Bathroom Challenge: The Floor

Yesterday I told you about my challenge I have made (with myself) to spend $150 or less on my bathroom makeover. You saw the pictures... it needs some love. The current floor was actually in good shape, even if it was pretty ugly. And the floor was flat- which is why I felt okay going this route with the flooring. I picked the peel and stick tiles, Carrara Marble look, from The Home Depot.

via The Home Depot

The picture above looks darker than it is real life. It really does look like a marble square.We have used a similar brand on our main floor in our back entrance way and they have held up great. I have the same hope for these.

Listen and trust me.... these are not the same as your grandma's tile. They are peel and stick but these things stick incredibly well and look great. The best part was the price ($.99/sf) and to make it better- I didn't need to grout them! I would not recommend these if your floor wasn't flat or if the tile underneath was coming apart because it just won't work. You need a good sub-floor.

Anyways.. you want to see some action, I know. The grossest part, in my mind, is removing the toilet. No one likes this job and thankfully my husband was willing and able to do it for me. Those kinds of things just gross me out (some things are not meant to be moved!).

After we took the toilet off, I got my crowbar and pried the nasty plastic base off the walls. It isn't pretty but this was the right way to do it, since I plan to install new baseboards.

After vacuuming and sweeping the floor clean, I holed up in the bathroom and went to town on the tiles. Really all you need for this job is a tape measure, pencil, paper, utility knife and strength. Here you can see I started in the corner and eyeballed it to make sure I was straight on my first tile. I think they typically recommend starting in the middle of a room, but I didn't want to do that. It worked just fine.

I tried to get a better picture of the color of the tiles for you to see, but really, the picture above is very accurate.

And unfortunately, I do not have a final picture of my floor done because I made a quick trip to HD for more supplies and when I came home, I saw (sorry for the poor lighting!!!) this...

My husband had decided to get started as a "surprise" on the light fixtures. He ripped out the florescent light and had made a huge mess on the floor! I am thankful he was so eager to help me out electrically but that is why I don't have a finished floor product picture for you... I will try to post one soon! Stay tuned!