Before and After: A Quick $200 Refresher Perks up This Dark Bathroom

Sometimes bathrooms are for freshening up. And sometimes they need a refresh of their own. But not every redo requires new plumbing and appliances—little tweaks can change a bathroom’s entire vibe.

That was the case with Nikki Sheriff‘s basement bathroom. “We started out with kind of a boring space with tan walls and tile from when we built our home in 2010,” she explains.

Nikki’s two daughters—one who’s little and another who’s a teenager—share the space, so it was important that the new look worked for both of them.

“My husband is a contractor and talented builder who can make or fix literally anything, and I’m a lover of DIY, so [we] do a lot of projects together,” Nikki says. So they got to work.

In fact, they created a room that now looks almost unrecognizable. But get this: The only changes Nikki made to the big-ticket items (toilet, shower, vanity) were to add swap out the shower curtain and paint the vanity knobs black. A new light fixture and mirror add a whole new level of understated glamour. 

And let’s take a moment to appreciate the new molding on the walls painted in Sherwin-Williams’ Unfussy Beige (with some seriously pretty pink undertones). “I decided to add the molding mostly to break up the blank wall,” says Nikki. “I wanted a board and batten look, but the bathroom is so small, I decided to do a thin molding to make it a little more subtle and less bulky.”

Here’s the kicker: Nikki says the whole redo cost less than $200.

“We love how much brighter it feels,” Nikki says. “It’s girly but still fairly neutral.” Agreed!

Inspired? Submit your own project here.