While our current 1960s-era home is FULL of weird decisions and quirky spots throughout, the main (and only) bathroom on the main floor of the home was just a lot to take in.

Originally, the walls were some sort of green glass tile that was stuccoed over decades ago (!!!) and painted purple.

There was glass block everywhere, the ceiling was half green glass tile and half pink glass tile, and the floor was grey wood-look tile that was one of the worst installation jobs we’ve ever seen.

The grout lines ranged from 1/4″ wide to up to 2″ wide in spots and you could stub your toe on the unevenness) and the shower was made of four different white tiles.

There was a full-on Broadway-style makeup desk with exposed light bulbs flanking both sides, and the only light for the room was a old vanity light attached to a board.

It loosely hung on the wall like a picture frame over the sink with wires everywhere. Oh, and there was just a big hole in the wall where an old medicine cabinet used to be, so they just hung a mirror up to cover it. It was a lot.

Bathroom makeovers are expensive, and this one needed everything and more done in order to do it right, so I wasn’t sure if we would ever get around to doing this space anytime soon after moving in.

The first year, we focused on the rest of the upstairs, but as we neared the end of that major overhaul, it became apparent that the upstairs was looking so nice now that we really needed to do the bathroom in order for it to match the rest of the house.

Since this gut job was way beyond my DIY skills, we used our contractor to get it done this winter and the result is simply amazing.

Probably the best decision I made in the reno was to move the location of the tiny sink cabinet to the wider alcove on the right side of the room so that we could put in a vanity and countertop that spanned the whole width of the alcove.

The previous sink was in the way of getting to the toilet and the “countertop space” wasn’t wide enough to keep my curling iron from falling off constantly. It also didn’t help the one outlet in the space was on the opposite side of the room, haha.

Now we have a much bigger countertop area (it feels huge!) and I got a white quartz countertop to hold up to the traffic of the main bathroom in the house.

Oh, and there are two outlets above the vanity now, so I can actually get close enough to the mirror to see and curl my hair, haha. That gold faucet is really pretty, and I feel like single handle faucets are easier for kids to use as well.

There was almost zero storage in the old bathroom (previous owners seemed to all put a huge cabinet in the room just to have a place to put things), so it’s amazing to have this vanity (similar here) with all the drawers as well (they slide out under the sink for taller items).

I switched out the pulls on the vanity for these that were a brighter gold with rounded edges to match the other finishings better, and they are so pretty. I also added this soap dispenser and toothbrush holder that are rounded to continue the curve feel here and there.

The light in the bathroom is also very one-directional since all the windows are on one wall, so I used these 70s feel globe lights to flank the mirror and chose a mirror that also has its own built-in ring light (similar here) to evenly light the face for makeup application, etc.

I also love that the mirror light dims to a soft glow, and we use that as our bathroom nightlight so we and our kiddo can see in the middle of the night.

While I did have a bit of a soft spot for the vintage pink tub that was in the old bathroom, it wasn’t in the best of shape close up. But I made sure to keep some pink with these gorgeous glass tiles by Fireclay in the Rosy Finch Gloss.

I love that they are definitely pink but still kind of feel like a neutral as well, and the stacked bond pattern and size makes it feel very modern and fresh. Lola was so sad to get rid of the pink tub, but I kept telling her she was getting a pink shower, so she was OK with that.

There’s something about glass tile in a shower that feels so luxurious, and I love it.

The pink also looks so pretty with the gold shower kit that I picked out, and it’s just such a happy combo to look at while we shower or bathe. Speaking of bathing, switching out the old tub with this clean-line beauty was also a great decision.

It’s an amazing soaking tub for baths and the sides are a lot higher so Lola can splash around a lot more, and very little comes over the sides of the tub now versus the tsunami we had before at every bath.

To match the gold shower kit, I got this shower rod and I love this checkerboard curtain that adds a trendy pattern to the space.

I knew I wanted the rose tile for the shower, but I wasn’t sure what to do with the floors for a long time. I do love a clean look of white on white on white (sue me, but I do), so I wanted to do something bright, but with a little twist.

I settled on this beautiful Fireclay tile in Calcite and decided to have it laid out in a herringbone pattern. I feel like the herringbone was a little nod to my love of all things Parisian, but since it has white grout as well, it’s not crazy and doesn’t compete too much with the pink and white pattern that the shower creates.

We also decided to add a heated floor system under the tile which wasn’t that much more since it’s a comparatively small space. Worth. Every. Penny.

My husband has already fallen asleep on the floor and the cats go in there to lay on the pre-warmed bathmat at night. I like that the arch in the rug mirrors the custom trim I added to the doors upstairs as well.

My brother was the one that introduced us to this fancy toilet that he installed when he redid his own bathroom himself, and while it feels a little nuts to geek out about a toilet, let me first tell you that it has programmable bidet settings (with adjustable temperature warmth), a dryer for post-bidet sessions (with adjustable warmth), automatic flush, and a heated seat.

It actually needs its own outlet as it runs on electricity (we still have a “regular” basement toilet in case the power is ever out, if you were wondering), but it’s a pretty amazing toilet overall.

It’s hard to find a “pretty” toilet brush, but I found this one to complete the set. There’s not a lot of space in the area, but this slim trash can fits perfectly.

I also asked my contractor to add a cabinet above the toilet so we could have more precious storage space. It looks like that area used to be a laundry chute, but now it’s kind of above the basement shower, so we closed it off and made it storage instead.

My husband grew up with a laundry chute though, and he swears it’s the best thing ever and we need to find a way to add another one …

The previous bathroom didn’t have any towel racks since the stucco/glass tile combination was so hard to mount anything to, but I chose this towel rack, hand towel holder, and toilet paper holder to match the look and added this Matisse print above the towel rack to compliment it.

To add some color for the main art in the room, I hung this print by one of my favorite artists that we had in our last home.

You can find more cute & affordable wall art for a bathroom in this post!

I also wanted a shelf to keep my most used Leahlani skincare items out since I use them multiple times a day (and they are pretty enough to keep out too).

I also got this gold floating shelf to hold them and added some greenery and these super cute matches from our friend Sarah’s shop (she used to be the A Beautiful Mess photographer back in the day!).

Gold Hardware / Towel Holder / Girl Print / Gold Shelf / Toilet / Gold Shower Kit / Soap Dispenser / Lit Mirror / Bathtub / Gold Faucet / Globe Sconce / Matisse Print

Want to see other room makeovers in my house? Check out…

• 70s Pink Living Room Makeover (Before + After!)
• Laura’s Dining Room Tour (Before + After!)
• Laura’s Organization-Focused Entryway (Before + After!)
• Laura’s Pink Star Bedroom (Before + After!)
• Lola’s Room Tour (Before + After!)

I can’t tell you how much we love the new bathroom and how it’s SO much more functional than it was before. Taking a soak in the tub for the first time when it was all done felt like I was at a spa and it was just magical.

Someday, I may do something a little more colorful or add some pattern to the walls, but for now I’m just enjoying it all looking so fresh and bright. What’s your favorite part? xo. Laura

So for this DIY, I added macrame trim to a simple/boring shower curtain. The finished result is a custom shower curtain that you can’t buy in any store!

Here’s how it’s done …

Supplies:
–white shower curtain
–macrame lace
-fabric scissors
–fabric glue or sewing machine

Cut a macrame lace strip to be just as wide as the bottom of the curtain. Pin your lace in the location you want it along the bottom of the curtain. Use a ruler as you go to make sure the top of the lace is even with the bottom of the curtain.

