Psst: This mini makeover got posted on Apartment Therapy!
The powder room / half bath on the main level of the house was probably one of the ugliest rooms in this house. We guess that almost everything in the house is original to when it was built 20 years ago, and this bathroom screams 90s. The paint was a dark gray, the cabinet was builder-grade oak with a black top. The cabinet was also short! My plans for this bathroom were simple (and on a budget), but it has made such a big difference!
I didn’t get the best before photos, but here’s one I took and one from the listing. It was harder to take photos of this bathroom that I thought it would be!
The bathroom is small! It’s almost perfectly square at 4 feet wide and 4.5 feet deep. I knew instantly that this bathroom needed to be painted a very light color. All of the bathrooms were painted Polar Bear by Behr and all the trim throughout the house was painted a bright white. It’s almost white, but has the slightest bit of warm undertones.
Because of the bathroom’s small size, I wanted it to feel big as possible. So that meant replacing the original sink with a pedestal. Some people hate pedestal sinks because plumbing is exposed and you lose storage, but neither one of those things bothered me in this space. When we removed the oak cabinet, we had to replace and repair drywall — something I hadn’t considered when I decided on a pedestal sink. In the end, it took longer to install the sink than expected but still wasn’t a huge deal.
I actually had a hard time finding a faucet for the sink. The set I fell in love with was $300 and I couldn’t justify spending that. Thankfully, after lots of digging, I found an almost identical set on Amazon for only $70. Primed! It’s great quality and the style is perfect.
I also knew this space called for a statement mirror. I didn’t want just another rectangular mirror and round wouldn’t have worked (though I do love round mirrors). When I saw the hexagon mirror at West Elm, I knew it would be perfect. But of course, my budget told me no. So once again, I started searching for a cheaper alternative. And I found it! The mirror is big and heavy. I will say though that the gold (brass?) is much more yellow/orange than I was expecting but I happen to have a small tray that’s almost an exact color, so I was fine with it.
I had the hardest time figuring out what kind of light I wanted. Single light? Two or three lights? What style? Once again, it was Amazon where I found the light. Who would have thought that’s where I’d be ordering home items from. I love the globe style and how it’s a single light. It’s adjustable at the elbow, so we were able to have it tilted out away from the mirror. Tim’s single requirement for the light fixture is that it had to be able to take a regular (LED) bulb – no fancy bulbs that would need to be replaced more often. We were able to check all the boxes with it.
Other than the light, the other item I spent the most time looking for was a toilet paper holder. I wanted something modern, sturdy and either be black or ORB. Guess where I found it? Yep, Amazon. The holder is exactly what I wanted. It looks great with the sink fixtures and is really sturdy. It’s all one piece so the “arm” won’t ever fall. We moved the holder to be on the tiny wall directly across from the toilet instead of on the wall next to people’s knees. I added a lidded basket directly below it that neatly holds (and hides) two rolls of TP.
The tile floor will ripped out whenever we do the main floor overhaul. The tile is in great shape, but it’s just not our style. I’m still thinking about what kind of art to hang in the bathroom, but I’m super pleased with how it’s come together!
Product sources: pedestal sink | faucet | mirror | light fixture | toilet paper holder | basket from Target
—m.