Week 5 - Budget Bathroom Renovation: Ensuite Plans, Basement Lighting & DIY Details

Can you believe we'd already owned the house for a month?

At this point in the renovation, I somehow felt like we'd accomplished an unbelievable amount... And absolutely nothing at the same time.

We had projects happening everywhere, but very few of them were actually finished.

This week we started tearing into the primary bedroom to make room for the new ensuite, finally brought the electrician into the basement, made some design decisions, bought more renovation materials and—because apparently I didn't have enough happening—I started hand-painting a flower wall in the girls' bedroom.

Completely reasonable.

Starting Our Budget Ensuite Bathroom Renovation

The biggest new project this week was the budget ensuite bathroom renovation.

We started removing drywall from the old primary bedroom closet to make room for the bathroom, although I already knew this wasn't going to be one of those quick weekend transformations.

Inspiration for my ensuite bathroom. Thank you Pinterest!

The ensuite would happen slowly over the next several weeks as different contractors became available.

But I did make some exciting progress on the design (thanks to Pinterest for all the inspiration!). Then I went shopping and found:

• Shower tile

• Shower doors

• A vanity

And yes...

The shower tile and doors came from Habitat for Humanity. At this point, Habitat was becoming one of my favourite places to shop for renovation materials.

I was finding brand-new products for a fraction of retail prices, which made a huge difference when we were trying to stretch an already very tight renovation budget.

Moving the Navy Vanity Upstairs

Originally, the navy vanity I'd purchased was supposed to go in the basement bathroom.

Then I started planning the ensuite and suddenly it belonged upstairs.

Moving the vanity into the ensuite actually helped everything else click into place design-wise.

Once I had that navy focal point (which ted into the ktchen ,sland and the accent wall) I could start making decisions about the tile, fixtures and overall look of the room.

Thankfully, I already had another vanity base for the basement, so I'd only need to purchase a countertop for it.

Problem solved... or at least relocated.

I planned to start buying the remaining bathroom fixtures the following week, but my plumber was booked up and would also be installing the shower tile.

So for the moment... The ensuite went on pause.

One of the biggest lessons I was learning about whole-house renovations was that having a project technically "started" did not mean you'd be finishing it anytime soon.

Let There Be Light

The electrician finally started this week too. And honestly? What a difference.

He completed the lighting in the basement rec room and bathroom and started working on the primary bedroom as well.

The basement pot lights completely transformed the space.

Before? Dungeon.

After? An actual room humans might voluntarily spend time in.

I didn't know exactly how much those pot lights were going to cost me yet, and frankly I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

I just kept looking at them and telling myself: Worth it. Definitely worth it.

We'd intentionally left the basement mostly untouched since the first week because we knew the electrician would need to cut several large holes into the ceiling to complete the wiring.

There wasn't much sense in finishing drywall and flooring only to immediately tear things apart again.

Once the electrical work was completed and the ceiling repaired, we'd finally be able to move onto flooring.

The plan was for Grayson to temporarily move into the finished rec room until his actual bedroom was ready.

The basement is a mess but wow do the pot lights make a big difference!

Why the Basement Bedroom Was Taking So Long

Grayson's bedroom was becoming one of those projects dependent on approximately fifteen other projects.

First, we needed to address the basement leak we'd discovered.

Then we were waiting for a new window so the room could eventually meet the requirements we needed for the bedroom.

Then came electrical.

Then drywall.

Then flooring.

Then everything else.

Renovations are basically one giant game of:

"You can't do this until that is done, but that can't happen until this other person comes, and they can't come for three weeks."

So while we waited...

We worked on everything else.

Updating the Trim Without Replacing Everything

One of my many supply runs that week was for trim.

I don't think I'd made it through a single renovation week without at least two trips to a hardware store. At some point, I realized I'd created a small problem for myself.

Between adding the ensuite and the walk-in closet, we'd built significantly more wall space than the house originally had.

Which meant... We didn't have enough existing trim.

I'd already mentioned that I thought the original trim looked dated, so I wasn't exactly devastated about having an excuse to buy some new moulding.

Instead of replacing trim throughout the entire house, though, I came up with a compromise that would help keep costs down.

We'd install new, more modern trim in the areas people saw most:

• Kitchen

• Living room

• Dining room

• Main hallway

Then we'd reuse the old trim we removed from those spaces in the new ensuite and closet areas.

It gave the main floor the updated look I wanted without paying to replace every inch of trim in the house.

One of my favourite kinds of renovation solutions: Part practical. Part aesthetic. Mostly budget-driven.

In the end, we replaced the trim on the entre main floor and only used the old trim in the basement which worked out well since it was more visually cohesive this way. We also picked a trim style for the main floor that came in large value pack bundles to help with the expense of this unexpected change.

