When I moved into my new home, one of the first things on my list of “hate and gotta change it” was my master bathroom. As many of you can relate, other “have to fix” climbed to the top of the list leaving cosmetic fixes in the dark. Well nearly seven years later and I had finally decided to tackle the master bath. However budget playing a factor, I decided to see what I could do myself to give my bath a facelift, fresh look and with as little money as possible.

First things first, new lighting. Wanting to enhance the garden tub I started shopping for a small chandelier online. Fortunately I found some great deals at overstock.com regular price $199 on sale for $98 with free shipping. Great deal, but now what to do with those wretched Hollywood lights above the sinks, you know the one that builders seem to have a 30 year supply of. So shopping continued, to find vanity lights that would compliment the new chandelier. User friendly website that allows you to select vanity lights by color, number of lights & finishes, plus great prices lead me right back to overstock.com. After making my search selections it dint take me long to find the perfect lights. As with any Internet purchase, I quick searched amazon.com to ensure the lowest price… Wow, I discovered… homedepot.com had the same lights on sale for half the price of overstock.com. Free shipping? Score! Mission accomplished! Three vanity lights for $298.00.

Next, attack those ugly oak cabinets. After doing a lot of research on the Internet, I decided that for budgetary reasons, it made more sense to refinish than replace. Now the question remained, hire someone to refinish, refinish myself, or paint the cabinets myself. Since time was a big consideration, I decided on a newer DIY product. Rustoleum has a product line for refinishing cabinetry and with excellent reviews and low cost, it was a no brainier.

Once again scoring a sale at homedepot.com $49.00 per kit and free shipping I placed the order. I have to admit, it was a little scary, really hope I don’t destroy the cabinets and have to end up replacing all of them. So it did take me a few weeks after the kit arrived to build courage and read a few more blogs on the subject to have confidence to begin the project. Setting aside a 3 day weekend, I was ready to role.

Then I remembered item three on the “facelift wish list,” framing the contractor mirrors. With estimations on replacing the mirrors, totaling nearly $450, purchasing large already framed mirrors and hiring someone to repair the drywall from the black tar that the builder used a huge glob of the adhere them to the wall, this was not cost effective. So I began the journey to frame the existing mirrors. Keeping a few tips in mind, light weight, wood and flat surface, I found a simple chair rail at Home Depot. The total price for the wood and the mirror glue totaled $85.00 for two separate vanities thats $365 less, big savings.

Now I was ready to start the long awaited facelift project. The biggest thing I can say is that with the Rustelueom cabinet refinishing kit,  it was not easy, however no where near as hard as completely refinishing them, by stripping, sanding, staining. I will also say that I followed the directions to a tee, reading the written instructions and watching the instructional video several times as well as prior to each step.

I chose to stain the frame at the same time with the same espresso finish. I also decided to distress the finish to give the cabinets a worn look. The espresso finish was so warm and really gave new life to the boring oak cabinets. I decided to complete the facelift with new hardware. Staying with the finish of the new light fixtures, I found some great knobs and handles in stock at Lowes Home Improvement that cost only $85.00, they were like the cherry on top.

So for those of you non-mathematicians, total facelift was $615.00. Also keep in mind this is a double vanity bath, so smaller baths can have a luxurious look for even less. I am totally thrilled with the results and very excited to complete the rest of the bathrooms in my home. If your thinking about selling your home, this DIY project is also a great way to spruce up a worn or dated kitchen, low cost- high return.

Here are the before and after pics…