Dated to Dressed up- Bathroom Remodel

The main floor bath was very dated, from the textured walls, ornate pendant lights doorway into the master bathroom and weirdly shaped tile countertop. When we decided to close of the door between the two bathrooms, we decided to update the bathroom at the same time. Unfortunately I did not take many before pictures, but you can see how plain and dated the room was in this before picture:

After taking out the door and frame, framing out the opening and putting up the drywall, we had a decision to make, matching the wall texture from the rest of the room or smoothing out the surface on all of the walls. (Each room in this house has a different wall texture! The bathroom had circles or swirls.) We decided to smooth the walls out to look like a newer home. The countertop extended past the vanity to the wall by the entrance to the bathroom. The countertop curved in to make room for the door to swing shut. It was very awkward and did not serve any real purpose for us so we removed it and replaced it with a single piece countertop/sink combo. We also updated the faucet and installed a nickel fixture.
Now that all of the necessities were in place it was time to decorate. I had purchased some artwork at a garage sale while living in our previous house that I thought would be perfect. The artwork was from Bed, Bath and Beyond and the tags were still attached, they were marked $40 each and I got them both for $15. The pieces showed bathrooms decorated in red and gold and were in very ornate gold frames.

The mirror frame, towel bar and light fixture in the bathroom were also gold and very ornate.
I decided to go with a red and gold color scheme as we already had several items to go in the room and could update the room at very little cost. I bought a can of red paint, I believe that it was called Country Apple, and painted the newly smoothed walls. I needed to dust the walls to get some of the dust from sanding and smoothing the walls off so that the paint would not clump. After dusting the walls, I got to work painting. It took several coats as the walls just sucked up the paint. Finally, I placed the finishing touches. Even though we used a lot of the existing elements, I don't feel that the room feels dated. It definitely feels very rich and dressed up!



The rose topiary on the back of the toilet was part of the decor from our wedding. I purchased the foam topiary stand at Hobby Lobby and then pushed the stems of miniature roses into the foam until it was filled. I then tied a red ribbon around to add a little bit of color. I love that this piece is a part of our everyday lives!

The little nook that was under the extended countertop has become potty training central. With 2 kids under 3 I needed space to keep the toilet and extra supplies, like underwear. Before removing the countertop we had to pull the potty out in order to use it, and now it is ready anytime. My mom got me this plant stand for a quarter. In the past, I used it to hold extra hand towels and wash cloths, now it holds extra underwear in case of an accident! This little nook is so much more useful to us now.


I do still plan to add some crown moulding and have thought about putting in beadboard and a chair rail, but for now the room is perfect!