Dream Master Bath on a Budget

By Kymberly Weiner of Best Plumbing, Tile & Stone

Remodeling a bathroom can get pricey, but every home improvement magazine and website will tell you that it produces one of the greatest ROIs of any home improvement project. They key is to know where you want to spend your money, and which projects you can hold off on.

Last week a woman named Ana came into the showroom looking to remodel her master bath. She had started the remodel process last summer, but put everything on hold when her husband got laid off from his Wall Street job. With a new job securely in place, they decided to pick up the remodel, but have decreased their product* budget from $25,000 to $15,000.

Here is what we did to get her the bathroom of her dreams:
• The original tub Ana had chosen was a beautiful 6’ airbath from Kallista for $4200. We were able to switch it to Kohler’s new Underscore 6’ BubbleMassage, which has the same clean lines, for $3255.

Kohler BubbleMassage Kallista Airbath

• For the shower, Ana had wanted the works – dual shower heads with separate thermostatic controls, three body sprays on each side of the shower, steam, etc. She had also wanted everything to be a brushed nickel finish. This type of shower costs approximately $5000. Steam was the most expensive element in the shower, and Ana decided that having the dual shower was much more important. Ana also saved money by switching all of the metal finishes to chrome, and her shower cost about $2500.

• The vanity area is a very expensive part of any bathroom, and Ana had planned on having her kitchen cabinet company create a 72”custom cabinet with hutch for the bath as well. This would have cost over $5000, not including the countertop. We were able to create a similar look with our semi-custom cabinet company for about $5000, which includes the stone top and two sinks. Note that the picture is of a much larger vanity area than Ana’s, but shows many of the components we used.

• The Dornbracht faucet she had originally chosen was $2000 for each lav faucet and $3000 for the tub faucet. We switched that to a beautiful contemporary Kohler set for $1500.

• The toilet was the easiest part. She wanted something contemporary, and Kohler just came out with an inexpensive contemporary toilet that sells for $270.

• Accessories complete the bathroom for about $500.

• It was very important to Ana to have a stone bath, and she wanted to put limestone all over the bathroom from floor to ceiling. In order to keep within the budget, I suggested simply tiling the tub surround, shower and the floor, bringing the cost from $4000 to $2000. Ana selected a paint color in the same tone of the tiles for the rest of the room to get the Zen room she was looking for.

There you have it! A dream master bathroom completed for approximately $15,000.
*These costs are for products only and do not include any labor charges.