Before & After: A Dark ’80s Bathroom Brightens Up

Lots of New York apartments come with charming vintage bathrooms. Not this one. The bathroom of Heather and Doug’s Park Slope condo, true to its roots in the ’80s, had dark, dour maroon tile on the walls and grungy white tile (with grungy white grout) on the floor. The homeowners, with a view to selling the apartment in the next few years, wanted a bathroom remodel that would make their space brighter and more pleasant, and appeal to potential buyers as well.

The new bathroom feels infinitely brighter and fresher, thanks to bright white walls, and a classic subway tile surround in the shower. The floor tile, a blue mosaic tile laid in a herringbone pattern, adds texture and character to the space.

The bathroom is quite small, but a few new storage solutions help open up the space. The old medicine cabinet, which protruded into the room, has been replaced with a new one that’s recessed into the wall, so the storage space is the same but the cabinet seems less bulky. Above the medicine cabinet, the old wall cabinet has been replaced with wire shelves for towels, which have a much lighter look.

The new shower curtain hangs on a thin wire instead of a rod — a tiny detail, but one that helps contribute to the new bathroom’s clean, fresh feel. Heather says that she loves that the bathroom is “much more functional and looks bright and clean (even when it is not totally).” Now she and Doug, and their two kids, have a space that makes time spent in the bathroom much more pleasant — and will hopefully make selling their apartment a breeze, too.

Heather and Doug found their contractor on Sweeten, a free service matching homeowners with local general contractors. You can read more about the project, see more photos, and find sources on the Sweeten blog.