When I saw this photo of Angie’s bathroom, I didn’t realize that it was the before at first.
She writes, “The house was built in 1993. We bought it 8 years ago, and the bathroom needed remodeling, but it was out of the budget until last fall.”
Here’s how that corner looks now…
She says, “The cabinets were very low as if for a child’s bathroom. The jetted tub, on the other hand, was built for a giant. If I wanted to take a bath, I had to sit the short way in order not to slide around. I don’t much like taking baths and we had two other tubs in the house so I got rid of it and opted for a steam shower.”
Here’s the shower stall before…
I keep hearing that the trend is to ditch the big tubs like this for luxury showers.
Here’s her new one:
“When we moved in, it had disgusting off-white colored carpeting. In. The. Bathroom. Who does that?? I told my husband I was sick of the carpet and was going to rip it out because I’d rather walk on the sub floor than the discolored carpet.
“Well, I had to live with a particle board floor and pieces of left-over carpet for 3 YEARS.”
They have beautiful hardwood floors in the bathroom now.
They put a small fridge under the vanity and a Nespresso maker in the double cabinet above the drawers.
“It’s my favorite place in the house now!” Angie says.
A few years ago, we ripped out our unused, corner tub (aka a glorified laundry hamper) and my husband installed an upcycled writing desk as my make-up vanity. The tub was huge and gobbled up much needed space.
Thanks for sharing this gorgeous bathroom! The details are lovely!
Wow, what a transformation! I love it! We could do without the bathtub but a realtor told us it’s hard to sell a house without one in the master bath.
Beautiful!!! I love the colors and the hardwood floors. The cabinets are beautiful. I actually didn’t think from looking at the before there was anything wrong, but then I read carpet in the bathroom, ugh oh no! I lived in a house like that before and I don’t know why that was popular at one point. Very nice remodel if my bathroom looked like that it would be hard to leave!
We got rid of our giant dust-collecting tub last year. We also had to get rid of a lot of our outdoor plants, since the tub was where we used to keep them over the winter! I haven’t missed the tub for a second. We did consider the risk of losing potential buyers, but interestingly enough, when we recently had a realtor look at our house to tell us about any issues he thought we needed to fix before putting it on the market, he didn’t mention the tub. I wonder if he even noticed! I did gain a walk-in closet, so maybe that will be a selling point.
I would be interested to know if any readers have had buyers turned off by the lack of a tub in the master bath.
Peggy – I was worried about the same thing. When I mentioned my concerns to my sister-in-law she said, “Do you plan on moving any time soon?” No. “Ok then, let the next people deal with it. You should live in your house the way YOU want to use it.” I loved that advice.
Really great advice!
And I mean: if there is no tub in ONE bathroom but there is a tub in the house, why should it be a lack?
In Italy we usually have one normal sized bathroom and a smaller one. People use to put the shower in the smaller one and the tub in the bigger one. But there is no master bath or kid bath. Everyone in the family uses the same bathroom
This bathroom looked beautiful before and gorgeous after!
The only thing I would change is the window in the shower. It seems too complicated, to me, to have a window that is always wet.
Stefania – I think the “window” that you noticed in the shower is actually just a reflection off the glass. The shower seems to have a nice alcove for shampoos, etc., but no window to the outside within the enclosure.
The window is over the vanity, not in the shower.
We had a house without a tub in the master bath (but with a beautiful huge two person, several shower heads shower), and it was a bit of an issue when we went to sell. There was another bathroom with a tub right next door to the master, but some people really want a tub. That said, you can’t please everyone or anticipate every buyer’s needs, so if you’re going to be there for a while you should probably just do what you want. If you’re remodeling because you want to sell, put in a tub. 🙂
The bathroom is beautiful, but does anyone question food—in the bathroom? And a rug? Does anyone wonder how difficult cleaning a bathroom this large would be?
I had the same feeling. Just seems kinda icky. But my bathroom is never as clean as the one in the picture!
Al – I put water, Gatorade, coconut water, creamer for coffee, and juices in there. Food would be gross, I agree!!
Snack away, I say! If that was my bathroom, I would live in there…like Jules on Cougar Town.
Wow! This is incredible and so decadent. It’s like a luxury hotel!
Love the transformation. I have the same trouble with my tub, it’s so huge but there really is no good area to sit back, brace yourself and read in it. Plus it takes up two thirds of the room. Wonder who decided that was a good idea??
Such a lovely room! I know lots of folks who opt out of having a tub in the master bath in exchange for room. I love the idea of the coffee maker and mini-fridge and being that much closer to my morning wake up drink!
O.M.G. How beautiful?!?! The finishing touches are very nice. We had yellow shag carpet in the kids bathroom growing up and I still wonder who started that trend? I also love the wall color as well.
Oh my gosh – how seriously smart to hide a nespresso maker in the cabinets! Especially in a large house with multiple stories. I love this idea!
I love my tub! I solved the comfort and sliding around issue with a foam bathmat that has an integrated pillow. Heaven, especially on cold winter nights when I just need to thaw out!
WANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That is absolutely gorgeous!
What an amazing bathroom! At first I didn’t see anything wrong with the original but the photos of the transformation changed my mind. It’s so beautifully executed that it doesn’t look like a bathroom at all, more like a luxurious walk-in closet. I love the large window that inundates the space with natural light. I’m happy for the lucky people who can use this bathroom every day.
Beautiful remodel! I especially love the vanity area with natural light. My last house had carpet in the bathroom and I always thought it was creepy. I am also a fan of one big shower and no bathtub in the master bath. I never, ever use the tub and the other bathroom has a tub/shower. I would actually prefer to buy a house that did not have a tub in the master bath.
