master bathroom Archives - A Dabbled Dwelling

I easily updated the front of my boring bathtub with some simple box trim. This project took me only 1 hour, $5 in trim, and NO power tools! I can’t believe how such a quick, cheap, project elevated the look so much. This one is something anyone can do!

Black and white styled bathroom with box trim on the front of the tub

What You’ll Need:

PVC Trim
Liquid Nails
Caulk
Measuring Tape
Level
Scissors

Pile of project supplies in front of bathtub including liquid nails, caulk, trim, scissors, measuring tape, and a level

The best part about this project is how inexpensive the trim is. Cheap projects that pack a big punch are my favorite! I got 2 pieces of PVC trim for about $5, its completely waterproof, and you can cut it with scissors! You can find it in the trim section at any hardware store. Its plastic rather than wood and comes in many different styles.

How to Add the Bathtub Trim:

First, I measured how big I wanted my boxes and then marked my trim. To create a more “professional” look I cut my trim pieces at a 45 degree angle for “mitered” corners. You do need a good pair of scissors to get the cleanest cut. You can also use a utility knife for a “score and snap” method.

close up of measuring tape and scissors cutting plastic trim

Next, simply use Liquid Nails to affix the trim to the front of your tub. It has a working window so that you’re able to slide it around and get your boxes level before it dries. Make sure to clean up any access glue.

I gave my glue a little bit to dry and then caulked around the edges (inside and outside), as well as the corners. This just gives the trim a more seamless or “built-in” look. It also protects and hide your glue.

woman using liquid nails on the front of bathtub

arrows pointing to edges and corners of trim where you should caulk

Before and After!

Thats it! The difference is incredible with such a simple update! My bathroom looks more expensive and more complete with hardly any effort or money with this easy bathtub trim.

Check out the entire bathroom remodel here!

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newly remodeled shower with seamless glass and black hardware. Styled with black and white Turkish towels

Phew! This DIY shower remodel was my biggest and longest project yet! Why I decided 3 weeks postpartum was a good time to rip out a shower, I’ll never know, but DIYers have to have a little bit of crazy in them, right?

So here we are, 7 weeks later, and the shower is DONE! I never thought I’d get emotional over a corner of plumbing and tile but after all that work (LITERAL blood, sweat, and tears) I’m definitely having all the feelings. Theres just something about seeing a vision in your head come to life and using your OWN HANDS to achieve it.

Any big project is essentially just a bunch of small projects and steps, so lets talk about what went into making it happen. You can view the whole detailed process in my Instagram highlights but as usual, I don’t claim to be a professional and I urge you to do you own research before beginning any major project.

The DIY Shower Demo

My husband and I tackled ripping out our existing shower and a wall in just a few hours using only a hammer and pry bar (this is where that little bit of necessary crazy comes in). The wall between our shower and tub was a huge eyesore and the main source of our shower feeling small and dark.

Dark walled in shower BEFORE photo for DIY shower — I’m notorious for diving into a project without a proper BEFORE photo but you get the idea- its ugly.

Woman hammers holes in drywall during diy shower remodel — First order of business… This wall has got to GO!

man pulls tile and drywall away from wall studs during diy shower remodel

woman pulls tile and drywall away to reveal wall studs during diy shower remodel

plastic shower pan lifted to reveal subfloor and shower drain during diy shower remodel — Shower Pan Removal

shower down to the studs with plumbing and recently removed wall during diy shower remodel

The Preparation

One of the only things we hired out (aside from glass) was the shower pan. We paid a local plumber $350 to frame it, line in, install the drain, and pour concrete with appropriate sloping. We did run into an issue where our bathtub plumbing stuck out but rather than losing much needed space, we framed it in to create a small shaving foot ledge.

Next came framing out the shampoo niches with 2x4s, walling the shower with cement board, taping and mudding the cement board seams, and finally waterproofing with a paint-on membrane. I did lots of research to determine these to be the appropriate steps for building out a shower and preparing for tile.

newly installed shower pan with concrete and liner

cement board installed in new shower area during diy shower remodel

woman tapes cement board seams in shower during diy shower remodel

light blue waterproof membrane painted on top of cement board during diy shower remodel

The DIY Tiling

I had tiled before, but never at this scale. It took me about a week to tackle it all by myself and it was a pretty messy job. I find tiling to be simple. It’s less about skill and more about attention to detail. I feel without the distraction of my kids, I could have done an even better job on this DIY shower remodel but it was a huge accomplishment despite some minor imperfections.

I used an inexpensive wet saw and these large format porcelain marble tiles. One thing I wish I had taken the time to do was use a leveling system to get my tiles flush with one another where the walls were wonky. There was only a few spots this was an issue but its one of those things that can make a DIY look more professional. Continue reading to find out where things went majorly wrong…

woman uses wet tile saw with wet arms and large white tile

woman spreads thin set on wall to do DIY tiling during diy shower remodel

woman holding baby smiles at camera with half wall tiled behind her

woman tiles near ceiling and stands on tip toes during

different toned subway tiles create a shampoo niche in half way tiled shower during diy shower remodel — I used leftover tile from my bathroom surround to coordinate with the shower design

progress photo of shower tile with large white marble tiles and smiling DIYer during diy shower remodel

tile progress of half wall, shaving niche and shaving ledge. Unfinished shower floor — We used a manufactured stone for the ledge and shower curbing

woman adds white grout to marbled shower tile during diy shower remodel — Grouting

woman poses with matte black penny tile on new shower floor — Matte black penny tiles for my shower floor

So What Went Wrong?

It’s never truly a DIY without some drama right? Problem solving can be part of the fun! This however, was NOT fun. I had decided to use a pre-mixed thin set mortar because I thought it would be more convenient while tiling with kids and all the stopping and starting. The product came highly recommended and I didn’t think that I needed to research it further. Well because of the nature of pre-mixed mortars, my tiles weren’t drying. I gave it a day… then 2 days… then 5 and they were still sagging when spacers were removed. I knew something wasn’t right, my previous tile jobs dried within the hour, so I started reading reviews where I discovered hundreds of people having a similar problem.

Pre-mixed doesn’t work well with waterproof membranes, large format tiles, or porcelain because of its need for air flow. All 3 of those factors were not allowing enough air to get to my tiles. Traditional mix-yourself mortar has cement properties so it only needs to CURE rather than DRY. I realized I had no other choice but to pull down all the tiles, scrape off the thin set, and start over with the correct kind. Luckily I had only tiles 1.25 walls when I realized my mistake but I was out a day of work and $50. Still, with a DIY shower remodel like this, it wasn’t the worst thing that could happen. It was messy and humbling but it was fixable.

bottom 2 rows of tile pulled away from wall — Row by row I scraped off the bad thin set and replaced

middle 3 rows of tile pulled away from wall with mortar remnants during diy shower remodel mishap

woman wipes face wearing oversized minion t-shirt and no pants, covered in mortar and water during diy shower remodel — I had given up on clothes (and pants) during this mess haha

The DIY Shower Reveal

In the end it was all worth it. This had been a project I was itching to do since the day we moved in. I felt silly getting a bit teary eyed over a shower but it felt so good to have accomplished this and to finally have the bathroom I always wanted. This was my most expensive project but some saving and the insurance claim from the pipe burst helped. Glass was by far the most expensive part. Keep reading for the budget break down.