There are generally three main stages to the room makeovers we take on. Depending on the scope, they can take a few days or a few months—sometimes longer if life gets in the way. The typical workflow goes like this:
- Prep and planning: brainstorming, choosing a color palette, shopping for supplies, priming, sanding, and spackling.
- Major upgrades: painting walls, refinishing or painting cabinets, replacing or installing flooring, and similar structural or visual updates.
- Finishing touches: curtains, new hardware, art, and accessories that add personality and make the space feel complete.
When John’s mom mentioned that his grandma’s half bathroom could use a refresh, we put those three steps into action. The result was a three-day bathroom blitz that included two seven-hour drives and some obligatory late-night painting. Fortunately John’s parents came along to help with Clara, which made the trip much smoother.
First, meet Granny. She lives in Huntington, West Virginia, and is one of the sweetest, most generous people you’ll ever meet. Her house—built in the 1920s and in the family since the 1940s—is full of memories. John’s late grandfather, “Papa,” handled a lot of the handiwork over the years, so the house carries a lot of family history.
That history even includes the half bathroom itself: Papa converted an old pantry into this small bathroom decades ago, running the plumbing and wiring himself. Over time the room had accumulated wallpaper, worn finishes, a dingy corner under the sink, a rusted vent, and outdated sheet laminate flooring. Granny was ready for an update and, at 90, still had that DIY spirit—she’d already removed most of the old wallpaper before we arrived.
Before we left home we did a bit of shopping: HomeGoods for accessories, a fabric outlet for a pretty floral print we planned to make into cafe curtains, and Home Depot for new flooring. We also packed tools and supplies so we could hit the ground running. We wanted to blend some of Granny’s existing pieces with a few new items to save money and keep the room feeling familiar.
Our to-do list for the three-day project looked like this (with when we planned to tackle each item):
- Brainstorm colors and shop for accessories (Day 1)
- Spackle, sand, and caulk to prep the room for paint (Day 1)
- Rebuild and balance the cabinets slightly (Day 1)
- Prime and paint the cabinets for an updated, open look (Day 1–2)
- Paint the entire room, including the ceiling (Day 2)
- Address problem areas: rusted duct, dingy corner under the sink, and a burned outlet (Day 2)
- Replace the old sheet laminate flooring (Day 2)
- Refinish or revive hardware and accessories with a fresh finish (Day 2)
- Sew and hang cafe curtains to add charm (Day 3)
- Bring in meaningful art and personal touches (Day 3)
- Add functional accessories to complete the space (Day 3)
- Reveal the finished bathroom to Granny (Day 3)
On arrival the room already looked much improved with the wallpaper removed, but the absence of paper revealed more wear and tear in places: the base of the sink, an old burned outlet, and a rusty vent. We jumped straight into prep work. I focused on cutting out old caulk, which is tedious and can look worse before it looks better, but fresh caulk makes a dramatic difference once painted. For such a small space I used an entire tube of caulk to seal baseboards, the sink area, and trim around the window and door.
Next came spackling and sanding. We used a standard spackle and a basic spackle knife to fill cracks and imperfections, sometimes sanding loose flakes first to create a stable surface for the patch. Meanwhile John cut a small plank to cover the gap where two cabinets were pushed together and topped with an old hollow-core door. We secured the plank to the existing supports, which would read as seamless after painting.
With hardware removed, we primed cabinet faces and countertop surfaces to ensure a durable finish. Painting cabinets in a small bathroom transforms the visual weight of the space, helping it feel larger and more current. By the end of Day 1 we’d prepped, primed, and started painting, leaving us with a clean slate to tackle flooring, painting, and other fixes the next day.
The three-day schedule was ambitious, but that brisk timeline kept momentum and excitement high—especially since the reveal for Granny was the whole point. Over the next posts we’ll share Day 2 and Day 3 highlights: the new floors, refreshed hardware, hand-sewn curtains, and the final reveal. Have you ever completed a quick bathroom makeover for a family member? Those projects can be extra rewarding because of the emotional payoff when you see someone’s joy at the finished result.