When I was at Mom’s last year helping with the renovation of her master bathroom, we also did a small update to the small, second bathroom. (Mind you: Five children grew up just fine traveling daily through this “tiny” bathroom. Don’t even get me started with today’s 20-something house hunters who can’t LIVE in a house with a bathroom this SMALL.) For the small bathroom freshening, I count basically five steps or decisions — mostly inexpensive ones — that gave the bathroom a fresh and classy sassy new look. The most expensive and only “structural” change — but the one with a very fundamental quality impact — was tiling the floor, eliminating vinyl:
Step one: Replace vinyl floor with stock ceramic tile.
We pulled out inexpensive 1970s-era vinyl flooring, and replaced it with white octagon-and-dot ceramic floor tile. We got the ceramic at Lowe’s, it only cost about $2.50 per square foot, as I recall. We used medium gray grout so that the shape of the tile would pop. And so begins my small “graphic bathroom.”
Step 2: Choose the shower curtain.
The tile was an easy decision (it sort of coordinated with the hex tile in the master bathroom). The shower curtain came easy peasy, too. I was shopping around Target, there it was. I knew that this Peanuts shower curtain would coordinate just fine with the floor… It had simple, light colors and that nice punch of red… I knew that the large-scale graphics would look good in the small bathroom… kind of playing nicely against the conservative conventional graphic of the floor. Oh, and I love Snoopy. I just knew it work — that the shower curtain would become the not too big, not too small, just right focal point of the small bathroom. Note, this shower curtain is no longer available at Target online.
Oh, behind the shower curtain is a basic, almond-colored fiberglass tub/shower insert. If I had more time, I’d paint the gold rod with a shiny black lacquer spray paint.
Step 3 (above): Repaint the walls.
Because we kept the original vanity — with its almond-colored plastic top — I chose a wall color that would bridge the white and the almond. I also wanted to keep the room light and bright… but with some gravitas. The color is Muslin from Sherwin Williams. I like it very much. It’s like the classic Navajo, but with a lighter touch. Glowy… classy… rich looking, even.
Step 4 (above): Paint the vanity.
Previously, the vanity had been natural oak. I wanted to simplify the palette, so white it was. Note, we used an outside painter dude, and he used the wrong finish paint on the vanity. Within a few weeks, you could see see the fingerprints accumulating on the flat paint. And I wasn’t paying attention when I took these photos, so I didn’t scrub them off first. My bad. See things I’d changed, below.
Step 5 (above and continuing below): Accessorize.
When I painted the vanity in Mom’s master bathroom black using Rust-Oleum Cabinet Transformations, I also painted this old shelf that I found in a storage area. The old color was blue, as I recall. The Rust-Oleum kit did a fab job. Originally, I had thought this would go in Mom’s bathroom. But it seemed too cramped in there. So into the second bathroom it went. Again, I was trying to go big and graphic black-and-white in this small bathroom. So this piece worked well.
It contains an important message for XX-chromosome users.
A key to being all graphic-like was not to clutter up the shelf. Mom collects these little sheep figurines, duh, hello. This is a fun and unexpected way to experience them daily.
New-fangled TP holder. Kinda works well.
What would I change? I’d paint the vanity and the light fixture base black, as well — to match the shelf and also the mirror I found at Target. The faucet also is new. And LoOk! I put the exhaust fan on a timer!
Towels and rugs are red — made possible by that red PuNcH! in the shower curtain. Overall, this cheap and cheerful bathroom update turned out great.
clampers says
Exciting! I have the world’s tiniest master bathroom and am ramping up to do a little facelift on it…paint the vanity/light fixture, repaint the walls (thanks for your tip about bridging the gap between white and almond)…just little things. We want to install an exhaust fan but have no idea where to even begin…
Perfect timing with this post as I am getting started on this stuff this weekend!
Joni says
Pssst…..I think you meant XY.
At least in my experience, the XYs have more difficulty hitting the target than us XXs.
pam kueber says
Oh yeah. I even looked it up. Scrambled brain!
Nathan says
You beat me to it. But let’s not forget those XX who “hover.” 🙂
chris says
I know…. we call that the “Helicopter Pee” in my family.
Makes for really icky ladies’ rooms. Blech.
pam kueber says
overshare tee hee
chris says
Sorry — I’m the Queen of TMI. (Too Much Information.)
However, in my defense, I personally have never performed the helicopter maneuver — yuck. Nor has anyone I’m related to.
So is it really oversharing if I’m just making an observation about a public place? (Insert Scooby Doo laugh here!)
