Sticking to a Budget

With careful planning and creative ideas, you can have a custom-looking bath for less.

  • Monogramming 101


    Use monograms to personalize your bath. Here are some things to keep in mind. Think out of the box: Work with your monogrammer, and make her think big as well. Don't settle for what she has to offer. You can create your own style and patterns and can monogram just about anything. There are all kinds of different fonts available, and you can use symbols rather than words and even try different languages. Stitching: With larger monograms, avoid using a satin stitch (one that goes side to side). The stitch will snag and pull from wear. You want to use a random or multistitch that has thousands of stitches that won't come undone. Thread: Select polyester thread instead of cotton because it holds up much better over time and maintains color longer. Polyester thread also comes in a bigger variety of colors. Size: The larger the monogram, the more punch it possesses. Be sure your monogrammer has a wide selection of hoops. The bigger the hoop, the bigger the finished product. * Fabric: Loosely woven fabrics won't hold up to wear and tear.

Magazines are a great source of inspiration for any home-improvement project, but one of the most frustrating things about tearing out ideas is that when you go to check prices, you find out the renovation or addition will actually be quite costly.

That's exactly what happened when the homeowners were planning this new bath. But by addressing each issue as it came up, they were able to solve every cost and design problem and get the look they wanted.

Tile
The homeowners loved the glass mosaic tiles they had seen in many magazines and wanted that look for their new master bath. However, when they priced the real thing at a local tile store, the couple found that it would cost anywhere from $25 to $30 a square foot just for the materials. That price was definitely not within their tight budget, so they started to search for alternatives to achieve the same look.

After a little research on the Internet, the homeowners found a company that manufactures 1- and 2-inch-square and hexagonal tiles much like you would find in an older house. The tiles came in a wide array of colors, and the price was around $3 per square foot. Their first inclination was to use the hexagonal ones, but this style was harder to get and more expensive in the cobalt blue color the couple had already selected to match some of the real mosaic tiles. They chose the square one instead, which had the added benefit of being available in 11- x 17-inch sheets, making it less expensive to install.

 

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