The Garden Apartment Bathroom Got a Makeover

The bathroom in the rental unit beneath our Chicago home got a big makeover! We said goodbye to the tub and had fun with color and pattern.

Saying Goodbye to the Bathtub

Did you know we’re landlords to a rental unit directly beneath our Chicago home? It’s what we call a garden apartment, meaning it’s half below-grade. Not quite a basement, not quite a true first floor. Just a few small steps down to the door as opposed to a few steps up to our door.

When we purchased the home, the bathroom was in decent shape and some friends were looking for an inexpensive transition to life in the city. We gave the place a thorough cleaning and they moved in and stayed for a year or two. When they were ready to move out in 2019, we took it as the perfect opportunity to renovate the whole space! We installed fresh wood-look tile throughout, completely remodeled the kitchen with lots of custom touches, refreshed the laundry room and even added a vestibule so we could access the utility room without entering the tenant space. It held up fantastically for the first year… and for five more years after that. We had a couple of great tenants and our most recent tenants have been with us for a few years now. They love living here and we love having them, so we brought up the idea of a bathroom renovation to them and they were on board!

We presented the concept to nix the tub in favor of a walk-in shower with a handheld sprayer and they were as excited as we were. A sprayer makes all the difference when it’s puppy bath time! This relatively simple plan crept into a full-on renovation where the only things that remained untouched were the vanity, toilet and floors. We made some smart choices while our GC was on-site and the walls were open and the space looks huge compared to a month ago!

Garden Bathroom | Before

Luckily, the 2019 bathroom refresh had left us in a very good starting position with a solid layout, so the front half of the room was left almost entirely intact. The back half of the room, however, was demolished within an inch of its’ life and rebuilt better than it’s ever been. Here’s how it all came together.

Garden Bathroom | Today!

At first glance, a lot has obviously changed, but before we dive into the details, let’s take a look around!

It’s such a massive improvement! With some thoughtful, subtle changes, we gained many cubic feet of headroom and eliminated some serious visual obstructions. Lots of careful demo and planning got took place long before we could install tile and paint.

We added two flush LED can lights for better overhead lighting (on a dimmer switch, of course). We also installed a new, quieter vent van with a seamless flush cover that’s literally drywalled into the ceiling. The most drastic change, however, might be the elimination of the 4″ drop soffit that loomed over the old bathtub. It was a big visual barrier that really closed off the space. Our talented contractor was able to tuck some wiring and creatively re-work the drain from our walk-in shower that sits directly above this space. All together, these changes resulted in a fully flush ceiling with no interruption.

It All Started With Tile

This whole project started as an opportunity to partner with Mohawk flooring and Menards to showcase some soon-to-be-released tile selections from the 2026 collection. It soon turned into a weeks-long renovation that truly transformed the bathroom! The wall tiles are from the Mohawk’s Authentique Earth line. We love the natural, handmade look of the tile that shows subtle variation from tile to tile.

We were also very mindful of how this pattern would carry over to the shower curb. Since the tub was gone and the space was more open than ever, we took this as another opportunity to have some fun.

And speaking of the tile floor, we chose Mohawk Sandrio Dark Green Matte ceramic hex tile for a fun hint of natural color inside the shower. The tile was paired with an 18″ linear drain that features a reversible cap the can be tiled-in. The cover pops out for easy cleaning and it even includes a small strainer basket to catch debris and keep the drain flowing as intended. We love the seamless look and this will likely be our default drain style moving forward.

We’re absolutely thrilled with how the bathroom turned out, and so are our tenants! In a wild twist of fate, they put in an offer on a dream condo and it was accepted just two weeks after the renovation was completed. They’ll only be able to enjoy it for a few more months but they’ve reported that it’s fantastic. It’s bittersweet so see them go because we love them and their sweet pup, but we’re excited for their next chapter!

Garden Bathroom | Get the Look

1. mercer double horizontal sconce | 2. sashay sand paint | 3. flush exhaust mount | 4. modern raincan shower system | 5. scalloped shower curtain | 6. rounded rectangle pivot mirror | 7. marble shelf with rail and brackets | 8. bathroom vanity | 9. cassidy bathroom faucet | 10. green bottle soap dispenser | 11. wood wall hooks | 12. authentique earth tile coming to Menards this July | 13. vernon bin pull | 14. dark green hexagon mosaic tile | 15. linear shower drain | 16. jules collection ocean/spice rug

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Looking for more bathroom inspiration? Here’s the Red House’s half bathroom, our thoughts on art in the bathroom, our Tree House bathroom mood board, the Red House primary bathroom reveal, our Chicago guest bathroom, and the Two Flat Unit 1 first floor bathroom.