• Inspect the work & take notes along the way about what needs to addressed for the final punch list / walk through. We caught so many small details that needed touch ups along the way, while the contractor were still there and that saved so. much. time.
• Buy samples of everything. Knobs, tile, stain, paint. And consider how they look in all lighting at all times of the day. Tip: Floor & Decor doesn’t sell sample titles but if you buy as a ‘sample’ title and don’t end up using it, you can always return it for your money back.