30 Minute Bathroom Mini - Makeover

Ever had a room (or three) in your house that just depresses you? 

You like the room, you know it has potential and you have GRAND schemes to transform it one day.

But, you have NO money for any major remodeling ANYTIME soon.

Your husband or partner is sick of projects or just plain busy.

So, what is a gal or decorating savvy guy to do? 
Wait forever for the money or the partner to have time?

.....Well, this gal took stock of the "free" stuff in her house and then trucked it on over to the dollar store and prowled around with some colors in mind.

Here is what ensued when I got home and The Husband is very happy with the results:

The tiling job is ultra rad (thank you Husband) and super cheap (tile scraps from our new master bath), but this bathroom was pretty depressing and sadly vanilla in color. This photo and the one right after are the two "BEFORE" pictures. The ones that follow are the much happier "AFTER" pictures. 

Eventually, the sad 1970's vanilla "particle - board - made - to - look - like - tile" on the walls as well as the ceiling with old minor water damage and random shelf built - ins directly behind the bathroom door will be GUTTED out like a fish (sorry vegan readers) and replaced with simple, sleek and frugal materials. Until then, my 30 minute make - over that cost all of $20 will have to do. But, its' so much happier in there now! YEEHAW!

 $1 silver metallic owl bank/figurine to brighten the corner partnered with blue hand soap, a blue ceramic jar I made in college and a blue bottle of perfume. So, this area cost all of $1 to make over.

 This is the really odd "custom" shelving area built in right behind the bathroom door by the previous owners in the 1970's complete with faux - marble printed mirror in the back. I dusted the shelves and removed the odds and ends. The very top shelf (you only see the lowest portion of that shelf in this photo...sorry) now has neatly folded blankets for guests and a blue ceramic jar for other storage and decoration I made in college. The second shelf has a basket made of sea grass I bought 5 years ago at a sale for a $1. It has queen sized sheets for guests in it. The silver item on the right is an awesome blown glass candle holder to give the area some oomf and to hold a candle for use near the tub for bubble bath time! The bottom shelf has another basket ($1) with guest goodies and two more candle holders that brighten the spot and can also be moved over to the tiled seat behind the tub for, you guessed it, bubble bath time! 

This photo does look a little dark, but the colors on the shower curtain are actually quite bright and cheerful. They are orange, turquoise, green, pink and red and the clear curtain is layered over an opaque white one bought a few months ago for about $5 (Dolla Sto'!) for more privacy. You never know when one guest might want to shower while the other wants to sneak in to use the toilet. Both folks will have privacy. :)

Shot of above toilet area. The towel brings out the orange in the curtains. It was a free towel because it accidentally got stolen from my parents house a long time ago.


But, doesn't it look festive AND go great with the things I hung on the wall?

By the way, this shower curtain was fume - free and made of recycled materials, so no funky smells in the bathroom from shower curtains for days on end.

 
My camera on my computer doesn't always take great shots, but that is one of my paintings (so, no cost) I taught people how to paint 2 months ago at the "drink and paint" things I teach at. The blues go with the shower curtain, the turquoise carpeted accessories and the blue items on the counter.

These are the lusciously turquoise and CHEAP items that started this whole mini - cheap - makeover today. Dollar General, $10 for the set and brings out the turquoise in the $8 shower curtain.

The photo to the right and the next 2 are shots of the freebies I decorated the once sad bathroom with. They are all art pieces I made in the last 2 months at workshops I taught or are things I made previously.

 These are paintings I made. Again, I "stole" them from other parts of the house decorate the once boring area above the toilet and other parts of the bathroom.

The glass items were thrift store finds years ago for $1 to $4 and the mirrored tray propped up against the wall under some of the art in the final photo was free because it was my Great Aunt Mina's. The incense sticks in the tiny milk glass vase provide a nice scent in the bathroom even when not lit and are propped - up with a handful of dried chickpeas. The pheasant feathers in the tall blue vase were free too from my sister in law in South Dakota.

So, in closing, you can re - vamp a sad room AND keep yourself from just shutting the door to the room you are depressed about because you can't spend the bigger bucks and don't have the time to do a major makeover. 
Truth be told I did have extra paint in my studio and painters tape and easily could have painted all or part of the walls, shelves and cabinets. But, I wanted to stick low - stress methods and use what I had easily available and have a little fun with my tiny budget at the dollar store.
Let me know what you thought. Send me your comments please. :)