Before & After: A Historic Home Half Bathroom Renovation



A rustic bathroom setup featuring a round copper sink with a vintage-style faucet, set on a distressed white vanity against an exposed brick wall, with decorative items on the side.


Sinkology is proud to present Jennifer Panehal-Pelayo, our guest blogger from Flowertown Charm. Jenna is here to share her renovation story and inspiration around designing her new half bathroom around her copper sink. You can view the original story on her website  here.

No More Procrastinating!

I can finally say that our historic home half bathroom renovation is complete!!! We began this project 9 months ago, knowing it was time to renovate our downstairs half bathroom. Our historic home has 2 1/2 bathrooms, all 3 in need of a complete renovation. If you remember back to last year around this time, we had just finished our guest bathroom renovation. If you have not checked that out yet, click here! After finishing that project, we moved to the chicken coop (see here) and then started on the half bathroom.

The Before: Historic Home Bathroom Remodel

This half bathroom in our historic home is very, very small. I’m not kidding—if you were 5’10” or taller, your legs would hit the sink vanity while on the toilet. It had dated floral laminate flooring, a falling apart sink, and a 1950’s toilet. It was time for it to be renovated! Especially since it is the only restroom downstairs and is used most frequently. Here is a picture of before.

A small bathroom with a white toilet, a vanity with a sink, tiled walls, and a towel hanging on the wall.


Demo Day: Discovering Hidden Gems in Our Historic Home

Demo day is always a DIYer’s favorite because you get to destroy things and discover hidden surprises underneath! In our case, we found some brick and original beadboard! We came upon this by taking out the sink. We noticed some beadboard hiding behind a hole in the drywall. This drywall not only was hiding it, but it also took away space in this tiny bathroom. We went for it and ripped it all out! This gave us over 5″ of space behind the sink to the brick and an inch of space around the bathroom perimeter. We exposed the brick and old beadboard, giving the bathroom a historic feel that matches our home.



A small bathroom under renovation with exposed, damaged walls, a white toilet, and a vanity with a sink.
A room under renovation with exposed wooden framing and partially removed walls.
A floor under renovation with debris, exposed subflooring, and damaged materials.


Starting the Renovation Process: Vintage Home Bathroom Upgrade

We began by replacing some missing beadboard and then replaced the wood floors. The original floors were missing pieces for plumbing, so we chose new oak floors of the same size. Next, we painted and added a copper tin, incorporating the copper accent we wanted. We had extra copper tin around the house, and it turned out perfect! The bathroom ceiling is shorter than the rest of our downstairs, so it draws the eye up, making it feel larger and unique. Finally, we added the chair rail and crown molding to make it cohesive with the rest of our home.

Sink Dilemma: Finding the Right Fit for a Small Space

We had purchased a porcelain pedestal sink almost 2 years ago knowing we would use it in this bathroom at some point. When it came time to install it, it was way too large for this space! We were torn because the bathroom is so tiny a standard sink would not work whatsoever, and we had to stop the renovation. We started thinking of ways to make a small sink work and narrowed it down to a vessel because we could use whatever vanity we wanted to keep the space but still be pretty. I wanted the sink to be the focal point as well, so we really wanted something antique with lots of detail.

Then, I had the idea to use our antique entry table that we had found in our home and instantly fell in love with the idea! To use something that was old and part of the house yet be functional and serve a better purpose! PERFECT!



A rustic bathroom sink with a round copper basin and vintage-style faucet, set against an exposed brick wall.


Sinkology Saves the Day: Choosing a Copper Sink

Now it was time to find an actual sink that would fit our antique table but also fit the style of our historic home. I knew exactly what I wanted. There is an amazing copper sink company, Sinkology, that I have been following on social media for years! I love every sink they have, and I personally reached out to them a few months before this renovation to see if we could work together on our bathroom renovations. They said yes! I had never been more excited!! We decided to go with the Schrodinger Bathroom Copper Sink because it would incorporate more copper into the bathroom, has a traditional look, and let’s face it, it is just stunning!!

Now although this sink is not meant to be a vessel because it has a drop-in rim on it, we personally liked how the rim looked! We feel like it looked more handmade, and it worked out perfectly! Not only was the sink beautiful, but the company Sinkology was also there to answer our questions, gave us lots of copper care tips, and helped us with picking out a sink as well. We cannot recommend them enough! We will also be using their sinks in our master bathroom renovation in the near future, so stay tuned for that!



Close-up of a copper basin sink with a vintage-style faucet, set against an exposed brick wall.


Last Tasks: Finishing Touches on the Half Bathroom

We had to wait a bit longer for our copper faucet to be shipped internationally, but then we began wrapping things up! We added more copper by leaving all the copper plumbing exposed. I painted and heavily distressed our antique table/vanity so it looked old but lively. My husband tried DIY copper soldering for the first time, which was a great learning experience and gave us confidence for future projects.

Finally, I added the finishing touches with decorations, a new light fixture, and a mirror. We might switch out the mirror for a smaller one later. My friend Monica makes beautiful window mirrors, like the one in our guest bathroom renovation, but she doesn’t have a smaller size right now. This one works for now! If you’re interested in one, let me know—I can hook you up!



A bathroom mirror with bright lights above it, reflecting a wooden "Home" sign, and featuring a decorative copper ceiling.


The After



A rustic bathroom setup featuring a round copper sink with a vintage-style faucet, set on a distressed white vanity against an exposed brick wall, with decorative items on the side.
Close-up of a vintage-style copper faucet above a copper sink, with a bundle of lavender flowers next to it.
A vintage-style vanity with a copper basin sink on a distressed white table, set against an exposed brick wall with decorative items.
A vintage-style wooden sign with the word "Bath" written in cursive, hanging from a decorative metal bracket.
A decorative setup featuring a scented candle in a jar with a wooden lid and twine, placed on a white pedestal, next to a dish with soaps, against a brick wall.
A small bathroom with a white toilet, a rustic vanity with a copper sink, and decorative towels hanging on a beadboard wall.


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