Friday, February 17, 2012

Decorating on a budget - Main bath


I hate our main floor bathroom.  Before we bought our house, we looked at so many houses, that they all kind of meshed together into one memory.  I couldn't remember what color the different bathrooms, or kitchens, or bedrooms were.  So, before we moved in, I was convinced that our bathroom had pink tiles for the tub surround.  Since we weren't going to be renovating the bathroom in the foreseeable future, I decided instead of working against the pink, I would work with it.  I went out and bought a grey/pink bathroom set.  It has the shower curtain, a toothbrush holder, garbage can and until last week, a soap dispenser.  I'm not really in love with the pieces, but I thought they would be workable.  Then we moved in.  This is the real color of the tile in the shower.
The color is not pink.  So, I decided that I would still work with the shower curtain, since I had bought it on clearance and didn't have my receipt anymore.  I painted the walls a silvery grey to match. 
The walls don't look to bad with the shower curtain, and you don't even notice the tiles if you keep the curtain closed at all times.  But, still.  I hate my main floor bathroom.  Since we are a single income household, I have decided that I'm going to try and make the bathroom better by spending as little as possible.  I've given myself a budget of $100.  There are certain things I can work with in the bathroom that we won't be replacing to keep costs down. 


The vanity ~ Before we moved in, the previous owners replaced the countertop and backsplash, so they're only 3 years old.  When we moved in, I changed the hardware on the vanity, so we'll be keeping those, but I'm going to paint the vanity black.  I also bought wood filler this week, so I'm going to be moving the handles up to the top of the doors instead of keeping them in the middle.



The light fixture ~ This was also put in before we moved, and I actually don't mind it.  It gives lots of light while still looking pretty.

The floor ~ If I could replace this, I would.  We have the ugliest lino in the bathroom.  It's so ugly, I didn't even take a picture.  However, I bought some bathmats to put down, so hopefully no one will notice the ugly tile underneath.


All in all, I think the work will be minimal.  Other than the painting of the vanity, I will be painting the ceiling white to brighten it up and the walls will be going from grey to a mushroom color.  The wood around the mirror will be painted black to match the vanity.  I've decided to work with my tile!  The rest of the color scheme is going to be browns, greys, and green.  Hopefully it won't look too masculine when I'm done.



One of the other areas I am going to work on is storage in the shower.  There is none, so I had to buy this ugly thing that stands in the corner.  I hate it.  I've found some inexpensive plastic baskets that I'm thinking about using creatively in this space to make it look less cluttered and more put together.  I'm sure when I'm done my bathroom won't make any magazine spread, but I think I'll be a lot happier with it.  Once I've done the makeover, I'll post pictures and a breakdown of my expenses.  We'll see if I come in under budget!

2 comments:

  1. You have done a lovely job! I really enjoy decorating on a budget. The bathroom can be such an expensive room to redecorate so there is a lovely feeling of achievement when you create a gorgeous space for next to no money! Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thanks. These are the BEFORE pictures, I haven't actually redecorated yet. Stay tuned here to see the after pictures!

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