Splurges and saves in a no regrets bathroom reno

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Renovating our main bathroom was the project of the year in 2025. I love how the bathroom turned out. I got the clean, traditional, farm look I wanted, and I did it pretty affordably. I feel like I found a good balance between high and low when it came to the budget.

Today, I thought I’d look at three splurges and three saves.

Splurge #1: Marble counters

I love marble and I really wanted real stone for the bathroom. I knew I was doing undermount sinks. This meant I had to do a solid surface countertop. I chose a beautiful marble, then added a custom edge, sculpted backsplash and sidesplashes and a ledge in the tub. All of these details were not cheap, but for me they were totally worth it. The marble is a statement for the whole bathroom. The backsplash and edge profile add a lot of traditional character to the room.

Cost: $4,500

Splurge #2: Heated floors

Our house does not have great insulation, so many winter days, the floor in the bathroom was cold. While I fixed the insulation in the walls, I wanted extra coziness with heated floors. It is such a nice feeling to step onto the floor and feel the heat under my feet. As someone who is usually cold, I will take any opportunity to be warm.

Cost: $1,245 (includes running a new circuit to the bathroom)

Splurge #3: Taps

I knew I wanted very traditional looking two handle taps. My plumber recommended Moen and looking through their inventory I found only one tap that I liked. When I saw the price, I questioned myself. Any taps I’ve bought in the past have been very inexpensive. $100 is usually my threshold. These were beyond that by more than a bit. I wasn’t willing to compromise on the look I wanted, so I decided to go for it. I have no regrets.

Cost: $1,220 (includes both sinks and the tub)

Save #1: Layout

Aside from bumping the tub out slightly to accommodate a new storage ledge, I kept the layout of the bathroom the same, which helped to save money. Plumbing and electrical didn’t have to move dramatically. Walls didn’t move. The window stayed where it was. The renovation stayed within the walls of the bathroom.

Save #2: Lighting

Lighting is very simple in our bathroom. There are two over the mirror vanity lights. That’s it. While layered lighting is popular in high-end design, the cost can quickly add up. We didn’t have wall space for sconces. I didn’t feel we needed potlights. I found two lights I liked and called it a day. The lights came from a big box store and were not expensive ($140 each).

Save #3: Thrifting, reusing and DIY

I felt like I was renovating two bathrooms in this project. The double sinks meant a bigger vanity, larger countertop, two sinks, two taps, two mirrors, two lights. Doubling the costs adds up quickly. So saving wherever I could was important. That meant the toilet that we installed 14 years ago went back in. It’s already low flow and still works well. The black metal hooks that hung in the old bathroom worked in our new design, so they went back up. The wooden towel rings, toilet paper holder, towel bar were a combination of thrifting and DIY. The shower curtain I sewed myself. The baskets in the hutch I’ve had since our first house. They fit and still look good, so I reused them.

Tip #1: Shop around

Sourcing everything for the bathroom took a while. I visited lots of shops, sent lots of emails, did lots of online searches to find exactly what I wanted.

The wood arched mirrors are a good example. I looked for years to find mirrors in the style and price I wanted to pay. When I finally found them, I knew they were a good deal and ordered them right away. When they arrived, I discovered they were on sale online. I called customer service and got a price adjustment.

For the hutch and vanity, I met with a few custom cabinet makers and received some exorbitant quotes. I regrouped and found the vanity I liked at Home Depot. (I discovered its price also fluctuated, but HD was not as accommodating about a price adjustment–lesson learned: pay attention even after you’ve bought something).

For the hutch, I found a local Mennonite builder that was pretty affordable. A large custom, solid wood cabinet designed to my exact specifications was $3,400.

Other choices were affordable without a lot of effort. My tile–the only one I liked at the tile shop–was $6 a square foot.

