Bathroom ideas on a budget…
“What’s for dinner Mom?” That’s what I hear every day at exactly 4pm as my oldest pops off the bus. My favorite answer? Leftovers.
What Mom doesn’t LOVE leftovers?! It’s two meals for the price of one. It’s 50% effort for 100% yield.
So, what’s with the picture of that lovely, builder’s grade, 1989 bathroom, you ask? Well, that’s my master bathroom.
It’s a great space…
A great space which I made BIG plans for the moment I walked through those double doors the first time. My plan, simply, involves gutting the whole thing and starting over.
It’s a lovely little dream.
The thing about BIG plans and dreams, sadly, is that they usually require a BIG budget…or at least SOME budget. And therein lies the rub.
I’ve got big bathroom ideas, but here’s my budget for this space right now…
That? Well, that’s a goose egg. And it is representative of my budget for this bathroom.
A budget that is exactly ZERO.
Unfortunately, unlike most well-adjusted, normal people, I can’t really wait for that money to magically appear while I brush my teeth each morning in my builder grade baño…I’m not known for my patience.
Instead, I will employ the power of…leftovers. Here’s my list of changes and their costs:
1. LEFTOVER paint (White Duck by Sherwin Williams) to re-paint the space. COST = $0.
2. LEFTOVER chalk paint (graphite by Annie Sloan) to re-paint the vanities. COST = $0.
3. LEFTOVER curtains (taken out of storage, originally used in a guest room). COST = $0.
4. LEFTOVER rope & galvanized pipe (Home Depot for who knows what). COST = $0.
5. LEFTOVER mirror, frames (from various walls in our old home). COST = $0.
The result? Well, it’s definitely no miracle, but it’s a cost-free start…
The walls were painted, as was the vanity.
Took a bunch of frames out of storage and slapped them up on the wall. If you look closely, you’ll see some of them don’t even have pictures in them yet…it’s a work in progress, like much of my home.
Someday, I’ll rip out this jetted tub and get the old clawfoot that I dream of finding on craigslist…
And I’ll hang yet another chandelier…this one above the tub…and add beadboard, or some sort of molding feature…maybe get a bigger window, you know, when my ship comes in.
Of course, that will be then, and this is now. And for now, I’m happy (enough) with my $0 “leftover” renovation. I’m sure that will last at least another week or two.
We wrote a tutorial on how to make our DIY rope/pipe curtain rods HERE. They only take about 10 minutes to do! So check that out if you’re looking for a quick, inexpensive way to hang fabric panels.
By the way, the curtains were purchased at Homegoods. They are Cynthia Rowley Jacobean Floral Medallion drapes in Teal Blue.
Rose Arnold says
Maybe the Hollywood vanity lights will come back into fashion as I have TWO of them in my yet to be upgraded bathrooms. Everyone, including me, “calls” them hideous but, truth be told, I kind of like them and they do give the best light.
Heather says
They will MOST DEFINITELY come back in style Rose! Everything does, right?!
Linda says
I’ll give you my claw foot if you will trade me your jetted tub.
Heather says
DEAL!
Janice says
Love your makeover……great job. I have to wonder why you left the 70’s vanity lights above the mirror?
Heather says
Couldn’t change out that fixture on the $0 budget, sadly. Don’t worry Janice…that thing is HIGH on the priority list 😉