Behind The Design: The Hygge Ranch Washroom Renovation
Can y'all believe this is the first - and only - behind the design for 2022?! My last reveal was almost a year ago for the Flex Lounge as a featured designer for the FA2021 One Room Challenge. Because I spent the past year conceptualizing, planning, and executing The Meridian Experience Weekend, home projects took a back seat... sharing them at least. It's in these moments that I am even more grateful for 2021. Last year felt like I was doing the absolute most with back to back reveals; however, if not for having completed so much last year, I wouldn't have been able to enjoy my home this year. Everything really does happen for a reason y'all!
If you've been following me over on Instagram, then you've gotten to follow along a lil bit as we've worked on the washroom. And today's the day that all of you get to finally enjoy the last of our "must be nice" rooms.
All of the juicy details of the design are over on the Emily Henderson Design reveal blog post. In case you're new here or new to my reveals, the behind the design is where we get into the numbers of it all. As a full time interiors content creator, y'all already know that means I get to work with brands I love to bring many of my home projects to life. I've said this before and I'll say it again - despite having access to trade only vendors for interior designers, in my own home I often prefer to design retail for the accessibility. This is also means I am able to share my sources & their retail costs with you, should you be planning a similar project of your own.
Now let's get to it...
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What Exactly Went Into Our Washroom Renovation?
To renovate the small bathroom - a two piece 25 square foot washroom - I partnered with Hudson Valley Lighting, The Tile Shop, Build with Ferguson, Tempaper, and Rejuvenation. I partnered with nearly all of these same brands to renovate the launderette last year. We also did all of the labor ourselves, which offset most of the costs typically associated with a renovation.
The required labor for this transformation was demo - removing all the fixtures + the flooring, electrical, plumbing, painting, wallpaper installation, and of course finishing touches. The only trade that was involved with the washroom was the window treatments installer. We had a few close calls that almost required a plumber to come out, however, we were able to suffer get through it.
We knew that after all of our expenses from last year's projects - because even with collaborations, there are still expenses - combined with the cost to put on The Meridian Experience, we needed to keep our expenses extremely low to bring this project to life. There was little to no room to deviate from my original design plan - from 2021 - because any deviation would mean a new cost not previously accounted for. It's why, for example, even though we know a slimmer, elongated black toilet would be the perfect fit for the washroom, that's a cosmetic upgrade we put off till next year.
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This renovation taught/reminded us two things along the way...
(1) Not everything is urgent. This is our house. We're constantly having to remind ourselves that we literally own it, so short of there being an emergency, we can take our time to at least try to responsibly plan our renovation costs.
(2) Good is good enough. The washroom came A LONG way from what we saw when we bought the house. Would it really be prudent to hold up sharing & celebrating the new design... for a toilet? Lol. Me thinks not.
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A small space is always a great opportunity for a little razzle dazzle, which is why, no matter the footprint, it's no guarantee the final cost will be as small as the space itself. There's a reason designers love to go all out with bold designs in small bathrooms - you're using less material to cover less area. For context, the tile we used for our kitchen backsplashcost $10.19 per sq ft. The design is stunning and worth every penny, however, I was a bit more mindful of the cost because we were doing three tiled walls. On the other hand, the tile used in the washroom cost $13.59 per sq ft. Whether you're talking about tile or wall paper - two design elements that are measure by sq ft - a small bathroom is a great place to go big with the design elements because the splurge won't feel so splurgey... make sense?
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How do you budget for a small space renovation like a powder room/half bath/washroom situation?
The same way you budget for any renovation - mudroom, laundry room, kitchen... whatevs - you prioritize your needs vs wants, save on some items so you can splurge on others, discern when to DIY vs hire out, and lastly, be willing to pivot & give yourself some grace. Yes, that is a total oversimplification of how to actually & critically plan for a renovation, however I stand by it all the same. You do your high level, big picture planning, then you break it down to manageable tasks that are in alignment with your budget.
I've said it more times than I can count at this point - I don't know how to budget for things. I share this with y'all in case you're also like me and get overwhelmed by the thought of pricing things out ahead of the actual thing. It's not my zone of genius or even comfort... and that was the case long before being an interiors content creator. Even as an e-designer, the budgeting phase was one I did in collaboration with my clients - I'd present them with "good, better, best" options while sourcing, so that they could see the differences at each price point & then we'd prioritize accordingly. You don't know what you don't know, and personally having never seen and/or been involved in big renovations growing up, allocating funds for my own home projects now has been like building the plane while also preparing for take off.