Using a ruler again, add and pin your next line of lace and repeat with each layer you want to add.

Use fabric glue along the top edge of each piece of lace to secure, or sew along the top line with a sewing machine.

Add some Fray Check to the ends of all your cut macrame pieces so they don’t unravel.

Hang up your curtain to see your finished product!

I loved how this curtain looked in my guest bathroom.

P.S. If you love macrame, check out these DIYs:

• Simple Macrame Table Runner
• Macrame Handbag
• Make Your Own Macrame Curtain

Print

Boho Shower Curtain DIY

add macrame lace to a plain shower curtain to create boho look

Keyword boho, shower curtain

Author Elsie Larson

Equipment

• fabric scissors
• fabric glue
• sewing machine optional

Ingredients

• white shower curtain
• macrame lace

Instructions

• Cut a macrame lace strip to be just as wide as the bottom of the curtain. Pin your lace in the location you want it along the bottom of the curtain.

  Use a ruler as you go to make sure the top of the lace is even with the bottom of the curtain.
• Using a ruler again, add and pin your next line of macrame lace and repeat with each layer you want to add.
• Apply fabric glue along the top edge of each piece of lace to secure (or sew along the top line with a sewing machine).
• Add some Fray Check to the ends so the macrame pieces won't unravel.

Credits//Author: Elsie Larson. Project and Photography: Laura Gummerman.

One of the things that we really wanted to update was our wood-look planked tile floor—the above photo shows the floors in their original state. I understand that a lot of people love this type of tile, but I am not one of them (and neither is my husband), so we decided to paint over it and choose a really fun stencil. After doing a lot of research on painted tile, I personally don’t think I would have done this for any kind of long-term solution, just because a lot of accounts I’ve read say that after a year or two, things start to show wear.

Another part of our decision to do the paint is that that since we don’t wear shoes in the house, we could count on there not being shoes on this surface—pretty much bare/sock feet only. My biggest fear was that it wouldn’t look right having to stencil over the grout lines since it’s not square tile/perfectly suited for the stencil, but you really don’t notice them at all now that everything is done.

If you’re curious about how long this project took, I would budget three days. One for prep, one for stenciling/touching up, and one for sealing. The first thing we did was clean the whole floor really thoroughly with Krud Kutter (a degreaser) and tape everything off. Then, we primed with a high adhesion bonding primer. We did three coats of primer, which might be overkill, but we really wanted everything to be thoroughly covered. Just be aware that due to the nature of these kinds of primers, it may not look fully opaque even after a few coats—the purpose is not to cover up what’s underneath, but to make sure the surface is prepped to take and hold onto the paint.

Next up, after the primer dried, we painted three coats of a white latex paint. Our tile was kind of textured, so we really needed all of those coats to make sure everything looked nice and even. The photo above is in between coats 2 and 3, so you can kind of still see the tile peeking through.

Next up came the stenciling! Here’s the stencil we used. I love this company because you can choose the size of the stencil you need for your size of tile (we went with the width of the tile, which I believe was 8″ and decided we would paint over the grout lines if necessary when it comes to length). The other pro of this brand is that they give you two stencils—one to cut up if you need to maneuver around corners and hard-to-reach places, and another to keep intact.

Here are some of my stenciling tips:

-Practice on a piece of cardboard or scrap wood first, as there’s definitely a rhythm to stenciling.
-Don’t be afraid to stencil over grout lines.
-Keep a cloth or towel close by to wipe excess paint off bottom of the stencil so it doesn’t transfer (this will probably still happen but don’t worry, you can touch everything up later).
-Be sure you seal your work! We did three coats of poly and it feels really strong and protected.Hope this is helpful if you decide to tackle a stencil project!

P.S. Here’s a link to a similar bath rug.

Credits // Author: Keely Rust. Finished Project Photography: Amber Kelly. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.

We are going to be gutting this bathroom in the next three or so years (it has some layout issues and a very dated Jacuzzi tub), so we thought—why not do something really fun and colorful in the meantime since the high-contrast black and grey granite is not our style?

Related: Resin Art – Beginner’s Guide and Kids Mini Bathroom Refresh

About five years ago in our previous home, we bought some custom-colored vinyl chips (commonly used for garage and commercial floors) and used them on a concrete floor in the converted garage part of the house with an epoxy over top.

I’m absolutely in love with the modern terrazzo that’s been emerging in design the last few years and thought, If I ordered the chips a little bit bigger and tried this on a countertop, maybe I can replicate that terrazzo finish a little bit? We are so happy with the outcome.

Here are a few disclaimers before I start walking you through the process:

It is extremely messy because of the chips going everywhere (you basically just throw them around, lol) and the protective gear should absolutely be worn when pouring and working with epoxy.

We watched about two hours worth of videos from Stone Coat Countertops, the company we bought the epoxy from, before we did a single thing to learn the proper technique for mixing, pouring, and working with this material.

We also ordered a few granite samples (very similar to the original countertops) to do a trial run before, so highly recommend doing that if you can! With all that being said, we feel that this project was 100% worth it.

Supplies:
–degreaser to clean the surface
-high adhesion bonding primer
-latex paint in your desired base color
-small paint roller
-small paintbrush for detailing
-colored vinyl chips (you can get custom color chips from this company. I like using their blend tool to see how things are going to look—they use Sherwin Williams colors, so if you need to go to the SW store and grab some paint swatches you can do that).
-dry paintbrush to clear away loose chips
-epoxy (highly recommend Stone Coat Countertops—it’s formulated for this type of project and there is a square footage calculator on this page so you can find out how much epoxy you need)
-disposable mixing bucket (it helped to have the ones with ounces marks from the hardware store so we could be really exact)
-a way to mix your epoxy, like a mixing attachment for a drill—just make sure the attachment is compatible with your specific drill
–trowel to spread epoxy
-short paintbrush(es) to “chop” epoxy
-blowtorch (make sure it can be held vertically upside down; otherwise, it will flare when the propane gets too low)
-tweezers

First, let’s talk about project prep. We cleaned our surface very thoroughly with a degreaser. Next, we taped off anywhere we didn’t want paint and epoxy to go.

If you’re doing countertops this means any sinks along with areas surrounding your countertop/backsplash and definitely DON’T FORGET the faucet holes!

We taped up plastic directly underneath and also laid plastic down in the bottom of the cabinets just in case.

Quick side note: We recently painted the cabinets of this vanity with this hard drying paint tutorial that Elsie also used to paint her bathroom vanity and it worked like a charm.

Next, we primed all our surfaces with the high adhesion bonding primer. We did two coats of this primer to get the best coverage.

After your primer has dried for about four hours, you can start painting your base color, which is what will show through underneath your chips. We needed a solid two coats of white base paint (it’s just regular latex paint from the home improvement store).

Keep in mind you will be doing another layer of paint after this one to spread the chips over your surface, but I highly recommend making sure the entire surface has really good coverage.

The last thing you want to be worried about while you’re sprinkling/spreading your chips is covering up sparsely painted areas.

Our first move with the chips was to tackle all the vertical surfaces. To do that, we taped off the edges of the flat surfaces so paint/chips wouldn’t adhere to places we didn’t want them to (they could pile up and you’ll end up with way more chips than you wanted in any given spot).

Then, we painted with the base color in small, approximately 4×9″ sections. Working quickly and while the paint is wet, we horizontally ‘threw’ the chips onto the painted area.

This is certainly challenging but not impossible! On our first go-round, we realized our technique wasn’t working, so we scraped off the chips with a putty knife and started over again. Not the end of the world, but you want to get your throwing technique down before going all-in.