Tip #2: DIY versus professional help

Obviously, the fact that I was able to do so much work in the bathroom was a big saving. I was general contractor, carpenter, painter, seamstress and designer on this project. While I love DIY, I didn’t hesitate to bring in professional help where I needed or wanted it. The plumbing, electrical, tile and counter were all outsourced. I also worked with a consultant at a bathroom supply store to order most of the elements for the room.

I first went to the store for research. I thought they would have a good sense of what was available, but I assumed they would be waaaaaay out of my budget. When the consultant sent my quote, it was at or below any big box price I could find. They gave me “contractor pricing” on taps, tub, sinks, drains–everything I needed–and they included all the parts I needed. I didn’t have to go searching for the right drains and fittings because they supplied them all. Also, there was no fee for the consultant herself.

While I’m not anti-big box stores, I highly recommend visiting a store that specializes in what you’re looking for. They know the options and materials that are available, have great advice and often good prices. Along with the bathroom store, my other go-to specialists are my local lumber yard, my favourite trim shop and now my cabinet maker.

Total cost

The final cost for the bathroom was about $35,000. This is not an insignificant amount of money, but I feel like I did pretty well managing my budget. I had saved for this renovation and had the money to cover everything I wanted to do.

I believe the point of budgeting is not to spend as little as possible. It’s to spend your money wisely. For me, that meant buying the expensive taps, but saving on the lights. Hiring the professional tiler, but saving on the tile.

I have two goals with renovations: get what I want and do it as affordably as possible. Affordable doesn’t always mean cheapest. I want to finish my renovations feeling like I haven’t compromised. That’s exactly the result I achieved in the bathroom.

How do you balance splurging and saving in your life? What budgeting tips do you have? What’s most important to you in a renovation?

In case of my death

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One of my goals for this year is to prepare for the worst. An item that’s been on my list for a long time is to make copies of all my important documents.

Reading about fires and floods, documentation is always something that people discuss. As well, having been through Matt’s death, I know exactly how much paperwork is involved and how helpful it is for my executor to have it all in one place.

I know why I should do this. But it’s overwhelming to think about getting it all together.

Then last year, I saw an article about a “death binder” in our community paper. The author wrote, “a death binder is a comprehensive collection of documents and information that can help your loved ones manage your affairs in the event of your passing.”

He listed all of the items a death binder should include: personal and financial information like your social insurance number and bank account details, as well as important contacts, passwords, pet care instructions, messages for loved ones and more.

It was a clear, simple list. It felt doable.

Even better, it was divided into seven different sections. So I came up with the plan of doing one section a month. I also invited my Mom to do it with me.

January was for personal information. February was financial. In March we did properties and assets. Now we’re working on accounts and passwords. May will be funeral and burial wishes, June letters and messages, July any other considerations.

I’m making hard copies as well as digital copies of everything. I’ll keep one set for myself and give another to my executor.

Working through it piece by piece feels manageable, and I’m glad to finally be making progress on this important task.

Does anyone else have a death binder? What information do you think is most important to pass on?

Odds & sods

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How is it almost April? I feel like I blinked and March was done. Wow.

Spring is sneaking into the farm. From snow at the start of the month, we’re now seeing little green shoots popping up in the gardens. We’ve started a few seeds inside and have been boiling lots of sap for syrup. Cranes are hanging out in the fields and red winged blackbirds have returned to the pond.

There’s been lots of fun with our domestic animals and family too. St. Patrick’s Day, March Break and birthdays gave us reasons to enjoy being together with everyone. The chickens are laying steadily, and I made my first batch of devilled eggs for a party with my friends. They were good, but it’s a lot of work for a two-bite snack. We marked Matt’s birthday as well.

We’re looking forward to more fun as spring settles in.

Here are some of the fun things that caught my eye this month.

We marked 14 years at the farm.

My friend has started Whiskers and Books. She makes “blind date with a book” bundles, where you don’t know what book you’re going to get. When I was struggling to find a book I liked, I bought a package from her and her choice was a good one.

Ellie and I both enjoy baking. We found these videos where professional bakers bake as they did in Victorian times very interesting. We’re now watching a series on Victorian farming.

