We moved into a 1958 split entry house last July, and knew we had our work cut out for us. This is our first house, and it was in pretty bad shape. We did a lot of facelift stuff the week before we moved in (kitchen refresh, painting, carpeting, etc), but the main bathroom was the first thing on our list to gut and rebuild. This is the only tub/shower for our family of 5, so we decided to try to do it the week of Thanksgiving. Hahahaha. It ended up taking us 3 weeks before we could use it, but the family showers at the rec center weren't too bad, actually.

We decided to leave the original pink tub, which is in fairly decent shape. We ripped out the vanity, the tub surround, the toilet, and the horrible, horrible floor. We had to rebuild the subfloor around the toilet where it had been leaking for years.

We did a plank-style ceramic floor tile, subways in the shower, and a 1/2 inch mosaic on the wall behind the vanity. We installed a ceiling fan and hung a new door. The only thing we had a professional do, was set the toilet (simply for peace of mind).

There are issues here and where a work around had to be devised because I'm not a professional tile setter - but overall we feel super accomplished and using the bathroom is a reminder that my husband and I can pretty much do anything we set our minds to :)

A huge shout-out to my friend Bob who loaned us his industrial wet saw, and other tools, and gave me tiling advice and encouragement. And also to my amazing stepson who taught me how to grout, and took every opportunity to say, "I believe in you!"