A Son Redid His Parents’ Powder Room in Blue and Gold — for Just $323
Sometimes all a space needs is a few small tweaks to pull it out of a rut. Case in point? A beige (very beige) bathroom in Desola Balogun’s parents’ home, which was majorly transformed thanks to a few of his fresh new additions.
Desola spent an extended stay and wanted to do something for them. “My mom is always talking about how she wants to paint her house and update things, so I decided that I would do it for her while I was there, just because I knew she wouldn’t do it herself,” he says.
The Builder-Grade Bathroom Was “Boring and Drab”
Desola says his parents’ home had “all of the typical builder-grade finishes along with the same paint that every home in Las Vegas has. It was very boring and drab, to say the least. The walls were a shade of tan, along with the floor was another shade of tan. It was too tan!”
He Transformed the Small Powder Room with Only $323
That was especially true in the small powder room, which needed some oomph. With just $323 and a week of work, Desola gave it a fresh new look.
He started with a brighter white on the walls (Behr’s “Ultra Pure White”) and installed a blue-and-white geometric Scott Living wallpaper on the wall behind the sink for a punchy accent.
The Wallpaper Took 7 Hours to Install but Was Worth It in the End
The wallpaper was worth it in the end, but proved to be a major pain during the process. “The wallpaper took me seven hours to install! It drove me insane. I wanted it to look perfect, so I kept removing it and reapplying it. In the wallpaper’s defense, I was also installing the new lighting fixture, and I took a few breaks within that seven-hour period.”
The basic sink was in need of a pick-me-up, so Desola replaced the builder-grade faucet with a gorgeous gold one. That proved to be a tricky DIY.
“The faucet was frustrating because I had to remove the entire pedestal sink from the wall to install it,” Desola says. “It took me quite a few tries and days to get it right.”
The Hardest Part of the Transformation Is the Feature That Ties It Altogether
Desola also replaced the light fixture, mirror, and artwork — all of which make the bathroom feel a little more modern and custom.
Desola’s favorite part was the hardest: “My favorite part of the ‘after’ is definitely the gold faucet,” he says. “I think that it is a standout piece that brings the bathroom together.”
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