I’m going to try making these peanut butter Easter eggs this week.

These adult Easter activities are hilarious. We did the money egg hunt a few years ago and it was a lot of fun. (The post also makes a convincing case of why it’s a good thing for kids to see adults having fun.)

I love the wood cabinet in our bathroom. I’ve seen a few in kitchens recently, and now I’m thinking I should do something similar.

Source: Country Living

We’re ending the month with a dentist appointment–which I’m bundling with lunch with my Mom to make it more fun, more progress on the playroom and preparing for Easter. Easter is my favourite holiday, and we will be hosting two get-togethers. The farm is the absolute best place for egg hunts.

Did March go fast for you? What did you celebrate this month? What wildlife have you spotted at your home? Any fun Easter recipes to share? Any good book recommendations? Any interesting videos to pass along?

Playroom progress

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Last post I shared plans for Ellie’s playroom makeover. Today, I’m back with an update. Thanks to March Break, we’ve made really good progress.

The biggest milestone is paint. Look at these walls. Ellie couldn’t decide what colour she wanted. Then she spotted a pink, purple and blue cloud-like shoebox and said, “If I could paint the walls like that, that’s what I want.” We took a look for wallpaper, sought advice from staff at a couple of paint stores, searched for tutorials online, collected lots of paint chips, tested some samples and then went for it. She loves the result.

We also started building a cozy corner. High on the priority list for this room is a reading nook. Ellie loves an oversized chair, so we considered a few options and then decided to build a loft nook. This way, she still has a lot of floor space for other activities. The platform is in place and next up is cushions (and a taller ladder).

On the topic of cushions, while she was off for March Break we also went fabric shopping. Ellie picked out a bunch of beautiful fabrics that all coordinated really well with the walls and with each other. We’ve recovered the desk chair already. Other fabrics are going to make curtains and a cushion for the cozy corner and cover a large bulletin board that we’ll hang over her desk.

We’ve already started putting the room back together a little bit. Shelves and bins are set up in her closet, and we’ve loaded them up with crafts and dolls (note the welcome message on the mirror). The desk is in place, curtains are hung, and we reorganized her main craft shelf. The dress-up zone is back with hooks and a big basket of outfits. Matt’s nephew helped me carry in some bookshelves that we had stashed in the barn, so I’ll be redoing those to give Ellie more storage. Some pillows and blankets have been added to the cozy corner and we’ve already snuggled in with a few chapters of her current book.

This is turning out to be a really fun project. Everything is designed for Ellie and what she likes and what she does. We’re really enjoying working on it together and seeing it come to life.

See more of the playroom makeover on my Instagram stories.

What is your must-have for a playroom? Would you go for pink, purple and blue walls? Who else loves a cozy reading nook?

Playroom makeover plans

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Imagine you are a creative young child. Your mind is brimming with ideas for drawings, stories and crafts. You’re inspired by everything you encounter and want to try so many things.

Now imagine the perfect space to fulfill all of that imagination and creation.

That is my goal in making an amazing play space for Ellie.

This project has been on my wishlist for awhile, and we’re finally making it happen.

The space we’re using is Ellie’s old nursery. This room has gone through a few different phases.

When we first moved in, it held boxes that we hadn’t unpacked… for about five years. Then it became my office. Then Ellie’s nursery. Then a shared office-sewing-creating-playing space for both her and me… but with no real functional or decorative changes.

Now it’s time to make it Ellie’s own room again.

The first step was a bit of construction. Some readers may recall that there was a pocket door between this room and my bedroom. It was helpful when this room was Ellie’s nursery, but not necessary any longer. So I wanted to fill in the doorway. Normally this would be straight forward, but I decided to make it more complicated. Beside the pocket door and behind the door to my bedroom, the wall bumped out by about one foot. If I was going to wall-in the doorway, I might as well straighten the rest of the wall at the same time. (The floorplan below might help to clarify my description.)