Design Tip
DiscreeT, Functional, and Stylish Storage is important for optimizing a small space
door painted Sherwin Williams tricorn black (sw6258)
Big ticket items that would normally need to be budgeted for - if this wasn't part of my job - would easily account for more than half of the budget. Even without brand partnerships, I would be able to use my trade accounts to save on my purchases. For example, at retail, all of my items from Build with Ferguson would total $2,936.75. Build with Ferguson offers professionals exclusive pricing on their assortment of products across home improvement categories. With my Pro Account, everything would have totaled 2,561.75.
That's a difference of $375.
That $375 savings can go towards your next project or allow you to splurge a little bit more on your current one. When thinking about renovating a small space, like a washroom, that $375 could be applied to design elements that would help to optimize the space - storage solutions, lighting, etc. - or towards labor so you can cut your timeline down. Whatevs.
By the way... this potential savings is oftentimes, the benefit of working with an interior designer - not me tho lol - because as professionals in the industry, we have access to deeper discounts that some can even pass on to their clients. You're welcome.
So all in all, how much did the entire washroom renovation cost?
TOTAL: $5,320.71
It's important for me to note, however, that this number does not include unplanned and/or miscellaneous purchases for plumbing & electrical repairs (i.e. replacing the vanity light junction box, changing out the light switch plates, updating the vent, or finding a new tailpiece to match the new vanity); nor does it account for all the tile installation materials that I received directly from The Tile Shop (i.e. tile spacers, grout, underlayment, trowel, etc). Guesstimating, as always, I'd say you could easily tack on another couple hundred for those items alone.
The total also doesn't include the window treatments, which are custom manual roller shades. While at a much lower price point that the motorized ones we have throughout the house, they're definitely at a higher price point than store bought shades. Designer shades average anywhere from $500 to $700, so you can tack that onto the final number as well.
This means, on the very low end, this is $6K renovation.
There are two assumptions people make when it comes to renovating and/or designing a small bathroom -
the cost will be small because the space is small
the cost will be high because renovations are always expensive
"Affordable" & "expensive" are relative, however, the true cost of a small bathroom renovation comes down to the finishes you select and how you choose to tackle the labor. If you've followed my any of my other behind the design blog posts, then you know this is on the lower end - the living room was just under $9K. the launderette just under $8K, and like the washroom, the media room was about $6K. Had we hired out the washroom reno, it would've been more on par with the cost of the launderette, not the media room. Had we chosen more affordable tiles for the floor & wall, it would've been a savings of close to $1,300. Had we done both, the savings on the tile could've paid for the labor. You see how that works? And that's just one example.
Believe it or not, there are still a few design details in the washroom that we plan to tackle down the line, with our toilet being the most extensive. Aside from now wanting a black toilet, the existing toilet was never the right scale for the bathroom... something we hoped could've been rectified once we removed it, only to realize moving /adjusting the hole by even an inch was a headache we weren't willing to deal with. It's so close to the wall that I either have to sit on a slant or my hip is right up against the wall. Our bidet can't even fit, so it's still sitting in the box & I have an attitude about it. LOL. Ultimately, a slimmer toilet would be ideal, no matter the color.
Other details we plan to get to are more corrections than changes... correcting imperfections from this first pass, like getting a matte black tailpiece to match our p-trap for the sink. None of these are pressing changes though. All of the pressing details are accounted for and now we can close out the year knowing that we won't be doing anymore renovation spending.
Washroom Renovation shopping list
Rejuvenation
General Items
Door Color: Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black (SW6258)
Roller Shades: Kirsch Shades by DecorView — Lisley in Bronze Sheen, Semi Opaque
Leviton Self Test SmartLock Pro GFCI Tamper Resistant Receptacle with Guide Light
Floor Basket (similar)
Now that we’ve finally crossed this off of our 2022 home goals & projects list, and it being so close to the end of the year, this is a good time to revisit said list & reprioritize for 2023. This is the one major project we crossed off our 2022 list, however, it's also the last major renovation we have planned for our interior spaces for a very long while. Most of what’s to come in the next year or so will be a lot of exterior work & small updates/refreshes for our interiors. That said, completing this renovation means also being able to exhale, and simply enjoy the home we’ve created thus far.
Did you expect this renovation to cost more or less tan it actually did? Would you ever DIY a small space reno like we did or has this affirmed for you that you just wanna hire out all the things? Drop your thoughts & things here over on IG.
