Okay, so maybe the red bathroom Melissa and Ian inherited with their house isn’t bad enough to deserve a nod to The Shining, but it was pretty killer on the eyes. Fortunately they remedied things with an awesome redo that they sent our way. Here’s their letter:
Hi John and Sherry! We bought our second home up north in good ‘ole Canada in April of 2011 and started our DIY magic – or whatever you wanna call it ;) So far we’ve done 2 bathrooms, an office, a guest room, and our bedroom and I still feel like we have tons to do (I’m sure you know the feeling). However, we’re really happy with how our bathroom turned out. Let’s start at the beginning. Here is what we had to work with:
Where to begin? The pink floors? The vanity that was about as tall as my lower thighs? I was barely able to wash my face without sitting on the floor.
The room looked a bit like a rainbow exploded in it. We don’t do rainbow guts.
In all reality there were no words. We just knew we wanted to change the ENTIRE thing. I had been saving up tons of ideas and we pretty much knew what we wanted: a ‘spa’ feel with light, bright colours, and a clean look. We also really wanted to incorporate a little bit of architectural detail somehow. We had seen paneling done in a variety of different forms, and we figured this might be a good place to try it out. We ended up choosing picture frame style wainscoting. Overall, this process wasn’t as difficult as it sounds.
Sooooo… here it is: our pride and joy!
We did a lot of other things besides the wainscoting ourselves – just to stick to our tight budget – like doing the shower tile pattern ourselves, making our own curtains, and searching high and low for the best priced materials and fixtures (the tub is from Costco and the mirrors over the vanity are from HomeSense – which is also known as HomeGoods in the states).
Thanks again for being a huge inspiration for a young couple like ourselves. All the best, Melissa and Ian (oh and Clover, our 85 pound golden doodle who thinks of herself as an 8 pound chihuahua).
Oh to have a bathroom that large and that gorgeous! Nicely done Melissa and Ian (and Burger gives two paws up to Clover, to whom he gives all the credit). You can see more photos of their beautiful bathroom on their blog, where they’ve also got a full source list as well as a breakdown of projects like the paneling and the curtains.
Psst- Got a before and after of your own that you’d like to submit? Send your best pictures, links to any blog posts, and brief description to [email protected]
Psssst- We’re sharing our latest Clara-conversations over on Young House Life (she’s definitely the comedian of this family).
gorgeous!
Oh, heavens. That tub. I want to go to there.
What she said.
Super gorgeous! Nice work guys!
What a beautiful, fresh, relaxing bathroom. I am not really a tub person, but I could be if I had that one to lounge in… Thank you for sharing!
That first after photo took my breath away. Gorgeous!
Wow, what a stunning transformation! Dark colors+warm, moist bathrooms=eww.
Love the shower and vanity but can’t say I like the tub. I would have kept the original one :)
Great makeover! I absolutely love the colors.
You have a type in the last paragraph though. You call Melissa – Michelle. I noticed because I’m Michelle and people have called me Melissa by mistake a few times in my life!
Thanks for the tip! All fixed!
xo,
s
OMG, this is so stunning. This is exactly what we wanted to do with our bathroom – put in a freestanding tub. Did you have to do any extra plumbing to replace the existing tub with the freestanding tub?
Anyone have info or tips for Taylor?
xo,
s
Hi Taylor!
Thanks for your comment!
We kept the tub in the same place as the original so we didn’t need to move that much around, but there was a bit of work. We did have to replace part of the drain pipe. You may need to do this since your new tub might not line up with where your old tub was. When we pulled our old tub out, the drain pipe wouldn’t detach from the old tub, so we had to cut it. Since we installed a freestanding tub, when the plumber was attaching the drain pipe to the new tub, he had to do it from underneath, so we had to cut out a hole in our kitchen ceiling. Sounds like a lot, but it wasn’t that bad, and I LOVE the new tub, so it was definitely worth it ;) Hope that helps!
Melissa :)
Lovely! YHL is a great provider of inspiration/motivation. Having just bought a house with a mint kitchen, little storage, and a bathroom of pale yellow and black trim tile ( painted bright yellow!), this site has been a great resource to get my DIY gears spinning and I hope to have a trasformation worthy of a feature someday! Keep up the great work in love and life and have a great weekend!
And of course kudos again to Melissa and Ian!
That bathtub!! OMG! The whole room is beautiful!
Holy crap, THIS IS STUNNING! I am so impressed and absolutely love every choice they made. I feel like you can never go wrong with a clean, mostly-white pallet.
What a HUGE difference!! Their bathroom turned out great :-)
By the way, there might be a mistake in the last paragraph of this post when you refer to her as “Michelle”…Her name is Melissa, right? Both are lovely names, if I do say so myself :-)
Thanks Michelle- all fixed!
xo,
s
Amazing what a serene and relaxing bathroom!
Their bathroom is totally pin-worthy!! I love it, light and airy is always what I want in a bathroom-especially one with a deep soaker tub!! :) They did an awesome job!
That’s amazing! Insanely dramatic difference! bathtub – stunning! Great job!