I removed the little bump out. This involved stripping the drywall, taking out the old studs, relocating some electrical, framing the new wall and hanging new drywall.

I finally finished the drywall on the weekend, so we are now ready to officially begin the playroom makeover.

First up is paint, and Ellie has picked such a fun design–pink, purple and blue water colour tie dye. We have plans for a little loft in one corner, which will serve as a cozy reading nook on top and a secret fort below. My DIY knock-off Eames hang-it-alls will return for a dress-up zone. Matt’s desk will remain to give her a good crafting and creating spot. And we’ll be adding lots of storage for all of her toys and supplies.

We’re both really excited by this project and are enjoying working on it together. I’m sure we’ll be even more excited with the result.

You can check out some of my playroom ideas on Pinterest. Or follow along with renovation updates on Instagram.

Farm-iversary 14

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Fourteen years ago the farm became ours.

That night I wrote my very first post on this blog. It was brief. There was no picture.

The beginning

We bought a farm. After two months of waiting, a year and a half of looking and at least half my life dreaming, it’s ours.

This is the start of something.

“Something.” Do you feel the possibility in that word? I had no idea what might happen.

Now, “something” feels small to describe the past 14 years. My memories are full of people, projects, places, moments.

I’ve been thinking recently about time. When I tucked Ellie into bed on her birthday, I thought, “She will never again be seven.”

Never.

Time goes only one direction. When a moment is gone, we will never have it again.

I can’t go back to 14 years ago. I can’t bring back my Dad and all of our Saturdays working on the house. I can’t bring back Matt and our evenings together. I can’t bring back the parties, the walks with Baxter, the scratches with Ralph, the harvests, the sunrises, the snowfalls, the millions of moments that make up our life. I can’t go back for myself to the younger version of who I was. For me too, life goes in one direction.

But I can look ahead and do everything I can for this property and for Ellie and for the future.

Each day is a start of something. This property and the people who are part of it are so full of possibilities.

Odds & sods

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February is the month of love, and that is amplified in our family. We celebrated Valentine’s Day, Family Day, Cigo’s gotcha day and several birthdays. The biggest celebration of all is Ellie’s birthday.

Ellie is helpful, loving, thoughtful, enthusiastic, kind, careful, sensitive and happy. Most of all, she is fun. I never expected to have as much fun with her as I do.

To celebrate Ellie, here are a list of fun things we’ve been up to recently.

We love to play games in our house. Two recent hits are Hurry Up Chicken Butt and Happy Salmon.

The Ultimate Kids Baking Book is excellent. Ginormous Elegant Elephant Ears are a highly recommend.

There are those that hunt monsters to harm them and there are those that hunt monsters to help them. Which one are you? We are definitely on team help after reading The Trouble with the Two Headed Hydra. We’re looking forward to the other books in this series.

We loved watching the Olympics together. The “Out of Shape Olympics” series was a fun addition to the competitions.

These paint-like markers are a big hit with our artistic girl (and me).

We’re wrapping up birthday celebrations this week with a surprise adventure day and more fun.

What made February fun for you?

New eavestrough for the barn

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This week marks the one year anniversary of our new eavestrough on the barn. A momentous occasion, I know. So momentous I didn’t share it a year ago when it happened.

But it is an important project.

Adding eavestrough to the barn had been on my list for awhile. The eavestrough that was there was in pretty bad shape. Lots of pieces had fallen off. A few downspouts were still in place, but they were full of holes or not connected to anything.

And eavestrough matters. The barn is more than 100 years old. Moisture seeps into the old stone foundation and weakens it. Without eavestrough, the rain pours off the roof and drips right next to the building. If I want to preserve the barn–and I absolutely do–I had to get the water away.

But putting eavestrough on a barn is a bit different than putting it on a house. Our barn is big. It’s tall. Part of the roof is covered with solar panels. It took me a bit to find a company to do it. (I went with Siderman and highly recommend them.)

