Sometimes a room in your house may need a complete makeover, but you don’t have the budget to do it. In our house, the bathrooms had been overlooked. We wanted to renovate and update the main rooms in the house; the ones most seen by guests. After those were done, we could then focus on our bathrooms but didn’t want to spend a ton of money after all the other renovations. Cue the chalk paint, Home Depot, and Home Goods, and viola- a small budget makeover that made a huge difference. Here are 9 things we did to our master bathroom.
UPDATED THE VANITY
We bought Amy Howard chalk paint from our local Ace Store. We went with the onyx color because our countertops were a cream color and my husband isn’t one for “crazy” colors. We quickly wiped the cabinets down with a damp cloth, took the doors and drawers out and began painting. NO sanding necessary! We first painted the frame of the vanity and then the fronts of the drawers and doors. It took a few coats before we could then do the backs of the drawers and doors. Once that was done, we used Amy Howard’s clear finishing coat.
NEW MIRRORS
We had the original builder grade mirror that spanned across both sinks. We bought two matching mirrors at Home Goods for $29.99/each and installed those.
NEW LIGHTING
Also original, builder grade lights. We bought a new lighting fixture from Home Depot and easily installed that. Ideally we would have loved to have two lights directly over each sink, instead of in the middle, but that will be a fix for a complete renovation down the road.
NEW FAUCETS
Again, builder grade, original faucets when we bought the home. A quick trip to pick out some brushed-nickel faucets made a big difference.
NEW HARDWARE
When our vanity was completely dry, we also added new brushed-nickel pulls and handles bought from Home Goods. A pack for $12.99. We also installed new, brushed-nickel towel holders and hooks.
NEW RUG
Before we had two small bathroom rugs by each sink. We changed this by purchasing a 5 x 7 rug from Home Goods for $39.99. We have a somewhat large bathroom so this helped to make the room feel more of an actual room and make it more welcoming.
NEW SHOWER CURTAIN
Our shower had a glass door, but again it was original and dated. One day, it needs a full renovation but for now, we took it out and put up a shower curtain. Again, purchased at Home Goods along with the curtain rod and hooks.
NEW TOWELS
To contrast the dark paint on the vanity, I bought light white and gray hand towels, bath towels, and wash cloths to hang. I added a basket around the tub with “staged” towels for decor.
NEW DECOR ACCENTS
To glam the bathroom up a bit, I bought two floral arrangements, a mirrored tray, and glass jars for the vanity top. The glass tray houses our toothbrushes, and hand soap while the flowers are simply to make it pretty.
See the before and after pics of my bathroom below. We also removed the wallpaper border and painted the bathroom. The color on the walls is Behr Dolphin Fin. Overall, the bathroom looks way better than it did when we bought the home and all in all cost less than $500. MUCH better than the thousands you’d spend on a full renovation.
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
