Most bathroom remodel ideas come with showroom photos and no price. A real bathroom has a budget, old pipes and a vanity that may or may not be worth saving.
These 16 rooms are real homes from bloggers and designers. Some were gutted to the studs over seven months. Others changed with paint and a new mirror, for as little as $124. Where the owners shared what they spent and how long it took, it is here too.
1. A Zellige Shower Behind An Arched Doorway
Where: An ensuite in a late-2000s house, 85 by 73 inches
Shower: Handmade white zellige from floor to ceiling, behind a DIY arched opening
Vanity: A $40 Facebook Marketplace dresser with a quartz remnant top
Cost: $13,800 actual, $24,480 at retail, because the tile was sponsored
The old room had beige travertine, a cherry vanity with speckled granite and textured gray walls. Now vertical shiplap in Sherwin Williams Egret White wraps the room, and a custom patterned marble floor has a border like an inlaid rug.
Tile and its install made up over $20,000 of the retail total. Everything else came in under $4,000, helped by the old toilet with a new gold lever and $2 public-domain art prints.
2. Marble Subway Tile With A Black Grid Shower
Where: Their daughter Greta’s upstairs bathroom
Tile: Marble subway tile to the ceiling, with a marble chair rail and black pencil trim
Floor: Black hex tile with a white flower pattern
Time: Seven months
This bathroom got smaller on purpose. The old room had two vanities and a separate toilet and tub room, and part of it became a hallway to a new laundry room. Opening the walls turned up a hidden window.
The vanity is a store-bought one in a mahogany tone with brass hex knobs. When their contractor accidentally cracked its marble top, they chose a marble remnant at a local stone yard, fabricated at no extra cost to them.
3. A Walk-In Shower And Freestanding Tub Without Moving The Plumbing
Where: A 2025 primary bathroom, gutted to the studs and subfloor
Kept: The sinks, shower and toilet in their old spots
Tub: A 65-inch freestanding tub with a floor-mounted filler
Cabinets: Custom shakers in Sherwin-Williams Intellectual Gray
Melissa Welsh left the plumbing where it was to keep costs under control, and still changed almost everything you can see. The built-in tub became a freestanding one, and the walk-in shower stays in roughly its old footprint with the bench moved to the back. Glossy subway tile runs to the ceiling, and the marble-look porcelain floor turns into small herringbone inside the shower.
4. Black Subway Tile, White Oak And Patterned Wallpaper
Where: A dated primary bathroom in Texas
Kept: The layout and the plumbing locations
Shower: Black gloss subway tile with a penny tile floor
Vanity: White oak cabinets, white quartz and brushed brass
Cassie gutted the room completely but moved nothing, which kept the cost down. The black tile and pale oak meet Schumacher’s Nasrid Palace Mosaic wallpaper, a black-and-gold Moorish pattern around a 4 by 6 foot brass-framed mirror. A freestanding oval tub and a black-framed glass shower finish the room. Design and construction were by A Well Dressed Home.
5. A Freestanding Tub Where The Jacuzzi Used To Be
Where: Her mom’s main bathroom
Tub: A freestanding tub with black wall-mounted hardware under a brass capiz chandelier
Tile: Taupe glossy wall tile with a hex floor
Vanity: A refinished MegMade dresser with a Silestone top
The taupe tile was a stand-in when the first choice was back-ordered, and it gives the room a warm, glossy finish. The shower has a glass panel with black trim, a long niche and a small angled bench. Its valve moved to the right side, so the water goes on without anyone getting wet.
Tile stops behind the vanity, which saved money where no one sees it.
6. A DIY Walk-In Shower With White Subway Tile
Where: A small primary bathroom in a 50-year-old house
Shower: A walk-in shower built with a Schluter kit, in white 3 by 6 subway tile
Cost: About $3,800 all in, including $1,500 for a plumber and an electrician
Time: Five months, with breaks
Hard water had corroded the copper pipes, so after water damage Carrie took the room to the studs. The old enclosed shower was dark and cave-like. Now it is open, with marble-look hex on the floor and an 84-inch shower curtain instead of a glass door, which saved at least $1,000.
Her herringbone wood wall from an earlier $100 makeover stayed, repainted in Sherwin Williams Lapland Ice.
7. A Tub And Two Sinks In An 8 x 7 Bathroom
Where: A downstairs bathroom for their girls and overnight guests
Size: 8 by 7 feet
Floor: Cement tile from Cle in a gingham pattern
Time: Seven months
The goal was a tub and a double sink in a small room. A second, sinkless vanity behind the door came out, the toilet moved into that spot, and the space left over fits a small linen cabinet. The walls are a pale pink, Farrow & Ball Calamine, and an 84-inch curtain makes the room feel taller.
Julia later said cement tile is not as easy as ceramic, and she might pick a look-alike next time.
