When you have one bathroom, you need to maximize space and style. For now, a full renovation was not in the cards for us. I wanted to make a big impact with as little money as possible. I think you are really going to like our bathroom’s fresh new look and the much-needed storage I added.
Before Pictures + The Plan
The Problem: The paint color and the lack of any cohesive design.
The Plan: Paint the walls and ceiling light gray and the indented wall on the right a dark gray as an accent wall.
The Problem: An old yucky vanity with goopy painted hinges.
The Plan: Paint it the same dark gray as the accent wall and add all new hardware.
The Problem: Four different metal finishes. Oh, my!
The Plan: Accent with chrome and white hardware keeping with the era of a 1940’s home. Try and make it feel original even though the bathroom was updated in the 1980’s.
The Problem: Very little storage.
The Plan: Build a new shelf above the toilet and a shelf across the wall above the door to match. Build them to seem as if they have always been there. Paint them the same dark gray as the vanity and the accent wall.
The Problem: An outdated light fixture with yellow shades.
The Plan: Spray paint the light fixture dark gray to match the accent wall and the vanity. Add new glass shades that are white with a style that fits the era of a 1930’s bathroom.
The Problem: Medicine Cabinets. I really don’t like them and there we have two! However, I need to keep them for the storage.
The Plan: Add lots of trim to both of them. Try to make them look as much alike as possible.
The Renovation
Here is a peek at the new towel shelf above the toilet and the holes in the wall patched.
You can see the new gray color here and the beginning of trimming out the medicine cabinet mirrors. John used his router to make custom trim to match the existing medicine cabinet as close as possible. I think he did a darn good job!
Our little house only has three drawers in the hallway and no closets except for one in each bedroom. Here is a look at the shelf above the bathroom door. This will help with much-needed storage!
The Reveal
Welcome – come on in! About the little restroom sign. There are three doors in our hall. The left door is my room, the middle door is the restroom, and the right door is our daughter’s room. We throw lots of parties and I didn’t want our guests accidentally walking into our daughter’s room when she is hiding out in there. Thus, the need for the little restroom sign.
Here you can see the new wall color, the custom shelf above the toilet for our towels, and the new mirror trim.
The shelf was built using wood brackets from Lowe’s. I have a full “shop the look” section at the bottom of this article.
I think the chunky trim around the mirrors makes all the difference in here! It makes the two different medicine cabinets look the same and adds character.
The light fixture was spray painted dark gray similar to the vanity cabinet and the accent wall. New white globes were added. I can’t believe how much better it looks!
Painting an accent wall a darker gray gave this boring wall a little punch. It is the same color as the vanity and the shelves. I found the antique mirror at the Habitat Restore for $10 and gave it a little tender loving care.
The most practical part of the bathroom renovation was adding this shelf above the bathroom door. Just the same as the towel shelf, it was made with wooden brackets and painted the same color as the vanity. The boxes store things like extra bars of soap, the neti pot, band-aids, and other bathroom stuff.
I’m not kidding when I say my house is small. Here is a wide view of the renovation and you can see all the way to the front door.