Still picking my jaw up of the floor. Just beautiful!
P.S. – I want that tub!
Oh my gosh, that tub. I am so, so jealous. It looks like something you’d find in a fancy hotel room! I would love soaking in that with a glass of wine after a long day :)
WOW this is just amazing!
Wow, that is just stunning!
What a beautiful bathroom!! The layout was already great, but the trasnformation they made is incredible. Looks like the perfect place to relax :)
I want to get in that tub!
Gorgeous room!
Oh, and an editing note: you referred to Melissa as Michelle in your last paragraph…as a Melissa who’s been called Michelle by random people since about 4th grade, I picked up on it immediately.
Haha- thanks Melissa! So sorry, my head is not in the game today!
xo,
s
ha! see, it’s a thing! Melissa: I hear you :) And John: you won’t be the first, or the last!
The before pictures are sort of terrifying. I mean…someone CHOSE those circus-worthy curtains and they probably didn’t choose them ironically. Holy. Cow.
Just wanted to point out that you accidentally called Melissa ‘Michelle’ – I only point this out because my name is Michelle and people ALWAYS mistake me for a Melissa! It’s a thing, I swear.
Thanks Michelle! All fixed. No idea how I missed that when I proofed it!
xo,
s
That shower and tub are sexy. I have no other way to describe them.
Wow, that is gorgeous!!
Glad I’m not the only one who’s been a victim of the Melissa/Michelle switch! :)
Haha- this is hilarious! The funniest thing is I get Sharon or Shari all the time (instead of Sherry) – I wonder if every name has an easily-mistaken-for other name?! The funniest one is John Petersik (he gets called Peter all the time, which makes me giggle).
xo,
s
I get Tiffany sometimes if people mishear my name. But the worst offense for me is all the million ways people spell Stephanie wrong.
I bet it happens to everyone!
Ive been reading all these comments on the name, and it honestly happens all the time! Thanks so much for fixing it Sherry, although I might not have even noticed! lol!
Aw thanks Melissa! You’re so sweet.
xo,
s
My last name is also a girl’s first name (Leigh) and to make things MORE confusing, my work e-mail is leighmeredith, so people always think I’m Leigh or Meredith Leigh (one name, like MaryAnne) and then ask what my last name is. I feel John’s pain!
I’m Kristie, which messes everyone up because my name contains neither a Ch or a Y. I get Kristen, Chrissy, Christina, etc. Drives me bonkers.
LOVE that tub! The whole thing is beautiful!
Yay for Canadian makeovers! This made my day!
It’s BEAUTIFUL! But that chandelier over the tub makes me uneasy even though it’s beautiful where it is.
They did such a good job!
FYI – Joss & Main has a Greyhound statue in their Urban Trends collection!
Have a good weekend!
Love that!
xo,
s
Wowza! We ate building and at times I’ve wished I’d planned for a stand alone tub. This is one of those times!
That bathroom is beyond gorgeous. We are doing tiny repairs to ours (we are selling soon) we need to retile our shower and I am scared because I have the distinct feeling they tiled over paneling. I am def reading your guys bathroom demo entries. I am still scared *hides from moldy cracked shower tiles*
totally unrelated comment, but target has ceramic owls in the dollar section right now for $2.50. super cute and totally your style. check ’em out!
Fun!!
xo,
s
They have a lot of ceramic animals in the dollar bins. I thought of you when I bought ceramic horsehead salt and pepper shakers! lol
Cute!
xo,
s
That bathroom is absolutely beautiful! I am definitely taking notes for when I one day will have to do new home remodels!
Speechless and drooling here. The after is so gorgeous, Love EVERYTHING about it. They did a great job!
LOVING those curtains and I have a serious crush on the tile in that shower. Gorgeous!
I have a bad case of bathtub envy!
Beautiful job!
I just drooled a little when I saw that bathtub, and those colors ARE GORGEOUS.
Um, okay, when did Candice Olson start sending you her redesigns?! This is pure awesomeness!!!!!! Just beautiful!!!
The before and after is so dramatic. But the before? Who would have thought that was ever a good style decision? Ick. As a Mellissa I have been called Michelle at least once a week my entire life!
Wow, this is truly breathtaking!
WOW!! I think this is the best reader redesign ever!
Absolutely breathtaking!
Clearly this is beyond lovely. It would be my pride and joy as well were it not for the skimpy curtain panels. As a fabri-holic I notice things like this. I know it is petty, but I am weak. Sorry pretty bath people!
What a stunning transformation. Huge Kudos!!
And thanks so much for the tub tip. We are building adn I have been covetting a japanese soaking tub but at $3-5k we thought we would wait and just have an empty spot for a while BUT Costco – how fab. For $1k a gorgeous, simple lined japanese soaking tub. I am in love, thanks so much for the resource….Yeh!!!
the bathtub’s lines are gorgeous, and with that vanity + flooring….dreamy!
This is absolutely stunning! My favorite room yet!
can’t get over the difference!! I think for sure you could give the Shining a nod ,”REDRUM” remember?! scaaaaary…