{Bathroom Renovation} Inspiration

I despise our bathroom.

This is the only picture I have of it. It's not a room you want to take pictures of. I'll be sure to take more before we start the renovation, but for now, this is it.

This picture certainly doesn't show you just how awful our bathroom is. The walls were never patched or taped properly before it was painted, so there are rough spots and nails popping out everywhere. The baseboard heater in the back? Completely rusted out on each end. All the fixtures are gold, the tub and shower are a bath-fitter insert with the worst caulking job you've ever seen. The tub also has a giant rust-type ring in front of the drain. I've spent hours trying to get rid of it, to no avail. I've tried every cleaning product known to man. The medicine cabinet doors fall off all the time, and have worn out in the most used spots. Oh, and that white tile... Have I mentioned we have a chocolate Lab? Between my dark hair and his, the floors are always a mess. And they also have black permanent marker all over them (from where the previous owners meant to cut the tile, but didn't, and installed it anyways).

For the most part, I find it therapeutic to clean. When I have the time, I enjoy it. Most days, I have to talk myself into cleaning this bathroom. It is that bad. As much as I clean it, it never feels clean - that's the worst feeling!

Here are 2 new bathroom inspiration boards. Most of the inspiration came from Pinterest (you can see my Bathroom Renovation board here). Paint colors are still very undecided; I'm very torn between a neutral palette with color in artwork & accessories, or a dramatic color on the walls, with very neutral accents.

One of my favorite bathroom renovations comes from Lindsay from Life of Splendor (found here). Their bathroom was the first one I had seen, where I wanted to take the whole room and move it into my house. Their bathroom is also set up identically to ours, so it was easy to picture how the changes they made would look in our home.

The bathroom has huge vaulted ceilings - probably 12 feet at it's tallest point. However, the footprint of the bathroom is small: 8ft x 5ft.  In order to make the room feel larger, we thought board and batten would draw the eye up the wall, and make the room appear larger. With our current 12"x12" floor tiles, it is very easy to count 8 deep and calculate the size of the room. Not that I think people do that when they walk into a bathroom (ok, maybe I do), but subway tiles on the floor will help the feeling that the room is deeper than it is.

Our goal is to do this renovation in the fall. We will most likely have to move out of the house for a few days, since this is our only full bathroom. In the meantime, we're shopping for:
Mirror
Antique Dresser
Tile
Tub
Shower, Tub & Sink fixtures
Shower Curtain & Linens

We have already purchased these lights, from Joss & Main. They are outdoor lights, but when I saw them, I thought they would work perfectly in the bathroom:

Source: jossandmain.com via Jillian on Pinterest

I'm currently searching for the perfect dresser to turn into a vanity. Last year, I saw 'the one' at an antique store not far from my house, but the bathroom wasn't on the top of my list that day. A whole year later, and I'm still thinking about that dresser! It will turn up, one of these days.

I'll be sure to keep updating as we make progress on the bathroom shopping list!

Happy Weekend! 

I'm linking up with Kelly's Korner (SUYL - Bathrooms)