Retro Renovation

Remodel & decorate in Mid Century Style

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Small bathroom remodel in 5 steps

pam kueber - Updated: August 17, 2021

Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.

small bathroom renovationWhen 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.”

peanuts shower curtainStep 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.

small bathroom remodel

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.

small bathroom renovation

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.

bathroom shelf with sheep

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.

collectible sheepIt contains an important message for XX-chromosome users.

black bathroom shelfA 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.

toilet paper holderNew-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.

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  1. Larry says

    This makes me revisit a dilemma I’ve been having about the one and only bath in the house. The tub/shower has a window in it that was covered in the last remodel probably in the 70’s. I have a very large linen/vanity closet in the bathroom with shelves and drawers that could be taken out and that space made into a nice tiled shower stall and then the window could be reclaimed above the tub with no worries about water problems. Linens and toiletries could move to a large coat closet at the end of the hall but just steps outside the bathroom. Sounds great but there’s just this little thing inside my head telling me not to alter the original linen/vanity closet. But oh how I want that window back!

  2. Ann-Marie Meyers says

    3 cheers for showing ways of re-doing small baths without adding on! We did a complete gutting of our master bath and gave up a closet in the process, but that bath was poorly laid out.
    The one I am about to take on is standard issue mid century layout. The only reason I am replacing the vanity is it is falling off the wall anyway, and the floor is coming unstuck. All due to foundation damage.
    Everything else stays, and is just getting a face lift. New paint and a smile, as it were. A few cosmetic touches to give it the feel of space.
    I think we learn so much more from this column than we do from years of reading home decorating magazines!

  3. Jay says

    Nice Job! You answered my question about the black shelf over the toilet. I wondered about its origin. I had the icky peeling wallpaper removed from my windowless hall bath. i primed the walls which are in great shape, unlike the deteriorating robins egg blue wall tile. I think I am going with light teal paint and the black shelves over the white toilet would look nice, now that I have seen a picture. I like the shower rod valance! Thanks for sharing.

  4. Gracie Manasco says

    I love the sheep! I make sheep similar to these in my clay studio… they are so fun and easy to make and you can crank them out in any size or shape! Everyone loves sheep! Llamas are also fun!

    • Annie B. says

      I love the sheep, too. Just did lunch hour speed shopping at one of our local thrifts and kept an eye out for sheep for Mom.

      Sorry, Mom, lots and lots of rabbits, but no sheep. I’ll find ewe one!

      • Ann-Marie Meyers says

        I see sheep all over the place, being a spinner, knitter, weaver, etc.
        My kind of shop and get-together always has people selling sheepy things.
        MOM, do you want a sheep magnet that says, “I don’t ask for too much – just my own way”? It has been on my fridge for several years and I don’t even notice it anymore. It’s probably time for it to move on to someone else, anyway.

  6. lisa says

    Nice job on the small bath! We just moved away from our MCModest small bathroom house. To make it look nicer for sale I replaced the flooring with a sheet of vinyl that mimics Marmoleum in a blue-grey, and painted the walls that “spa aqua” color that is so popular now. That bathroom doesn’t have any original tile left; just a “cultured marble” bath/shower surround and very basic white porcelain wall-hung sink and potty. I loved how having the same tone for all the floor and walls opened up the space and wished I had done this before we moved out. Like you, I added a more decorative mirror — one I found at Goodwill with a white rattan frame — chose a white waffle weave shower curtain to match.

  8. Jane / MulchMaid says

    Really, REALLY nice, Pam!

    As much as I liked your makeover of your Mom’s master bath, I like this one even more: the simple touches and limited expenditures show how much impact you can have with carefully considered changes. And I’m right there with you on eliminating clutter in a small space. Some people can pull off the “jewel box” effect, but not being so talented, I’d much rather have a small room that is clean and simple.

    This inspires me to rethink a planned makeover of our main bath: both our baths are small, but in that room we were going to “do it all”. Although we have pulled back from that in favor of retirement savings (and getting to retire!) this example seems right in keeping with what will satisfy me and still not cost an arm and a leg.

    • pam kueber says

      YAY for retirement savings and getting to retire. YAY YAY YAY, yes THAT’S THE POINT HERE on this ENTIRE BLOG!

      • Jane / MulchMaid says

        Wow, thanks for the validation. Retirement is good but you do have to make choices that support it. In the best of all possible worlds, money would be no object, but we know better about reality!