I’m going to be completely honest with you. When I finished our guest bathroom makeover I had this feeling of “it’s not good enough” go through my head a few times. We don’t have special/unique tile on the floors or in the shower. I kept the builder grade light fixture (which I actually love), faucet, and towel holder. The vanity and counter are the same builder grade. I didn’t even paint it some cool color. This isn’t going to be one of those “Pinterest worthy” bathrooms the people drool over. Why even bother sharing?
Then I ticked myself off for even thinking that way. I mean really. Not all of us are completely remodeling, or building custom, or have a bunch of extra money to toss at a full up mind blowing makeover. Some of us have regular bathrooms that we just want to spruce up a bit. And there is nothing wrong with that! I’m actually pretty embarrassed at myself for having that thought enter my mind. Anyway, I feel better getting that off my chest.
So here it is! Our builder grade guest bathroom made a lot more interesting for not-a-lotta money.
Let me share the before pictures so you can see what all changed.
This bathroom is attached to our guest room I recently made over. I used the same formula in this guest bathroom as I did in the kids’ bathrooms. DIY shiplap and adding 1×2’s to frame the builder’s mirrors. You can see Izzy’s bathroom here and Sam’s here. For more info on how I did the shiplap and what I used, check out this post. The paint (PPG Palomino Gray) stayed the same as did the faucet, light, and hand towel ring.
I made a shower curtain made out of a Nate Berkus sheet from Target and added fringe from an old scarf. Check out this tutorial for info on how to make a shower curtain (Tip: For this shower curtain, you only need one queen size sheet). Hanging the shower rod up higher makes a HUGE difference. I got rid of the towel rod over the toilet (those always drive me nuts) and hung this Cascading Roses print from Vol25. I love the color it brings into this neutral space.
The builder grade mirror was taken down, glued to a piece of plywood, and gray stained 1×2’s were added to the sides. This is such an inexpensive way to make a plain builder’s grade mirror look special! In the reflection of the mirror, you can see my solution for not having a towel rack anymore.
There wasn’t wall space close enough to the shower for a towel bar, and the closet door next to the shower was too tall for an over-the-door hook. But, there was just enough space between the shower tile and trim of the door for these tiny hooks to fit perfectly!
Love how the mirror hangs just above the top of the shiplap.
The vanity had zero hardware, so I added some simple black hammered knobs. And, now that I see the picture, I want to add something to the false drawer fronts like I did in our master.
So that’s it! I wish I had a number for you of what I spent in here. The largest expense would have been the wood for the shiplap, but since I used thin plywood it was minimal. If I had to guess, I’d say this was pulled together for a little over $100. I’m feeling much better about this makeover now that I think about it 😉
SOURCES: DIY shower curtain (made out of this sheet) . rose art print . picture frame – IKEA . knobs . small hooks . bath towel – TJ Maxx (similar here) . hand towel – West Elm, no longer avail (similar here) . light fixture . faucet . soap pump – Homegoods . wall color – PPG Palomino Gray . shiplap color – BM White Chip
SHOP THE LOOK:
……………………………………………..
Also, make sure you enter my RAMSIGN giveaway if you haven’t already!!! Click here to enter!
i love your DIY shower curtain! it's awesome- i noticed the fringe right away! the bathroom looks fantastic!
I've got this thing for fringe lately. Add fringe to all the things!!! Thank you, Cassie 🙂
Beautiful! How do you hang the mirror? Is it daylight bulbs that make the difference in the lighting color between the before/after or is it simply all the white wood and higher curtains to bounce light?
Thanks Ginger! The mirror is hung above the shiplap ledge using extra long screws in studs. There are heavy duty D-rings attached to the back of the mirror that hook over the screws. The difference in lighting is just that the before pictures were taken with the lights on and after pictures were taken with the lights off and a window open in the attached bedroom letting in daylight 🙂
I can't believe you were having feelings of "it's not good enough". This is exactly the kind of post I LOVE! You made such a big impact only spending $100 and some elbow grease! Your bathroom looks beautiful! Great job!!! I'm pinning this.
Thank you so much, Kim! I can't tell you how much your comment means to me!!! It's so easy to get distracted by bigger and better these days. I try to not let it effect me, so I was surprised it grabbed hold. Luckily I shook it off and learned from it 🙂
Looks great! You are the best with curtains of any kind!!
Ha! Well, thank you 🙂
I'm glad you decided to share your makeover, the space looks great! I totally agree that not everyone is spending lots of money and fully renovating their rooms. I love the fringe on the shower curtain too. 🙂
Thank you so much, Kristen 🙂 I always enjoy seeing smaller makeovers myself, and I'm thrilled to hear so many of you still like them too.
