This is the before. I usually would never show a room in my house in this state of mess, but this just goes to show that I had given up. And NO, DH is NOT allowed to keep all his crap out on the counter in the new bathroom. Within an hour he had 5 pill containers on the counter and I put them all into the huge new medicine cabinets (they are gorgeous inside as well as our) and threatened that he’d go back to sharing the kids’ bathroom (like we did during renovation) if he did it again.
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You did a great job! Thanks so much for sharing the photos.
Can you share more about your old shower / shower curtain arrangement? At a hotel recently, I wondered if we should try that instead of our glass sliding door when we remodel. Once home, I realized I’d loose a towel rack.
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I’m so happy for you and also a bit jealous that this daunting project is mostly behind you. How long did it take one “demo” actually started?
In the process of our bathroom redo I keep saying vanity top space is NOT a priority to me - I dislike more than a couple things out on the vanity - that’s what drawers are for!
Are medicine cabinets/mirrors still a thing or readily available? I haven’t even considered that.
We met with a designer last week - first person who has really listened to me. I’ve SO delayed this necessary project…
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The old shower curtain arrangement was a curved shower curtain rod with a Hookless shower curtain and liner. The curved rod gives you a little bit more room so you are not touching the shower curtain while in the tub. It’s tension mounted, so no need to drill anything. If you go with a shower curtain, I highly recommend Hookless. The liner snaps into the curtain and is easily removable for washing. It’s also easy just to take down the whole curtain + liner to wash and then just put it back onto the rod. Replacement liners are easy to find and inexpensive.
If you do a search by Hookless Shower Curtain, you will see lots of options . https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hookless-Waffle-71-Inch-x-74-Inch-Fabric-Shower-Curtain-in-White/847577521?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=101467829&selectedOfferId=40A81F1D5B7D320B87D060535D575C54&conditionGroupCode=1&sourceid=dsn_gdn_0c92c416-dbd6-42ec-845c-ecf69af2153d&veh=dsn&wmlspartner=dsn_gdn_0c92c416-dbd6-42ec-845c-ecf69af2153d&cn=0042_fy27_mp_mpa_lo_int_dis_pmax-p13n&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=&wl4=&wl5=9001868&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=5301751066&wl11=online&wl12=40A81F1D5B7D320B87D060535D575C54&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23148469844&gbraid=0AAAAADmfBIpnh5DLdnHPAB0FVxmJU6r0J&gclid=Cj0KCQjwkOvTBhDgARIsAKUNyRstQwAwM2iXzohR1UxahevamIddtron9uZtEvyzmMSrgpvs7TEjpTMaAugxEALw_wcB
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We didn’t have much wall space for a towel rack and I didn’t want to go back to over the door. If you see that small piece of brass on the pony/half wall, it’s one of my favorite features. Its a towel hook that folds flat. You can put it practically anywhere. I also put three hooks on the closet door. I could have done a sliding door with a towel rack instead of the frameless, but I really didn’t want that to be so prominent. I can fit 3 towels in the same space using hooks and they dry faster. The hook on the pony wall will hold the just out of the bath towel while we are showering and then the hooks will be for towels that are drying.
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I’m not sure you need them. The shower seems quite large; I’d just wipe up any overspray. I’m dreaming of the day I build a house that just has a drain in the middle of it such that the whole thing can be hosed down to a central point. 
Love the LED mirrors and 
for hooks instead of bars.
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It would have been really fast (3-4 weeks) if I had picked everything out before we started. But, alas, I have a really hard time making decisions. Also, our vanity shipped from Canada, with a 3-5 week build time. I wasn’t sure when that would come in and was actually surprised that shipping only took a few days. I was afraid there would be customs issues. Our tile also had to be ordered and took a couple of weeks. That will totally depend on where you pick to get your tile. We have a big box tile store (Floor and Decor) where they have everything in stock, and I assumed I’d just go there and walk out with tile, but I went with a local store that doesn’t have anything in stock, and it’s all special order.
All in all, it was 8 weeks. To cut down the time you can have everything lined up before demo. I just knew if they didn’t start demo, not only wouldn’t I make any decisions, but I’d have a hard time getting on the schedule.
What size vanity do you need? Finding one with drawers was a priority for me, but I wanted it to be well made as well. If you are okay with one sink, there will be more options. My vanity is from Teodor Vanities. It was definitely a splurge, but the contractors were really impressed with the quality.
Yes! Easily available. Again, another splurge, but these are really beautiful and high quality. They have built-in lights, a built-in defogger, both regular plugs and USB ports inside, a lighted and mirrored interior with adjustable shelves. This was another thing where the contractor was amazed by the quality. He fell in love with them.
I got them on Wayfair, where they have them at all price ranges. Amazon also carries a bunch of them. You can get anything from just a simple box and mirror to all the bells and whistles. You will want to decide if you want to recess them into the wall, or just have them mounted to the wall. Also, if they have lights, you will want to hardwire them.
The only thing I regret about my medicine cabinets is that I am too short to reach the top shelves .
