Ideas for Creating a Budget-Friendly Bath

Sara Brown's article on five tips for creating a great master bathroom is in the upcoming June issue of Timber Home Living magazine. She also has the following budget-friendly suggestions for bathrooms.

Ideas for creating a budget-friendly bath:

• Choosing tile can quickly throw a bathroom budget out of control. Instead of choosing all designer tiles, mix some lower-cost tile with accent tile that might be more expensive, especially if you plan on using tile on your floor and walls.

• Think again before including a walled-off toilet area. You’ll spend money to build the walls and a door to create privacy that you might not necessarily need. Screening walls or tucking a toilet into another area of the bathroom is a cheaper alternative for privacy.

• Dual-flush toilets are both environmentally- and budget-friendly. Although they’re a bit more expensive upfront, these toilets offer two levels of flushing (liquid and solid), so you’re using less water, which will save you money in the long run.

• Rather than enclosing your shower or tub in glass or tile, pick something that’s more standard, like a prefabricated enclosure unit. If you’re going to include both in your master bathroom, there’s no reason why both need to be top-of-the-line.

• Consider going with a single sink instead of his and hers. Think about it: Homeowners often want double sinks, but maybe only use them a small percentage of the time. Think about your personal schedules and see how often you’d really need both sinks.