Helpful Bathroom Renovation FAQ’s You Need to Know

Frequently Asked Questions for Our Kids’ Bathroom Renovation

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Our kid’s bathroom renovation was one of my favorites! Keep reading to see the transformation and get answers to your most frequently asked questions! If you have any questions I don’t answer here, drop them in the comments!

Bathrooms and kitchens make or break a house, don’t they? In our case, it should have been a deal breaker, as both were almost unbearably terrible OR even unusable. It was the roomy size and big yard that sold us, but a bathroom renovation was a MUST before we could even move in!

We renovated the master bathroom first, then moved in, and after that, did the kids’ bathroom. It is one of my favorites in our home and has almost gone viral on Pinterest! (Our kids think that is hilarious, but I tell them that’s why they have to keep it clean! ????) I get so many questions about the kids’ bathroom that I thought it would be helpful to try and put these FAQ’s and answers in one place for you.

Whether you are completely gutting and doing a bathroom renovation or just looking to spruce up an existing bathroom, hopefully this post will both help and inspire you!

Helpful Bathroom Renovation FAQ’s You Need to Know

In order to fully appreciate why I love this room now, you have to see the before. I had no idea that I would be starting a blog a few years later. Otherwise, I would have taken more pictures just so you could see.

For example, the vanity had flimsy cabinet doors and an insane amount of grossness inside. The mustard yellow, combined with the dingy tile and stained grout, all made for a depressing sight. Similarly, the shower barely worked.

For this bathroom renovation, it was a definite gut job. In addition to it’s unattractiveness and disfunction, I knew there were so many ways that we could make even a small, shared bathroom highly functional and practical for our three children.

Tip: When designing bathrooms, think function over size and style. A space that functions well will also stay looking attractive over the long-term. A small bathroom can function just as well, or even better, than a large bathroom!

Where did you get the bathroom vanity?

To make this vanity have the highest possible function, we knew we needed a custom size and style. I love antique apothecary cabinets, however, we needed the modern conveniences.

As a result, we decided to use a local builder to create a custom vanity. They were able to create the front with the look of an apothecary but all the practical aspects we wanted.

Tip: This saved us about $1000. When replacing bathroom vanities, check out local furniture builders in your area. You can support a small business, get better customer service, and get exactly the size, style, and function you want. Most importantly, this can save you a good chunk of money in the renovation budget!

You can read more specific details about the custom vanity we had made for kids’ bathroom renovation over on THIS POST. I go into detail about what kinds of drawers, pull outs, and other custom elements we used.

What is the countertop made out of?

I had never really priced out countertops a whole lot until we did this renovation. Consequently, you can imagine my dismay at how much of the budget that would eat up! That summer, we visited Magnolia Market for the first time. I fell in love with the concrete countertops around the property and immediately knew that was what I wanted to use throughout our home too.

We chose to have our contractor install the countertops, however, we still saved a lot of money in our kitchen and bathroom renovations by going with the concrete material.

I love the casual look and durability. Concrete ages well and holds up over time, both of which are important factors to me!

Concrete countertops can make a great DIY. On the other hand, you’ll want to make sure you are familiar with using the materials and do your research first. You may find (like we did) that it was worth paying a contractor to make sure we got it right!

Where can I find those towel bars?

I absolutely love these towel bars. However, they aren’t even actually towel bars! In fact, they’re the same cast iron barn door handles that we used for our laundry room and playroom barn doors. When we were designing the vanity, I knew I wanted the towels to be down lower and more accessible for our children. At the same time, they are just as convenient for adults (or older children) too.

As we were gathering materials for other places in our home renovations, it dawned on me that these door handles would be the perfect size. It was also really important to me to have as much of a consistent look throughout our home as possible. Details such as door handles and “towel bars” are a great way to give your home a cohesive look.

We just turned the door handle sideways and it makes a great towel bar. We purchased these from Magnolia Home. They are no longer available but you can find a similar one HERE.

Where can I find those mirrors?

I get this question all the time and I understand why; I fell in love with these mirrors for our bathroom renovation. We bought these at The Findery in Waco, Texas and they came all the way home with us, mixed in with luggage and kids in our SUV!

With so many hard edges and all the rectangular shapes in the tile, I knew I wanted to have the mirrors make a statement but also provide some different texture and shape. They are plenty big enough for the practical purpose of getting ready in the morning but not so large as to completely dominate the vanity area.

Since we’ve had these for several years now, they are no longer available. However, you can find similar ones HERE and HERE!

What is the paint color?

We used Ultra White from Sherwin Williams throughout our entire home. White seems so simple but it can be tricky with undertones. The Ultra White is just a true white that looks bright and fresh in any lighting.

If I were doing our home renovations again today, I would still choose the same paint color. It’s a favorite for me!

What size of tile did you use?

For the vanity backsplash, we used basic 4″ subway tile. I love the look of subway tile and for our bathroom renovation, I wanted these permanent elements to be designs that have withstood the test of time!

In the shower, we used the long 16″ subway tiles. I wanted to have less grout lines and similarly, the longer tile gave a more modern twist on the classic style.

The grout color for both the subway and penny tiles is Charcoal. I like how the dark grout looks, design-wise, and it is also a lot easier to maintain!

Looking for more bathroom inspiration?

You can find another blog post with a lot of details about this bathroom renovation, including decorations, over on THIS POST.

If you have anymore questions, please feel free to drop your question in the comment section or email me! I also have some tours of all of our bathroom renovations over on Instagram, so hopefully that can help you see even more details!

Whether you’re doing a full scale bathroom renovation or just a few small changes, it can feel really great to work on making these essential rooms super functional and also pretty! Even a new shower curtain, set of towels, or coat of paint can make the whole bathroom feel fresh!

I hope this inspires you to continue making your home a haven for your family!