I think I talked about my process of finding a contractor, but the right contractor can really make or break the project. No one else was listening to me when I explained what I didn’t like about my old bathroom. They basically saw the footprint and only went as far as changing the tub to a walk-in. The guy I chose immediately suggested taking down the wall to open things up and didn’t think moving the shower head to the other wall would be a big deal. He also understood that I wanted to leave the valve on the half wall so I wouldn’t get wet turning on the shower and said that was no harder than putting it all on one wall. It’s like the other guys wanted to just do a quick remodel and move on. This guy really wants perfection. He was more expensive than the others, but offered us a lot more. And let me tell you, it was worth it. He never increased the budget when I added or changed things, which he easily could have done. He also went above and beyond with everything. You could tell that he wanted everything to be perfect. They even covered all of the floors with a containment system, had a professional cleaning crew come in to clean our entire home due to the dust from remodeling, switched out lights after I thought they were “harsh”, etc. Yesterday, he fixed a floorboard in my entryway that swelled due to my own mistake (we had a bad rainstorm and I got water under the plastic). Even though this project is finished, he is coming back in a month to touch up anything that shifts. He said there is 0% chance that there won’t be something to touch up as the tile settles and things that don’t move (like the quartz countertop) settle into things that do (like the wooden vanity). He will come back and recaulk or do whatever else needs to be done to make it perfect. Most people walk away after the last check.
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Sounds like you landed an excellent contractor.
We may be looking at a floating vanity. Our current rendering is for an 80 inch (?) vanity but I’m having her do another for a smaller vanity and a narrow cabinet next to it. We need a little more storage if possible. We are never in the bathroom the same time so really don’t need space between sinks but I also recognize that 2 sinks is a better choice if possible. We actually have a 48 inch vanity now with 2 sinks. Besides being outdated and ugly logistically it works!
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I highly recommend going with a standard sized vanity. Eighty inches is a standard size. Smaller than that, and you are looking at 72. Trying to find an off size vanity is really hard
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I absolutely need them. The shower is only 3x5 I believe. The pictures might be deceiving. The entire bathroom is something like 8x9.
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Saw this video and thought it was quite informative.
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Looks great. I love how such small changes made a big difference. I really love our doorless shower but we have 3’ x 6’ and I think you really need that if you want the rest of the bathroom to stay dry.
Good tips, Bunsen!
I def need to watch this all - o just need this dude to talk a little faster!
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I think YouTube lets you speed up videos (like 1.5X). If that’s the case, this dude would be a perfect candidate for watching at 1.5X speed! 
He has quite a few videos that are real estate/remodel related. Sounds like he knows his stuff.
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I’ve watched a ton of these type of videos and always feel better after as we seem to have done everything right
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We FINALLY (basically a year search and finally making a decision) signed a contract to have our bathroom gut/reno. Plan is to start the project right after the holidays. I need to make an appt with the designer at the kitchen/bath place we are working with to make some decisions on cabinetry soon. Next shower and floor tile I guess.
We had signed one contract in the winter last year and I felt so uncomfortable after signing that we called the next morning and cancelled. Felt horrible but I admit, while disappointed the guy was relatively kind about it. I feel SO much better this time. First bid, was a handwritten at the dining room table contract with a half a page of detail. This bid, like 17 pages long, step by step detail, itemized fully, etc.
I need to read this thread through again for pointers and do’s and don’t! 
One of the things I asked him was where are areas that we should not economize and spend $ - his response was the fixtures like faucets, shower fixtures, etc.
If you’ve done a bathroom renovation, where would you spend more $$ again or where would you not spend. (All said with the understanding that we don’t intend to be “cheap” with anything - but do not need $100 drawer pulls. 
)
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Congrats! Signed contract is 50% of the project!
Drawer pulls! Bingo. Anything that can be easily swapped out/replaced is where I would economize. Towel bars and TP holders are in the same bucket. Unfortunately, these are only a small fraction of the total budget.
Speaking of fixtures, I would never use Moen faucets! The cartridges will eventually break down, and Moen’s proprietary design requires a special tool and a lot of elbow grease. My very handy husband hates Moen with a passion . American Standard and Grohe make cartilage replacements easy, in our experience.
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I got a quote for a 96" custom vanity. It was $10k without the faucets. Home Depot has one for $2100 that I like almost as much.
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After living with our remodel for a few months I would say that if I ever do another one I will be a repurchasing Teodore vanity. I was nervous to spend that much money and order something from Canada that wasn’t easily returnable and could get stuck in customs, but they were great to work with. It’s my favorite part of the bathroom when I’m getting ready in the morning. The drawers make it so easy and the quality is top notch. I now realize how crappy most vanities are.
I also love our lighted medicine cabinet mirrors. It eliminated having to use overhead lighting in the vanity area. I think there is a lot of lower quality junk out there with lighted mirrors and some are ridiculously expensive. These were top quality and both the contractor and electrician were impressed with how well built they are. They don’t look like much in the picture but they are beautiful in person. https://share.google/SSJYYyJdn7pGWKxEF
I completely regret my choice of Delta shower head. And unfortunately I fell in love with the Chanpagne finish so now am kind of locked in. If you live in a state where there are flow rate restrictions, the Delta heads with multiple features just won’t work well. Major design flaw and yet they still sell them. Costumer service was good about sending replacement parts, but that isn’t going to fix the design. They should not make certain shower heads available in the lower flow models. Still trying to figure out how to rectify this.
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