This is the view when you walk into the room. Vanity to the left, door/wall to the right. To the right of the cross is a small cubbie. It used to have wire shelves (see storage with towels/sheets later) that I could put back up, but I don't want the wire look. I have thought about putting the shelves up with a baseboard on the front to give it a nice finished look.
I feel that there needs to be something over and on the back of the toilet. But with the cross there, is that too much? Should I move the cross to the wall directly across the wall from the toilet and leave the wall you see upon entering blank?
The vanity. I have a couple of pictures and a Willow Tree figurine. Don't you just love the knee space below. Does anyone still sit down to put on their makeup? How do I make that space more functional? Do I paint the cabinets? What color?
When standing with my back to the mirror the is what I see.
Close up of the shower curtain.
The "open" linen closet (to the left of the towel rack). These are the wire shelves I have. Like I mentioned earlier, should I put some sort of "front" on them to dress them up a bit?
What are your thoughts? How can I make this a more desirable room?
Interesting, I often find people in situations where budget is a restraint. No matter what, you’ll find bathroom vanities to suit your budget.
ReplyDeleteI like your bathroom! My first thought was how much I liked the cross where it was. But, if you do want to do some making over, you could paint. It's fairly cheap and easy. We recently painted our bathroom (it looks about the size of yours) and it cost less than $40 for all supplies. You could make a curtain to go in front of the open shelves, but I honestly don't know if I'd change anything. I thought it looked nice the way it was!
ReplyDeleteIf you want to spend a little money and the time, some paint would be great (you could look in the Oops section for $5/can). But that might darken the room too much? I think if you put a curtain across that knee space, it would look more uniform, same for the open closet, but that depends on how much it bothers you. I'm about to start a bathroom redo (on zero budget), so I'm also thinking about jazzing up the wall mirror. I have the same big one you have.
ReplyDeleteIf you have any pictures of your kids when they were little and in the tub..it makes great art work! Print them in black and white (or maybe sepia w/your color scheme) and get some cute frames and make a grouping.
ReplyDeleteThe space beneath your vanity..I would clean that up, get rid of the plastic bins..do you really use all that stuff? Switch to wicker baskets(you can even get pretty ones that are lined for easy cleaning)and fill one up for with your stuff and one with your husbands stuff. In the morning you just take out your basket, use what you need and then put it back.
The open linen closet..I would either cover it up, or change the way I folded my towels. I would probably do a roll instead of a fold. It would be more interesting I think. I would try and trade out towels all in one color too. Little by little of course since they can be expensive.
The top of your vanity: I would put some apothecary jars up, filled with maybe cotton balls, Qtips, bathsalts, etc. Keep only things on your vanity that you would use,but in a nice package. All in all though, I think your bathroom is adorable! Have fun with it!
I'd probably put curtains up over the knee hole and linen storage-maybe something that coordinates with the shower curtain. I'd probably then take one colour of towels (it looks like you have several red ones) and store those on top of the toilet-not sure if they would fit, but maybe roll them and stand them up in the basket to give it a little height and brighten up that wall. Photos up there might be good too-maybe get frames and spray pain them black to go with the cross.
ReplyDeleteOn second thought, the cross is actually a different type of look than the rest of the bathroom, so maybe replace it with some photos clustered on the wall in frames that are all an accent colour.
KLee - Here is a blog that I LOVE! I just started reading it but it has so many good ideas! This link specifically is called "10 Minutes to a Bathroom You'll Love"
ReplyDeletehttp://nestingplacenc.blogspot.com/2009/02/10-
minutes-to-room-youll-love-part-3.html
I would certainly replace the fixtures... at least the light and faucet. You can very often find items like this on clearance in home improvement stores.
ReplyDeleteI would hang some shelves over the toilet if you are needing more storage. Maybe some free hanging individual shelves for a more updated look. IKEA has some wonderful jars for very cheap to dress the shelves up.
Paint is cheap and goes a long way! If your cabinets are needing a makeover I would paint them... (white or off-white... whatever color your countertop is). And perhaps a fresh color on the walls. If the cabinets are white you can go a little darker on the walls.
For under the cabinet I would put some open shelving (it is easy to match inexpensive lumber if you paint the cabinets). And dress it up with some baskets like Dawn mentioned. And I would dress up the sheet/towel storage with some trim and more baskets.
Sounds like FUN!
I would paint a fun color on the walls.
ReplyDeleteHaving a theme is always fun. Some themes I've seen are seashore, fish, dolphins, lighthouses, tropical, rubber duckies - there's thousands of them!
Then I'd get some matching material and make curtains for in front of the wire shelves and under the sink. Check out the nester here - http://nestingplacenc.blogspot.com/2009/02/10-minutes-to-room-youll-love-part-3.html . Her vanity mistreatment proves that you don't even have to know how to sew.
