5 Bathroom Upgrades To Make Your Listing Look Squeaky Clean
Sep 29
as Recommended by Freemodel Project Directors
If you’re selling a home and considering remodel tasks, it’s important to prioritize projects that will offer a high return while still impressing buyers. If you’re planning a bathroom remodel, budgets and timelines often come into play. For that reason, Freemodel project directors often dig into all sorts of bathroom projects when making improvements to a home. Our project directors have experience working on all types of bathrooms, ranging from large-scale renovations to minor improvements. After looking at numerous case studies, we were able to identify five popular bathroom upgrades that Project Directors often revisit from home to home. Good news: you do not need to break the bank to impress buyers! From simplest to most involved, here are five high-value yet affordable bathroom remodel projects.
Melissa’s Freemodel project in Larkspur, CA
1. Clean grout around tiling: Potential buyers do not want to see remnants of anything dirty or lived-in as they try to imagine themselves using the space, and cleaning grout is a simple way to achieve that. Assuming your ground is in decent shape and not falling apart, our Project Directors will often opt to not completely replace tile in a bathroom and rather give the grout a fresh look. Scrubbing grout with a brush and a recommended cleaning solution can help to polish up the corners of your bathroom.
2. Add new, modern hardware: Whether in the kitchen, bathroom, or bedroom, adding new, modern hardware such as new cabinet pulls, adjustable shelving, new hinges, and other accessories can add the perfect new detailing that will impress buyers. New hardware can help build more contrast throughout the home and isn’t as costly as completely replacing cabinets. We recommend sticking with one type of hardware in your bathrooms and not mixing and matching, as buyers will likely prefer a neutral, balanced look.
3. Sand and paint cabinets: Often the Freemodel team will recommend adding a new prefab sink unit, which includes a vanity cabinet, countertop, sink, mirror, and faucet to really revamp a bathroom. But if you’re not looking to pursue a more detailed bathroom upheaval, sanding and repainting cabinets is a great way to revamp the look of the room without being too invasive. You can repaint the cabinetry to be more on-trend or fit the new design of the home as it is being upgraded and staged.
4. Invest in luxury vinyl flooring: Adding vinyl flooring in bathrooms is a bit more of an involved project, but the result and payoffs are significant. Vinyl is our team’s standout choice for bathroom flooring because it is durable, moisture-resistant, easy to clean and maintain, and it feels warmer on bare feet. There are several different vinyl products, including luxury vinyl tile (LVT) and vinyl roll (also known as sheet vinyl), and both of these are excellent bathroom flooring choices.
5. Reglaze shower and tub walls: Abrasive cleaners can be harmful to shower and bathtub walls. Over time, the original glossy covering wears off, leaving the surface exposed and allowing dirt and soap scum to stick in the pores of the porcelain. So, after cleaning these surfaces, we recommend adding a fresh topcoat of glaze to the tub and shower walls to give them a refreshed, glistening look.
Lillian’s Freemodel project in Studio City, CA
Be thoughtful about the parts of your bathroom that you think buyers would find most attractive. Look for ways to accentuate those features while striving to correct any less-than-ideal parts. While many of these projects will require the help and direction of a professional, there are many smaller tasks that you can tackle easily yourself, or at least start planning from a design and time perspective.
If there was something cumbersome or inconvenient about your bathroom flow, design, or layout, it will likely also be something that a buyer will take notice of. Freemodel’s talented team of Project Directors and designers can help to work with you on the most crucial improvements that will match your budget and timeline of how quickly you want to get your home on the market.
Check out a few of these case studies for more bathroom inspiration: