Simple and Cheap Hassle-Free Bathroom DIY Tips

Today Helen from Helen Davies Interior Design is going to share a guest post with you about decorating your bathroom. Cody and I have two outdated bathrooms in our house that we plan to remodel. Helen shares with us some great DIY tips for decorating and updating a bathroom. I hope you enjoy her ideas. I know I will be using a few of them....

Day in, day out, we put a lot of stress and strain on our bathrooms, especially when you have a young family like I do, and these spaces can start to feel a little worn and unloved pretty quickly. Well, without resorting to a full-blown bathroom renovation, here are a few quick, cheap and easy DIY upgrades, that will have your bathroom look fresh and revitalized in no time.

We can always do with some additional storage to house those extra shampoo bottles, bath toys and cleaning product . But these storage units don’t need to be dull. Stenciling is a cheap and easy DIY idea, be creative, make your own designs or visit your local craft shop for stylish patterns. Pick a style and stencil your bathroom furniture, cupboards and shelves. Use colours to complement your bathroom suite, why not add a little stenciling to your walls!


Alternatively give your bathroom furniture a new look by sanding down the old dated varnish and painting it in a new bright colour. Add some wallpaper to the inside of your furniture for that extra designer touch or try a little painting.

We are all guilty of buying cheap bathroom mirrors with the intention of framing them but never get round to it (I know I am anyway) now is the time to frame it. My favourite idea is to use old tiles and create a stylish mosaic, go down to your local builders yard and they are sure to have some old broken tiles they will give you for free. If you like the rustic look use some drift wood to create a beach style frame, why not add some shells to!


I have seen lots of bloggers create giant letters recently (I love them) This is simple to do and your kids can get involved to. Find some old wood or if you are handy with a jigsaw cut out letters and spell ‘wash your hands’ in a piece of wood. These can be hung on the wall of your bathroom. Don’t forget to paint these and make them look stylish and unique.

Shower curtains offer an affordable way to quickly refresh dull looking or cheap bathroom suites, you can make the shower curtains yourself. All you need is some old pieces of fabric (Lets be honest we all have heaps of scrap fabric we need to use up) create a patch work design or use old curtains to create a solid shower curtain. Make sure to use your old shower curtain as a base so that your new patch work does not get wet!


Don’t forget to add some finishing touches, some candles, coloured bathroom towels and cute bathroom accessories will help create your new bathroom look, so what are you waiting for? Go and get crafty!!

Helen Davies is a keen blogger, Pinterest addict and currently works as a freelance writer for Better Bathrooms.
Find her blog HERE.

Thanks Helen for sharing your ideas with us!
My decorating wheels are turning! I can't wait to design my bathrooms.

My Bathroom Decorated

Since the warm weather started my decorating projects have kinda come to a stand still. Honestly though, I don't have much more decorating to do in our home. By the time I get it all done we'll be moving again! I have never shared any photos of our tiny upstairs bathroom. Since it's so small it is hard to take photos of it!


I kept it simple since it is such a tiny space.
I would love to have a bathroom with a large counter!
I hate trying to have my blow dryer, straightener and makeout all out in this bathroom.
It doesn't work out to well.
My shower curtain is from Big Lots. I felt so lucky to find it! I love the trellis pattern.

The artwork I have had for years. They are doodles by Jo from Desire To Inspire.
I found a white tissue cover/box for $1 at Goodwill!

On the opposite side of the room, I hung two floating shelves which I also purchased at Goodwill.
I spray painted them white and placed a few cute little things on them.
I designed the little framed print, "Good Morning Starshine, The Earth Says Hello!".
I had to incorporate a few of my favorite Mickey Vinylmations into the room.


It's cute and simple. There are tons of shower curtains I love on Urban Outfitters website,
but I can just get new stuff when we move again. :)

You can see all my posts of our home HERE.

My Whale Bathroom

We have two bathrooms in our base house. For some reason they thought it would be smart to put ugly brown wallpaper in both the bathrooms. (I hate living in rentals!) I decided to go with a whale theme in our front bathroom. I thought maybe when we have guests over it would spark up a conversation about whales. When I designed my cute whale print I knew it would be a great way to add color to the (ugly) bathroom....
Like any bathroom, it's tiny and hard to photograph.The tall white vase and clock are from IKEA. I found the blue vase for $3 at a thrift store recently. I was excited because the shape reminds me of a wave and the color was perfect. I have vanilla scented oil in the vase to scent the bathroom.

I would like to add some more accessories and a plant stand to the corner across from the toilet...

I kinda feel like we may end up moving before I get all the decorating done!!! Over the weekend I went to my favorite thrift store here in town and found this cute wooden whale...

I had to bring him home with me! It was meant to be! :)

Painting My Bathroom & Vintage Curtains

Usually when you rent a new place the walls have been freshly painted for you. Not my apartment. There are nails in the walls, tons of holes, dirty hand prints and scuff marks everywhere! It is really getting to me and grossing me out. The only room in the apartment that is white, is the bathroom. The other rooms are all this weird off-white almost beige color. Can you see me rolling my eyes? I am not able to paint here. I did take it upon myself to repaint the bathroom white. There were so many holes and dirty marks on the walls that I couldn't live with it and Cody agreed.The bathroom is one of my projects this week. Above you can see a photo of the bathroom. It is small, so very hard to photograph. I decided to use my lime green shower curtain in the space. I plan to put black and white accessories in the bathroom along with my dearly loved Michelin Man. I am having paint with drawls! I crave color! I believe because of all this lack of creative outlet for me, my next house will be OVER THE TOP.

Cody and I may have found a couch. I am kicking myself for not taking a picture of it!!! First thing you need to know about this "couch" is that it is pretty ugly. It is a vintage sofa that is a light turquoise color with a green floral pattern on it. The lines and shape of the couch are very cool. It is also very comfy. The best part is that is it FREE. One of the benefits of being part of the Air Force is there are thrift stores on the base. One of them is FREE. The only reason we didn't bring the sofa home with us is because it wouldn't fit in our car. We hope to have our friend with a truck help us get it this Saturday! The only catch is, it may be gone. I feel it will be waiting there for us though, because honestly Cody and I are probably the only people crazy enough to take it. I was able to bring these curtains home....Needless to say, I think my living room is going to be very interesting looking when I get done decorating it. It will be awhile before I piece it all together. It is much more tricky to decorate when you are on a tight budget and now IKEA is over 2 hours away from me. I am just thankful I have self control when it comes to my VISA card.

NEW SHOWER CURTAIN

While in Texas I stopped in a Target near the Air Force base. I finally found a green shower curtain that was perfect! I love the pattern and color. It was just what I wanted! I can't find the shower curtain on the Target website, so I am glad I bought it.


Also, I have been going through my closets and finding things that I am not using anymore. I have also raided my dressers for clothes I don't wear. I almost have a full car load of stuff to take to Goodwill. It makes me happy to think of someone else enjoying an item that I just have packed away in a box!

LIME GREEN BATHROOMS

Something happened to me in the last week. I fell in love with the color green. Now don't get me wrong, lime green has always been a color close to my heart!!! Suddenly though I find myself wanting to redecorate my apartment bathroom with it! Here are some bathrooms that I find inspiring....

Source: Not 2 Shabby
Sources: Oakland & Berkeley Journal & Ising for Toilets

Source: Design Serendipity

I found this Trellis patterned shower curtain and think I may like it for my bathroom. Of course I would get green bath towels. The vase I just like, but since it is kelly green I don't think it would work. I would love to paint my bathroom a bright shade of lime green, but I don't feel like having to paint it back with it is time to move!

Source: HGTV Blog & Country Living

Source: Houzz

IDEAS FOR MY BATHROOM

I am thinking about buying some new stuff for my bathroom. Here is some stuff I like. I love the bright & bold color scheme...

{LINKS}
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Has anyone seen any cool shower curtains lately?

Twilight Inspired Bathroom

Today I was searching the web for inspiration and stumbled across this cute bathroom by The Mosaic Queen. I have been kinda stressed this week and not feeling very creative. This bathroom cheered me up a bit...





I love how she used the UNG DRILL frames from IKEA to dress up her plain bathroom mirror! What a cute idea! {I might have to steal that one! Spray paint it HOT PINK!!} Please visit her blog to view more photos and read more about her bathroom. {HERE}

My Bathroom {March 2010}

The last room in my house to be decorated :



I kept this small bathroom simple. If I didn't have my house for sale the walls wouldn't be white. I would of painted it some BOLD bright color. I fell in love with the shower curtain from Target! It was something I thought I could use in my next place. I bought a Billy Bookcase from IKEA to use as a storage cabinet next to the shower. I designed the print hanging on the wall to match the space.

Here is a shot of the bathroom when we bought the house :


We ripped out everything! We put a small shower stall in the bathroom instead of a tub.
{Before photos taken in 2007 / Blogged HERE}



Now :

My Hall Bathroom - Finished!

Here is some photos of the bathroom with some decor placed in it....



I spent hours shopping for artwork to hang in the bathroom! In the end I just spray painted 2 cheap frames bright yellow and designed two prints on photoshop.



A room that was such a dark ugly space, is now so bright and cheerful! I love it. :)



You can view all our bathroom remodel photos by visiting my Flickr account!

Bathroom Progress

Toilet & Floor


You can view all our bathroom remodel photos by visiting my Flickr account!
If you want to view all my posts about our bathroom remodel click {HERE}

Bathroom Progress

1.) Drywall



2.) Drywall Mud & Sanding



3.) Painted Semi-Gloss White



My husband painted the bathroom all by himself!!! {He hates painting} I am so proud of all his hard work! He will start the floor tomorrow. :)

CB2 Bathroom

There is a lot of stuff in this room I would love for my bathroom....

Bathroom Progress

We have the tub and shower walls installed. My husband has all the electrical work done also. It is time to start hanging drywall.



Tub & Shower Walls..


Ceiling...

Goodbye Ugly Green Tile

{Remodeling the hall bathroom / January 2010}

The Day has finally come. We are finally remodeling our hall bathroom. This room is the reason we don't like to have company over. Its just embarrassing!!!!





I posted months ago my "design board" for the bathroom! I am so glad that I get to make my design finally come to life! Below is a photo of what most of our light switches look like in our house. The only reason they are like this is because the previous home owners pulled them all out of the wall. ?????? It will be nice not to look at this anymore!





As you can see from the pictures, the bathroom is small. It does have a tall ceiling though making it feel bigger. I plan to paint it white to keep it feeling larger.





The sink faucet we bought a few years ago, that will be staying! I am keeping the medicine cabinet and lights for our basement bathroom that we hope to remodel some day! HA! More like some "year".