$400 Patterned Bathroom Redo – Budget Bathroom Refresher

Earlier than the coronavirus pandemic, my toilet was an afterthought. However nothing makes you admire each inch of your 430-square-foot house than being informed to keep away from leaving it.

Since I purchased and moved into my tiny, pre-war Brooklyn condominium in November 2018, I’ve used house adorning as a therapeutic software. There’s something innately soothing about it; a productive approach to channel underutilized artistic power and create one thing seen and bodily. So my first thought once we went into indefinite social distancing/self-quarantine in New York Metropolis was: What house DIY venture can I dive into? Reply: the lavatory.

The couple who lived in my condominium earlier than me did a phenomenal job updating the place. However they, too, appear to have determined that they might replace a number of of the finishes and go away the lavatory simply fantastic. After residing right here for greater than a 12 months, although, I knew I wanted to provide the lavatory some updates. My preliminary dream was to intestine it: take out the bathtub and exchange it with a subway-tiled standing bathe after which re-tile the entire ground. However, alas, my finances made that choice practically inconceivable. So as a substitute, I went for an aesthetic refresh. 

My toilet has its authentic marble flooring and partitions, which at all times appeared a bit soiled subsequent to the white partitions and trim. So my first order of enterprise was to order some mild grey paint from House Depot for 3 of the partitions: Behr Extremely in Silver Ash. I painted the vainness wall and the 2 facet partitions, considerably inartfully—I’m on no account an expert—but it surely felt good to do it on my own. I solely dripped onto the ground regardless of my drop material after which needed to panic clear a number of instances! (Progress!)

Fortunately, I had already bought a small can of Benjamin Moore Black Satin paint earlier than non-essential companies closed, so my subsequent step after the three fundamental partitions was to deal with the trim. I painted the baseboard round the entire toilet and the trim across the door. The door itself I left white. The lavatory mirror and vainness had been each barely completely different wooden finishes, so I sanded them down and painted each that very same Black Satin coloration to provide the vainness wall a little bit of a extra dramatic look. Oddly, these smaller aesthetic adjustments had been among the many most satisfying elements of the venture. Portray is soothing in its repetition, and there was one thing significantly comforting about watching these smaller particulars flip from brown to black, protecting up the previous and ushering in one thing new and refreshed whereas the nice bones stay. 

The pièce de résistance was at all times going to be the again wall. I desperately had needed to make the vainness wall probably the most eye-catching one within the area, however given its proximity to the open bathe/bathtub, most wallpapers ran the chance of getting ruined or effervescent because of the steam. So as a substitute I made a decision to go in a extra uncommon path and create an accent wall that you’d principally admire by the use of the lavatory mirror. I had scoured the web pre-social distancing for reasonably priced, darkish floral wallpapers and settled on Samantha Santana California Native detachable wallpaper. (I like the concept I may simply peel it off and alter it up if I get bored with it or wish to promote the condominium.) The wallpaper is the one a part of the venture that I had assist with—you actually need to chop it precisely proper, and it’s virtually inconceivable to hold with only one individual! 

I assumed that I’d be completed as soon as the accent wall was up however one other week into quarantine and I nonetheless felt just like the vainness wall was a bit too “meh” for my liking. Or perhaps I used to be simply determined for the venture to proceed as a result of I have to fill my time whereas caught in my house. Who can say! Once more, I knew I didn’t wish to take care of wallpaper by the bathe, so I thought of different choices—a stencil, maybe? After which I found wall decals, which you should purchase proper off Amazon and may be positioned on and peeled off simply. I ordered Fashionable Maxwell Irregular Dots, and so they arrived a number of days later. After leaving the bundle in my foyer for 24 hours as a precautionary germ-busting measure, I ripped it open and received to dot-placing. I used to be completed inside 20 minutes and it turned out adorably!

One venture and two quarantine weeks down, one other who-knows-how-many to go. Who else needs to quarantine DIY with me?

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