dull to rad bathroom makeover

Before we begin our overhaul on painting the kitchen cabinets, we decided to work on a much smaller space, the kids’ shared bathroom. This gave us the perfect opportunity to try our hands at painting the small single bathroom vanity cabinet before the kitchen cabinets. It was pretty much our guinea pig; and the results were fantastic!
Mike and I originally had plans to keep this bathroom neutral, but we needed color and since this is the kids’ bathroom, we couldn’t keep it boring. I’ve been pinning bathroom design ideas for years and decided it was time to create a bathroom we all could love. One of my favorite bathroom pins is this one. I love the color combination and knew I had to incorporate this beautiful design somewhere, somehow in our home and it just so happens this bathroom has quite a bit of light and needed some life breathed into it. After trying a couple different paint samples we decided to go with black, white and teal.

The Process

I always love seeing before, during and after photos of a space. The transformations can be astonishing. I snapped these ‘before’ photos just after we had taken down the towel bars and we were getting ready to remove the cabinet doors for sanding. Our cabinets are basic cabinets we chose when building. They’re not our style, but they fit into our budget at the time and they function well so there was no point in ripping everything out. 

Mike and I decided to put some sweat into this mini renovation and painted the cabinets the good ol’ fashion way by cleaning, sanding, cleaning, priming, sanding, cleaning, painting, sanding, cleaning and finally painting a final coat. It sounds much worse than it actually was. Yes it is a process, and yes after each coat of paint we let everything sit for an entire day, but it works very well. 

 Once the cabinet was done we painted the walls Benjamin Moore Black Jack. We specifically tried BM’s new Aura Bath & Spa paint. This paint is a little more expensive, but I was excited to try something new and different after the one hundredth time I saw the commercial. Aura Bath & Spa is a matte finish. It advertises itself as easy to clean and designed for high humidity rooms. Initially I didn’t like the finish because I’m use to an eggshell, but after cleaning it twice before the bathroom was even done I was sold. It’s very easy to clean with a damp cloth which I love, because this is in fact the kids’ bathroom.

I love the bold style this bathroom now has. It was a little risky to paint the walls black and the vanity a pop of color, but we love it. This was a great space to add color and hopefully soon some pattern. I love the colored vanity so much because it’s versatile, gender neutral and modern + classy all at the same time. Aside from painting, we swapped out the chrome faucet for oil rubbed bronze. We also took down the boring rectangular mirror for a brass round one. We removed the single towel rack which wasn’t functional for this bathroom and put up individual monogrammed hooks for each of the babes. It works great because now everything is at their level.

As for most of the decor pieces, we repurposed things we had on hand. Shopping around the house is a simple way to reinvent decor we already own. It keeps us on budget and makes the pieces that seem tired, new again. However, I am on the search for new towels and a few fun accessories to finish off the space.

This was a simple update to a dull bathroom and to make it even better we really want to rip out the flooring and replace it with tile, but it’s just not in the budget right now. Hopefully, we can do it in the coming months! All these pieces and small changes carry a big punch and now give this bathroom so much more character. It goes to show we don’t have to completely gut a bathroom to give it style and flare. The kids love this space and it’s a place all their own.

\\Source List\\
Wall Paint Color - Benjamin Moore Black Jack
Vanity Paint Color - Benjamin Moore Pacific Rim
Mirror - Target
Boat - Oil & Carol
Wall Shelf (old, but similar here)
Bath & Shower Curtain - Target
Monogrammed Hooks - Anthropology