You can see in the photo above that the sink vertical looks pretty messy, so here’s how we cleaned it up: Once the paint is just barely dry, we patted down the chips with gloved hands to help it adhere to the paint. You want to make sure you aren’t tracking paint onto your chips, so if the paint is wet at all, wait!

After we applied some pressure to the chips, we took our hands and swiped them over the finished spots to break off any loose chips. It’s important to get as many loose chips off your surface as possible so they’re not floating around in the epoxy later.

After this step, you may notice that you have some bald spots that are in need of more chips to create an even look. To fix this, you can do a spot treatment. Just grab a very small paintbrush, dip it in your base color, and spot treat the areas that need attention.

Repeat the pressing and swiping process again to remove any loose chips. It’s possible you may have to repeat this process a few times, but patience will pay off if you want an even distribution of chips.

Once you are finished with entire backsplash, sink, and front vertical surfaces, you can use a dry, clean paintbrush to clean off any loose chips. We just brushed them into the sink since it had tape and a barrier.

Next, we removed the tape from the flat surfaces so we could add the chips—this part was so much easier than the verticals! Be sure to still only paint in small sections because you want your paint to be as wet as possible so the chips adhere properly. Instead of throwing, we took the chips pinched between our fingers and just moved them back and forth, kind of like you’re feeding food flakes to a fish (that’s the best example I can think of, haha).

Repeat the spot treatment on the flat surfaces if you need to! Let your chips and paint dry for at least 12 hours.

It’s finally epoxy time! I highly recommend going through Stone Coat Countertops’ YouTube channel. We watched a lot of videos but this one is a good place to start. Before you start the epoxy you’ll also want to tape up plastic sheeting over your cabinets so the epoxy doesn’t drip onto them.

We mixed our epoxy by adding the hardener to the resin and mixing for two minutes (could be more or less depending on what you’re using).

Check out the specific product you’re using for how much product you’ll need to mix for your surface area. The formula we used didn’t have a smell to it, but we wore masks, gloves, and glasses just in case.

Next up, we poured the epoxy and spread it over the surface with the trowel. Just know that because of the chips the trowel will “catch” since it’s a textured surface. We got around this by not applying very much pressure at all while we were spreading the product.

You’ll want to cover as much surface area as you can with your trowel since it will help make sure the epoxy is as level as possible before it starts self-leveling.

After we had most of the surface area covered, we took our short brushes and “chopped” the epoxy by repeatedly tapping the brushes over the entire surface area.

If you’re dealing with any vertical surfaces like a backsplash, just do your best to distribute the epoxy with your paintbrush. The epoxy will probably start to pool under your backsplash, so just keep picking that extra product up with your brush and redistributing it where it needs to be until the epoxy starts to set.

We then went over the entire flat surface with the flame from a blowtorch to eliminate air bubbles. Do not torch your vertical surface as the epoxy doesn’t settle in the same way on those surfaces.

I highly recommend getting a blowtorch you can hold upside down OR getting a few cans of propane because the torch will flare if the propane gets too low.

To start the finishing steps, we removed any taped places, like the sink bowls and around the backsplash. Then we grabbed a few pairs of tweezers and painstakingly looked over every square inch for hairs and other particles that shouldn’t be in the epoxy.

We had about 45 minutes to work with the wet epoxy before things started setting. Now is a good time to remember that your job won’t be absolutely perfect—there will most likely be a few things you missed that set into the epoxy, or maybe a few air bubbles that didn’t pop. That’s OK! Just do your best and it’s going to come out beautifully.

To close out the project, we went over the whole area with the blowtorch a few more times, just to try and get all the air bubbles we can. We waited three days to use the countertops lightly, and they fully cured in 30 days.

We are SO thrilled with this new look—it makes us happy every time we walk in the bathroom!

Thanks for following along, and best of luck if you decide to take on this project! xo, Keely

Print

DIY Faux-Terrazzo Countertops

Learn how to give a bathroom countertop a faux-terrazzo makeover.

Keyword countertops, terrazzo

Cook Time 3 days days

Author Keely Rust

Cost $250

Ingredients

• degreaser to clean the surface
• bonding primer high adhesion
• latex paint in your desired base color
• paint roller small
• paintbrush for detailing small
• colored vinyl chips
• dry paintbrush to clear away loose chips
• epoxy highly recommend Stone Coat Countertops
• disposable bucket for mixing epoxy
• mixing attachment for a drill to mix your epoxy
• Trowel to spread epoxy
• short paintbrush(es) to "chop" epoxy
• blowtorch make sure it can be held vertically upside down; otherwise it will flare when the propane gets too low
• tweezers

Instructions

• Clean your surface with a degreaser, like Krud Kutter
• Tape off any surfaces that you do not want to get paint or epoxy on, like sinks and walls. Use plastic sheeting to catch any runoff down the front of the vanity.
• Prime your surface with a high adhesion bonding primer (we did 2 coats)
• Once your primer has dried for at least 4 hours, begin painting with your base color. Use as many coats as necessary until you get the desired coverage (we did 2 coats)
• Roll another layer of paint onto a small area (we did about 5×9" sections), then sprinkle your chips. If attempting to deposit chips on a vertical surface, throw the chips directly at the surface). Don't skimp on the amount of paint, you want there to be enough for the chips to stick to!
• Once the paint is dry, take your hand and press the chips into the surface. Be sure you aren't getting paint on your hands and tracking it onto the chips!
• When you are certain paint is dry, swipe your hand over the surface to loosen chips that didn't adhere completely. Use your dry paintbrush to brush loose chips into the sink or in another receptacle.
• If you notice any "bald spots," go in with your very small detailing brush. Apply paint to the surface, then sprinkle chips again over that spot. Repeat the pressing and swiping process to ensure you have as few loose chips as possible.

  You may need to do this a few times before you're completely satisfied with the coverage as chips WILL come off. The goal is to not have loose chips in the epoxy (you will have them no matter what, but we want to have as few as possible).
• Wait at least 12 hours for the paint to fully harden.
• Mix your epoxy (hardener and resin) with the mixing attachment for 2 minutes. Check your epoxy product for how much you need to mix and what the working time is (how long you have before the epoxy sets).
• After pouring the epoxy, take your trowel and spread it over your surface. Try to cover as much as possible with the trowel.

  It will get caught on the chips as they make a "bumpy" surface, but applying a very light pressure as opposed to trying to drag it right over the chips will help.
• "Chop" your epoxy with your new paintbrush by repeatedly tapping your brush over the entire surface area.
• If you're dealing with a vertical surface, you'll need to just keep adding epoxy to those surfaces. It will pool directly below, so just keep taking that epoxy where it's pooling and redepositing it onto the vertical surface.
• With your blowtorch, go over the entire flat surface to eliminate air bubbles. Do not torch your vertical surface as the epoxy doesn't settle in the same way on those surfaces.
• Before the epoxy dries, remove any tape around the perimeter and sinks very gently. If you wait until after the epoxy dries, the tape will become extremely difficult to remove.
• Look over your surface VERY carefully for hairs (I know, gross) or other foreign objects/pieces that have made it into your wet epoxy. With your tweezers, carefully remove them.

  Once the epoxy is set you will not have the opportunity to do this, so continually looking for anything like this is pretty crucial at this stage.
• Go over the surface with your blowtorch a few more times to eliminate any air bubbles that might have formed.
• Allow the epoxy to cure for 3 days before light use. It will continue to cure over 30 days.

This space is the bathroom in our kids’ shared bedroom. We’ve lived in our home for about 7 months now, and this room had ZERO personality when we moved in.

