Before and After: This $400 Bathroom Redo Is Made of 8 Super Simple Elements

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: You don’t have to spend a fortune to make a huge impact. That’s especially true for bathrooms, which are easy spaces to transform on a budget (and on a deadline).

Kelly von Weber had already given her guest bathroom a bit of color and charm a few years back, but as time went on she realized her tastes had changed. “This guest bath was originally done a few years ago when I was still trying to figure out my style,” Kelly says. “It was a little too theme-y before, and I just wanted something that felt more mature.”

Kelly and her boyfriend did all the work themselves, which helped them stick to their $400 budget. Kelly used paint left over from her master bedroom (Sherwin-Williams’s Bohemian Black) to give the vanity a sophisticated refresh. New brass knobs and a new antique-style brass faucet—which looks way more expensive than its $75 price tag—complete the upscale look.

On the walls, Kelly added new removable wallpaper in a splashy peacock feather print—and it was tricky to get just right, she says. “Because of this, any time someone asks my advice on wallpaper, I now tell them to choose a simple pattern that is more structured than organic,” Kelly says. A wool-and-feather wall hanging adds a cool, offbeat touch, while the new white shower curtain helps keep focus on the statement wall.

“I loved the color of the bathroom before, which is why I chose to leave it for two of the walls,” Kelly says. (It’s Glidden’s Blue Grass Field.) A new brass mirror and towel ring tie everything together.

“I love that I was able to pack so much interest into such a small space,” says Kelly. “If we had the budget for it, the one thing I would have changed would be the old brown tiles. I was afraid they would look completely out of place with the new design, but I think they’re okay for now.”

“This bathroom incorporates a lot of the things I love: peacock feathers, color, boho touches, and pops of black,” Kelly says. “It finally feels like it belongs with the rest of our home now.”

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