Hey friends! Popping in for a quick post since it’s been a while! It is so hard to believe that we are well into 2019! I have been so busy with my day job lately, so my free time has been limited, especially for house projects. I am still working on our living room refresh, but that is a work in progress. Since I am waiting for some things I ordered for the living room, I recently decided to tackle a smaller space. I spent a recent Saturday giving our upstairs bathroom a quick refresh. Now, when I say quick, I mean it. This took me less than a day (including shopping) and was so much easier (and cheaper!) than the few updates we have been making in the living room.
Cue crappy iPhone pics!
When we first bough our home back in 2009, we had one bathroom. In case you forgot, our home is a duplex, and we live downstairs. Nearly three years ago, we decided to take over part of the rental apartment upstairs. We took over what was the living room in the rental apartment, and turned that room into my office and the world’s teeniest full bathroom. Okay, maybe it’s not the teeniest, but it’s pretty small! In case we ever sell our house, we wanted to keep the office large enough so that a potential buyer could consider using it as a bedroom instead of an office, while also adding the bathroom. Long story short, we managed to squeeze a full bathroom into 11 feet by 3 feet. See, I told you it’s small!
Adding a second bathroom was such a game changer for us. Honestly, it’s been one of the better investments for our home. While we love having the upstairs bathroom, I must admit that it’s been a bit neglected in the decor department. My main goal when adding the bathroom was to keep everything as open as possible, to avoid making it feel as small as it is. Since we added the bathroom, I haven’t focused much time or energy decorating the space since no one other than me ever really sees it.
On top of lacking decor, the bathroom was also lacking storage space for us. When picking out the sink, I went with a wall mount because I knew a cabinet could make the space feel super cramped. Now, I don’t regret the sink I chose, but have needed to do something organization-wise for a while now.
I love giving spaces in our home little updates from time to time. Nothing crazy, just enough to make the space feel interesting and new for us. For me, a quick room refresh typically includes: cleaning the space, re-arranging/organizing, and adding in some new decorative elements that I can get excited about.
First up, I went shopping. I find buying new things to decorate with gets me motivated to clean, so I start with shopping first. Hey, whatever works, right? My shopping list included a rug to bring some color into the room, some baskets for organizing, and some new decorations including artwork.
After cleaning, I got right to work organizing. We have these spacious shelves over the toilet that my husband made, hence the large baskets I bought. I love these affordable baskets! They are nice looking, affordable, and come in 3 sizes. I have since purchased more of them for our living room. I put things like toilet paper and some smaller items in the baskets. While out shopping, I also found this waste basket which I love. It adds some nice texture, and has a lid so you don’t see the trash, which is my favorite part. Now if I could just get the dog to stop removing that lid, I would be all set!
I also hit TJ Maxx for some pretty soap. Since we have a glass door on our shower, I like to buy fancy looking toiletries and always find affordable options at TJ Maxx and Home Goods. A while back, I purchased some plastic amber bottles, so I filled a few of those with shampoo and conditioner and put them in the shower as well. They look great and make the minimalist in me oh so happy.
Even though in reality they may rarely get used, nice looking soaps and lotion are some of my go-to accessories for a bathroom. They are affordable and look so nice! A stack of folded towels I already had made the perfect base for a fancy bar of soap on the shelves, and I added this adorable clock to vary the height of the items on the shelf. I also added mixed in some new artwork with artwork that was already on the shelves.
I've linked some sources below in case you are interested in a similar look for the decor in your bathroom, or anywhere really.
BASKET | TOWEL | CLOCK | ART | VASE | MIRROR | STOOL | WASTEBASKET | LIGHT FIXTURE | RUG | FAUX PLANT | BOTTLES
So that’s it! A nice little update all within an afternoon. What are some of your favorite ways to update a space in a short amount of time?
Fore more inspiration follow me on Pinterest.