We’re always fixing, updating, or decorating something in our home, but I have yet to blog about our recent projects! Today, I’m changing that and am excited to share our latest home renovation, our guest bathroom!
When we moved into this home a little over seven years ago, the previous homeowners had updated this bathroom with new tile and vanity. The updates weren’t my favorite, but it was neutral, and our current decorations matched, so we didn’t have much motivation to make any updates right away. Fast forward 7 years, a pandemic that kept us at home, and I was more than ready to update the space!
What We Wanted to Update in our Small Bathroom
This bathroom is a small, full-sized guest bathroom near our main living area. It’s also the main bathroom we use for our son, so it gets a lot of use. Over time, our bathroom became a little less functional as we needed more space for storage, and the room felt small with the darker colors and no natural light. Our main goals for this space was to brighten it up and add more storage. We wanted a space that would make guests feel welcomed, yet also functional.
We Wanted to Brighten the Room with White Paint
As for the aesthetics of the space, we decided to paint it white to help make the room look larger. (Sherwin Williams Snowbound). Although we decided on white paint, we didn’t want to just paint the room white and walk away. I know white spaces are popular right now, but we love adding color to walls, so plain white wouldn’t cut it.
I started to do some research on wall options. I wanted to add blue accents to the wall to add some color and depth. I found several options and inspiration on Pinterest. (Read more about my research here)
In the end, I decided to paint small strokes on our wall for an accent. I’m not planning on writing a DIY blog post about this process, because this post explains it really how to go about painting the mural. found a similar tutorial here.
The paint color we used was Naval from Sherwin Williams Below are some progress photos:
We Wanted to Add Functional Storage to Our Bathroom
The before photos don’t lie, this bathroom was dark, and didn’t have a lot of functional storage space. We had a small and narrow cabinet above the toilet and a smaller drawer for the vanity, that’s it! Both didn’t hold much or provide guests with easy access to what they may need while they’re staying at our home. For our update, we wanted to make sure we increased the functional storage of the space.
What Storage Did We Add to Our Bathroom?
Updated Our 30″ Vanity
Our updated vanity has two wide functional drawers and one pull down drawer. This was a vast improvement from the one small drawer on our previous vanity. We even have semi-empty drawers – even after storing extra toilet paper and towels!
Added Open Wall Shelves for Storage and Decorations
We have shelves above our toilet in our master bath, and I love them, so I knew I wanted to add the same in the guest bath. Even small shelves are perfect for storage, easy to maintain, and allows your guests to visually see what they may need. As for the medicine cabinet, I moved and organized our misc. medicine, etc. into our linen closet. It’s so much more functional and organized. (We ordered the shelves in black and spray painted them blue)
Added a Small Woven Basket on the Toilet
As simple as this Woven Basket is, I’m glad we decided to add it to the space. It fits perfectly on the toilet set and provides us with more usable storage for our guests. Currently our basket includes an extra roll of toilet paper, a candle, Muse Bath Apothecary Flush Ritual (Exact Match Aloe + Eucalyptus + Lavender) , and extra hand towels. All are visible for guests but organized.
We Wanted to Change the Vanity Color to Navy
When we first started this upgrade, we intended to keep the cabinet and paint it blue. After we researched the process, we knew that route was going to take a lot of time and work. Not only would that be a lot of work, but our current vanity didn’t have much storage, so we decided to research our options and found a new vanity that was PERFECT for the room. (Additional options linked below)
Both vanities are the same width (30″), but the blue vanity has extra storage and is more functional with the space since.
Add Decorations to Make the Room Feel Cozy
We have artwork up all over our house, but I never got around to adding anything to this room. During our remodel, we added a few pieces to the wall to help tie in the the different colors in the room. This Fern Wall Art is simple, but the blue helps bring together the other blue elements in the bathroom.
Instead of keeping our towel bar, we installed shower hooks instead. We found these months ago at a local discount outlet and knew they would be perfect in our guest bathroom. I not only love the look of the wall hooks, but they’re also extremely functional for small children. My son, who’s four, can easily hang up and take down towels.
- Similar Hooks: 4 Pack of Stainless Hooks, Simple Towel Hooks, Towel Hook
- Wall Frames: 8 x 10 Frames, Similar Frames: White Frames from Amazon, Target Frames
The open shelves are another visual element in the room. Their simple, but provide us with space to add towels, face spray (Hydrate, Hyaluronic Acid + Vitamin B5 Facial Mist (Exact Match), Q-tips, cotton balls, Tums and other items are guests may need when they come over to visit. The Apothecary Glass Storage Bottles (Similar Option: Amazon)
Blue Decorative Bowls were purchased from Marshalls, but I found similar bowls here: West Elm Painted Bowls, FabFitFun West Elm Indigo Bowls
Replace the Shower Curtain for a More Modern Look
We replaced the shower curtain with a Textured Stripe Shower Curtain in White from Target. The added texture is simple, but the stripes adds extra depth and texture to the overall look.
The Results of Our Bathroom Remodel
What a difference a little bit of paint makes! The room feels and looks so much nicer with a fresh coat of paint and some new decorations. One of my favorite updates is the simple shelves, which allow us to easily display anything out that our guests may need during their visit. Now the space feels open and SO much brighter. I still cannot believe how much of a difference the changes made — but I can visually see it with the before and after photos.
I absolutely love how our bathroom turned out! We made a few minor changes that had a dramatic impact, all while staying within our budget. Thanks for taking the tour with me! I hope you love space as much as I do!
Additional Links for Items in the Room:
30″ Navy Bathroom Vanity: Currently Sold Out
Similar Options:
Circle Mirror: Exact Match (Purchased ours off of eBay)
Similar Options:
Towels: Towels in White and Worn Indigo
*This post contains affiliate links.
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