Print I have to admit, my husband and I finally took the plunge to remodel our master bathroom and the boys jack-n- jill bathroom. We put it off as long as we could – we noticed our shower was leaking last spring and knew the pan under the tile in the shower must be overflowing and it was probably full of mold. Needless to say, we didn’t shower in our bathroom due to our fear of making the problem worse. Starting this May, we had the bathrooms demolitioned. A big dumpster was dropped off in our drive-way and all major items from the bathrooms were thrown in it. Having a big dumpster in your driveway is quite a site. And if you are like me even though it is really big and hard to miss, you have to be careful pulling in and out of the driveway with your car!
Here are a few before pictures: 
A few suggestions to think about before you undertake a big house project are:
- What is your budget?
- Do you use a contractor or interior designer to help you with your decisions or will you be running the project and decorating ideas yourself?
- Should you have the bathroom tile, marble or granite, shower heads/faucets, tubs, sinks picked out ahead of time?
- How long can you handle not having your bathroom functioning?
- Do you want porcelain or travertine on your floors/shower?
- Which is more expensive and why? Will you be replacing your tub and toilets?
- What design would you like in the shower and on floor?
- Are their friends bathrooms you can look at for ideas?
- Do you want to repaint your cabinets or have them refaced?
The more prepared you are up front, the quicker the project will go. We are using Tom Murphy with Murphy Custom Builders, LLC as our General Contractor. He is a trustworthy, knowledgeable guy who can manage the different contractors and help you with alot of the decisions. For instance, where do you look for light fixtures, sink/shower hardware, shower glass, tile? How many bids should you get on tile, shower glass, granite? A great FREE resource for information is Houzz.com which is kind of like Pinterest but for house projects. I found many great ideas and was able to save them so my husband could look up my account from his computer.
I also highly recommend Peggy Weaver with Bella Faux Interiors. She has a good eye and keeps your budget in mind. I am one of those who doesnt trust my own decorating style when it comes to a big project. It would be an expensive mistake to pick out total wrong styles/colors granite and tile. Peggy will go with you to the places or once you pick out what you like, she will help you narrow the choices down to make a coordinating decision!
I spent a great deal of time picking out the tile for the shower and floors first. Some say to buy the granite or marble you like first because they can be sold quickly then decide on your tile. I don’t always do things in the right order. We found beautiful tile at Zumpano Enterprises, Floor & Decor and Emser Tile. The staff at Zumpano Enterprises and Emser Tile are talented and can help you pick everything out. Paula at Zumpano’s was extremely helpful and listens to what you want, then suggests what she thinks might work. They have an Alpharetta showroom off McFarland Road. Here are a few pictures during our project:
Did you know that the granite/marble companies have fabricators and importers? If you don’t find the countertops at the fabricator they will send you to an importer to pick out your slab. The importers are all over Atlanta and it can be quite overwhelming looking at all the different colors and levels of granite/marble. Once you choose what you like at the importer (Levantina is one for example), they will give the information to the fabricator (Affinity for example) who then gives you the price. Affinity Stoneworks is a local fabricator who also carries remnants of granite/marble. They can also help you with the total design of the area you would like to remodel.
I will leave our story at this for now as we still have the shower glass to be decided upon, the stonework around the master tub to be completed and cabinets to be refaced. I will be very glad when this project is over and hope I won’t have another one for a long time!
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