NATION – Since you’ve been spending more time at home, you’ve probably noticed things that need a refresh, especially in that most-used room of the house: the bathroom. Whether you’re an experienced DIY-er or novice fixer-upper, you may be putting off renovations that seem too tough to tackle.
The good news? There are plenty of little things you can do to revamp your bathroom that aren’t time-consuming, and don’t require a contractor. Triple master plumber, TV host and licensed contractor Ed Del Grande draws from 30-plus years of experience to advise homeowners. “I wish people knew how much they can do to make visual and functional improvements in their bathrooms,” Del Grande said. “With a little instruction, like you see on YouTube these days, you can do a lot on your own.”
Del Grande recommends the following easy bathroom upgrades anyone can do in a day:
- Accents: “To freshen up the look of any bathroom, all you need to do is change some little stuff,” advises Del Grande. Fancy accents such as drawer pulls, cabinet knobs and switch plates can usually be replaced without having to re-drill or alter your bathroom cabinets and switches. It’s also easy to swap out towel racks, robe hooks and toilet paper holders for a new look. Just browse your favorite home improvement websites to find the style you want. “Everyone can make these changes with little effort,” said Del Grande. “And this goes for kitchen drawer and cabinet hardware, too.”
- Shower upgrades: Upgrade any shower stall by installing a new showerhead. There are plenty of options, from the simple to the high-tech, that improve the look – and experience – of your shower. For the ultimate in cool new shower tech, the Moxie showerhead and wireless speaker features robust spray coverage, plus built-in Amazon Alexa and a portable Bluetooth speaker with crisp sound quality so you can hear your favorite tunes over the shower noise, with the highest quality sound experience via Harman Kardon. This portable in-shower voice assistant includes unmatched sound quality and hands-free audio control, demonstrating the benefits of connected bathroom technology and Kohler Konnect. Singing in the shower will never be the same!
- Toilet seats: New toilet seats are simple to swap out, including specialty seats featuring slow-closing hinges (to prevent that middle-of-the-night slamming sound!), built-in air freshener systems, night lights – and even full bidet features. For example, the Puretide manual bidet toilet seat makes it easy to add the freshness and assurance of personal cleansing to your existing toilet. With a sleek, low-profile seat design, Puretide provides the superior cleansing of a spray wand that’s fully adjustable in terms of position and water pressure. This manual bidet toilet seat requires no electricity or batteries, connecting to the toilet’s water supply line for a super easy installation.
- High-efficiency toilets (HET): For the serious DIY-er, you could consider replacing the entire toilet. This change not only improves the look of your bathroom, but also saves on money and water, as many existing toilets are big water wasters. Cut water bills by swapping your standard toilet with a new high-efficiency toilet (HET, which use less than 1.3 gallons per flush, and are designed to flush less water with more power. HETs fit the same connections as a standard toilet for a relatively uncomplicated install.
“If you’re not confident of your ability to install a toilet,” Del Grande adds, “you could always hire a plumber for this job.”