Pam — by the way, I did win a 1936 catalog and will send you some jpegs sometime soon. I think I need to read up on format and such on your homepage/contact area.
LOVE what you did with this bathroom!!!!! You are a good daughter! 🙂
pam kueber says
🙂
Annie B. says
Oh, Pam. Ideas are popping like popcorn in my head after viewing these photos. We have a very similar small bath which is the next project on our renovation agenda. Its cheap and curling ’80’s vinyl flooring could be replaced by the great octagon dot tile quite nicely.
I’m in flooring mode at the moment. We’re replacing horribly worn carpeting with as-near-as-possible-to-mid-mod-style light oak laminate; i.e., cover of Fall 2011 “Atomic Ranch”. That is, until the carpeting came up last night and revealed, as I suspected, original sheet vinyl in the orange/tan Persian tile pattern. It’s in surprisingly good shape. Now, about the asbestos thing…….argh. Always something.
pam kueber says
ooooh, original vinyl sheet in orange/tan Persian tile! yes, consult with a licensed professional regarding how to handle so you can make an informed decision. Other readers: Warning — do not leave advice on this issue; I will delete it; each homeowner needs to “own” this issue themselves — again: consult with licensed professional.
Annie B. says
Thank you, Pam, You are so right about seeking the advice of a professional in this field; in fact, we have one coming over next week to see what needs to be and can be done.
But, my oh, my. The orange Persian vinyl covers the living room, the dining room, and part of the hall. Fire up your la-va lamp – it is sweet!
pam kueber says
Gold star for you, Annie B. !!!!
Marion Powell says
Great timing on this post for me. My son may be getting a house with a small second bath. It’s from the late eighties and quite plain. This post will calm any ideas of suggesting major updates. A little inventive and creative design will go a long way. Thanks, Pam.
MOM says
The binoculars are used to check for the bad guys [coyotes] and the good guys [deer].
pam kueber says
Hi Mom! I hope you like the story. I think I forgot to tell you I took these pics when I visited last week. 🙂 xoxo Thanks for the clarification! Do you see lots of coyotes and deer still these days?
JamieAbe says
Looks Great Pam! I too love the shower curtain, but I’m also loving the gold bar that it hiding the shower curtain hooks. What is that thing? I’ve never seen that before. Is it an authentic vintage piece?
pam kueber says
Yes, I think the gold bar is original. It’s a decorative shower curtain rod — with mechanism with hooks for shower curtain and liner behind the cover. The same idea as decorative traverse rods. I’m guessing it’s original to the house circa 1974.
Mom, I know you are reading this — is it original, or did it go in later??
Sarah says
This was pretty helpful. My bathroom is TINY, miniscule. It’s horrible too, ugly brown splotched tile from the 70s which doesn’t fit in with the rest of the house. I don’t know what to do with it since it is so small. There is literally only about 4sf of floor space. The tub has one of those sliding doors because I can’t even fit a shower curtain in between the tub and shower and there is a huge window in the shower right at boob level haha. Clearly the lady who lived here before me (for 50 years!) never took showers. I really think I’m going to yank up the brown and put down some clean white to help open the space.
pam kueber says
I’m glad you’re encouraged, Sarah. Before ripping out stuff, be sure to have it tested for vintage nasties like lead and asbestos!
pam kueber says
Also, Sarah, I think the key to keeping a small bathroom sane is keeping all clutter out. Put your daily stuff in the medicine cabinet or in the vanity.
Just another Pam says
A sweet example of what an artist can do when she has a passion for home decorating, Pam. Lovely to look at and experience.
pam kueber says
Thank you, Just Another! I sure don’t consider myself an ‘artist’ — I just learn as I go…
Jenny says
LOVE the Peanuts shower curtain! The bathroom looks great and is a prime example of how you can spruce up a bathroom without doing a total (expensive) gut.
pam kueber says
Thanks, Jenny! Yup: Cheap and cheerful is my middle name!
hannah says
Great tips as we move on to the renovation of OUR small bathroom. And I agree with your feelings on ‘5 kids used this bathroom over all those years just fine.’ I don’t lounge in my bathroom, it’s got a few functions and that’s what we use it for!
Adore the flooring, and that’s what we’ll be going for. We’re talking about white octagon with black spacers.
Your Mom’s bathroom came out great – love the red ‘POP’!!
Can I ask about the binoculars hanging by the window???? 😀
pam kueber says
Mom lives at the top of a big hill. Binocs are for… watching tornados come or something like that! Hey: I liked the fact they added a graphic pop of black! If they had been blue or green — I would not have allowed them in the bathroom! Hi Mom!