Then we had to work through the options of how to do it. The barn has a large roof that sheds a lot of water. We needed large trough to handle the volume. I ended up choosing a 6 inch trough (an inch bigger than standard residential eavestrough).

I also chose a dark grey colour for the aluminum to try to blend into the weathered barn wood a bit.

The biggest consideration was not the barn itself, but the pines right beside the barn. These trees are super tall and lose a ton of needles. The needles fall onto the roof and clog the eavestroughs. On the house, I clean the gutters several times a year. But the barn is super tall. There is no way I’m cleaning those gutters.

Most gutters these days have built in guards to protect against leaves. I needed something that would work for teeny tiny pine needles. My contractor felt that they had a solution, so I went with their recommendation.

The size of the barn presented another challenge in the form of the budget. I was looking for about 250 feet of eavestrough, which is not cheap. To save money, I eliminated one length of trough. On the back of the barn, we have an addition. So I decided not to put trough on the upper roof. Water can simply drip off onto the lower roof of the addition. The addition did get trough and downspouts, so the double volume of water will still be carried away from the barn.

My contractors tried to squeeze me in at the end of 2024, but the schedule ended up not working. By the time they could come, it was the start of February and snow had arrived. Not ideal weather for eavestrough, but they made it work.

They removed the old trough. Then they replaced the facia boards and wrapped them in aluminum for extra protection.

They put up the new trough and downspouts. On the front of the barn, the roof was so sloped the gutters flowed to the middle. So we have two huge downspouts spitting out onto the centre of the bank. On the back, the downspouts are at either end of the addition.

A year later, the barn roof is covered in snow and everything is frozen. But I know when it melts the water will be routed safely away, the foundation will be more protected and this beautiful structure will be a little more preserved.

Ten years ago

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In January, Instagram was filled with people sharing photos from 2016–10 years ago. Though I didn’t do an Instagram post, I did take a look back through the blog. A whole year of posts and projects from a decade years ago.

It was interesting to remember where we were and some of what happened. Some things are the same. Some things are different (the number of projects being one).

It was really fun to look back, so I thought I’d share some highlights with you. I know some people have been here since 2016 while others are new. Whether these are familiar to you or not, I hope you enjoy some of these memories.

The basement was a big focus in 2016.

We did our major renovation in 2012 (continuing into 2013) when we first moved in. But four years later the closet under the stairs still needed shelving and we decided another closet in the laundry room instead of cabinets and counter would be more useful for us.

Drywalling the laundry room

I also added some fun stuff to the basement, like a large chalkboard, oversize scrabble tiles, and the shower curtain I’d been hunting for in the bathroom, which allowed me to write the long overdue reveal post.

Black and white bathroom

Amongst the small adjustments we had a bigger issue. The basement was leaking. So we had to undo some of our renovations and have it properly waterproofed.

Upstairs, I made over the guest room, which was a lovely space while it lasted. This room is now Ellie’s bedroom. I also posted floorplans for possible future renovations. It’s neat to see what’s come true (garage, mudroom and a new bathroom) and what’s still on my wishlist (porch, kitchen, principal bedroom).

Robin's egg blue country guest room

It was a big year outside in the vegetable garden. The gardens are my major home goal for 2026, and it was neat to see that they were in 2016 as well.

To get the garden in shape, Sarah in Illinois (remember when Sarah used to write for the blog?) and I kicked off the season with a DIY duel. I built trellises for the raspberries, squash and tomatoes, and Matt and I trenched a waterline out to the garden. I’m hoping some of that 2016 energy carries forward to 2026.

Trenching a waterline to the garden

Seeing how clean the garden was was a bit shocking. It is so overgrown now. We have a lot of work ahead of us. But seeing how productive it was gives me hope.

2016 was our first maple syrup season and first monarch hatch. Those are traditions that continue and are so much fun for us every year.

We have some things that are never ending, like thrifting furniture, property clean up and firewood.