This is fantastic. I love how honest and REAL this is! I am so over all the home bloggers getting handed everything for free…it just makes us constantly second guess ourselves. I love what you've done with all of your bathrooms!
Yep, I feel like I second guess myself so much more now than I ever used to. Thank you so much for your comment, Kacey 🙂
Great job with your diy touches!! Could you please check the link for the rose art print? Thanks for sharing! Joyce
That was bizarre! Thanks for bringing that to my attention, it's now fixed 🙂
I think it looks great! And one of the things I've always liked about your blog is that it's real and affordable. Like you said, I can't afford to constantly do major renovations involving new flooring, counter tops, fixtures, etc. I so appreciate your ideas and have copied quite a few of them 🙂
Not being a very handy person myself, I have to ask…how did you attach the frame to the mirror? Was it glued to the plywood on the back? And I saw you mention D rings being attached to the mirror. Were those already on the mirror or did you add them to the plywood? I would like to try this with the builder grade mirror in my son's bathroom. His is double the width since it's over a 2 sink vanity. Currently it's attached to the wall with clips on each front corner that are screwed into the drywall. So I wasn't sure if it would stay glued to plywood, due to the weight.
Thank you so much for your comment!! You just made my day 🙂
My daughter's mirror is almost double width, you can check out her bathroom here: http://westermanfam.blogspot.com/2015/07/shiplap-girls-bathroom-reveal.html
I used a mirror adhesive to glue the mirror to a piece of 1/4-1/2 inch plywood that is the same size as the mirror. I then nailed in the 1×2 trim pieces into the sides of the plywood (being careful to not get near the glass) so that all you see from the sides is the trim pieces. To hang it, since it was a wider/heavier mirror than the one in my son's bathroom, I attached a 1×2 to the back of the mirror so it would rest on top of the 1×2 piece that runs all along the top of the shiplap. That holds the majority of the weight. I also attached two heavy duty screws into studs in the wall and attached D-ring hangers to the back of the mirror/plywood, and hung those over the screws from the wall for additional support.
The mirror should stay glued to the plywood so long as you're using the right type of mirror adhesive, have applied the correct amount, and have let it fully dry according to the product recommendations. Definitely check with a clerk at the store though to make sure you're getting the right glue for the job. You'll be looking in the caulking aisle. I hope this helps, and thanks so much for reading!
Thank you so much for the detailed response. I truly appreciate it!!
I also went through your other bathroom posts yesterday afternoon and saw what you did in your master bathroom. Would you recommend that method or the plywood and D rings?
For our master, since we weren't going over a shiplap edge, we left the mirror attached to the wall (they used the clear plastic clips to attach it to the wall). For the 1×2 trim pieces, we notched out the back where they would hit the plastic mirror clips, and glued the 1×2 directly to the front of the mirror using mirror adhesive. If you look at it from the side (which is not likely) you can still see the edge of the glass behind the trim since they sit flush. But again, no one is going to notice that.
Your blog gives me real help for the grade bath in a house that we are downsizing to but renovate before moving in. And your ideas will save us a lot of money for Stylish Bathroom Makeover Ideas . Thanks!
Your guest bath looks so much nicer. I could not do that kind of work. I like that it is not overtly girlie. I don't want to see pink everywhere. Just not my thing. Are you going to fix up other parts of your home? I can cost a lot of money and not everyone has time to do it.
I often get that 'not good enough' feeling when undergoing home improvement projects. I love your bathroom, those above mirror lights give it a really glamorous feel. I love the fresh white with a teeny hint of green. Fab!
 You really did a beautiful job! I love how bright & fresh everything looks. Â
You did a beautiful job! and Your site is great source of inspiration for all the people searching for design ideas. thanks for sharing
beautiful. Its really great post you have shared, which is informative and knowledgeable. thanks for sharing
I really like your “minimal” guest bathroom makeover. You showed us that small changes can have a big impact. I’ve been dreaming about the day I would have the budget for new flooring, new cabinets, and a new mirror for our master bathroom. Now I am inspired to make the smaller changes and see where it takes me. I really don’t need to replace my cabinets, but I will see if I can figure out how to take our the builder grade wall-to-wall mirror and get/make a framed mirror in it’s place. I definitely could do the shiplap wall and paint. Thanks for the inspiration.
I’m so thrilled to hear you were inspired! Thank you so much, Jolene!