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ADMIT
it: You’re thinking about a face-lift. 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outdated bathroom can be a deal-breaker.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, Virginia, 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 “Simply switch out an outdated fixture or pop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’s
recipe for a quick fix: Take a few hours or hire a
handyman to recaulk 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old-fashioned medicine cabinet (“they holler outdated at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, Maryland. 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.” |
