90s Tract Home Master Bath Remodel

We live in a suburb of San Francisco. In a 90s tract home. The year was 1992. When we bought the house in 2011, the previous owners had done a very light upgrade with a new vanity with brown granite. Not my style but a good temporary solution. Temporary became long-term. Since nobody but us ever saw our master bath, it moved to the bottom of our priority list. Other projects trumped our 90s tract home master bath remodel.

Stay or Go?

When Covid hit and many of our friends moved away, we considered joining them. But we had many reasons why that didn’t make sense. Instead, we decided we should work on our current house so we can enjoy it and so that it will be ready to sell if that time comes. Our master bath moved up the priority list.

Strong Case for a Remodel

From my “before” photos, you can see that I had a strong case for a remodel. Carpeting – check. Linoleum – check. Shiny gold shower frame and faucet – check. Gigantic jetted tub that hadn’t been used in at least 20 years – check. Lighting soffit – check. Extremely loud ceiling fan – check. Plastic shower with ridiculously low shower head – check. Feel free to judge. I would too.

90s Tract Home Remodel Mood Board

Fully aware that this was a project that was over our heads, we called in my brother-in-law who’s a general contractor. He wanted an idea of what we were thinking. Therefore I shared with him my mood board. Then the shopping began. Because of Covid, I shopped the entire bathroom online. I’ve decided there no reason to ever leave my house to shop again! Not really. But kinda.

The 90s Tract Home Bath Reveal

The entire process took about 6 weeks. Our kids were happy when it was finished. They were not fans of sharing their bathroom with their parents, it turns out. We’re thrilled with our 90s tract home master bath remodel and wish we’d done it sooner!

Water Closet Mini DIY Project

When the crew was finished and we’d lived with the bathroom for about a month, I decided the water closet (that’s what you call the room with just a toilet, right?) needed something more. Because wallpaper is my favorite, I’ve always wanted to wallpaper a small space like this. So I scoured the entire internet and found a wallpaper I loved that looked easy enough to install. Always aware of my budget, papering the entire room was over my budget. Therefore instead, I had my husband add some board and batten to 2/3 of the wall. That way I only papered the top third of the walls. It turned out fantastic!