bathroom splurge vs. save

[Anonymous]

Where are the best places to cut corners in a bathroom renovation? Do buyers look at bathtub brands, or toilets? What about sink fixtures, shower heads, vanity construction, etc? I am not very aware of these things when I look at a house because I figure they can be changed if need be but I know that other people (my mom!) take more notice. Where would be the places to save money and where is it important to invest? Thanks for your input.

[Anonymous]

if you have the space---invest in a double vanity for the MB
Do not use those horrible 12 x 12 Home Depot marble tile. Use a classic white tile. You can use a white tile and make the bathroom look more expensive through the strategic use of cap and edging tiles on the borders.
Put in an exhaust fan.
If you can, install a skylight. You have no idea how much a skylight ---especially over the shower/tub area---can make a bathroom seem larger and certainly airier.

[Anonymous]

As a buyer, I figure I could easily swap out a toilet but I would not want to retile. I do notice that it's a two piece instead of a one piece toilet, etc. but that's no deal breaker. Salmon colored tile might be. I'd prefer to have a nice vanity already in place.

[Anonymous]

Having just bought a house, I can tell you I didn't care what brand toilet it was- I did care if it could be cleaned, what the bathroom layout was, how easy it is to clean and that things work the way they are supposed to. Yes, some people have to have certain toilets, fixtures, etc but not everyone.

My suggestion, use the white subway tile, it's .22 a tile, a classic look and can look much more expensive than it is. Make sure to buy a nice (not expensive) vanity. That will be used several times a day and crappy drawers/doors are annoying. Also, the new trend is the wood looking tile floor, the pieces are large so you don't have to buy much and it's less than $3/tile.

Overall, I suggest timeless over trendy- peach tile was trendy at one time.

[Anonymous]

We just bought a house, and when we were walking through, the one bathroom we agreed we wouldn't have to touch was the one which was super simple - all white tiles and porcelain, wood floor, simple vanity and mirror. We knew it would be easy to paint the small amount of wall space any color we wanted and to add personal touches in cheap elements like shower curtain and bathmat. Even if we want to retile or "upgrade", we put it on the list of things that could wait. Unlike the powder room which had super ugly (to us) wallpaper and vanity or the master bath which had lots of "fancy" details which we needed to remove/replace.

Agree with pps who suggest classic. Can't go wrong with subway tile ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:if you have the space---invest in a double vanity for the MB
Do not use those horrible 12 x 12 Home Depot marble tile. Use a classic white tile. You can use a white tile and make the bathroom look more expensive through the strategic use of cap and edging tiles on the borders.
Put in an exhaust fan.
If you can, install a skylight. You have no idea how much a skylight ---especially over the shower/tub area---can make a bathroom seem larger and certainly airier.

This. Makes a huge difference, especially in an older home with a small MB.

[Anonymous]

Just make sure you don't use the cheapest fixtures from Home Depot; get something that at least looks nice, even if it didn't cost a lot.