Recently remodeled my only bathroom. Such a small room I want to make sure the walls & ceiling (which both have been replaced with 1/2 sheetrock) look great. What are some techniques to get a great finish. All work being done by myself. Any products, techniques, sanding do's or dont's. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Do you have any experience with drywall finishing? While it is not rocket science, it does take some skills to get a nice, smooth finish. Tape and mud all your seams and corners then float them all out so nice and smooth. You'll need a few mud knives, especially a 12" wide one and a corner tool. Sand in-between coats but be careful not to rough-up the tape or damage the drywall. Prime it and shine a light on it on an angle to see if there are any bumps or other defects. Ready mixed sheetrock mud is good, gives you some time to work with it. Or you could texture it, popular where I live although I prefer a slick finish.

I Am A Typical Diy'r. Done Basic Plumbing, Electrical, Carpentry, Trim. I've Seen The Corner Mud Tools, Never Tried One Out. Do They Work Well?

If you have never done this before you will not likely get that perfect finish without redoing a few things along the way. I am not going to go through every step of mudding a wall because you only asked about the finish. Never sand the third and final coat which was applied with that 12" knife. Lightly scrape the surface bumps and chips and then wipe with a large damp sponge. The sponge remelts the mud and you get a better blend or transition to the paper. Prime and lighly sand the primer. Apply at least two coats of the final color and lightly sand between coats.

I like the corner tool, makes a nice corner in one swipe. Good luck with your bathroom.

Use mesh tape on all the joints except the inside corners, there use the paper tape, outside corners use the metal corner bead or tape with the metal strips on it. (first coat)
Mesh tape on the sheetrock joint then spread out the mud with a 3 or 4" knife, smooth this out best you can, but you dont have to get it to perfect. just no high ridges
after this dries use a 6 to 8" knife to apply a 2nd coat in the same way you did the first, you can smooth this out a little better. 3rd coat use a 10 or a 12" knife to float it out this time, if the joint is a butt joint( 2 untappered end ) you need to be 24" wide with that joint, meaning start with mesh tape and a 4" down the middle then 8" on both sides of the joint then 12" on both sides. a factor joint you can use just the 12" to finish it.
As far as sanding I (choose to use a sander) 220 grit paper . If the finish is a little rough you can drop down to a 150 but nothing less that. If you use a sanding block just make sure your not bearing down to hard to make grooves. Basically you want to fade out the outter edges and just smooth out the rest. As far as using a damp sponge, this method will also work, for me its a lot slower but you don't have all the dust normally accustomed to drywall sanding. Good luck

I have given up on my corner tool so give me your address and I'll give it to you. LOL I use 20 minute mud for the corners and just lay down one side with a 6" knife. Next time I come around the mud is hard and I lay down the other side for a perfect, sharp corner. I found the corner tool required a specific angle and pressure that I could not always maintain but that's just me. I use the sponge so the home owner doesn't get upset with the dust getting everywhere in the house and it really does make a nice transition to the paper.

My experience with the corner tool wasn't great either, it tended to leave the mudd a little heavy in the corner, ballengerb1 advise on mudding 1 side at a time does work really well

Especially with that 20 minute mud. When it hardens its really hard, you can really run your knife down the corner without worrying that you'll gouge a groove in your first side of the corner. Once in a blue moon I hire a pro to mud for me when I have too many other jobs to handle. Amazing tricks they will tell you for the price of a brew. I learned all I know for a 6 pack.

First off throw the mesh tape away. Only use it to patch old plaster walls and such. Use paper tape on all seams, joints and corners. Never put on too much mud, it is easier to add more than sand off too much. I never sand between coats because this causes your next coat of mud to "roll". It is much easier to use a sponge on the final coat. Just make sure the sponge is damp and NOT wet. Go slow and easy.
As for the corner trowel... 6" knife one side at a time!! Trust me!!
Mike

You didn't say that you were using MR drywall in the bathroom. MR means moisture resistant used mainly around the tub enclosure, and if it's a small bath... no harm in using it all over due to small space and steam condensation. As far as smooth walls... if you have no experience, better let a pro do it and he will get it done much faster with less hassle. I know... I have done it for a living, and it always takes longer to "fix" someone else's work.

okay... you guys will just LOVE this girl's DIY skills :D :o :p ;)

I took out a closet and put up a new wall at my mom's house. The only thing I did to get the taped seams smooth... hand sand. Yes, perfectionist here hand sanded the entire thing. But I was VERY surprised and pleased with the results. Smooth as a baby's butt... you can't tell there was ever anything there.

However, next week I will be doing an entire 10.5 x 13.5 room... ceiling and walls. So, your tips here are very useful to me... I really don't think I could hand sand that much room, lol.

OK Gal... sounds like you have the determination and are fussy enough to do a good job... get, (or borrow) a hand sander as well as a pole sander... it will make the job much easier after you have 2nd & 3rd coated your joints. Of course... a dust mask is in order! I sometimes put in a window fan blowing to the outside to "pull" as much dust outside as possible. Also... when the dust has settled, I use a mister bottle and spray the "air" in the room VERY lightly to draw down the airborne dust particles... but not so much that when you sweep the floor, it turns to mush. Just enough spray to make the floor dust start to roll together, but not smear. Makes for a cleaner job!
PS! Careful when you use the pole sander that it dosen't flop over on you when sanding sideways... otherwise you will mark your walls/ceilings.