Before and After: A Small, Windowless Bathroom Feels Much Brighter Thanks to a Few Simple Changes

There’s nothing that makes a room feel smaller than a lack of natural light. When you don’t have a window in a space, it can be hard to let more light in — but it’s not impossible.

Case in point: Alice Kuaban’s daughters’ bathroom, which got a room-brightening redo that certainly makes the room feel less claustrophobic.

Before, the 2007 builder-grade bathroom was a “windowless beige and brown room that would not inspire anyone (let alone kids) when getting ready in the morning,” Alice says. She didn’t like that the yellow light fixture and beige paint made the room feel extra dark.

Not only was the space pretty unimpressive, it was not functional for her kids and their routine. “The glass shower door was impractical (in my view) for giving baths,” she says. “I needed a large and long vessel sink that the girls could share as they grew older.”

To top off the to-do list, Alice wanted to upgrade the wire shelves in the bathroom’s closet. “Those had to go to make room for something that wouldn’t allow for bath supplies to fall through easily,” she says.

Her redo was a mix of DIY and contracted work, and the end result looks much more high-end — not to mention employs several tricks for making the room brighter.

The professionals Alice hired helped with painting the walls white, replacing the vanity for a more sophisticated blue one with a marble countertop, and adding a frame around the mirror.

Alice’s husband worked on giving the shelves a facelift. “He used steel pipes with some fittings, some wood (cut to size), spray paint, and wood paint,” she says of the DIY process.

Alice worked on upgrading the floors, where she painted the grout lines white. “If I had room in the budget, I would have replaced the floors, but I think painting the grout lines made a huge difference, and I actually don’t mind the floor tiles now,” she says.

The white subway tile in the shower, along with a white shower curtain, also help to brighten the space. And now, the tub’s much more practical for kid baths.

Now, the room is almost unrecognizable. “I love how open and airy the room is now,” Alice says. “It is also easy to clean and maintain which I love.”

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