The Bad:
– It’s a tiny, under-the-stairs bathroom.
– The ceiling slopes.
– The tile is 3 (three!!) different shades of brown.
– Basically, it’s ugly. Like, 1970’s embarrassingly ugly.
The Good:
– The tile is in good shape except for one spot on the wall near the shower.
– We replaced the toilet, so that’s new.
– There are no leaks that I’m aware of?
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Okay, now I’m stretching to find the positive! In short, it needs a makeover. It’s about 20 years overdue 😉 Just as a warning before you look at these pictures. There is no natural light in this room and my photography skills are pretty much ZERO. I’m working on it though.
I’d love to rip out all of the tile, put in a new shower (it’s a stand up only), the whole bit. But first of all that’s out of our budget, and second, I’m worried, and fairly certain, there’s plaster and lathe behind all of that tile. That would be a mess and probably out of my DIY skill set. So I’m thinking minimal demo and a surface makeover as a Phase 1 dealio while we save to take the whole thing out, plus the other two ugly step sisters upstairs 😉
You don’t need to see me in that mirror 😉
My thoughts always go to decorating first but there has to be some other things done first. I’d like to either cover the tile with PVC Beadboard like this sold at Lowe’s or paint all of the tile with Rustoleum Tub & Tile Kit. We have also considered taking the shower door off to open the space up a bit. The problem with that is my 10 year old son uses that shower every day. He isn’t super careful with the water. Not sure if he’d be able to contain it even with a curtain liner up. The shower door also hits the sink if you try to open it all the way. The pedestal sink is an almond color plus it has a big crack on the side, not sure what’s up with that. So, we need to get a new sink. I’d like this smaller model from Ikea. It’s a great price and a space saver! The shelves also need to be redone.
We’ve already bought a new vent fan for the space. This one is old and inefficient. Plus, it sounds like it’s readying for take off when you turn it on. The light is TERRIBLE. We only have one bulb in because, um, who wants to see the whole ugly mess bathed in light? Not me.
Now to the fun stuff!
I want to follow a sort of Industrial/Aero/Nautical theme. We love the look plus we love the beach. We go to Nags Head/Kitty Hawk/Kill Devil Hills every September so I thought incorporating the blueprints from the Wright Brother’s planes into the room would be fun. Here’s the inspiration board I put together for the room. In it you can see all of my choices.
Some of these are the exact item I want and some will be DIY’d and Knocked Off from the more expensive items. For example: the mirror, the wire basket, the art and the towel hooks. The tile selections are I WISH!! items. Maybe one day…
The paint color is Driftwood Gray by Martha Stewart. I have it in the living room too. It’s grey and blue, depending on the light.
Love the inspiration board! I’m slowly working on updating our rental bathroom too but we also might buy our first place really soon so I’ll be able to get my hands dirty!! Good luck! Can’t wait to see it finished!
Thanks for the luck! Buying your first place, that’s super exciting!
I like the nautical look, but if you’re leaving the tiles, for now, sunflowers lept into my mind. Bright and cheerful, just what anyone would like to be greeted with in the morning. (oops, I don’t have any household website to fill in below)