Homeownership project #4, Part 1: Guest bathroom remodel

Alright people.  We're finally doing it.  This is THE project I've been waiting for.  The guest bathroom remodel. EEEEEKKKK!!  I can barely contain myself!!!!

Here is a little refresher of what the bathroom looks like currently:

I REALLY dislike this bathroom.  There are so many things I could point out that bother me, but I'm sure you can figure it out just by looking at it.  So, we're basically gutting the entire thing except for the tub since that's still in good shape.

I had such a time trying to find a contractor.  I finally signed up for Angie's List, and that was a really great decision.  It wasn't that expensive at all for a year membership (which will come in handy when our tenant in the townhome moves out and I need someone for repairs) and I would have never found some of these people on my own.  I sifted through lots of reviews and looked at lots of photo galleries of work and narrowed it down to three contractors. I liked the first guy I met with, the 2nd guy was nice but a little soft spoken (he was from the #1 rated contractor) and then I really liked the 3rd guy I met with - I felt most comfortable with him and I liked that he brought some ideas when we were chatting about what I wanted done.  Tyler and I have a max amount that we wanted to spend on this project.  When we got the first estimate it was about $2k over what we wanted to spend, and we still had to provide some of the materials. We thought, well shoot, maybe this is what its going to cost to get this bathroom updated.  Then we got the 2nd estimate from the soft spoken guy and it was $6k over what we wanted to spend, but we didn't have to provide any of the materials.  But it was totally outside of our budget regardless, so that one was a no-go. We finally got the 3rd estimate from my favorite contractor, and it was $600 under our budget!  Yay!  There were some things that Tyler and I can handle like painting, and doing some of the minor demo line items, so with those revisions, the estimate comes in at $1k under our budget. That's perfect because we will use that money to purchase a new vanity, toilet, fixtures, etc. We will finalize the contract early next week, and demo will probably start the following week. I'm so excited! Are you ready to see what our inspiration photo is? Here you go -

Can't wait to get this project started!