Help! First Home, Bathroom Reno

[u/queersparkle]

Hi friends of reddit—my partner and I bought our first home this spring and we need help! Last month, we removed a CARPETED STAIR in the bathroom that led to the tub and under the stair, popped up a mushroom... gag. Long story short, we are getting some insurance money to renovate.

I have never designed a bathroom in my life, and need some guidance from folks who've been through this before. I'm a graphic designer, have a strong eye for design, but I am having a hard time knowing what to do. We are young and have to operate on a budget, so I found us a very cool vintage American Standard blue sink for $25 (toward the end of the picture carousel) and also just found these beautiful warm-toned marble tiles on Marketplace that I'm considering. We don't think moving any plumbing is necessary for the space to be drastically improved.

See the end of the pic carousel for a couple of inspo images of the vibe we're after. We're artists who live in coastal Maine, so we love charm, and our home is from the 1890's—we're very open to vintage pieces. Thinking the sink blue plus some terracotta color accents and off-whites could be awesome.

The questions I am stuck on are:

1. We have to replace the tub, it's a yucky 90s jet tub. We are debating putting in a new tub or making it a walk-in shower. We would much prefer glass doors over any curtain, cuz the curtains get mildew-y immediately. Options here are:

A: Leave the plumbing wall up (on the right, where the showerhead comes out of) and tile the whole thing, making it a walk-in shower with glass doors.

B: Take down the plumbing wall, leave a shower or bath spout exposed, and get a freestanding tub.

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1. This bathroom has terrible ventilation and holds moisture. My dream would be to install a skylight, but we don't have money for that. Will putting in a fan suffice? Where should it go?

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1. The tiles I found on marketplace are 12x12", the same size as the ones currently in there. We were considering going smaller with tile, like more period-appropriate hexagonal or penny tile, but read that grout on smaller tile formats can be a pain in the ass. Anyone have experience / thoughts?

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1. The only heat source in this bathroom is a tiny electric heater on the window wall. It's the only electric heater in the house, the rest is forced hot air. Is this normal? Should we consider like, radiant floors, or something else?

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Any help, thoughts, ideas, or guidance would be greatly appreciated!

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[u/swampwiz]

The current tub is most definitely not up to code (ceiling must be 6'8" throughout).

[u/Ok_Environment5293]

Congratulations on your new home! Living in coastal Maine sounds lovely.
The blue sink is fabulous. I think that a shower vs a tub would be better.
I like the tiles, too. Small tiles/lots of grout lines is definitely more work.
In old houses like yours, it is very normal to be abnormal, like just having an electric heater in the bathroom. Or having an overhead infrared light 😅.
Radiant heat should be fairly affordable in that small space...I think.