apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I agree. Strip the wallpaper and paint! That will make you feel so much better, and will be pretty inexpensive with a little elbow grease.

And, then really begin to consider tile options for the floor.

The flooring would be my choice in revamping the space. Strip the carpet, and lay tile. You can pick up a few boxes of a common color at a time, or pick two alternating colors. You could spread the purchase cost out over a few paychecks if budget is an issue. Get rid of carpet first because you never know what might be underneath in regards to water damage etc etc.

I'd also say strip wallpaper and paint after; maybe a buttery yellow color, or a nice green or even white would be OK with the right trim color. I LOVE the separate toilet area.

I'm envious. My bathroom is about twice the size of your shower!

I agree - painting the walls and vanity cabinet will go a long way...

...but consider reglazing the shower - the tile looks to be in good condition, so instead of replacing perhaps reglazing would be a good option?

http://www.mrbathtub.com/

Then you could spend the money you saved on new tilework for the floors...

yes, adios to that rug and wallpaper! paint the cabinets and change out the toilet seat - you have great light in there - i have a bathroom with no window. just those few little things will help i think until you can afford the re-do. also i might put in a couple of pieces of art to make it more personal looking.

I may get booed for it, but even Marmoleum would be better than carpet on those floors! I'm all for some tile if you can afford it.

Pull up the carpet and lay some plain inexpensive tiles if you plan on changing them in a few years. I know this probably sounds crazy but you could even go with something the same colour as the shower tiles but larger in size. White would also work. Keep stripping the wallpaper and paint it dark grey. Try putting some dark grey (seriously dark) against the tiles and the toilet. I think it would actually pull the colours together. Change any of the brass fitting for stainless steel including the surround for the shower door. I wouldn't paint the cupboards white, I would stain them much darker. The idea behind all this is that you include the colours that are already there (toilet, shower, vanity) rather than work against them. Then I'd get a much larger mirrored cabinet for the wall (Ikea do some inexpensive ones) or you could put a couple side by side and hang some framed fabric, maybe some gorgeous Florence Broadhurst, on the wall in the toilet.

I should have mentioned that another reason I was thinking dark grey is that it would reflect the shadows that come from the foliage outside and go beautifully with the green that you see through the window.

Ditch the carpet as soon as possible -- five years *is* a long time. Tile would be great, but you might also consider cork flooring -- it would be one way to tie the room together with the extant vanity, especially if you replaced the sinks and countertop and added some sleek hardware to the cabinets. Maybe replace the existing mirror with something more contemporary, too.

As others have said, get rid of the bitty print wall paper and paint instead.

One thing that would have a huge impact for relatively little work would be to replace the shower door. That brass frame doesn't go with anything else in the room, and a nice frameless glass door would make that shower look much more up to date.

anything but the carpet. i think our apt has some sort of faux tile, but it's so much better than carpet in the bathroom!

Rip up the carpet. Put down solid vinyl sheet flooring. I don't mind the cabinets at all. Pull the wall paper down.

Find a farbic that makes the khaki and pinkish colors work. Maybe even match the commode color as a wall color, or go one notch lighter down on the paint chip.

Save the rest of your money and time til you can gut, but start researching/purchasing now.

For a quick and fast fix I'd suggest-

Remove the brass shower door - it instantly makes everything look dated. For fast and cheap, just remove it and replace it with a tension rod (chrome?) and wonderful shower curtain. Plus if it is a solid curtain you won't see much of the shower tile anymore. Or remove it and spray paint the brass parts to black white or silver- but I think the shower curtain would be a better solution.

Put a large piece of artwork/ framed print in the toilet area.

And of course, continue removing the wallpaper and replace with paint. Color depends on your style. I'd probably go with a soft neutral. If you can find a shower curtain or a print for the toilet area, you might be able to pull a color from one of them. But I'd probably go with a cream or dove gray.

Just those three things will be fast, cheap, and make a huge difference. And you could probably do that in just one weekend!

Changing out the carpet will be great too, but be a bigger and more expensive project. ...Although if you already know that you will be pulling out the carpet, you can use it as a big dropcloth when you paint.

Depending on the condition of the plywood underneath, you might be able to stain it dark and coat it with a lot of polyurethane as a for-now solution... the second weekend.

a carpet in the bathroom???

Everyone's saying pretty much the same things but i wanted to add my ten pense (cents). I would strip the walls, repaint white, replace all brass fittings with chrome, big mirror above units...i mean BIG. And like someone else said I'd work with the tile colour (as I hate tile paint) but maybe adding 'en vogue' red into it, if the majority of the place is white and you add a few well placed strong reds the tiles wont look so bad (they are a pink colour?). Things like a red rug (ikea), bit of art, towels and vases/dispensers in red. I'd also paint the units, but maybe try for a limed-oak feel, so you can still see the wood grain through the white.

I've had a little play doing a bit of a photoshop visual you can check it out at http://www.flickr.com/photos/dogtooth/2380706091/

ran out of time to post yesterday, so I will probably repeat what other posters are saying:

-get rid of the brass shower frame, and replace it with a tension rod and a nice spa-like shower curtain with a plastic liner -- for example, a white cotton waffle-weave one (and use the ball-bearing curtain hooks)

-remove the wallpaper, and repaint -- see if white works, if not, than an off-white

-rip out the carpet, and replace with rubber flooring. check out last year's smallest coolest winner (londonurchin) -- she had dalsouple rubber flooring in her living areas. It is stunning, great stuff, and comes in lots of colours -- you might try out white, pistachio, apple or a more watery green in your space. rubber flooring is practical -- super comfortable, gorgeous and not too common. problem is, the dalsouple U.s. distributor sucks -- he just seems interested in commercial work, and not small house renos (considers them charity cases, in my experience). However, I think the product is so great, it is worth pursuing -- push for it

dalUni (the smooth surface interior product):
http://www.dalsouple.com/Domestic-DalUni.php

-to make the colour of the tiles and toilet work, go for a "natural" and spa-like approach to towels and other colours -- white, off-white, textured and natural linen-blend towels would work

-put in one large unified mirror with no bevel (that will update the room), or a very large round metal-rimmed mirror (IKEA carries one) if you have the space

-if you have the energy, repaint the door and drawer fronts; if not, see if you can replace them inexpensively with stock items that are less dated and more stream-lined (e.g. white)

-add natural spa accessories

this should tide you over for a few years until you are able to renovate

p.s. dalsouple's anis might work particularly well with the sand coloured fixtures

Thank for all the fantastic feedback and comments. I can always count on AT readers!! This was just the boost I needed. Thanks everyone.

Oh, if you remove the brass rails from the shower door, dollop some silicone into the screw holes so that water doesn't get in them!