Related: Elsie’s Main Bath (Mini) Makeover

Here’s what it looked like before:

As you can see, it was just really boring and builder grade. We removed the metal and glass shower door immediately. Currently, our children take baths exclusively so removing those created a more accessible tub for us to use.

After that, we swapped the mirror and light fixture, added some removable tile to the floor, and added art and some accessories. We actually did not do that much, but the changes made created a HUGE visual impact. Take a look …

This was my first time to do double shower curtains and I love the vibe. It’s different, right? I think I saw it on Pinterest and I was like YESSSS.

Here’s a link to the shower curtain I chose. Also, here’s a link to my Dolly print. Oh, and here’s a link to our gold hooks.

For the floors, we used the new stick-on tile from Chasing Paper. I was a part of the test group who tested the product before it launched and it’s really good quality! When my photographer came into the room, she thought it was real tile.

You really can’t tell!!! It’s an awesome product and renter-friendly! Here’s the bath mat I picked.

I’m sure you will want to know how durable it is. That’s the main thing I would want to know as well. Full disclosure: I’ve only had this in the room for about one month so I can’t tell you yet how it will wear over a year’s time.

So far, I have a good feeling it will last as long as we need it to! The vinyl is very thick and feels very well adhered to the tile.

Two tips:

1. We are a “shoes off” household, so there will almost never be someone in this room wearing shoes. That will be rare, definitely not daily.

2. This is a low-traffic room. I probably would not use this on the floor of a main living space and where there is constant traffic.

For the type of room this is and the type of wear it will receive from our family, I wouldn’t be surprised it if holds up perfectly for several years until we remodel. Just be realistic and honest with yourself about the space and how much traffic it gets.

Do I get a gold star for branching out beyond pink on this vanity? I’m loving this color! It’s Glazed Ginger by Behr.

Here’s a link to the globe light and the mirror. Both of them are very budget-friendly.

Thanks so much for following along. xx- Elsie

All sources linked: Shower Curtain / Dolly Print / Gold Hooks / Stick-On Tile / Bath Mat / Light / Mirror / Bath Towels

The before and after above is the most dramatic thing we did to the second level of our home, as well as my favorite change. Before I jump into how great our ideas were to improve the space, I’ll talk you through the long process of how we got there. Good ideas usually don’t happen overnight, and I would hate to jump to the end like I am a genius when we actually went through 10 different floor plan revisions before landing on this one.

Our process started with “let’s just add a doorway into the hall bath” (the hall bath shares the wall with the main bedroom wall with the floral artwork seen above). Our second idea was to add another bathroom that was in the corner of the bedroom that shared the bathroom wall, where the bed ended up going. This idea continued to evolve with different ideas on how to not completely destroy the window nook that bumped out in the bedroom but keeping the bathrooms sharing the plumbing wall. Idea number three was to take the window bump out and just make it part of the bathroom. That would result in taking the best view in the room inside the bathroom, where the windows would be closed for 90% of the time for obvious reasons. As you can see, we went back and forth for what seemed like forever! Tons of sketching, tons of poking holes in ideas, and tons of measuring. Finally, during a meeting with a contractor, one of us just asked, “Could we move the bathroom over THERE?” pointing to the opposite corner of the room and the contractor said, “Oh, sure!” There you have it. We are GENIUSES.

The floor plan above shows the before and after of changes we made transitioning the main bedroom into a bedroom suite. Originally, the room was one large room with a smaller closet under the staircase up to the attic. The smallest room with no closet on the second level had an ensuite bathroom attached already, but we wanted to make the largest bedroom into the main bedroom and chose to make the other rooms into kid rooms, due to the layout and how they connected through. The room pictured was by far the largest bedroom at 26′, so we wanted to really make it feel clear which room should act as the main bedroom by remodeling. Our goals were to create a larger closet space, move the washer and dryer upstairs (It was currently in the basement two levels down) and add an attached bathroom with double vanity. We ended up cutting the room in half, leaving the distance on either side of the window bump out walls symmetrical so it looked intentional.

Starting with the main bedroom closet, we put a stacked washer and dryer where the original closet was. We also opened up the slanted closet space that was a part of the original closet into an opening for the new closet space with extra deep shelving. Creating extra deep shelves where possible is always my preference. It may be harder to get all the way to the back, but I would prefer to store extra laundry detergent or something I don’t need to get to every day rather than not have the space at all. For the hanging clothing, we added around 20′ of rod, as well as some shelving for shoes and folded items. We took the door and molding from the original 1925 closet and used it in Opal’s room for the new bathroom opening. And for the record … moving the laundry from the basement to the second floor might be my favorite thing of it all. #clothdiapers

For the bathroom, we added to the main bedroom suite, and were able to fit a large shower, double vanity and toilet with a little privacy 1/2 wall into the limited floor plan. We tried to fit in a bathtub, but we opted for a larger shower since the middle bathroom has a large tub just outside the main bedroom door. It’s also unusual for historical homes to have attached bathrooms and large closets. Old homes are unlike most newer homes built in the past 40 years—sometimes you can literally cartwheel through the bathroom. I suppose it is kind of like how vintage clothing runs small?

We chose 6×6″ white tile all the way up in the shower and behind the vanity wall. Larger tiles were not made when our home was built, so we did not want to use anything larger than about 6×6″ to keep the look as original as possible.

I’ll also share a bit about how we landed on the metal finishes in this bathroom. I’m a firm believer in learning the rules first so you know how to break them. Usually, when you see an interesting space, rules have been broken along the way to give it that interesting feel that you are drawn to and feels custom. My personal guidelines on mixing metals is that black doesn’t count. In my book, black metal is neutral and can be mixed with anything. I usually select one main metal finish that is used for the main fixtures (shower head, sink faucets, etc.). Outside of that, I choose other accent finishes. Here, we chose to accent with gold metal mirrors and black drawer knobs/cup pulls. Sometimes breaking the rules, with guidelines in place, help it still feel cohesive and purposeful even though it is not all matching perfectly.

All of the doors in the home were original and had been painted many times over the years. We actually had the doors stripped down to the wood with hopes of staining them, but they had multiple wood types in each door and it was clear they were originally meant to be painted. Stripping them down was still worth it even though we repainted them, because you can now see the beautiful wood grain through the paint. We tried out about 10 greens, but settled on this custom mix of a dark hunter green.

All of the hardware on the doors is original brass. Jonathan actually researched a DIY and stripped all of the door hinges and knob hardware by cooking them in a crockpot in water overnight. You heard right … after about eight hours the paint and grime came right off with a brush and just a bit of scrubbing. (Do NOT put the glass knobs into the crockpot, that will ruin the glass so they must be cleaned by hand.) You also should not cook food in the crockpot again after doing this, so finding one used is a great idea.

Above shows Opal’s room with all her magical 5-year-old “treasures.” (Actually, most of her “treasures” got shoved in the closet for the photos.) This particular room had a really heavy texture on the walls with darker colors—it belonged to a cool college kid before. We ended up replacing two of the walls with new drywall and insulation and skim coated the others to get the smooth finish in the after photo. In addition to that, we refinished the original floors in this room (and the entire home) and made an opening into the bathroom to make it shared access from the playroom/Moses’ room.

The bathroom above is the middle bathroom, and was originally the only full bathroom in the house when it was built. This is the bathroom we thought about adding a doorway behind the tub that would connect with the main bedroom in our brainstorm. We really tried to leave it as original as possible, but the floor tile had some really rough areas and the pedestal sink had some plumbing issues, so they had to be replaced. We also added the wall sconces and all new bathroom accessories in chrome. We had the original cast iron tub refinished and it turned out beautiful! Other than that, we replaced tile floor and wall tile, moved the shower head higher and painted all walls and trim.