The Flower Wall Nobody Thought I Should Be Doing

Then there was the girls' room. More specifically... The flower wall.

This was one of those projects that was technically tiny compared to everything else happening in the house.

No plumbing.

No electrical.

No walls coming down.

Just me and a paintbrush.

And yet everyone kept asking why on earth I was spending time on it when we had an entire house to renovate.

My answer? Because if I didn't do it now, I knew I never would. Also, it's not like I can really help much with anything else.

If I waited until move-in week, everything would be rushed. The furniture would go into the room. Boxes would pile up. Life would happen.

And the flower wall would become one of those projects I kept saying I'd "get to eventually." Eventually has a funny way of becoming never.

Plus this mattered to me. I wanted the girls' room to feel special. And while the room was empty, I had the time and space to actually do it properly.

At this point I was about four hours into painting and planned to track my total time so I could eventually share a full DIY flower wall tutorial.

Did I underestimate how long it would take? Probably. But that seemed to be a theme around here so it kinda makes sense. How does it look so far?

The start of my flower mural wall in the girls room. It's all sketched out now and I've started painting!

The Renovation Waiting Game

By this point, delays were becoming one of the hardest parts of the renovation. COVID-era supply issues and contractor schedules meant some of the projects I'd expected to finish first—especially the basement—were suddenly looking like they'd be among the last.

And all of those delays had a financial ripple effect.

I was still financing most of the renovation out of pocket, with some help from my brother and Grayson, while waiting for renovation funds to be released.

The frustrating part was that projects had to be completely finished before they counted. Not 90%. Not "basically finished." 100%.

That meant all of the flooring needed to be installed.

All of the painting needed to be finished.

All of the kitchen cabinets needed to be installed.

Except every one of those projects depended on another unfinished project.

So I was stuck in this strange renovation limbo where we'd spent a huge amount of money, completed tons of work... and still couldn't officially call much of anything done.

Naturally, I responded by staring anxiously at my bank account and willing it to survive just a little longer. Not a very effective financial strategy but we made it.

Looking Back at Week Five

By the way, Thalia says hi!

They say renovations are stressful. At the time, I remember thinking that was a bit of an understatement.

We were coordinating contractors, waiting on supplies, making design decisions, moving money around, shopping for bargains and working on multiple rooms at once.

And yet there were still these incredibly exciting moments mixed into all of it, like:

• Seeing those basement pot lights turn on.

• Finding brand-new shower materials for a fraction of retail price.

• Finally having a clear vision for my ensuite.

• Starting a special bedroom wall for the girls.

None of those things meant we were ready to move in. But each one made the house feel a little more like ours.

Looking back now, I've realized that whole-house renovations aren't usually one dramatic transformation.

They're hundreds of tiny wins layered on top of each other. A light fixture here. A Habitat find there. Four hours spent painting flowers when everyone thinks you should be doing something else.

Eventually, somehow, all of those little things become a home.

Follow Our DIY Home Renovation From the Beginning

Want to see how this renovation unfolded week by week? Catch up on the full story below—from getting the keys and tackling smoke damage to kitchen surprises, flooring, trim work, and finally seeing the house start to feel like home.

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Weeks 10-13 

Missed all the before photos? Check out the blog post Semi Excited to see our starting point.

Whether you're planning your own DIY home renovation or just love a good before-and-after story, there's plenty more renovation chaos, lessons learned, budget decisions, and progress to come.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can you save money on a bathroom renovation? My Budget bathroom Renovation Tip:

Secondhand and building-reuse stores were a huge help for us. We found brand-new shower tile and shower doors at Habitat for Humanity and reused a vanity we'd originally purchased for another bathroom. Being flexible about where materials ended up helped us stretch our renovation budget.

Are pot lights worth adding to a basement?

For our basement, absolutely. The existing lighting made the space feel dark and unfinished, while the new pot lights made it feel dramatically brighter and much more usable.

Should you replace all the trim during a renovation?

We chose not to. Instead, we put new modern trim in the most visible main-floor spaces and reused the original trim in the basement. It gave us the updated look we wanted while reducing material costs.

Should you do decorative DIY projects before moving in?

For projects that are easier in an empty room, I think there's an argument for doing them before move-in. I knew my hand-painted flower wall would be much harder once furniture and everyday life entered the room, so I intentionally tackled it earlier in the renovation. Otherwise, I would wait until later for decorative projects.

Why do home renovations take longer than expected?

Our renovation involved contractor availability, supply delays and projects that couldn't begin until other work was completed. Even when plenty of work was happening, those dependencies meant entire rooms could sit partially finished for weeks.