It's finally done! What a journey!
Here's a reminder where we started. Again, not the worst ever, but not exciting or cozy by any means! My goal was to make this bathroom a little more user-friendly. We had zero storage, a shower head that was way too low, and tile that was "cute" but not in good shape!
I set out to give the bathroom a mini makeover and ended up taking way longer and spending way more than planned. I didn't technically have a budget, so I'm not going to say that I was over budget, but perhaps I underestimated what needed to be done ;)
If you are a vintage bathroom friend, there is hope for your bathroom! Here are a few ideas and updates that I did that could work for you!
the before:
Here's everything we did!
Change the light fixture.
This was the easiest change to make, by far! If you want bang for your buck, change the light fixture. I can't wait to change so many more light fixtures in my house, but one at a time! ;) We always joke that I'm the handy one in the relationship, but my husband does know how to change a light fixture, so I'm super thankful for that! Otherwise, I highly recommend hiring an electrician, instead of a handyman, to do that for you...especially if you are in an older house! Read my bathroom update to hear the horror story of a handyman trying to change the outlet in the bathroom!
Add a wooden ledge.
I love how this turned out! I used 1 x 5 pine cut to the length of my tile wall and attached with brackets to act as an additional shelf. I stained the shelf "early American" (my first staining project ever!) and I love how it turned out. I wanted to include wood in the bathroom to warm it up and balance out the black and modern elements that I was adding.
Install a medicine cabinet.
When you think "medicine cabinet," you probably picture an outdated dirty medicine cabinet, but now there are SO many amazing options for modern and beautiful medicine cabinets. Yes, even Anthropologie has a version of their prim rose mirror in medicine cabinet form - gorgeous!
I actually had a surprise during this makeover. When we removed the mirror over the sink, we discovered a medicine cabinet hiding behind it! I was so thrilled! One of my big goals here was to add storage, so a medicine cabinet was ideal for the bathroom necessities that weren't quite cute enough to display on my open shelving.
The medicine cabinet was in great shape, but didn't have a mirror, so I set out to find one. Turns out, the dimensions were a little hard to match.
Paint the floor.
The floor was not in great shape! The pink tile originally covered the floor and the floor of the shower, but it looked like at one point there was a leak underneath the shower and the pink tile had to be ripped out for the shower pan to be replaced. It was replaced with white tile on the shower floor. So I painted the rest of the bathroom floor white and it now flows nicely and covers up some of the cracks in the tile, etc.
Painting the floor isn't a permanent solution in my mind. We will eventually have to start from scratch in both of the house bathrooms to correct layout, spacing, and make the bathrooms really work for us. So painting the floor is a hold over solution that I'm fine with!
I used a high bonding primer after cleaning the floor well. Then used a porch & patio paint that is made to be durable. I finished with a matte eco-poly top coat that I had leftover from another project.
I was originally planning to paint a stencil pattern (vintage hexagonal tile) onto the floor, but the small square tile grout lines did not cooperate. I had to scratch that plan and start over with a solid coat of white paint. Oh well, now I know!
Add open shelving.
I love these modern glass shelves that I found (on Amazon!) and think they modernize the bathroom so nicely! They look much more expensive than they were ;)
Install a shower glass divider.
This was a huge one for me. When we moved into our house, there was nothing separating the shower from the rest of the bathroom. For the first few weeks, we showered in the hall bathroom! Then I decided to just get a cheap shower curtain for the time being until I figured out what I wanted to do. I went back and forth on what to do with the shower, but ultimately ended up buying a pre-made product that I thought would be the best use of my money. A custom shower door would have been around $1500, but I snagged this shower divider for just under $300! They have different widths and heights available, so I used the 30" divider in my space. The divider is very heavy, so I did need help to install it, but installation is very easy. Attach the included 3 brackets to the wall/floor, insert diver into brackets, seal with caulk. Done. This is probably my favorite bathroom transformation and what makes the biggest overall visual impact.
Update your shower head.
Lol. I can't help but laugh when I think about everything that had to happen to get this shower head and shower arm changed. Read my bathroom update post to hear the full story, but I ended up hiring a plumber and it took forever and cost soooo much. He broke the pipe and had to go in through the other side of the wall in order to not break all of the shower tile. Wow it was such a hot mess! BUT when it was all said and done, we replaced our old chrome shower head with a sleek matte black waterfall shower head and it is about 12" higher, so no more bumping our heads! Yay! I even attached a water filter to it, but we still have plenty of room!
We definitely had a few bumps in the road, but I'm so happy with our new space. Plenty of room for our toiletries and it makes me happy to take a shower now! :) I hope this encourages you if you have an old bathroom that doesn't make you happy or meet your family's needs! All items are linked below.