Last but not least is Moses’ nursery and the playroom! Nearly 100% of his nursery is full of handmade items from friends and different garage sale finds. He hasn’t complained, or spoken a word about it … or uttered a word at all, in fact. It is really just a sweet space full of toys (on the bottom shelf) that he can reach and make a mess out of, as a child’s room should be. The rocker, crib and footstool were from Opal’s old nursery, so it feels really nostalgic. It seems like I always end up accenting with yellow no matter how hard I try. It’s actually the Pantone Color of the Year for 2021, so I guess I’m finally on trend.

Moses’ room opens into the playroom, which opens into the kid’s bathroom, that also connects to Opal’s room. It all makes a little room circle. It could feel strange if we had a guest room you had to walk through a nursery to get to, but for the set up we have going, it’s like the “kids wing” and flows perfectly. During bath time, Opal and Moses will get out of the bathtub and streak little circles around the connected rooms and hop back into the tub, giggling the whole time. It’s the best.

Thank you for taking the time to virtually tour our home!  It’s been a labor of love for sure, and we have learned so much from the experience. When you are planning a renovation, just remember—every space is so different, there is not one magic answer. Usually there are several “good” options for each space, so it’s really about coming up with what works best for you. It’s a game of trial and error to find the “best” option. That’s how you can come up with a space that really feels like it is unique to what your taste is and works for your and your family. Now … go make a cozy, functional, pretty space! xo, Shailey

Credits // Author: Shailey Murphy. Photography: Janae Hardy and Shailey Murphy. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.

Since we won’t be remodeling for a long time, we wanted to do a quick mini makeover to address the functional issues and make it feel closer to our style for the time being.

Related: Kids Mini Bathroom Refresh

Mini makeovers (often called “phase one”) are very challenging because our goal was to use as much as you could from the existing room and spend as little money as possible.

However, three to five years is still a long time and in my opinion it’s too long to live with a room we didn’t love. So this mini makeover became the perfect solution for us! We spent a few weeks updating it minimally and now I feel much more settled and happy here.

This post is sponsored by Delta Faucet. They make the most gorgeous faucets and hardware. As you will see in this post, they make a huge improvement and brought our space more up-to-date without having to take on a full remodel!

Before we dive in, Here are the BEFORE photos …

We started with a 1990s bathroom in pretty rough shape. The very big PRO is that it is very large, with abundant space, natural light and storage.

The CONs were that it had lots of leaks, two clogged sinks, the tub and shower were both broken and there were lots of little issues like missing and broken towel bars. It was definitely in need of a refresh both functionally and visually!

My thoughts/goals when planning this MINI makeover:

-I knew I was not ready to fully remodel this space. So we did not want to rip anything out. So the tile, vanities, mirrors, etc., all needed to stay for now.

-We wanted to update the space so that everything is fully functional, including repairing leaks, repairing our shower and having clogged drains repaired.

-I wanted to make it look as pretty, modernized and “my style” as possible. Given the design challenges of not ripping anything out, I would need to find creative solutions to work around everything.

-I didn’t want to spend very much money on anything that we would only use temporarily. So we decided to keep the majority of our updates affordable like paint, removable wallpaper, adding curtains and some art from Etsy.

Here’s what we ended up with!

The space feels updated, more our style and most importantly is now FULLY functional!

Let’s talk about the toilet closet first!

Adding removable wallpaper made a HUGE visual impact. I chose the Botany print from Chasing Paper. Removable wallpaper is easy to install and durable. Plus, if you look at how this room looked in the “before” pics, it was SUPER boring. The removable wallpaper added a lot of personality.

We updated the hardware with a Delta towel bar, toilet tissue holder and a new flush handle. Swapping out your toilet handle is a great hack for modernizing it with just a simple hardware change.

I also added some marble shelves, two prints from Tiny Fawn on Etsy, and my favorite towels EVER! The smiley planter is from my favorite ceramics shop- The Coy Collection.

OK, moving on to the tub. We decided to paint it a pale pink (Behr “Sand Dance”) along with the vanities, using this tutorial.

We kept the existing 90s tub and updated the hardware to this beautifully designed Trinsic Roman Tub faucet with Hand Shower Trim. The included hand shower is such a unique touch and is perfect for rinsing off after a bath and is so helpful during bath time.

Plus, I love the vibrant, champagne bronze finish! Then we added some boho curtains. It was already pretty private with blinds, but the curtains help to give it a cooler vibe.

I have to admit … I LOVE the 90s tub. It’s huge and hilarious and really fun to take baths in. My kids love it too—of course!

OK! Let’s talk vanities. We kept the existing cabinets, counters and mirrors. We updated the faucets, towel bars and cabinet hardware. The Trinsic Two Handle Widespread Bathroom Faucet from Delta perfectly match the tub faucet.

They were so easy to install and still in my favorite finish! I also added a few decor things like these affordable rugs (only $70!) and some cute things like organization for my skin stuff and a little bit of art here and there. It came a long way with these small changes!

In the shower, we updated the shower head to the Delta Faucet Raincan Shower Head, bringing a modern twist – showers are 100x nicer with just that one small swap. 

The shower tile is not my favorite, but the new shower head will help us enjoy it to the fullest for the time being.

Speaking of rugs, I decided to put a big area rug in the area between the giant mirror and the (newly pink) cabinets. This is another tip for minimizing a floor you don’t *love.*

I’m not crazy about the travertine tile, plus there’s just so much of it. A few cute rugs help my eyes not focus on it as much.

These shelves are without a doubt my favorite part of the room as we purchased it. I like the curved detail and it’s amazing having a lot of storage!

Out of all the things in the bathroom probably these shelves and the Delta fixtures are what I will keep when we completely gut it and remodel years from now!

I like arranging accessories and pretty things on the shelves. The giant air plant here is real. His name is Mr. Plant and he is Nova’s plant. She gives him a soak about once a month in my sink.

Ah! Well, I think that is everything! I am so grateful for the chance to do this mini makeover. It has already made a world of difference and I pretty much smile every day when I see the wallpapered bathroom.

If you are living in a home where circumstances won’t allow you to remodel for a long time, I definitely recommend a mini makeover as a solution!

Fix anything that is driving you crazy and make it as cute as you can with just a few small upgrades like paint, new rugs and new hardware.

Looking for other small update ideas to refresh a bathroom? Check out these posts for inspiration!

• Boho Shower Curtain
• DIY Faux Terrazzo Countertops
• Using Outdoor Fixtures Inside
• Sprinkle Rug DIY

If you have any questions, let me know in the comments! xx- Elsie

You can stream the episode here on the blog or on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, and Stitcher. You can find the podcast posts archive here.

Show notes:

-I chat about my current mini (phase one) main bathroom project that I am working on now. I’m excited to get it up to speed and also make it cuter to tide us over for a few years.

-Here’s the jet tub cleaner, Oh Yuk. Highly recommended if you move into a home with moldy jet tubs. It totally fixed it!

-We talk about what a “dreamy bathroom” means to us.

-Do you have a sauna opinion between steam and infrared? Do you have opinions about heated floors?

-Here’s an example of a sauna we think is “cute”.

-Making my bathroom a sensory experience…. fluffy robe, amazing soap, great towels.

-Elsie mention Ramit’s “rich life” philosophy.

