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My latest project

A good friend of mine needed to add a bathroom to a little guesthouse she has in her back yard. It is a converted old garage I suppose (perhaps for a model T) with an extra room connected to it. She had been contemplating for a while about adding the bath but all the bids she got were outrageous. I mentioned to her that another friend of ours was doing a big remodel and that her brother was her contractor. So I asked him to please come by and give her a bid for her project. I offered to help her pick out tiles, decor, ect., knowing that I could find what she wanted for less money than she was thinking she had to spend. She got the bid from our friends brother and a plumber and with some simple drawings to the city for permits, it was a go.

I looked through different on line stores and found just the right cabinet to copy from Restoration Hardware. I found a local lumberyard with a cabinetmaker and gave him a copy of what I wanted. He hooked me up with a stone guy who had remnants so my friend paid $425.00 for the cabinet instead of RH price of $1900 plus. I also had him copy a medicine cabinet from RH. As you can see from the photos, they came out unbelievable and saved my friend A LOT of money without sacrificing the look she wanted.

Keeping in mind what I saw at the high end plumbing stores, I went to Home Depot and got a great toilet. I went for something slightly more interesting than standard but certainly not at a high end price.

I searched the internet for plumbing fixtures and lighting and once again found so many things at Home Depot. You just have to be selective. Don’t try to buy imitation pieces – find something that’s interesting in its own right.

For tile, I found a small Mexican paver for the floor which was VERY inexpensive. In the shower I chose subway Dal tile (super inexpensive) and added a band of stone 1/2 way up the wall and on the floor of the shower, which again gives it the high end look and overall more pulled together and interesting than just white tile.

It is still a work in progress and has now stretched out to the main room where we are repainting and adding a floating floor – a Pergo type product. She would have liked something else but the floor had too many irregularities to try to do tile or carpet. I looked everywhere to stay in her budget and finely found a nice look for $2.20 a sq ft…amazing.

The point here is that even with big projects, if you get creative and be resourceful, you can achieve the look you desire without breaking the bank.

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