The “before” looked EXACTLY like my parents’ master bath before they redid it. Right down to the pulls on the cabinets & carpet on the floor. Odd though, since my parents live in Texas & this house is in Colorado. I guess it just goes to show that builders reuse their designs all over the country.
That’s a lot of custom cabinetry – must of cost a fortune – looks absolutely beautiful !!
Love it! I hate large tubs and would go for a large shower any day. My husband and I were looking for homes recently and I actually was turned off by bathrooms with large tubs. Too much hassle!
That bathroom was definitely worth waiting for! Thank you for sharing your lovely bath, and the hidden drinks idea! Gorgeous!!!
I am the sister in law!!!!! I should listen to my own advice and just do it!
I love this remodel, I wish I could magically move it to my house! My husband and I have the same issues with our master bath (in a house that was also built in 1993, coincidentally). I hate our humongous tub and long to replace it with a fabulous two person shower.
Angie, would you be willing to share what your budget was on this project? It would be a great help to know. Thanks for sharing!
I’m with you on that one. To each their own. I love long baths. My husband is a doll and will heat water on the stove and warm me up if I run out of hot water. Bringing me a glass of wine with it as well. Ahhhhh……
The bath remodel is beautiful. I have never tried a steam shower. I’ve read that Donna Karen uses one, like religiously. I’d like to try one.
I make time for baths. Its cheaper than therapy and pills. In the winter time nothing warms me up quite like it.
Although I usually shower I really want a deep tub for occasional soaks. It doesn’t need to be huge, just let soak to my neck.
It’s a big beautiful bathroom, great idea getting rid of the tub. The problem here is I have one bathroom believe me if I could I would ditch the tub, but if you put a house on the market people want that tub. If I ever renovate the bathroom again I would put a smaller corner tub like some of the British homes I’ve seen on TV of course… Hi Julia thank you for sharing. Till next time Regards Esther from Sydney.
This is over the top gorgeous !!!!! Love it! I agree with everyone that said the before wasn’t bad….except for carpet…….but the after is perfection. We built our home 36 years ago and replaced the tub area in the master with a large shower and have never regretted it. Now if I could just have enough money to get it to look like this bathroom.
I LOVE this! It’s beautiful! Very well done. I have a bathroom in a 1993 house that I want to redo someday. My plans were for a large shower (i hate dusting my huge corner tub), a vanity under the window and then cabinets and sinks along the right side. In other words, just like this! (but a tinier budget unless the lottery fairy visits me!). I’m definitely saving these pics as inspiration for my dream bathroom!
My husband and I were in the process of buying a darling but very outdated 1970 ranch. The granddaughter of the previous owners knew us, and one day she asked what we thought we would change (she and we knew there were lots of changes to make, so it wasn’t an awkward moment to answer: “Um…we’re going to change mostly everything.”). I told her that for sure we would be taking out the wall-to-wall carpet in the bathrooms. She looked horrified and asked quickly, “Well, you’ll be putting carpet back in, right? You’re just replacing it?” When I said definitely not, she said, “I just don’t know why anyone WOULDN’T want carpet in their bathrooms. It is so much better to step out on soft, warm carpet after a shower than a cold floor. In our new house that we are building right now, I’m having carpet installed in all three of the bathrooms.”
So! I guess the trend is still alive and well for people that love it. Just thought I would share that little story, since so many people have commented about carpet in the bathroom. I definitely like a soft rug or two to step on while in there…but not carpeting.
(PS, the bathroom on this post is lovely!)
I was just talking to one of my neighbors about how we replaced ours and she had the same reaction. She loves having carpet in hers. That’s what makes life interesting, I guess. We all like different things! 🙂
I agree. I wouldn’t buy a house without a bathtub in the master bathroom–a deep soaking tub perhaps but not oversized. Actually once passed up a nice house that had just been redone because it didn’t have a bathtub. Can I be a bit of a spoil sport and say I think this bathroom is actually overdone? Too many cabinets. If I needed that much storage I would prefer a linen closet instead, something a little simpler.
This bathroom is amazing and I love that soaking shower. It’s my dream to have one someday.
Angie, I love all your windows. It must be a wonderful room.
Question… can you share where you got your rug? It’s beautiful and looks practical too.
Home Depot! It’s not an in-stock item but didn’t take long to arrive once ordered.
Thank you for the info about your rug Angie!
Iwould like to have a giant shower (with a nice built-in bench) instead of a tub and then take my original shower area and make it additional storage. Our master is not too dated so I really can’t complain. It also has a large window so it’s light and bright in the mornings.
Love your bathroom.
We just remolded the bathroom in our 1928 Tudor and there was no room for a big soaking tub…beside think of all the precious water that is being wasted in those things!!
If people base buying a house on a tub then they can look elsewhere!
I have to have a bathtub in the master, too. We looked at a house without one once, and I was turned off of it right away. The only tub in the house was a very small one in the kids’ bathroom.
I love taking baths! 😉
Can I ask what color paint you used on the walls? So pretty
It’s called Belgian Sweet by Kwal Paints. It certainly wasn’t intentional, but I ended up painting a color very similar to the “Before” which was Burlap by Ralph Lauren. The new color is a shade darker. At first the remodel color was much lighter, but it ended up making the marble look washed out so going dark made it look richer in my opinion.
It looks like it is a split decision on bathtubs! I just gt out of my big tub after a nice 40 min soak and I feel wonderful! I could never give it up. I love the re0do though. It is lovely! I have saved the photo of the new shower as this is what I would like to do with ours. It’s like being in a tall rectangular box right now! So claustrophobic!
I adore your bathroom! I wouldn’t change a thing. My favorite part is the little chandelier over the counter 🙂
O.M.G! i love that. it is fabulous I haven’t never seen before. i love the design, color, and things that is used in bathroom. good work.