The bathroom is one of the most utilitarian rooms in the home, so it sometimes gets overlooked, although a quality bathroom can improve your life a lot. Meg and Ross have a great bathroom with good storage options and a sense of personal style. To bring your own space up to snuff, click below for seven simple fixes...
• Make sure you have plenty of storage in the bathroom. Use kitchen canisters or wall-mounted racks to store cotton balls, Q-tips, and bathroom supplies, and use wall hooks to hang towels.
• To spruce up old windows and add privacy to a bathroom, use decorative window film. We like Emma Jeffs' designs.
• Update your hardware. It's fairly easy to switch out old cabinet knobs, towel bars, and drawer pulls.
• Replace old light fixtures. Some of the ugliest light fixtures hide out in old bathrooms. For an inspirational DIY, check out Shayna's Vanity Lamp Redo.
• Paint the walls. In a bathroom, you usually want to go with a semigloss paint that will clean up more easily than a flat finish.
• Switch out the medicine cabinet. If you have a surface-mounted medicine cabinet, it's pretty easy to take it out and install a new one in its place. If you have a built-in, there's a good set of tips on installing a recessed medicine cabinet here.
• Spring for new accessories. You could try new towels, shower curtain, bathmat, mirror, or wastebasket.
Any other recommendations for simple ways to upgrade your bathroom?
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i painted my bathroom and changed my medicine cabinet to update my space. it went a really long way!
view SD913's profile
I like to stick to white towels. They are classic and crisp. The great thing about them is that you can change up your look quite a bit and work them in no matter what.
Also, bathrooms tend to gather mismatched items with all of our beauty routines and white towels provide a simple back drop to whatever ends up in there.
Think spam
-Blogazar
view blogazar's profile
Agreed-white towels, and spring for the "spa" size.
view jlg's profile
we just re-did our bathroom (as best we could for a rental) - the biggest difference for us was removing the old wall mounted sink and replacing it with a washbasin sink with cabinet space. switching out the toilet seat and even faucets can make a world of difference in such a small space. i have a few pics here.
view seenatalieblog.'s profile
guys, never take for granted the parts in the toilet tank!
you would not believe the last 24 hours i've had. to make a very long story short, i had to replace several items in my tank all by myself (but i am proud i got the job done). all thanks to a back-up, flood, then discovery of severely-outdated tank parts. a few trips to the hardware store, frustration, and sore muscles later, i have a perfectly-running toilet again.
tip: do all you can not to clog your toilet and replace your outdated tank equipment (especially if you live in a pre-war building as i do)! best thing is, by getting the right parts and reading and following the directions to a t, you can do it yourself!
working plumbing is a true blessing!
view *heather leaf*'s profile
anyone know where I could find the clear plastic shelf in the picture?
view coconuts's profile
Yeah, I'm also interested in where I can find the clear plastic shelf.
view laurkim's profile
not to be critical, but i'd definitely spring for a rechargeable-battery-powered clock. that cord mars an otherwise beautiful bathroom!
view lizkid's profile
Better utilize the inside of your cabinets (if they are metal) by storing vitamins/aspirin/small items in the magnetic jars that people use to store spices.
Conair Cord-Keeper hairdryers keep ugly cords at a minimum. The 1875 model even folds in half for storage INSIDE of the cabinet.
Instead of using bathtub surfaces to store shampoo/liquid soap/conditioner, buy suction-cup mounted dispensers. Line them up and mount them spa-style on the shower wall. You may even be able multitask and use your shower gel as hand-soap if your shower and sink are lined up like the shot above.
Don't underestimate the great look of a large clear apothecary jar filled with hotel-sized bath products. Great for guest bathrooms -- your guests can choose their own guest-sized grooming products from your cache.
view citypixie's profile
Any tips for replacing a large flat wall-to-wall mounted mirror with a medecine cabinet in its place? Can you just pry off the existing mirror?
view chicagojess's profile
The acrylic shelf comes from The Container Store.
view louise's profile