My bathroom renovation went well, but I have a few things I'd do differently next time.
Ann Kathryn Kelly
I renovated a bathroom in my Victorian home for $12,000. It's nice, but I have a few regrets.
White floors are difficult to keep clean, and our mirror is hung too high to serve shorter people.
Our ceramic inserts for shampoo and toilet paper are too small to be fully functional.
I live in a charming 4,000-square-foot Victorian home that was built in 1890.
In recent years, I spent about $12,000 renovating the small, 50-square-foot bathroom that's tucked underneath the front staircase.
When I bought my house in 2012, it already felt outdated.
A stained acrylic tub was shoe-horned behind a half-wall near the toilet, tucked under a pitched ceiling where stairs on the other side of the wall ran up and over it. This meant no one taller than 5 feet could stand under the showerhead.
My renovation included a full rip-and-replace to the wall studs, custom tile and installation, plumbing and electrical costs, new fixtures and accessories, drywall, and paint.
Although I love my updated bathroom — now bright and modern with black-and-white tile throughout and the shower in a new location — I still made a few mistakes.
Here's what I did wrong and wish I'd done differently:
The toilet is in clear view from my living room whenever the bathroom door is open.
I'd rather not see the toilet while I'm watching TV.
Ann Kathryn Kelly
My carpenter convinced me to reverse how the door opens from the hallway, moving the hinges from the right side to the left.
It used to swing into the bathroom, and he needed it to swing out so it would not hit the new wall-hung sink directly behind the door.
Unfortunately, this means the toilet is now in full view to anyone in my living room — not exactly classy to see while enjoying a glass of wine or watching a movie. I close the door when leaving the bathroom, but guests often fling it wide.
If I had a do-over, I wouldn't have changed the direction in which the door opens, instead keeping the toilet hidden and putting the sink on the opposite wall.
White tile floors look elegant but show every speck of dirt.
It takes a lot of work to keep the tiles clean.
Ann Kathryn Kelly
I love the retro look of tiled bathrooms, especially in gleaming black-and-white designs. My tile floor was beautiful when installed, with bright-white grout and a polished black center in each square.
Within days, though, heavy foot traffic made the floor dingy — and the white still seems to show every speck of dirt.
I'm on my hands and knees weekly, scrubbing the floor.
The shallow wall inserts for shampoo and toilet paper are impractical.
The toilet-paper holder is too small for our usual rolls.
Ann Kathryn Kelly
I chose to add one ceramic insert to the tiled shower and another for the toilet paper roll. Unfortunately, both are too small.
The shower insert holds about one bottle of product. Had I gone with a taller and wider insert, I could fit two larger bottles, shampoo and conditioner.
The toilet-paper insert is also too small for the mega rolls we buy. I need to leave the roll on the floor until enough sheets have been torn off where it will fit into the smaller holder.
The mirror is hung too high to be useful to shorter people.
My mom, who is 5 feet tall, can't see herself in the mirror.
Ann Kathryn Kelly
There's only one piece of drywall in the bathroom, and everything else is tiled. During installation, the tile was stacked too high up the wall, meaning the drywalled area is closer to the ceiling.
My 90-year-old mother lives with me and, after we hung a mirror on the drywall, we discover she can't see into it. She is 5 feet tall — on her tiptoes, she can see the top of her head. Although we chuckle, this is impractical.
Unfortunately, to fix this, we would need to rip out all the tiles in the wall.
I wish I'd gotten a built-in shower bench installed.
The shower would be even more functional if it had a bench.
Ann Kathryn Kelly
Speaking of my mother — although she's still agile, she is 90 years old.
Although our shower has a grab bar, I wish I'd paid extra to have a built-in bench installed, too. I've since noticed benches in friends' homes, and I imagine my mother will one day need this option.
I can buy a teak bench to place in the shower, but a tiled one would've been a sleeker solution.
