This post was originally shared on my first website, OurFiftiesFixerUpper.com, in February 2018.
As with all of our completed projects, I’ll take you back to where it all started: the day we walked through our home. When we first saw what is now our master suite, it was two smaller bedrooms. One of the rooms was “pepto-pink” and the other was “white-turned-yellow”… not exactly beautiful spaces.
There was one full bathroom on the first floor that served all three upstairs bedrooms, along with the rest of the home. Both bedrooms had tiny closets. Because of that, we immediately started talking about removing the wall between the two rooms and creating a larger bedroom with a walk-in closet and en-suite.
We knew that adding another bathroom would bring both function and value to our home. Now you may be saying “But wait! You lost a bedroom?” There are no true bedrooms in our basement, and we plan on adding one to two egress windows to the basement to be able to create bedrooms. Currently, we have two bedrooms and one full and one 3/4 bathroom. When we are done with our basement renovation, we’ll be able to say we have 3 (or 4, depending on the cost vs benefit) bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. With the age of our home and surrounding homes in the area, I think it’s safe to say that we’re one of the only homes around with a true master suite, which will hopefully be a big benefit when we go to sell!
The Bedroom
I wanted to create a serene master bedroom that would feel like a retreat in our home. One of the ways I did this was by adding some character with a knotty alder shiplap wall. We gained about 3 feet when we removed the wall between the rooms, so the bedroom is a bit larger and able to comfortably house our queen-sized bed, dresser, bedside tables, and a chair.
Like the rest of our home, we had to skimcoat all of the walls and ceiling due to the plaster texture. There is a small dropdown in the ceiling where the closets were. The metal lathe and plaster and 2×4’s used to frame the closet made it just about impossible to remove this. To make it seem intentional and blend it into the rest of the ceiling, we framed it with crown moulding. We also refinished the wood floor, added trim and crown moulding, got new windows, and installed a new light fixture. Relatively speaking, this room wasn’t terribly difficult to remodel- just very messy and time consuming with all of the skimcoating! We’re so happy with the finished space!
The Closet
I wanted our closet setup to maximize the space we had and allow for storage of all of our clothes. After pricing out various systems, we went with the IKEA PAX system. I spent a couple hours at IKEA one day and designed the layout for each side, making use of every inch of space the room gave us. We each have multiple drawers and shelves and plenty of hanging space. Above the hanging space there is a deep storage area where I store our “off-season” clothes and shoes in baskets.
To create the closet, we had to close in the door to the old bedroom from the hallway and build the walls separating the bedroom and bathroom. We installed pocket doors in order to save space while providing privacy. We also skimcoated the ceiling, but got left the walls textured because the closet system covers it all up!
We did have to remove a window on the right side of the closet, but the bathroom and bedroom windows provide plenty of light when they’re open. To make the closets feel more built-in, Josh added moulding to the sides and the top. I chose a glitzy light fixture to add some character to the space and found a vintage-inspired rug on RugsUSA.com. We absolutely love them- they’re a dream compared to any other closet we’ve had!
The Bathroom
Our master bathroom was the ultimate labor of love and took by far the longest of any of the projects we’ve done. This space was created from a bedroom, meaning we had to run all new plumbing and electrical, make the window smaller, build a shower base, skimcoat the walls, tile, paint, add all fixtures, and build a linen closet. To be honest, we lost track of how much we spent on this room. No matter what it cost, it was still so much cheaper than hiring out the entire project- it just would’ve gotten done a LOT faster had we done that!
I wanted our bathroom to have a modern yet timeless, bright and airy feel. I chose a 10″ black hexagon tile with charcoal grout, smaller 1″ black hexagon tiles for the shower base, faux marble textured wall tile, and a white-gray paint, and chose chrome finishes on fixtures. To warm the space up, I brought wood, wicker, and bamboo accents into the blinds, baskets in the linen closet, wastebasket, and decor. Of course, like all of the rooms in our home, I had to add some plants to give the room some life! To add storage, we added a linen closet and then also chose medicine cabinet mirrors. We now have plenty of storage, even though the bathroom is fairly small.
We attempted to save money in any way possible. Our shower glass was an amazing find on Craigslist- I was just randomly searching and came across it! It retails for over $1000 and we paid $400 for it brand new, in the box. Our vanity retails for over $800 and we got it at a discount home outlet store for $300 because it has a tiny scratch on one of the handles. I waited until The Tile Shop had a sale and got all of our tile for 30% off. Our sconce lights were on sale on the West Elm website. I bought our paint at Sherwin Williams during one of their 40% off sales. Our shower fixtures came from Amazon and were multiple hundreds of dollars cheaper than similar name brand models. Other items were from IKEA and Homegoods. If I had to guess, all of those savings were over $2000!
Our new bathroom is truly a dream come true for us and we couldn’t be happier. It’s modern, clean, bright, and welcoming. The amount of work we put into it has definitely paid off and we are so happy with the finished space!
