I spent this past summer tackling our primary (master is apparently out) bathroom, which was in desperate need of something...anything. This is what it looked like the day we moved in:
It wasn't the worst but upon closer inspection the paint job on the cabinets was almost literally slapped on, leaving drips, drops, and brush marks everywhere, the ceiling light was old and corroded, the floors were stained, the paint on the trim was worn and stained, and the color palette wasn't A+. We scraped and painted the ceilings but that's the extent of what we did in here for at least a year. But then things just got worse because I noticed marks on the walls that looked like someone had started ripping off wallpaper, not finished, but just painted over their attempts to cover it up and move along. And when I say 'looked like', I mean that's exactly what they did. Yay. So, instead of just leaving it as is until we could take the time to rectify the wrongs, I started peeling in a few places...and then it stayed like that for years. (Eek...that was embarrassing to write.) Our kids treated our bathroom as if it were a part of a dungeon and stayed away (which wasn't the worst thing in the world). I just turned a blind eye but I know it bothered Anthony because "we need to do something about our bathroom...I wish you hadn't started peeling stuff off the walls" was a regular stream of words that slipped out of his mouth. Yep sweets, me too.
I jumped into this mini-reno without taking a before picture showcasing where I had ripped off paint/wallpaper (it was probably subconscious embarrassment that made it slip my mind to document) but I did take a picture after I put one coat of drywall mud over those ripped wall areas and it doesn't look much better than where I had started so you can kind of get a picture of how bad this room looked.
But this summer I was in the mood for a "little" project and decided to zone in on this bathroom. Originally I figured we'd reno it big time and that's when we'd see the end of the peeled walls but we don't have time for that kind of big project right now. So this is a mini/phase one/temporary renovation but one that turned out so good that phase two might be kicked down the road for awhile longer. The goal was to use what we've got (I'm talking about you 50 year old countertops) but make it look 2026. The other goal was to not spend more than $150 to get from A to B. I'll let you know how I did on that in a minute. Right now, scroll down a smidge and see if you agree with me that it looks a whole lot better...
Before we moved in:
There must've once been a Hollywood bar light over the mirror on which the bulbs burned so hot they left black marks on the ceiling above. Weird and kinda scary, right?)
Now:
I documented a lot of the process of this transformation over on Instagram and wrote a few mini-tutorials like how to get the faux paneling look and how to line drawers with wallpaper. The wall color is Maison Blanche by Sherwin-Williams, a verrrrrry similar color as the countertops which makes them look intentional and like we meant to design the space this way. I almost dipped my toes in the color-drench trend by painting the window trim and door frame the same color but I realized that doing so might make the white floors look out of place so I pivoted and painted them white and added a white shower curtain, white trim around the mirror, and some white pieces on the countertop to tie in the floors (which I do LOVE...that hexagon tile will never go out of style.)
Frightening...
to fresh.
Whoever it was that covered up these solid wood cabinets with the two-toned paint job of their dreams didn't use primer or do any sort of prep work whatsoever so imagine my surprise while planning paint colors that when I tried, I could peel paint right off of them.
While it was tempting to just keep peeling, it didn't come off in large pieces and I didn't strip the paint another way because that would have required SO much effort. Since we plan to replace the cabinetry when we put in double sinks someday, I just lightly sanded to get a good base for new paint and scraped off some thick paint where it was needed. Then I used a flat paint plus primer (At Ease Soldier by Sherwin-Williams mixed into Valspar paint) thinking the flat paint would help hide any defects and it does a pretty good job.
I also added new hardware* because the old weren't my favorite, lined the drawers and inside floor with wallpaper*, and added a tip-out drawer below the sink just because I could. I also made and hung a curtain over the vanity opening because it's where we have a big basket full of extra toilet paper that's not exciting to look at. If we could afford to not use it as storage, I definitely would have stuck a cute vanity chair in there but big family? We need all the storage we can get. My favorite change though was adding faux legs to the bottom of the cabinets. I don't want to say that that makes the cabinets look more high end but that definitely makes the cabinets look more high end.
