Before and After: DIY Elbow Grease Made a “Blank Slate” 1990s Bath Beautiful

When you first move into a new-to-you home, the projects list can seem daunting—so functional but uninspiring spaces can take a backseat to other, more urgent projects. That was the case at Whitney Donley’s home, where after living there a year, Whitney was ready to take on her sons’ shared bathroom. “It was a blank slate just begging to be lightened up,” she says, but did have good bones and a functional enough layout. With 1990s-style cream-colored square tile, and a plain old white vanity, “it needed a complete facelift and I was up for the challenge,” Whitney says.

Phase one, painting the vanity a pale bluish-green hue (Woodlawn by Benjamin Moore), was completed during move-in; for phase two, Whitney wanted to give the floors some pop. But to save money, she skipped new tile—instead, she used the tile stencil that had been waiting in her laundry room for a year.

Kicked into gear by the One Room Challenge, Whitney prepped the floor with sandpaper and an abrasive cleaner. She then primed the floors before painting them using porch and floor paint tinted to match the creamy white Panna Cotta by Magnolia Home.

Whitney tried a couple unsuccessful methods for creating the floor pattern before settling on the winner: tracing her stencil using a black Sharpie paint pen, then filling in the pattern by hand with porch and floor paint tinted to match Blackboard by Magnolia Home. The floor alone took 30 hours to complete, Whitney says. Talk about commitment!

The new floor looked so good that it made the 1990s-era beige walls look especially dingy; a fresh coat of creamy white (Alabaster by Sherwin-Williams) helped perk them up. For extra interest, Whitney added faux-shiplap using Sharpie pens—”a fairly easy and quick process that took around five hours,” Whitney says. Using a level ensured perfectly straight lines.

The final product, including new matte black faucets and a more modern vanity light and matching hardware, is way better than Whitney could’ve imagined. “I love that it is modern and sleek, but whimsical enough for a children’s bathroom,” she says.

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