Before and After: A $150 Makeover of a Blah, Beige Bathroom
This appears to be a landlord-special bathroom, with the classic beige walls and floor, but with a twist—it’s not a rental, so the new homeowner dove right in to make some crucial but affordable and approachable changes.
Here’s a closer look at what the bathroom was like upon move-in:
This small bathroom is outfitted with almond fixtures. There’s a beige sink, toilet, shower, and tile. The yellow walls made the space feel tight and crowded, almost headache inducing. Not to mention there was a fan on the ceiling that completely grossed me out. This bathroom contained no storage whatsoever and a completely wasted space next to the shower.
Ah, this is such a breath of fresh air. The changes are subtle—new light, new toilet paper holder, new towel configuration, new wall paint—but crucial. The walls are so bright and airy, and now the brown floor provides an earthy contrast, rather than being a part of the overall beigeness that it was before. The new light is elegant, and the towels and roll holder are beautiful—and they draw the eye up away from the beige fixtures and floor.
Kimberly of Turning It Home is responsible for this refreshing and inspiring makeover.
I love seeing the test swaths of paint on the wall. So relatable. And though it sounds like Kimberly would prefer the fixtures not be almond, the sink and toilet do have very elegant shapes and aren’t, like, aggressively beige.
Kimberly explains the constraints—and unexpected setbacks—that this refresh involved:
Demoing and remodeling the bathroom is not in my family’s budget, so I had to find a way to make this bathroom functional and enjoyable.
This was the first room I decided to work on after we moved into our home. Shortly after I began to work on the bathroom, we discovered a slab leak in our home that required us to rip a lot of the walls out in this bathroom. That stalled the project for a while, so it took a lot longer than it should have. I had to re-drywall one wall in this bathroom in order to install the shelves. Overall, this remodel cost about $150 and was worth the wait.
Ack, what a headache. You’re dealing with all the move-in mess and have to rip out a few walls—well, kudos to Kimberly for sticking with it and creating something so lovely out of a less-than-ideal situation. It’s impressive that this project was completed for $150, though I’m sure several hundred (thousand?) dollars worth of labor were poured into it too.
The previous shelf was cute, but this one is so much more spare and refined—and the little vignette is lovely. And after all that work, Kimberly finds the new bathroom delightful:
The bathroom is completely bearable, dear I say, enjoyable now! Even though this is not a master bath, it feels like a special space where I can get ready for the day and then begin to wind down at night. In the future, we would love to completely gut this bathroom and transform the layout but for now, this isn’t a bad place to be.
This is the little nook next to the shower that Kimberly described as “a completely wasted space.” Now it has organized, easily accessible storage, which is especially great since this is (I assume) a bathroom that guests use. The toilet paper is corralled in a stylish way, yet super easy to find. The clear organizers display pretty toiletries, while the baskets conceal the more unattractive/personal ones.
Kimberly’s attitude and advice has me amped up to update my own bathrooms:
Bathrooms are my favorite spaces to make over on a budget. With some creativity, elbow grease, and paint, a bathroom can be completely transformed. Don’t be scared to take a risk to make a simple, boring room feel extra special.
Thank you, Kimberly of Turning It Home!