A Dated Blue Bathroom Gets a Sun-Drenched, Modern Transformation for $4,500
Skylight windows are a great way to add an extra-bright energy to a space — and they can work in almost every room. DIYers Amanda Oleri and Jason Staebler (@goodbuddyproductioncompany) have added a skylight to almost every room in their home, including the bathroom.
“Since this room is in the middle of the house with no windows, we knew we had to add a skylight,” Amanda says. “This was our first skylight install, and we vaulted the ceiling to let even more light pour in.”
Amanda and Jason’s bathroom makeover was a complete gut job — something they weren’t totally expecting when they first tackled the project, but it had to be done to update the plumbing and reinforce beams underneath the house that had suffered water damage. In total, the bathroom makeover cost $4,500 and feels so much brighter, Amanda says.
The blue-walled bathroom became a bright white space.
In the bathroom before, “the walls were painted blue, and there was large brown tile on the floor and in the shower area,” Amanda says. Amanda and Jason went with a monochromatic white color scheme for the remodel.
“I remember working on this renovation over the December holidays, spending entire days in the bathroom, meticulously placing rows of tile one by one!” she says. Her wall tiles are timeless white ceramic squares, and her floor tiles are a matte red hex from Cle Tile. The wall color is Behr’s Silky White.
The skylight and large mirrors let more light in.
Amanda and Jason smoothed out the “dreaded ‘stalactite’ texture” on the bathroom ceilings and added a skylight with “beautiful glossy red cedar trim,” as Amanda describes on Instagram. They also replaced the vanity and mirror, which were “off-the-shelf pieces from the hardware store.”
Now, many of the wood details in the space are custom-built by Jason. “He built a towel rack and a toilet paper holder versus purchasing because we weren’t liking anything we found,” Amanda says on Instagram. “We went and picked out stone for the vanity top, had it cut, and the sink mounted … we trimmed out the door and the transition piece in white oak (which is the wood all throughout the bathroom), and we connected all the tub hardware and trim, OH AND we bought a new door.”
Amanda says two of the biggest difference makers in the bathroom were the large mirrors and the skylight; they made it feel bigger and brighter. “Sometimes I think the light is on in there during the day, but it’s just the sun pouring in!” she says.
A DIY arch shelf adds architectural interest.
One of her other favorite details in the space is the arch-shaped niche. “After closing up all the walls, we decided to add inset arched shelves over the toilet,” Amanda recalls. “We had to remove the boards we had already put up to move the plumbing and make room for the shelves,” she says.
And that’s where she’s really thankful the project was mostly a DIY. “You can pivot whenever you want!” Amanda says. “We’re so glad we did because it adds so much character!” For more character-filled, DIY bathroom transformations, check out these 30 editor favorites.
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