8. A Mint Vanity On Patterned Cement Tile
Where: A dated 80s and 90s kids’ bathroom for a busy family
Vanity: Custom, painted Sherwin Williams Hazel, with a quartz top
Floor: Gray-and-white cement tile
Removed: The soffits over the vanity and the shower
Behind a bath-in-a-day shower surround laid over old tile, the team found a lot of leaking water and mold, so they added an extra waterproofing layer when they rebuilt. The finished room is bright and calm, with white subway tile, light gray grout and black and brushed nickel accents. It was styled two ways, calm and bold, to show how much accessories change a room.
9. Subway Tile To The Ceiling Over A Soaking Tub
Tub: An alcove soaking tub in place of the old porcelain one
Walls: Subway tile to the ceiling, replacing fiberglass shower walls
Storage: A linen cabinet where the linen closet used to be
Time: About a month
This was the last big project in their house, done with a contractor and an interior designer. A double vanity with a quartz top, new floor tile, a new fan and new vanity and recessed lights went in too. The look is classic and neutral so it can grow with the kids, and two canvas prints bring in the color.
10. A Navy Vanity And A Hidden Cat In The Tile
Where: Her daughter’s bathroom, shared with the guest room
Tile: White 3 by 6 subway tile laid to form a cat watching a bird
Vanity: A midnight blue vanity from The Home Depot
Time: Six weeks, all DIY
The room was very 90s and bland before. Sara did the demo, cement board, tiling and wallpaper herself. The cat in the tile looks across at a bird on the Caitlin Wilson floral wallpaper, and a white octagon dot mosaic covers the floor.
She spray-painted the vanity’s nickel hardware gold and says it is not holding up well. The post was sponsored by Jeffrey Court, whose tile she used.
11. A $277 Guest Bath With A Handmade Tile Backsplash
Where: A dark guest bathroom her son uses every day
Kept: The low wall-mounted vanity, which suits his height
Backsplash: Cle California tiles in several colors
Cost: $276.84, against a $350 budget
The vanity is painted in a mix of two Farrow & Ball sample pots, Lichen and Treron, for $16, with wood knobs and a $42.99 gold faucet. The tile cost $80. A scrap-wood shelf sits on L brackets above it, and the pebble floor was cleaned with Krud Kutter, painted and sealed. The small tiling job turned out easier than she expected.
12. A Renter’s Bathroom With A Peel-And-Stick Floor
Where: An upstairs hall bathroom in a rental, used by three young boys
Floor: Peel-and-stick wallpaper in a black-and-white geometric pattern
Hardware: Matte black hooks, and pulls chosen to fit the existing holes
Walls: Already painted Sherwin Williams Sea Isle
Everything here comes off when they move. The rusty shower rod is wrapped in black matte vinyl, and the original white plastic towel rods are stored to go back up later. An IKEA rail holds monogrammed cups, suction hooks and corner baskets work in the shower, and a yellow IKEA step stool sits on the patterned floor. Framed wallpaper serves as the art.
13. A $124 Makeover With Painted Tile And A Navy Vanity
Where: A primary bathroom they plan to gut later
Paint: Benjamin Moore White Dove on the walls and tile, with a dark blue vanity
Light: A $27 IKEA pendant
Cost: $124, against a $100 goal
Angela painted the tile along with the walls and sealed the floor with Polycrylic. A round gold mirror she already owned replaced the builder mirror. The rest is small fixes to how the room works: the curtain rod raised higher, towel hooks moved next to the shower, a scrap-wood shelf over the toilet and an $8 basket hiding the toilet pipe.
14. A Stenciled Tile Floor And A Dark Painted Vanity
Where: A 90s guest bathroom for her daughter Rory
Floor: The old tile, painted and stenciled
Vanity: Primed with KILZ Mold & Mildew primer and painted Behr Starless Night
Cost: $586 in total
Casey says the stenciled floor was a tad back-breaking and she was not sure how durable it would be, but it really looks amazing. Brass knobs, walls in Behr Snowy Pine, a frameless round mirror and a brass vanity light do the rest.
The wood shelves came from another bathroom, and a vintage Turkish rug brings in soft pink. The tub and shower tile stayed as they were.
15. Dark Green Walls And A Painted Floor For Under $250
Where: A small bathroom with no natural light
Walls: Dark green, Behr Meteorological
Floor: Tan tile, painted with floor paint and a stencil
Cost: Under $250
The room had baby-blue walls, tan tile and a hole in one wall. Every fixture stayed. Vertical shiplap covers the damaged wall for under $50 in supplies, and the dark green went on because a deeper color works better than a light one in a windowless room.
The wall art is DIY, made from scrap wood and shims.
16. Pink Painted Ovals Over Tile In A London Flat
Where: A beige new-build bathroom in a South London flat
Tile: Two coats of V33 Renovation Floor and Stair paint, then pink ovals in Lick Pink 03
Counter: Laminate painted to look like terrazzo
Cost: $400, over four months
Designer Hannah Drakeford planned the room in SketchUp first so she would not overbuy paint. The ovals run from the shower wall down to the floor and are sealed with clear varnish. The terrazzo counter is only primer, black wall paint and watered-down white. It was her first full bathroom project.