-We chat about COVID-modified Halloween ideas. Here’s a link to our countdown calendar.

-We close it out with a new embarrassing story!

Thank you so much for all your love and support! We appreciate you! xx. Elsie + Emma

Miss an episode? Get caught up!

• Episode #56: Elsie’s Renovation + Emma’s Novel Updates
• Episode #55: (MINI) Alyssa Rosenheck
• Episode #54: All Things Renter-Friendly With Medina Grillo

Episode 57 Transcript

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Elsie: You’re listening to the A Beautiful Mess podcast this week, we’re falling down the rabbit hole of dream bathrooms because sometimes it’s just fun to dream and I don’t know, I really like bathrooms. (laughs) We’re talking bidets, saunas, wallpaper covered water closets, all the fun and very important points that you would expect for us to cover. We’re also talking COVID-related Halloween plans, which is a very important topic this year. This week’s episode is sponsored by Canon USA. We’ll talk more about them later in this episode. Ok, so before we start talking about the dream bathrooms, I want to talk a little bit about my mini-makeover because I’m in the middle of that, which I think also is an important thing to just say out front is like we’re not all going to be making a dream bathroom. It’s 2020 and everything sucks.

Emma: Mhmm.

Elsie: Like that, you know, just get that out in front. You know, we’re not putting a dream bathroom in our house right now, and we’re assuming you’re probably not renovating your dream bathroom either because of COVID and whatever. But it’s just fun to talk about…

Emma: Maybe like one person who’s like a contractor. (laughs)

Elsie: Yeah. One person is like, “hey, this was my year! This was my bathroom year. I’ve been saving up for ten years for this. OK, I’m doing it.” We see you. We hear you. But you are the only one.

Emma: Yeah. The rest of us are dreaming.

Elsie: (laughs) Yeah. So I don’t know. I just think it’s fun to talk about and dream. Like one of my favorite things about home projects is saving some of them for later. You know, I don’t want it to all be done at once. That’s why I would never do a new build.

Emma: Yeah, it is kind of fun to spread it out a little bit because, one, it’s a lot of work and a lot of money. So just on a practical scale, but even on an emotional scale and also like a decision fatigue kind of scale, I think it’s nice to spread it out. So you get to feel like you enjoy making all these decisions because they are really fun. But when you have to do a ton of them at once, it’s actually really overwhelming. And you can feel like “I don’t even care. Just put white tile in. I can’t think anymore,” you know? And it’s like, well, you’ll probably be OK with those choices. But, you know, it’s more fun if you get to kind of dream and spread it out a little bit.

Elsie: It definitely is for me. I know some people like getting it over with, but I love spreading it out and I love renovating. Like renovating is a hobby to me as much as it’s our job. A little bit for the blog. More so it’s a hobby. So I would do it this way whether I had a blog or not. So anyway, we just moved into a new house two months ago, as you all know, and it came with the most nineties kitchen and bathrooms, very original nineties. Nothing’s been updated since the 90s. Like you can tell, absolutely nothing has been updated since then. So my main bathroom, I’ll tell you some of the features it came with, because you guys know our house is like kind of fancy. It’s a, it’s like a big fancy dream house. But, BUT, this is it… came with a leaking — like my vanity totally leaks. If I even try to wash my face, I have to, like, go over to Jeremy’s vanity to wash my face or else put a towel under it. Every single towel bar in the bathroom is broken off. So it’s just like two knobs on the wall throughout the room. Our shower only has one temperature, which is — it’s so crazy that, like, we just bought this house and like, they didn’t fix any of these things.

Emma: Tell them about the tub. I feel like you’ve maybe mentioned it before, but that was pretty…because you took care of it right away. But it was gross.

Elsie: All right. So when we got our home inspection, and I will say, like, we got like a nice big discount after we got our home inspection and we knew about all this stuff. So I’m not complaining. I’m actually just trying to bond with you guys, like, you know, like tell you the real story. Right.

Emma: That could be the name of this podcast: I’m just trying to bond with you. (laughs)

Elsie: (laughs) I love that name for a podcast.

Emma: It’s honest.

Elsie: So when we got our inspection, it came with like a lot of pictures, a lot of terrifying images of crawlspaces. And, you know, that’s how inspections are. They’re meant to be a little scary.

Emma: Right.

Elsie: And, you know, sober you up before you make a big decision. So it came with a picture of how our whirlpool looked when you filled it with water and turn the whirlpool on. And it was like black mold in the tub. It was super gross looking. And so we knew that it needed to be cleaned out. And it did say in the notes and the inspection like “this is actually very common. It just needs to be cleaned.” It’s not like a — something that can’t be fixed, it hasn’t been used in a long time and there’s like mold growing in there, which is disgusting. So anyway, Keely recommended to me this jet cleaning product. I’ll link it in the show notes because I can’t remember the name of it off the top of my head, but we’ve been doing that, you have to, like, fill your whole tub up, turn the jets on, put some of this product in, and then let it run for 15 minutes and then drain it out and then do that over and over and over until there’s no more mold. And it did work. I will say it really did work. And I feel great now and it’s not that big of a deal. So if anyone buys a house with jet tubs that are questionable, this actually did a great job. So I’m happy about it. Other than being slightly broken. Oh, also, one more thing. Our bidet doesn’t work at all. It doesn’t work. Non-functional.

Emma: Now wait a second, let’s tell the listeners how many bidets you have in your new house, because this is very funny.

Elsie: There’s three bidets.

Emma: Oh, I thought there was more. That’s that’s still funny. But not as funny as I was hoping.

Elsie: There’s only three bidets. (laughs).

Emma: I thought there would be like five so dangit!

Elsie: And it’s not like the kind of bidet, like, people are buying now where they are like hooking it up to their toilet? It’s like there’s two toilets in the bathroom one’s a bidet and one’s a toilet. Yeah. So like, old fashioned looking bidets, I guess.

Emma: So you have to go to the bathroom and then kind of scoot yourself over to the other one? Like that’s how it works?

Elsie: Yes.

Emma: Ok, OK.

Elsie: Yeah.

Emma: I’ve never used a bidet ever. I’m not against it. I just haven’t, it hasn’t happened in my life yet so.

Elsie: Well when we did buy this house I will say I was like, how do you get a bidet education? Because, yeah that’s…

Emma: That’s tricky.

Elsie: …like tricky. So I did have to like get a, get a friend to teach me everything. That was the best method I could think of. (laughs)

Emma: Word of mouth.

Elsie: Because I learn most things from YouTube and this was like, definitely not something you want to learn from YouTube.

Emma: Right. Right. Yeah.

Elsie: Anyway, moving on. (laughs) So other than the bathroom being pretty broken, it also just has like generally like a bad vibe. So it’s huge for the floor plan of our house. On the downstairs below it, like the same square footage, there is the movie room, a hallway, the guest room and the guest bathroom. And then in the upstairs, all of that space is just the main bathroom and the closet. So it’s like very, very large, like kind of ridiculously large. Like, it bothered me the first time we saw it and I was like, what do we do with this? A little bit frantic feeling? So anyway, and it just like the vibe is like a zero, like there is no cool vibe whatsoever. So I feel like what we’re trying to do in this mini makeover is just give it somewhat of a cute look, you know, like just make it feel as good as it can. And then eventually in hopefully five years or not soon at all, I don’t want to think about it. We will eventually gut the bathroom and make it into like a real dream bathroom. It definitely has the space to have potential. But anyway, the mini makeover is imminent. It is now, I saw a notification on my phone that the hardware was delivered like yesterday and we’re going to be just doing a little bit of painting, maybe a little bit of wallpaper, maybe a pop of color in the water closet, or do you think I should do water, the water closet, a pop of color like paint or patterned like wallpaper?

