$500 Budget Bathroom Makeover

When we bought our house, we were excited (ok, I was excited lol) about finding a place with 2.5 bathrooms. I had so many dreams of a statement powder bathroom where our guests (whenever the 3 friends who will agree to visit us in South Bend come over) will take selfies. Then I learned that the half bathroom was in fact not the guest bathroom, but was instead in the primary bedroom, meaning that the one bathroom on the main floor (the house is a ranch/single-level with a basement) is both the guest bathroom AND the bathroom where everyone not sleeping in the basement is supposed to shower. Ugh… why??

And while there was minimal oh-my-goodness that’s so awful paint colors happening throughout the house, the bathroom paint color HAD to go. I mean, if you know literally ANYTHING about me and my design style, you would immediately know that I absolutely would not be able to detangle my hair in the mirror with this teal wall.

While Jonathan didn’t care too much about the wall paint, he was particularly disturbed (which is saying a lot cuz the man is NEVER bothered) by the door and trim. The family that lived here before us was a family of 7, so the bathroom had a LOT of traffic, and the inner door was in pretty bad shape. So we definitely knew we were going to paint, and I figured I’d do a bit more sprucing up.

I set out to do a $500 budget bathroom makeover and transform this space from dreary to dreamy. How did I do??

I came in RIGHT AT BUDGET BABY. And it looks pretty damn good if I do say so myself.

This wasn’t a super firm budget but more of a challenge, so I did technically go over if you count the candle, hand wash, and towels, but if you go that far, I think you’re just being persnickety lol.

Let me break down everything we did to this bathroom.

• Painted wall, doors, & trim
• Changed the sink, vanity, and faucet
• Changed the mirror
• Installed peel & stick floor tile
• Added art & wall storage
• Spray painted the light fixture & cabinet knobs
• Added a curved shower rod
• Changed the toilet seat (please do this whenever you move! Some things cannot be lysoled away)

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And here’s what we didn’t do — I initially wanted to install subway tile above the shower, I’d even bought all the supplies & grout, but ended up returning it all and nixing that idea. After I finished the floor tiles, the thought of doing wall tiles was giving me a headache, and they were a $200 project that wasn’t even going to have much visual impact.

We plan on keeping this house for a while (though not necessarily living here — more on that in another post) so there’s definitely future opportunity to do a proper gut of the fiberglass shower and replace it with a tiled shower with a frameless door (my dream!) which would make the bathroom look SO much bigger. But for now, I’m really happy with how it looks!

Decor + Source List

Paint: unknown color from Lowe’s clearance section ($9 – but also used elsewhere so let’s call it $3)
Vanity & sink: Lowe’s ($99)
Faucet & drain: Lowe’s ($99)
Peel & Stick Floor Tiles: Target (2 boxes at $24.99 each)
Mirror: Target ($60)
Faces print: LoveMezay* via Etsy ($32 including digital file, printing, and frame)
Curved shower curtain rod: Lowe’s ($40)
Shower curtain: Target ($25)
Wash your hands sign: Target ($15)
Brass wall hooks: Target ($4.99 each)
Wall shelf: IKEA ($25)
Toilet seat: Lowe’s ($35)
3-compartment basket: Walmart ($15)

* indicates a Black-owned business

One more time for the complete $500 budget bathroom makeover transformation!

What’s your favorite part of the bathroom? And what are you suprised I was able to save on??