6 Steps to Complete Your Bathroom Remodeling Project

Remodeling a bathroom can be one of the most rewarding projects a homeowner can undertake. A bathroom is a place where you spend a great deal of time. 

It is your inner sanctuary where you get ready for work each day and unwind before bed. It is your center of self-care, and the design should reflect how you want to care for yourself.

Your bathroom should be both beautiful and convenient to you; influenced by your needs and not the preferences of the builder or previous owner.

Of course, most of us aren't born knowing how to tackle a bathroom remodeling project. To get the results you want, it's necessary to follow the steps in the right order, building your design and working with your contractor to your greatest satisfaction.

So today, we're here to provide a helpful eight-step guide to handling your bathroom remodeling project so it comes out just the way you've always wanted a bathroom to be.

1) Visualize Your New Bathroom

The first step is to visualize. All remodeling projects start with the vision of the homeowner. Consider what you will do from wall to wall and from floor to ceiling.

There are so many things you can change, even in a smaller bathroom. Ask yourself questions to refine your visualization.

Questions to Help You Visualize:

• What new colors do you want?
• How will you reinvent the bathroom storage?
• How will you light the new design?
• How will you change the general ambiance?
• How big a mirror do you want?
• One sink or two?
• What will the cabinetry and counters look like?
• Will you change the tub or shower design?
• Where will your walking and standing places be?
• Will you add seating?

2) Draw and Prioritize the Changes You Want

Now bring your vision closer to reality by mapping it out. Use room design apps or a few pieces of graph paper to display how you want your bathroom to look and feel when it's done.

Define your design change-by-change. List each change and draw it. Examples might include replacing the light fixture, building cabinetry around the toilet, repainting the walls, and rebuilding the tub into a walk-in shower stall.

Next, prioritize. It can help to list each change in the order of how important it is to you. Before you budget and cost the changes, you will want to define which changes matter most to your happiness and which changes you might compromise on if it became a question of budget or installment time.

3) Define Your Budget

With your desired changes mapped out, it's time to define your budget. Take a close look at your finances and decide how much, total, you can afford to invest in this renovation.

You may have a savings account designated for just this purpose or an approved line of credit set aside to cover renovation costs. But even if your budget is high, every renovation has an upper limit.

Define yours so that you can be clear with contractors in the upcoming steps.

4) Investigate Material and Asset Costs

Now hop online and start looking into materials. Investigate what is popular, what is advised, what is "green", and what is most affordable for the look and effect you're going for.

For example, you might choose stained bamboo over teak for natural wood elements in your shower as both are smooth, beautiful and great in water but bamboo is far more affordable. 

Knowing which materials are most affordable, durable, and suitable to your style is an important step before you contact contractors who may make recommendations outside of these parameters.

5) Work With Your Selected Contractor to Refine the Details

Once you have chosen a contractor to work with, sit down and get to the nitty-gritty details. They will have suppliers, textures, and materials for you to choose from that can conform to the details you have already visualized.

They can help you choose not just a basin sink with a shell design, but the exact basin-shell sink and fixtures you want to be installed.

They can talk you through the process of replacing your tub with a walk-in shower, and make recommendations for quality improvement like a hose shower head and strategically placed nooks and hooks based on their previous experience.

You and your contractor will refine the details of the project down to the tile and grout selection and then you can define the final price, timeline, and remodeling plan.

6) See Your Bathroom Remodel Come to Life

Lastly, you can sit back and watch as your bathroom is transformed from the plain builder-standard design you moved in with to something that reflects your dream bathroom experience.

In many cases, you can talk to and consult with your contractors along the way and perhaps learn a few things as the transformation takes place, or you can worry about your own schedule while your team does their professional thing.

When it's all finished, your contractors will clean up the workspace, polish every surface, and invite you to come to see your finished bathroom for the first time.

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