Emma: Hmm. I mean, I like wallpaper, but either one’s fun.

Elsie: And I also ordered some shelves and just like put some art up, you know, so I’m just going to try to make it as good as it can be, like a rug, you know, as good as it can be for now. Um, anyway, I’m very excited to show it. It’ll be a blog post at the end of this month or maybe the very beginning of November. What were you going to say?

Emma: Well, it just needs more of a vibe. It’s all I was going to say.

Elsie: Yeah. Say your impression of it. Don’t you think it has no vibe?

Emma: Yeah, it has no personality. It’s a great, I mean, it’s like very, very spacious and like has everything like it has two sinks. It has a big shower. It has, you know, a water closet, which I like to call a toilet room. (laughs) So.

Elsie: Oh, my gosh, I have to tell you, it’s a funny story. Ok, so Emma had to explain to me that a two person shower has to mean that there’s two showerheads, not just that you believe two people could fit in it! (laughs)

Emma: Yeah I was like, two person shower, and she was like, oh, yeah, you know, it would fit. And I’m like, no, no, no. I mean, like, you can both be taking a shower. Like one person can be washing their hair and so can the other person at the same time, instead of taking turns.

Elsie: I was like, oh, (laughs) nice. OK, OK. So moving on, (laugh) I’m excited to show all the decor. This is going to be a fun mini makeover. I love a mini makeover because it’s like no pressure. It’s like just make it the best you can and just try anything that you think might be cute, but it’s really not a permanent decision at all.

Emma: MHmm. Yeah, it definitely takes the pressure off, which is nice.

Elsie: Yes. OK, so I’m going to tell you about my dream, dream, dream bathroom, but first you have to tell about yours, Emma.

Emma: Well, so…

Elsie: Spare us no bidets!

Emma: (laughs) Yeah. If I ever learn to use a bidet, then I guess that’ll go on the list. But so the the functional things that I really feel are important in a bathroom double sink that’s important, so that everyone can just, you know, I like to clog my sink with face masks and I don’t want anyone to get onto me abolut it, so I just need my own sink. (laughs) So two sinks, that’s important. Big shower. I love a double shower. I think it’s just nice. And on days when two people need to take a shower at the same time, it’s great, you know, but, oh! And water closet, like a toilet room, because then like someone else can be using the bathroom in whatever way and someone could still be using the toilet.

Elsie: I think they really are just like, useful.

Emma: Yeah, it’s just practical. Like, these are my practical list, more or less, which of course you can go without these things. But these are just kind of things that to me, make a main bathroom very functional. So…

Elsie: But You have to make it dreamy too.

Emma: My dream thing is that I someday would really, really like to have a little sauna inside of my main bathroom. And I don’t know if I want to infrared or if I want a more traditional steam. I’m still kind of thinking on that or haven’t used enough saunas that I have a strong opinion one way or the other. But I really, really love, I’ve I’ve talked about my hot tub too many times on this podcast, and I just I have that thing. I feel like a lot of people have this where in the winter my toes and my fingers are just always cold. I don’t know. I guess I have bad circulation. I don’t know. At any rate, it’s really nice to just get nice and warm before you get into bed, because then once you get under the covers, I feel like you can stay warm all night instead of having that period of time where you’re like, I want to go to sleep, but my toes are freezing cold and I just can’t fall asleep.

Elsie: What are your thoughts on heated tile?

Emma: It’s cool, but I don’t really care that much. It’s really cool though. But we had…I stayed at a BnB one time on a vacation that had heated floors. It was in Norway, which it was very cold when we visited, extremely cold. So it was really nice and it made the house much more cozy. So I definitely think it’s really cool, but I don’t really have a sense of like how much it cost not just to install, but to like the utilities. So I guess I would want to know I’d want to do a little more research on that before I put it on my list. But because I just want to know how, much does this is it worth it to me? Because I also like cozy socks. I’m definitely a fuzzy socks person, so I’m kind of like, I don’t know. But the sauna is kind of a, I really, really want one one day. I just feel like it’ll really make winters…it’s just something to look forward to.

Elsie: Yeah, I absolutely think that having a sauna makes it a luxury bathroom.

Emma: Yeah. It’s very — and they can be so cute. Like if you’re going on Pinterest and just like Google, you know, modern sauna in bathroom or whatever, I guess you’re not Googling it. You’re typing it into Pinterest, you know what I mean? There’s some really, really cute ones. And they even can come in like kind of different wood colors because usually saunas are wood inside and they can kind of like, vary and they just sort can be really, really cute and just feel very cozy, like visually they look very cozy. And then obviously they’re very warm. So they are literally cozy when you’re inside them. So I’m just a big fan and I would love to have one in my bathroom someday, but that’s my dream. So… (laughs)

Elsie: I, I am going to steal that dream because I love it.

Emma: I know you already stole my wine cellar dream, so I’ll tell you my dreams and then you do them (laughs). That’s okay, I’ll just come over and use your sauna all the time. (laughs)

Elsie: It’s because I’m an Enneagram seven. I love to steal other people’s dreams.

Emma: That’s fine by me. As long as I get to use all your shit. I don’t care. (laughs)

Elsie: (laughs) All right. Well, I love pinning bathrooms. I could just pin bathrooms all day, but I think that something that’s helpful for me and good for…my personality type is very like excited about everything, is to think, “do I love that for me or do I love that for you?” Because a lot of things with home stuff, it’s like it’s so just exciting to see it. But you don’t actually want to in your own home once you think it through.

Emma: Right.

Elsie: So, yeah, with dream bathrooms. I think that’s why it’s like I love, love, love, colorful, like really colorful bathrooms. But then I have to think about like how it would feel to live in it every day, you know?

Emma: Right.

Elsie: Once you pass that threshold where it becomes normal to you. Yeah. Like, is that still the bathroom you want? I’m especially obsessed about two-tone tile. I feel like I’m going to probably have two-tone tile in my dream bathroom because it’s just something I pin all the time.

Emma: What do you mean? What do you mean two-tone?

Elsie: Where like half of the tile is a color and half of the tile is white or like…

Emma: Oh, okay!

Elsie: Two different colors.

Emma: So it’s like a pattern kind of.

Elsie: Maybe, maybe a pattern or maybe just like a color break.

Emma: OK, cool.

Elsie: Yeah, I love that. So when Emma first came to our home, we were like talking about why is my bathroom so big and weird? We were like going through the whole house…

Emma: It’s very spacious. (laughs)

Elsie: And I will share like one of our personal goals for this house is to add value to it because of the neighborhood and everything. We know that we can add like kind of unlimited value to it. So we want to add things that are features that are like sort of like upgrades and fancy and things that are like appealing, even though we’re not planning on selling it, you know, forever or whatever, forever, whatever home. That’s what I should call it. (laughs).

Emma: Yes. Forever whatever home. (laughs)

Elsie: That’s a good one! I still care about making it more, like giving it more like these little luxury upgrades, because I do…I just think it’s like smart and also fun.

Emma: Yeah.

Elsie: So for our main bathroom, Emma talked me into the sauna idea and I’m kind of obsessed with it now because we’ve kind of we’ve spent kind of a lot of time searching saunas online and it can be kind of like another shower next to your shower, like the size of a shower, like they’re not that big as you’re probably imagining and they’re not like always like weird wood like orb objects like sometimes it just looks like another shower that has like wood slats in it and just like nice and modern and clean. And that is really appealing because I think that a sauna is definitely like a, woo!

