Waaay back in week 3 of the fall 2018 One Room Challenge we were making over our bathroom. I had a post written about our progress, but before I could publish it, we got big news: we were moving across the country again.

There was no time to hit publish. There was no time for anything but a mad rush to finish our renovations at the highest quality could, pack the house, get the MCM on the market, and move to New England. In one month. Our usual fashion…

So here is the original post I had written back in the fall at the half-way mark of the One Room Challenge:

Once we pulled out all the rotten drywall and built a wall between the tub and the powder room, it was time to finish it. 

What we WANTED were mother-of-pearl tiles.  Because that’s what was originally there (though in plastic form), and because it’s gorgeous.  However that would have cost us well over $1,000 just for the tub.  Definitely something we would have saved for if this were our forever home. 

But it isn’t.

2019 edit: Ha! Good timing to think like that.

And while keeping the home close to original is very important to us, we can’t go overboard in over-improving.  The fact is, this is still, and always will be a two bedroom house, and number of bedrooms, baths, and location trumps any improvements you make no matter what “they” say.  We’ve lived through it twice…

So…well over $1,000 or $144 for a shiny new, fast, and easy plastic tub surround that will be covered by a curtain anyway?  

Yay for plastic tub surrounds!

We got it up and caulked in just a few hours.  I didn’t get pictures of the process because it took both of us to put the panels up.  But it’s just putting adhesive on the backs of the panels and pressing them onto the wall.  

We weren’t able to replace the vanity like I was hoping, but we did replace the counter top with a nice one from IKEA.

Sorry again for the low-quality photos…as mentioned, we were in a mad rush.

The floor is obviously new as well. And we took out the medicine cabinet and replaced it with a nice big mirror from a thrift shop.

Here’s how it was before we bought the house:

Then after our super-quick reno:

We didn’t add up the cost, but it was under $500 for the new wall, tub surround, countertop, mirror, paint, flooring, and accessories.

I’ll be sharing a photo tour of our whole house as we moved out soon.

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