Our guest bathroom remodel

When we moved into our home, we were faced with a boring, outdated, beige guest bathroom. The vanity was good quality, but still, boring builder-grade oak. Also faced with a small budget, we aimed to come up with ideas to update our bathroom that wouldn't cost a lot of money. Well, Casey started with a plan to re-grout the shower and remove the ugly old shower doors. What should have been a relatively simple and quick task unearthed a huge moisture problem underneath the existing tile. So, down came the tile, the cement board and the insulation. Up went fresh new everything + beautiful new tile...all courtesy of my professional handyman (Mr. Hutchinson).

Faced with a necessary shower update, we decided that now was an ideal time to update the yellowing countertop and outdated wood vanity. We found a few sinks at our local Restore for, get this, $12 a piece! Score! This little find saved us quite a lot of money.

  While Casey worked hours to give the countertop a beautiful tiled  facelift, I stained the vanity.  After doing a lot of research, I settled on the General Finishes Java Gel Stain because I read and saw nothing but positive things about it.  Some of the other products, like Minwax (especially the polyshades), had some spotty reviews.  The price of the General Finishes gel stain is similar to the other products with the main drawback being that you have to go to a woodworking store like Woodcraft to find it.  The General Finishes website has a store locator feature to help you find its products. You can also order this product on Amazon.    
This stain goes on beautifully, so by the third coat, there’s no hint of streaking or builder grade oak showing through at all. The real trick is the use of a men’s sock and the lack of a wiping process. I will post my tutorial here, soon!
  This past weekend, we added a couple of mirrors from Home Goods and a little bronze paint to the existing light fixture. We also purchased new cabinet hardware, but haven't gotten the time to install them yet.    At any rate, here is the new and IMPROVED/AMAZING guest bathroom!