When you have a master bathroom that’s anything but, and you’re working with a limited budget, it’s time for a small bathroom remodel.
This mid-century house belongs to Logan and Hannah, who share it with their daughters Brooklyn and Dakota and, soon, another baby girl.
The growing family has a master bathroom that needs to grow too, but since it can’t, we’re making the most of what they have.
This bathroom looks dated and institutional. It’s not the inviting spa that it should be — but it has plenty of potential.
The Problems
Logan and Hannah’s master bathroom is not much of a master. It’s small and has a dated light fixture and medicine cabinet, tired tile, a toilet too large for the space, and an overall lack of storage.
Then there’s an oddly placed outlet that prevents Logan from entering the bathroom without getting tangled up while Hannah blow-dries her hair.
Finally, their exhaust fan sounds like a freight train when it’s turned on.
And we’re going to fix all these problems with a small bathroom remodel on this episode of Today’s Homeowner.
A sink without a vanity isn’t very functional. Every bathroom needs storage underneath.
Adding a Vanity
The sink is, well, just a sink. There’s no vanity, and that means there are no drawers, no doors, and no storage. That means Hannah has to store things in a basket under the sink — not ideal. So, the first thing we’ll do during this small bathroom remodel is replace this sink with a proper vanity.
Usually, when you have water lines coming out of a bathroom, there’s a shutoff valve. While there’s one of those near the toilet that we removed, there’s not one for the sink. That means we have to turn the water off at the street and then add shutoff valves. This is a job for the plumber, Artie.
This bathroom is really coming along! It’s starting to take on the grand appearance the homeowners wanted.
He will do more than add shutoff valves; he’ll also install an offset toilet flange. This will allow us to position the toilet closer to the vanity.
But before he arrives, I’ll remove the dated ceramic cup holder and toothbrush caddy.
Are you planning to have a large gathering at your home but need more trash cans? Easily make a makeshift trash can out of a laundry hamper!
To do this, get a collapsable laundry hamper — in this case, I used one that’s about 18 inches wide and 30 inches tall.
Then simply take your trash bag and put it in the collapsable laundry hamper – at the end of the day take the bag out, dispose of the trash and collapse the laundry hamper to store!
Are you planning to have a large gathering at your home but need more trash cans? Easily make a makeshift trash can out of a laundry hamper!
To do this, get a collapsable laundry hamper — in this case, I used one that’s about 18 inches wide and 30 inches tall.
Then simply take your trash bag and put it in the collapsable laundry hamper – at the end of the day take the bag out, dispose of the trash and collapse the laundry hamper to store!
There’s a quick and easy way to find the center of a board — and you don’t need your tape measure or to work complicated math problems.
Just make a self-centering jig!
To do this, drill three holes into a short length of 1-by-2. On each end of the 1-by-2, drill a 3/8-inch-diameter hole, and then drill a 5/16-inch-diameter hole in the middle.
Then take 2-inch-long, 3/8-inch-diameter wooden dowels and hammer them into the outside holes. These are the pins.
When you use the center finder, simply sit it on a board and rotate it until the pins make contact with the edges.
Then, put your pencil in the middle hole and slide it along. You’ll have a line right down the exact center of the board!
It doesn’t matter what size the board is, as long as the jig is long enough, and the jig’s center hole is exactly centered between the two pins.
Watch the video above for Joe Truini’s center finder in action!