Bathroom Hardware and Fixture Buying Guide

Bathroom Fixture Buying Guide

If you would have told me before starting this renovation that it would take me well over 20 hours to research, price compare, and purchase my bathroom fixtures I would have called you a big fat liar! Holy cow, you guys... It was exhausting!

I assumed that the mecca of home renovation glory, Lowes, would just magically have everything I needed but boy was I wrong. Daniel and I decided to go with brushed nickel finishes and white ceramic toilet and vessel sink. That was the easiest decision of the entire renovation.I should also say that Daniel's ONLY design request was the faucet. He let me make every other choice and happily grouted over 700 subway tiles in our shower... That was intense. But i'm getting ahead of myself.

What We Bought, Where, and How It Went

Lowes - A Toilet and Shower Valve Handles

toilet

First, we bought a toilet from Lowe's. Previously in the bathroom we had the worlds smallest toilet. Seriously. Like the child size ones they have at Chuck-e-Cheese. We wanted an elongated bowl and a brand we trusted. So we ended up with a Kohler classic. Originally $209 but we got it on sale for $179.55. Holler! Sorry, that was weird, I wont ever say "Holler" again...

Overstock.com - A Vessel Sink

vessel sink

Next I searched for the vessel sink, and originally bought one at Lowes for $79 but it wasn't compatible with the faucet we wanted, so I had to return it. Then I searched all over the web for vessel sinks, but every time I found one I liked it was way too expensive. Then I stumbled upon Overstock.com where I found this perfect sink! And was so happy with the price of $89.99 and free shipping!

Hunting for Hardware

Then came time to buy the hardware and unfortunately Lowe's didn't have our faucet in brushed nickle so back to the web I went searching. Here is where I spent the majority of my time.I assumed that Amazon.com would have what I need but wasn't pleased with the selection or price, which is rare because I am usually able to find anything I need rather quickly on Amazon. I spent hours looking deeper and deeper into a google search for the faucet we wanted and the trickiest part was that I wasn't sure what to call it. I thought it would be called a "Well Faucet" since it is reminiscent of old hand pumps for wells but no such luck.

PlumberSurplus.com Saves the Day

(update 8/27/2019: PlumberSurplus.com is no longer. RIP)

faucet

shower head

medicine cabinet

Then Daniel reminded me of PlumberSurplus.com and after digging into their site I found Daniel's Faucet! And for a great price $86.24! And as I am gathering the pictures for this post I notice the price went up to $115.83, thank you Jesus for giving us a deal. I also bought a shower head for $47.23 and some plates to cover the wall for $7 a piece (fancy contractors call these escutcheons).But the major downside to PlumbersSurplus is that they didn't give me enough product information. I read all about the faucet and it said nothing about what type of drain it came with or if it came with one at all. So, I ended up purchasing a pop-up drain for $15 but now will have to return it since the faucet did ultimately come with one.I also bought handles for the shower for $20.48 each and this was by far the most frustrating. I searched the site specifically for shower controls and after rabbit trailing through the site found these in the shower fixture product category with a very ambiguous description. They didn't say what they were for anywhere! I even sent it to my Dad who is a licensed contractor and he didn't know. Nowhere in the description did it say what the handles were specifically used for, and since I found them in a search result for shower controls I assumed they would work.

Well, when they arrived and we opened them up it was apparent that they were for a faucet. Frustrating. So down to Lowe's we went and bought handles for $22.99 each. I did get free shipping from PlumberSurplus.com, but it took a long time for things to get here. 7-10 business days, which seems like an eternity when you're used to Amazon 2 day.

Even though the handles and drain were a bit frustrating I was pleasantly surprised with the selection and price at PlumbersSurplus. I would definitely use them again, but know to give myself more time for shipping and I would probably do product research on another site with model numbers so I know exactly what I will be getting.

And lastly we bought our medicine cabinet from Amazon.com. It is a Kohler emerald shaped mirror that we originally saw at Lowes for $157 but it wasn't in stock. Thankfully Amazon had it for cheaper and with free 2 day shipping, we got it for $103.37. Hey-O! I love getting a deal!Phew, that was a lot! But there ya have it. The only thing left to buy is our shower doors, but we aren't 100% sure on which set we want yet. Hopefully those will get installed in the next few weeks.