Before and After: This Vintage Bathroom Got a $265 Overhaul
This “before” bathroom features vintage tiles, which are beautiful in their own way, but also make the space feel a little dated. To the rescue? Modern wallpaper. The bold print took this outdated 1950s style straight into 2018.
The wallpaper has so much tropical flair, and I’m intrigued by the way the green of the palm fronds works with the tile color. In some lights the tile looks seafoam, adding to the beachy feel, and in other photos it looks more like a mossy-grey green that matches the wallpaper exactly. Sarah Meyer of Sarah In Style is responsible for this makeover and she did a great job. Here’s what inspired her to take on this project:
First of all, the bathroom needed it! It needed something to modernize it. Second of all, because I fell in love with the wallpaper and knew it would be a perfect blend with the vintage tiles.
I really appreciate that the same mirror and storage unit were used—removing the frosted glass really updated the piece. The orange tone of the wood pops against the green wallpaper, and removing the front (and possibly back) of the shelf lets the pattern of the wallpaper continue, instead of interrupting with a block of shelf.
This original towel bar is amazing, as is the soap dish we saw in the previous image. It’s fantastic that all of these 60-year-old features were preserved and can now be fully appreciated. And it didn’t really take that much time to transform this room:
We did this project over one weekend, probably totaling 10-12 hours of work. Cost was minimal, as the only thing we spent money on was supplies for removing old paper, putting up new paper, the wallpaper itself (which is $85 a roll and we used 2.5 rolls), fabric for the valance ($10), and towels.
So that’s about $265 for the whole thing, with some wallpaper left over for future projects—pretty impressive for such a dramatically fresh new look!
Graham & Brown Palm Green Honolulu Removable Wallpaper from Home Depot; $69.73 per roll
After living with this new bathroom for a while, here’s how Sarah feels about it:
It’s a happy space! Now instead of looking into the bathroom and getting a feeling of drabness, you instantly want to smile. It’s warm and inviting, but bold at the same time. It brings out the original features of the bathroom in an entirely new way.
Make sure you follow the steps I provide for wallpapering. Do all the right prep work, match your patterns, pick the right paper for the right room and go bold!
A room refresh can really shift your overall vibe and feeling of wellbeing—and in my opinion, if you can afford it, it’s totally worth it!
Thank you, Sarah Meyer and Sarah In Style!