5 best tips to update a bathroom in no time and on a budget
Does your bathroom need a little love? You don’t want to spend a fortune but you need to do something to make it look pretty and inviting?
No problem.
Here is what I did to our basement bathroom remodel on a budget of under 150 Dollars.
It was a weekend job and I am so glad I tackled it more or less all by myself.
If you need some easy updating ideas for your bathroom – here are my 5 best tips to update a bathroom easy.
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5 best tips to update a bathroom on a budget
How to update a bathroom on a weekend and on a tight budget:
1. Paint the walls
First, decide on your color scheme. I wanted the bathroom to look fresh and light. This is why I decided on a light rose tone in combination with a light gray. And my men didn’t even complain about my color choice.
Stick to a maximum of two wall colors, more colors make the room just too busy.
Here are my color choices:
If your bathroom looks dated, add a fresh coat of paint.
It really helps if you update the wall color and make it nice and fresh with a light blue, light green, or rose, depending on what fits your bathroom decor and your style of course.
If you need some tips on how to paint a wall, check this out first: How to paint a wall easy and fast. These tips will make you more confident if you haven’t painted before.
2. Add a faux shiplap wall
The bathroom walls looked pretty bad because the old wallpaper had about 200 decorative pins in it. The walls had little holes I had to cover and afterwards had to sand and I was trying to find a way around it.
This is when I discovered faux shiplap. It is easy to install, doesn’t cost a lot, and looks amazing. And you can do it all by yourself.
It really gives the bathroom a completely different flair and it is such a cool update. Believe me or not, it was 30 Dollars for the Plywood.
The friendly guy at Home Depot cut the boards the exact right size I needed for my project. So I did not have to mess around with sawing the boards all by myself.
The only thing I had to do was nailing the wood planks in the wall. And because the plywood is so light, you can do this by yourself if you start at the bottom.
Material list:
What you need if you want to add a faux shiplap wall
- plywood planks
- nails
- hammer
- level
- spacers (you can also use coins)
- paint color
- paint roller and brush
The best thing about adding shiplap is that it is super easy to do. Especially if your wall is not huge, like in a bathroom.
I did this all by myself and I am so proud. You can do that too. It takes only a couple of hours and looks great.
Here is how to do it in detail: DIY faux shiplap for first-timers . Read thru it and I am sure you will love doing it too because it adds so much atmosphere to a dated looking bathroom.
3. Paint the bathroom vanity
Painting the vanity is actually a pretty easy job if you have the right paint color.
I have painted all my kitchen cabinets and also all my cabinets in my little camper and this is the paint that works the best:
Milk Paint – no need to sand and prime before you start painting. Just clean the cabinets with a deglosser (takes off all the grease and dirt) and then paint it.
After painting add three coats of Top Coat (a must) and the cabinets will look like new.
Trust me, check out my kitchen I have painted three years ago and it still looks amazing. Paint your kitchen cabinets without sanding and priming DIY
If you are thinking about painting your vanity, just take off the doors and the hardware, clean it well and start painting the inside of the doors.
Here is a link to the paint I am using for almost everything because it works so well. And for me, it is a game-changer when I can actually skip the step of sanding down the cabinets.
Of course, there are a lot of different colors available. Try not to use white, because white tends to get yellowish with time.
4. Add new and colorful accessories
As soon as your walls are freshly painted, check out some new accessories. Either make them yourself, like this towel hanger and a shelf I added next to the vanity, or check out Amazon for easy ordering.
This is where I find most of my decor.
Get a small piece of wood, paint it the color you love, and add some hooks. It is so easy to make a pretty towel holder, with almost no costs. You can get cheap hooks at the Dollar Store or even at a Thrift Store.
I am a collector of a lot of decor stuff – like hooks – and I actually remembered where I stored them.
Now finally they are out of the box and shine in my bathroom. Don’t you love this?
A new mirror:
A new mirror was on my list because the old mirror was just – well old and didn’t look pretty anymore.
And if you want to update an older bathroom, it is good to add something modern. I absolutely love this round hanging mirror.
If you want to update your mirror with a new frame, here is how I updated my bathroom mirror with a diy wood frame.
Affiliate links for your convenience, if you want to get a similar mirror.
I bought mine at Kirkwoods on sale for $ 25. So shop around and I am sure you will find something you love.
Shower Curtain
The shower curtain I fell in love with was my inspiration for updating this dated looking bathroom. And because the shower curtain is so colorful, you don’t really need to add a lot of different colors to make the bathroom look modern. This shower curtain makes the whole room fresh and new.
And there are so many different patterns and designs, that it is really hard to decide.
Here are the best finds in a lot of different colors. It was a hard decision to make:
Depending on your color scheme and decor, decide which one you love most.
My color scheme of the bathroom is pretty neutral with the light rose shiplap, rose wall color, and the brown vanity.
And because I love it colorful, I thought I should add a colorful curtain. And it looks great. Makes this room so happy.
5. Bathroom rug:
What about your bathroom floor. Do your tiles look bad? But you really don’t want to add a new floor?
I get it because adding a new floor is not so easy. I added new vinyl tiles in the bathroom but the pattern just didn’t fit together.
So I will dedicate a couple of hours next week and remove them and try making it look better.
Much easier than adding a new floor is adding a nice and pretty rug.
This is what I am going to do as soon as the tiles are out:
But now I found this company ruggable.com which makes really pretty rugs and the best thing about it is that they are washable. They come in two pieces, like a velcro type base and a second layer with the pattern. This second layer comes off and can be put in the washing machine. And just looking at my rug in the master bathroom makes me want to buy a new one right away.
Here is my favorite pattern so far:
I bought one for my Camper, so I am very excited to see how it looks. Check out the website from ruggable.com, they have a really great selection and as I said, the rug is washable. And this is really a selling point to me.
I am going for one that will cover most of the tiles because I don’t want to see them anymore.
Summary of 5 Best Tips to update a Bathroom cheap
This is how the bathroom looked before I started with the makeover. It took me a weekend and I am so glad I did it.
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No matter what you do to an old bathroom, it can only look nicer. Just by adding a fresh coat of paint, a new shower curtain, and a pretty rug, can totally transform the old and dated look of a bathroom.
And waking up to a pretty bathroom is sooo much nicer and makes you feel so much better, especially if you are not a morning person, like me.
I hope I gave you some inspiration to update a not so pretty bathroom in 5 easy steps.
And it doesn’t need to be expensive especially if you paint yourself and make your pretty accessories yourself.
Show me your pictures and if you have a question, add it in the comments below.
And I see you next week at the blog,
Love, Conny xoxo
Related articles you don’t want to miss:
Awesome Bathroom Remodel under 150 Dollars
DIY faux shiplap for first-timers
5 best tips how to decorate your home on a budget
Want to remember this? Pin this ‘Bathroom Remodel” picture to your favorite Pinterest board:
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