Matt splitting firewood

Also a tradition, someone missed a stop sign, skipped the ditch, crashed through the gate and ended up in our east field (it still happens every so often).We had a grass fire in our ditch that fortunately did little damage (and has not happened again), though the little tree still has some bare spots ten years later.

I started my shift to freelancing and consulting in 2016 when I switched to working four days instead of five. I am so grateful that I made this move. I say often that time is the most valuable thing I have. Time gives me Ellie, Cigo, the animals, the farm, my projects, writing. Freelancing and teaching give me control over my time. My work has shifted several times since 2016, but the flexibility and prioritizing time has continued.

Baxter and me

The blog is special. I had no idea when I started it how long it would continue and how incredible it is to have a chronicle of our life here at the farm. Ten years ago, it was Matt, Baxter, Ralph, me and the farm. Now, it is Ellie, Cigo, Cedar, the chickens, me and the farm. Reflecting on the journey from where I was 10 years ago to where I am today is meaningful.

Life builds and changes, sometimes in ways we can never predict. It was a good life 10 years ago. It’s a good life now.

Thank you to everyone who’s been along for the journey. Whether from 2016 or today, I appreciate you being here.

If you’d like to browse the whole 2016 archive yourself, you can access it here.

Odds & sods

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I am writing this from the couch in the living room watching flames dance in the fireplace while snow swirls outside. Later, I will put on my snowshoes and head out with Cigo for a field walk. I will stop at the barn to check on the chickens and Cedar. Then I will return to our cozy comfortable house.

The farm is my favourite place to be, whatever the season.

What we present online is usually a highlight reel. The best of our lives. Not the hard or mundane. My first paragraph in this post is no different.

Shortly after I wrote it, the fire fizzled out. When I went for my hike with Cigo, I didn’t strap my snowshoe on properly and it was close to falling off.

I repositioned the logs and the fire rekindled. I stepped carefully, held up my toes and the snowshoe stayed on. Sometimes life requires adjustments. It can still be beautiful and fun, even when it takes extra work.

January has been a beautiful and fun month. We had my Mom’s birthday and celebrations lasted for four days. We skated on the pond and went skiing. We had a thaw and then a deep, deep freeze and lots of snow.

The chickens, who have gone into an untimely moult, have been staying inside. We’ve had some unfortunate feather situations and less eggs. Cigo bounds through the snow and comes home with snowballs frozen into his fur. Cedar, who has the thickest fur, rarely stays in the barn and is determined to break into the house. He comes running anytime the door opens and has perfected his timing for sneaking in while I’m wrangling buckets, baskets, leashes, dog, eggs and mitts. He’s also discovered there are sometimes treats–like our gingerbread house or my Mom’s birthday cake.

Life is beautiful and fun.

Here are some other things I’ve enjoyed this month.

I’ve used Passion Planner as my daybook for years. Their goal setting template is a useful tool, especially at this time of year when people are looking for a reset. I gave it to all of my final year students at the end of last term.

I read The 5 Types of Wealth between Christmas and New Years, and it’s stayed with me. It reinforced what I value and how I make decisions for my life. Though I have some quibbles about the author and class, I think it’s a good reminder of what’s most important in our lives.

“You should decorate and design your house… to make you happy.” I love this designer’s philosophy. I also love her happy house.

A perfect meal for a cold January. This Sweet Potato Chickpea Chili is simple, quick, full of vegetables, tasty with a bit of heat–even for this non-chili fan.

I’ve kicked off home goals 2026 with Ellie’s playroom. She would like multi-coloured tie-dyed walls, so we’ve been looking at wallpapers, but haven’t had any luck yet. I’m considering trying sponge painting. Anyone have any advice?

January wraps up for us with another big snowfall. We’ll be starting the week shoveling out–and a day off from school. I have some client work and marking for my course. I’m also planning on tackling a tricky task in Ellie’s playroom.

How has January been for you? Share something highlight reel worthy… or maybe not so much.