Monday, March 20, 2023

Moody Makeover for a Small Half Bath

Do you have areas in your home that might need a makeover but you tend to ignore them because you rarely use or notice them? Such was the case with this small (2.5'x 6'), CARPETED😧, half bath in our mudroom.

Moody Makeover-for a Small Half Bath
When we decided we needed to replace the thirty year old, slow flushing toilet in our main bath we decided to also replace the old toilet in the half bath.
Moody Makeover-for a Small Half Bath
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As you can see, the bathroom had the same flat carpet as the mudroom. It was all white with a small, enamel sink, which is the only item we kept. Above the sink was a mirrored medicine cabinet that was not in the wall, but stuck out from it. There was no place to store cleaning items or extra toilet paper. I decided that a new toilet called for a complete makeover of the small half bath.
Moody Makeover-for a Small Half Bath
This small space is really hard to photograph so I will share snippets of the space. I started with painting it black. What, paint a small space black?! You bet!! It doesn't make it any smaller, but definitely makes it warmer and moodier and less institutional bathroom like. 
Peel and Stick Black and White Flooring
After ripping out the carpet, I painted the sub-floor with latex primer and then used this black and white, peel and stick floor tiles that you can GET HERE. It only took two boxes and I am very happy with how it well it is sticking and I love the pattern and the bright white. Be sure to follow the instructions and let the tile acclimate to your home temperature before using it. Hubby installed the new toilet as the flooring was put in around it. the toilet is from Lowes. 
 
Next to the toilet sits a thrift store wastepaper basket that you can see a peek of. It doesn't fit anywhere else in the small bath. On the other side of the toilet there is a plunger and a toilet brush because come one people, let's have those items available to guests without them having to ask for them in case they need it.
Moody Makeover-for a Small Half Bath
I built a shelf to fit under the small, original sink. I built the ladder type structure with the two dowels, one for the shelf to rest on and one for the towel bar. I painted ladder piece black and added Antique Gold Rub-n-Buff (BUY HERE) to the towel bar. A wood shelf sits on the bottom rung and on braces painted black and attached to the wall. I cut a rectangular notch out of the wood shelf to fit around the rather odd and irregular plumbing.  I left the wood a natural color to match the mirror and the other wood tones in the half bath. On the shelf sits a couple extra rolls of TP that are reachable from the throne and a gold wire basket with cleaners in it.
Moody Makeover-for a Small Half Bath
The wire baskets came from the dollar spot at Target. I don't buy much from there, but I knew the small size of these and their gold tone would work perfectly in the half bath. But, only one fits well on the shelf, so I put the other one on the toilet with a tissue box in it.
Moody Makeover-for a Small Half Bath
While we left the original sink (even though there is a small chip in it in the upper right corner), we changed out the faucet. I love the brushed gold faucet I chose from Amazon HERE. Not only does it look great, but the price was fantastic and it came with excellent instructions and a number to call if you needed any backup help when installing.
Moody Makeover-for a Small Half Bath
I can't think of a better way to update a bathroom sink than with fresh hardware.
Moody Makeover-for a Small Half Bath
Instead of the metal, medicine cabinet, above the sink I hung an antique mirror from the thrift store. It looks really dirty in this picture, but that is because I blurred the photo a little. In actuality, the mirror is speckled with some clouding from behind. It doesn't bug me at all as it shows its age well.
Moody Makeover-for a Small Half Bath
The antique arched mirror is made from two matching, vanity side mirrors. I bought them to use them on either side of my bed, but they didn't work there. When they were sitting on the floor next to each other I saw an arched mirror. I wouldn't necessarily want a seam or line down a mirror that I used daily to get ready with, but in a half bath where someone is looking in it as they are washing their hands, it is just fine. The warm wood is so nice against the black wall. You can see the simple light fixture in the mirror that we used to replace the utility light that was in here. It is nothing fancy, but fits the space well and gives off a lot more light. It came as a two pack HERE. The second light replaced the mudroom light outside the bathroom door.
Moody Makeover-for a Small Half Bath
I was willing to repaint the old toilet paper holder, but it was broken so instead I bought this NEW ONE. HINT--a toilet paper holder with an open end should be mounted with the open side AWAY from the toilet so that the roll of toilet paper does not come off when tearing TP off the roll.
Moody Makeover-for a Small Half Bath
On the wall that you see looking in from the door, I hung this wallpaper scrap art that I made from thrift store finds. You can see that post HERE.
Moody Makeover-for a Small Half Bath
Above the toilet I hung this thrift store, bamboo shelf. I didn't really need it for more storage, but it does add a lot of personality and helps to incorporate the color and texture theme in the half bath. The warm, reddish orange color matched the wood on the antique mirror and the wood sink shelf.  I styled the shelf with antique brass items and fun, thrift store finds to add unique personality.
Moody Makeover-for a Small Half Bath
A small brass vase holds faux berries and greenery. Behind that sits a vintage, gold, oval frame. A small, hand-stitched floral, crewel sits behind a vintage, bamboo, oval basket that holds hotel toiletries for guests.
Moody Makeover-for a Small Half Bath
I knew the other side of the shelf needed some height on the top shelf so I styled it with a fake hand from the thrift store that gave an antique brass Rub-n-Buff makeover to. We have a beauty school in town so there are often random hands and heads at the thrift store. On the bottom shelf sits some room spray and lotion and a vintage brass bowl with rice and battery operated tealight candles (to turn on when have guest over).
Moody Makeover-for a Small Half Bath
Katie Saro from The Art of Vintage on The Magnolia Network says every room needs the following: something vintage, an antique, a color scheme, something handcrafted, and something weird just for the sake of being weird. I set out to follow that formula in this tiny half bathroom: VINTAGE-- the brass objects and the bamboo basket, ANTIQUE--the mirror, COLOR SCHEME--black, white, brass, warm wood, HANDCRAFTED--the small embroidery, WEIRD--a gold hand.  

We spent just under $300 on this half bath makeover, with more than half of that cost being the new toilet. It is fresh and quirky and looks so much better than its carpeted, outdated, tired predecessor. It makes me smile when I see it now, rather than just wanting to ignore it by shutting the door. Tackle those spots in your home that bug you, it feels so good.

2 comments:

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