DIY Bathroom Refresh

Hi friends! Last summer we bought my grandparent's home and have been slowly updating it to make it feel more like our home! Our hall bath serves as our daughter's bathroom, as well as guests. She is 4, so she likes to tell guests they can use her bathroom. 😂

Here is how the bathroom looked when we first moved in - not bad, just not our style!

The first thing we did was change the fluorescent tube light fixture to THIS slimmer flat panel LED light fixture, since there is a soffit above the mirror that didn't allow enough room for a standard vanity light. The light fixture we chose has a few different color temperature settings and we chose the warmest setting at 3000k to give a more cozy feel.

I took down all the hooks, handicap railings, and towel bars and patched all the holes with spackle a few times, sanding in-between each coat. My biggest tips for spackle are to use a flexible spreader when applying and use a damp sanding sponge (NOT dripping wet) to cut way down on the dust!

I painted the whole room (ceiling and walls) in the color Sherwin Williams Alabaster with this Benjamin Moore BEN paint in the sheen satin pearl. I used to be a Sherwin Williams paint snob and while I still love their Urethane Enamel paint for cabinets/trim, I will only buy this paint for walls from now on! The sheen is super pretty, durable and easy to clean. I usually use a flat white ceiling paint for ceilings, but since this is a bathroom with humidity, I chose to use satin, so it will be more durable (hopefully) and be easier to clean.

My husband installed new GFCI outlets that have night lights built into them, as well as THESE new antique brass faucets. He re-did the plumbing under the sink as well because it looked to be original to the house (1980). My daughter's favorite color is gold, so she was geeked about these! Each time I finish painting a room, he replaces the outlets and light switches with new ones, since they seem to be original to the house too.

The previous silver toilet handle was cracked, so we saw this as a good opportunity to change it to THIS brass one as well!

We relocated the toilet paper holder and of course got her an antique brass one to match the vibe!

I used THIS Old English product called Scratch Cover for Dark Woods on the vanity and added THESE cute antique brass knobs. I like to use an old sock or hand towel to apply the scratch cover - one side for application and the other to rub it off. It looks so much better without the scratches.

The drawers already had hardware, but the cabinet doors did not on the vanity did not, so I added the same knobs to the doors. I first held the knobs up to the door to get an idea of where I wanted it and then placed a piece of masking tape and then measured 1 5/8" down from the top and 1 1/4" in from the side to mark the location of the hole, then used a 9/64" drill bill bit to drill the hole.

Once I got all the hardware on, I noticed the hinge color and decided to give them a little color as well!

I used THIS Rub'nBuff Grecian Gold and the sturdiest and flattest paint brush I could find in my daughter's paint supplies from THIS kit. A little Rub'nBuff goes a very long way, so I just opened the tube and dabbed my paint brush in the top of the open Rub'nBuff tube and brushed the hinges. I didn't need to tape anything off because I barely had any product on my paint brush as well as the brush being so small.

Soo cute!

We also added a slim laundry hamper, since this is kind of a narrow space. I made sure to find a hamper with a lid so our guests don't have to see dirty laundry!

I added a bamboo blind to match the laundry hamper, hung our vintage medicine cabinet we brought from our last house, and a vintage style floral shower curtain. It turned out so cute and my girl loves it!!!