My colorful wash cloths are rolled in a fun container on the back of the toilet. Actually it's a fancy plant container that I got at a thrift shop but now looks like wash cloth "flowers".
ReplyDeleteGood post! :) I was thinking some paint would be good. We got some good paint at Home Depot in the oops section for super cheap and it was enough to do a whole room when Ben put it with some white to lighten it. You could make the mirror look a little "nicer" by framing it with wood. I can't think of what it's called right now--skinnier than base boards. Could you buy another shower curtain to match? You could use it to make the curtains to cover the others if you're interested in that. Sounds like some good ideas for weekend projects!
ReplyDeleteI would paint the vanity...either white or black, or any color you like that you can find in the oops section (our walmart has one too)
ReplyDeleteI think it would look nice to have a shelving unit or something over the toilet. use some pretty baskets to hold soap, toothpaste etc that you have from your stock.
If you can find a pretty shower curtian that's not too busy, you could get a couple of them for the linen nook and under the vanity. some of the other commenters recommended the nester's blog. look under her categories for mistreatments. I mistreated my bathroom!
good luck! be sure to post pictures of the after for us!
Haha, I thought I would come in with some great ideas for your bathroom, but it looks like others have beat me to the punch.
ReplyDeleteYes to:
-some mistreatments (a la The Nester)in that "knee space" and in front of your shelves
-love the idea of tub time pics
-check out some yardsales for a new light fixture for JD to put up over the vanity and for a cute cabinet for that wierd space by the toilet
-love the idea of apothocary jars on your counter, Homegoods sometimes has them for a steal
You've had tons of good suggestions. (Where were you guys yesterday?) I would take some time to decide your vision for the room. Do you like clean lines or soft edges? For example, clean lines would mean you want simple baskets under the vanity not a curtain. Then set aside a little money each month for 1 thing to achieve your goals. One month you can paint your walls. Maybe another month paint the cabinets. One month buy baskets to put on the shelving. And accessories another month. That way you aren't spending more than $25 or so out of your budget, but you can create a space that you will truly love.
ReplyDeletewhen we lived at our old house our linen closet was the same way, we got a dowel and suction things (like on the end of a shower curtain rod) and made a panel from curtains to cover it....it made it look a lot better and I didn't have to look at all our towels. I think you should move the cross to the opposite wall and put something behind the toilet...maybe some small hanging shelves with pictures or the Willow Tree statue on it. Or you could do a grouping of pictures. We were on a limited budget, so I just bought a bunch of fabrics that matched our bathroom and framed swatches of them in frames and hung those in a grouping. Good Luck, I know it will turn out great!!
ReplyDeleteI would do my best to either hide or get rid of the clutter. You could get a spring-type curtain rod for the 'knee space' and set up a pretty curtain to hide the baskets. It doesn't have to match the shower curtain, just coordinate with it.
ReplyDeleteYour linen closet will look nicer if the towels are folded so you can't see the 'edges.' I think I learned this from Martha Stewart, but I fold my towels like this: lay the towel out. Fold in thirds lengthwise, so you end up with a long, folded piece. Now imagine a line down the middle, and bring the ends to this. Then just fold it in half. They actually take up less room this way!
As far as the wall behind the toilet...you could carry the basic shape of the cross there by hanging four small pictures. Or you could hang two wall planters, one diagonal from the other. It would be fun to change out the flowers with the seasons or holidays.
Now, an honest question: does the cross have to be in there? It's such a magnificent piece I'm wondering if it would look nice someplace else in your house. That being the case, I'd go to either the thrift store or Michael's (with a 40% off coupon) and pick out a painting. I bought myself one of a lighthouse. Then I just picked up this-and-that to carry the theme. It didn't cost much at all. Well, good luck. I hope you post some 'after' pictures!
Kama...thanks for stopping by my blog! I appreciate your comments. I'm adding yours to my faves. Klee, good luck with your bathroom redo. I find one way to get ideas, as some commenters have mentioned already, is to check out other blogs to get frugal inspiration. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great idea to ask the blog world for ideas for your bathroom! Here are my 2¢...if I was going to spend $50 on this bathroom, I'd buy a quart of paint (in a color that matches one of the colors on the shower curtain) and paint just the wall behind the toilet/mirror. I'd go to Sam's Club and buy all new towels, maybe in two different colors (again, to match the shower curtain). They have pretty nice towels that are only $5.88 each, plus hand towels & washcloths. I'd have only the new towels on the shelf and move all of the unmatched things to a closed closet. Then I'd add a couple of baskets to the shelves just to make them feel full and orderly and make some concealed storage. I'd get the stuff out from under the cabinet and maybe add a stool there. I'd put a plant in the corner of the vanity. If I could still spend a little, I'd change the light fixture and replace the blue hamper with a cuter one. Good luck! Lisa~
ReplyDelete