How Much Did the Bathroom Cost? - a Budget Breakdown

Design: thekwendyhome Photography: Janet Kwan

I shared the full reveal of our guest bathroom a few weeks ago here and here. I kept tabs on all the sources and the cost of everything so I could share it with you!

I believe that if I had more time to plan and budget for this bathroom it would have cost a little bit less because I would have time to hunt down dupes or more inexpensive pieces. But alas, that was not to be. You can read why this became an emergency renovation here.

How did we budget?

We already started saving for our principle bathroom renovations scheduled for the end of 2022. So whatever money we had put aside for that project was what we worked with.

We hired out for this project because we had a lot of problems to address in this bathroom. It required experts because it had to deal with plumbing so we kept that in mind for budgeting. Turns out the last time this guest bathroom was redone, it was either done by a novice contractor or a DIYer who made a few fatal errors that resulted in three leaks.

How much did labour cost?

Newsletter fam would have gotten the exact number on this but I won't be sharing that on the blog because it really depends on your contractor, location you live in and the time you are renovating. More experienced contractors with glowing references will cost you more. Where you live will also determine the cost of labour. Every city has different standard of living and wages. And jobs get quoted much higher if the contractors have a lot of interested home owners that also want to renovate. They can afford to be choosey and will be able to quote higher. It's all about supply and demand in your area.

My tip for finding a good contractor is to ask friends and family who have renovated in the last 2-5 years. You'll be able to see the contractors recent work and get honest and trust worthy feedback.

You should also strive to get several quotes for your project but I always tend to go with the ones with the glowing reviews that I could see myself even if they cost more.

We've worked with our general contractor for three houses now and he and his team has been working on various projects in my extended family for the past decade. It started with my aunt who renovated her entire kitchen and word spread that he was a conscientious contractor who did great work. He and his team has worked on my parents home, my other aunt's house, several of our friends' homes and businesses.

But before you ask me for his contact information, I've already asked. He has kindly declined the offer as he has more work than he can handle. Good contractors are hard to find. When you do find them, stick with them. We have and it has saved us so much headache and heartache. He isn't the cheapest quote you'll get but he's one we are confident in.

How did we keep costs down?

1) In order to keep costs down, we kept the same layout which meant we didn't move any plumbing. This meant that the toilet, vanity and tub stayed in the same place and kept costs to a minimal.

2) We also chose to opt for a tub versus a walk in shower because it was more inexpensive in terms of labour. (A walk in shower would require more tiling which translates to more labour.)

3) I also picked out a vanity from the hardware store as oppose to building a custom vanity. (Granted the one I chose wasn't the most inexpensive but for the look I wanted but it would have cost more to have it custom built. Plus time was of the essence here.

4) And last but not least, I thrifted a lot of the art, accessories and knick knacks to pull the bathroom together. Some of the artwork are just cut outs from old calendars I saved up because I like the drawings!

Here is what everything cost plus the links. I'll give dupes for vintage pieces where I can find them.

Cost Breakdown

Item	Cost
Wall Tiles	$300
Pencil Border Tile	$300
Floor Tiles	$523.36
Tub	$750
Vanity	$1,459
Vintage Mirror (dupe)	$395
Shower Kit	$1500
Faucet	$271
Toilet	$800
Shower Curtain	$69.99
Art Frames (dupes)	$125
Sconces	$235.34 per
Toilet Paper Holder	$38
Brass Hand Hook	$28
Total	$8,903.39

Please note that prices have fluctuated since we last sourced these items in December 2021. You may find discrepancy in the prices I present and the linked price as a result. All prices listed in Canadian.

Obviously this isn't EVERYTHING we spent in the bathroom but for the sake of giving you a number, I think budgeting $12,000- $20,000 is now the market price for a guest bathroom overhaul (if you design it yourself, hire out and don't move plumbing but we did have to fix our plumbing.) This is the ballpark that our guest bathroom cost us February of 2022 in Toronto, Canada.

You can obviously spend more or less depending on finishes that you choose and the quote for labour so please take that into account. If you'd like to see what we chose to splurge on, you can check out this blog.

I hope you found this blog post helpful.

Thanks for reading!

Love,