One thing that's always bothered me about this bathroom and one thing that I was determined to cover up when we renovated someday was this little storage cabinet/space between the studs on the wall. Yes, it's nice to have extra storage but I've always felt it was placed in an awkward spot at an awkward height making it just look plain...awkward.
But as it turns out, the white on blue on blue just didn't make it look it's absolute best and all it really needed was a cohesive paint job to make it blend in a little more and now it's not so bad. Something on the wall next to it might help balance things out even more but I haven't found that thing...and the budget already said no so maybe later.
The big 'ole mirror above the vanity is (was!)...big...and boring...and worn. Along some of the edges, the backing of the mirror is coming off so to make all of those things better, I used silicone to stick on cove moulding that I cut to fit around the edges. It adds character, pretty, and it covers up those spots. And I know it'll stay stuck for good because I added moulding around the kids bathroom mirror six years ago and it hasn't moved an inch.
And there we have it, not the bathroom of our dreams but the bathroom of our checking account's. But speaking of money, I said I'd do this for no more than $150. Did I spend no more than that to make this change happen?
The answer is...
Nope. Womp, womp. I couldn't find everything I wanted secondhand or in my own stash, which is usually where I save and I really wanted to stick to my timeline so I didn't have time to wait. But no more excuses. Here's what I actually spent:
wall paint - $30 - ($40 but bought during a "get a $10 rebate per gallon" sale at Lowe's)
markers for stripes/faux paneling look - $7 (only ended up using one marker out of the pack of three!)
cabinet knobs* - $20 - Amazon Resale
cabinet hinges - $4 - Habitat for Humanity Restore
faux roman shade (tutorial here) - $10 - used fabric from my stash but had to buy "L" brackets and wood
mini blind* - $11 - Amazon Resale
shower curtain - $23 - Amazon Resale (I could've used our existing curtain but it was striped and with the new stripes on the walls, I thought it'd be too much.)
ceiling light fixture* - $25 - Amazon Resale (glass was tricky to attach...fyi)
vanity light fixture* - $23 - Amazon Resale
vanity light fixture* - $23 - Amazon Resale
cabinet paint - $30
wallpaper* - $16 - Amazon Resale
wood moulding to trim out the mirror - $12 - (made out of wood trim on clearance at Home Outlet - can't speak highly enough about this store! It will always be a first stop for us when we need new flooring/cabinets/trim/etc...)
curtain rod - $3 - Goodwill
curtain fabric - $8 - Hobby Lobby
storage containers under the cabinet - $20 - Dollar Tree
soap dispenser - $6 - Aldi
All of the decor items in the room like vases, the tray on the counter, framed art, and rug were all things that were already in the room or pulled from our small stash of decorative things not being used anywhere. The art in the frame near the vanity is a free download I printed from here (an awesome art resource!!!) and the tray was one I made over years ago and un-made over a month ago to fit better in this space. ;)
GRAND TOTAL - $248
Soooo, almost $100 over budget but still, not the worst amount of cash to take a yuck bathroom to fresh and pretty, right?
We have lots of the things used like tools (miter saw and painting stuff) here on hand so that obviously changes that end price too. If we had to buy tools, painting supplies, and every little thing we used to complete this project, it would probably add $200+ to that grand total. Then there's the fact that I did everything myself which is the big reason why I could keep the cost so low. You know how we do...the whole reason I tippity-type out posts like this here on the www.
I feel like so much went into this little makeover that it's hard to get all of the info into a post without making it too wordy so let me know if you have questions! I hope this inspires you if you're in the same budget boat as us (or even if you just want something temporary that's pretty until you get the dream accomplished) and have a room that might be a good candidate for a use-what-you've-got makeover!
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*These links are affiliate links which means that, if you click over and make a purchase, we may receive a small percentage of commission. But don't worry, this doesn't affect the price you pay one bit but it does give us a little extra money to buy whole milk and paint. ;) Thank you for supporting us and fueling our love for DIY!
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