The look on her face said it all: Bathroom renovations are anything but relaxing. Yet with a little patience—and a lot of revamped surfaces—you could have the bathroom oasis of your dreams.
When West Michigan Woman publisher Kasie Smith decided it was (past) time for a bathroom upgrade, she underestimated what it would take to go from dated ‘90s bathroom (think gold—lots and lots of gold) to low-maintenance functionality. “It takes twice and long and is twice as dirty as you ever anticipated,” she said. For weeks, Smith has shared her bedroom with boxes of tile and mounds of dust, as a result of her master bath renovation. But as the new floor goes down and her massive garden tub is put out to pasture, hope and days of calm bathroom experiences are soon to be restored.
Renovating a bathroom is neither a small undertaking nor a cheap one, in many cases. Upgrades could easily cost $8,000 to $30,000. Return on investment is high, though, in a time where bathrooms and kitchens are what sell a house. DreamMaker Bath &Kitchen owner Bill Wolf said a client poured $9,000 into a bathroom renovation. Mere months later, when the house was quickly snatched off of the market, the buyers assured Wolf’s client that it was the bathroom that stole their hearts. “One of the first people to go through the house said, ‘I want this house, this bathroom is so beautiful!’” Wolf said. The key changes? Making the bathroom maintenance-free and functional.
“People usually come to us because they have a problem; they hate their bathroom. It’s old-fashioned, the tile needs to be updated, the bathroom is totally trashed, the layout isn’t functional,” Wolf said. With a little help from a team of experts (and some modern-day amenities), bathrooms could gleam with efficiency and charm.
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