Freshen Up Your Bathroom

By Terri Sapienza
The Washington Post

Friday, May 23, 2008 10:15 AM CDT

Admit it: You’re thinking about a facelift.

You’ve noticed the little lines forming here, darkened areas emerging there. Features once fresh and sparkling are looking worn and dull. When you switch on the light, it’s all too clear that things are slipping over the hill.

No need to feel embarrassed. There’s nothing wrong with wishing for a mini makeover — especially when you’re talking about your bathroom.

It is a maxim among real estate agents that improvements to bathrooms and kitchens are likely to bring the best return on investment of anything you can do to a house.

“People typically assign value to a property based on what the bathrooms and kitchen look like,” says Donna Evers of Evers & Co., a Washington realty company. A dreary, outdated bathroom can be a deal-breaker. Other big-ticket items, such as the furnace and water heater, don’t receive attention until the house inspector shows up, she says. By that time, the buyers have already fallen in love with the place.

But bathroom renovations get costly fast. In the south Atlantic region, for example, the average price of a midrange bathroom remodel in 2007 was $14,445, according to Remodeling magazine. But a few nips and tucks costing far less can go a long way to refreshing a bath.

Anything you can do to make the room feel fresh and new can make a difference, says Arlington, Va., designer Melissa Broffman. “Simply switch out an outdated fixture or pop in a fresh shower curtain. The change doesn’t have to break the budget.”

Los Angeles designer Lytel Young is host of HGTV’s “Save My Bath.” “There are three important things in a bathroom,” Young says. “Clean, simple and orderly. That’s the key for every budget, whether it’s $500 or $40,000.”

A fresh coat of paint and new lighting are easy improvements that have an immediate impact, he says. A combination of natural and artificial light is optimal, Young says. But for bathrooms without windows, sconces on both sides of a mirror plus an overhead fixture on a dimmer will do the job.

Evers’ recipe for a quick fix: Take a few hours or hire a handyman to re-caulk around the tub and shower. Replace dated, inadequate light fixtures. Rip out the old-fashioned medicine cabinet (“they holler outdated at you, plus they’re not big enough”) and replace it with a mirror as large as you can make it. (“It will double the size of the bathroom visually.”)

If you’re not going to do a full remodel, be careful about what you choose and how much you spend, cautions Herbert Stanwood, senior project designer in the kitchen and bath division at Case Design in Bethesda, Md. To save money, you might decide to keep an old tub and tile that are still in pretty good shape. But remember that those older elements can suddenly appear much more tired next to a new vanity, countertop, mirror and lights.

If you’re concerned about payback, a chorus of experts advises, be conservative in your choices. “Don’t do anything that’s really trendy or oddly shaped,” Young says. “Two years from now you’re going to look at it and say, ‘What was I thinking?’ ”

You may adore turquoise and tangerine, but resist the urge to express it through bathroom tiles.

Stick with a neutral base and bring in color preferences though towels and accessories that can be easily and inexpensively replaced.

Popular choices for today’s remodels include frameless glass shower doors, stone countertops and vanities that are kitchen-cabinet height, and water-saving dual-flushing toilets. And, in a reversal of a trend from 20 years ago, homeowners now want smaller tubs and larger showers.

“People don’t have time to draw a bath, but they still want to indulge themselves,” Stanwood says. “They want luxury. They want a really nice shower.”

Sources: Melissa Broffman, Melissa Broffman Interior Design; Lytel Young, Lytel Young Design and HGTV’s “Save My Bath”; Jennifer Parker, Patera Home; Catherine Hailey, Hailey Design; Robert McGuire, Page Southerland Page LLP; Donna Evers, Evers & Co.; Herbert Stanwood, Case Design.

Tips for making over your bathroom

* Don’t use wallpaper or silk window treatments in a small or poorly ventilated bathroom.

* Oversize whirlpool tubs are increasingly outdated. Consider a deep soaking tub instead.

* When it comes to tile, go conservative. Busy patterns or trendy colors will look dated in a few years.

* Choose tiles that are “through-body ceramic,” meaning the color runs through the entire tile. In the event of chipping, the color will remain consistent.

* Avoid fluorescent lighting, which casts a harsh, unflattering light. Better to use incandescent lighting from a variety of sources.

* Don’t buy a pedestal sink if you lack storage space.

* Don’t install a vessel sink in a master bathroom. Put one in a powder room instead.

* Light-reflective polished chrome fixtures make a bathroom look bigger.

* Wallpaper makes a dramatic statement in powder rooms.

Designer-favorite upgrades

* Skylights

* Heated flooring or towel warmer

* A spalike shower for two with a bench and dual shower heads

* New tile on walls and floors

* A rain head or body spray shower nozzle from Dornbracht

* Anything from Ann Sacks, from tiles to accessories

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