Emma: Fancy.

Elsie: …thing on the list.

Emma: Right. If you see a sauna in someone’s bathroom, I feel like you got to put them down on your fancy friend list. Like, I don’t see how they can’t go down. Like, that’s just…

Elsie: I completely agree. Ok, wait. Before we keep going on our dream bathrooms, let’s take a quick break from our sponsor. Today’s episode is sponsored by Canon USA. We’ve been working with Canon for years and their printers are absolutely hands down, one of our most used products. Canon just released three new printers in their PIXMA Inkjet printer series. Make sure to check them out. Our team uses a few different models from the PIXMA series, and while they all have the color consistency we trust, it’s easy to find the model that fits your specific printing needs, whether it’s for crafting, photos, or office work. We love the ability to print from home even before 2020, and the quality Canon printers produce can’t be beat. To learn more, visit Canon.us/abm. And don’t miss my latest project, Halloween Printables. See more about this project and other Canon projects on Abeautifulmess.com. All right. So for my personal dream bathroom, the most important thing for me is that I do want it to have some kind of bold feature, some kind of design that’s like unique and original. That is very important to me. But equally important is that I want it to feel super cozy and I want it to be a sensory experience. So, yeah, the feeling of the tile on your feet, on your bare feet is very important to me. The how good are your towels? Super important. How fluffy is your robe? Like bath mats, just like all these little things. Like how good does your soap smell, even. Like I care so much, like ten out of ten about all of these things almost equally to how cute it looks in a picture.

Emma: Yeah, I agree with that. Every time I visit you, I feel like whatever soaps and things you have in the shower are like way better than what I have. (laugh)

Elsie: Oh thank you! (laughs)

Emma: Like, this smells amazing!

Elsie: Yeah. I think that stuff like that is, is really important and it’s just like these little, like whenever, you know, I got into like Ramit’s rich life stuff, I got really into the idea that it’s like, you’re never going to become poor by buying yourself fancy soap or by upgrading your shampoo (laughs), you know what I mean?

Emma: Probably not, that’s not the issue.

Elsie: Just like these little things that you never need to feel guilty for. It’s just like a splurge and it’s awesome and just enjoy it forever. I think that that’s special. Like, I love stuff like that. There’s just like a little bit more meaningful to you.

Emma: Yeah. And I also just on the flip side of it, there are lots of people out there who are, their business is making really cool fancy soap, or fancy decor or specialty like food items, you know, like that are a little more expensive than other things that you might be able to buy. But, you know, it is like, so I think it’s kind of like this almost symbiotic relationship of like, if you have the money, you do not need to feel guilty buying this because it’s also kind of part of somebody else’s income and life. And the thing that they’re doing and excited about, you know, but I don’t know.

Elsie: I love to be a true fan of a small business. That is a great feeling.

Emma: Yeah. It’s so cool.

Elsie: There’s no downside. It’s just wonderful. I think that in our — in my dream bathroom, it will be a little bit more neutral just but with some kind of a bold thing, I don’t know what. Like maybe a pattern tile or maybe like, I don’t know, like a two, I pin a lot of tile that’s sort of like checkerboard, you know, it’s like a white and a beige and it makes a checker like something like that, but not like hot pink. However, I do think I’ll do a hot pink or some kind of really bold, like powder room. So I feel like there’s a time and a place for that. But in my own main bathroom, I just kind of want it to be like the other thing besides sensory is, you know how some room designs just feel cleaner? I think that your bathroom should feel really, really, really clean.

Emma: Yeah, I agree. It’s a nice feeling because you go in there usually, I mean, you go in there for lots of reasons, but often to get really clean yourself.

Elsie: Yeah.

Emma: So if it doesn’t feel like a clean space, it can be kind of a downer or, you know, it just doesn’t really match the goals of what you’re doing. (laughs).

Elsie: Yeah, I definitely want it to be the most visually clean looking and feeling room in our home.

Emma: It can be very calming too, which is a good feeling when you’re in a bathroom, because I feel like, you know, it is like maintenance just to, like, take showers and things. But I also feel like it can really be kind of a self-care moment. You’re chilling. You know, you’re at the end of your day or it’s the beginning of your day and you’re kind of having a moment.

Elsie: Bubble bath face mask, glass of wine.

Emma: Right, right. Yeah, a little shot of tequila, whatever. (laughs) So, yeah, hopefully not in the morning. (laughs)

Elsie: Yeah. So currently we have a jet tub and I think it’s really cool. My kids love it.

Emma: Yeah.

Elsie: It’s very much like a kid toy, but for my own dream, I love a freestanding tub. I just love like a cool looking tub that’s just a little bit more concise, like this tub that we have. It’s almost the size of a hot tub. It’s like a little bit like. Yeah, silly feeling. You know? So it’s definitely not my dream tub, although it’s great for now and we will enjoy the hell out of it with those very clean jets. But yeah, a claw foot tub, free-standing tub like near a window. There’s like nothing cooler than that. That’s very cool.

Emma: That’s a nice vibe. Yeah. For sure.

Elsie: Oh so yeah I think that’s everything on my dream bathroom list I, I’m so excited to eventually do it. But um. Have you ever gutted a bathroom?

Emma: Yeah I did. We gutted our main bathroom in our house.

Elsie: I’ve only gutted one bathroom before and it was way, way, way, way, way better. So I think for all the like mini makeovers I’ve done two bathrooms over the years. It will be exciting eventually to like really gut a bathroom that has, for a bathroom unlimited space, you know what I mean?

Emma: Yeah. And you can kind of reconfigure a little bit, which would be pretty cool.

Elsie: Yeah. I feel like I should do the due diligence of giving it like a good three or four years of thinking about what it should be.

Emma: Yeah. You might as well don’t rush anyway. Once you get the broken things fixed. You know, it’s not like a big deal.

Elsie: Once it’s not leaking.

Emma: Right. Right. Yeah.

Elsie: Let’s talk about covid Halloween. Let’s switch to Halloween.

Emma: Switching gears!

Elsie: My favorite topic of all time is Halloween. It’s all I ever want to talk about. And if anyone wants us to make this an all Halloween podcast, just let me know…

Emma: We’re already medium in. (laughs)

Elsie: So we want to talk a little bit about, like COVID related Halloween plans. So I will say, like, if you’re a person who’s like I’m trick or treating no matter what and I don’t care, this part’s not for you.

Emma: It sounds like you already have your plan.

Elsie: Sounds like you already have a plan.

Emma: Anybody else, here are some ideas.

Elsie: More talking to people who are concerned about the dangers of COVID…

Emma: Live in areas where that’s not going to be possible. You know, so.

Elsie: And I’m not saying that it’s bad to go trick or treating. I think everyone has to decide for themselves. And it depends on where you go. It depends on how many houses. It depends on how well you know, your neighbors or you know whatever.

Emma: It depends on how COVID is going in your community. Some areas it’s spiking still, some areas it’s not as bad. So those are things to check with your local health department or the news if you don’t know, you know. Good thing to check.

Elsie: You better know. (laughs) But I will say for us, we’re not going to do big trick or treating this year. I’m not saying we’re not going to do any trick or treating because we might go to like a friend’s house and do like a quick run. We haven’t decided that yet, but we’re definitely not going to do normal trick or treating. And for our house, we probably will leave candy on the porch with the light on. And just like, come what may I type of situation?

Emma: You could put a little hand sanitizer right next to it.

Elsie: Yeah, I think if we did open the door, I would feel like it was my responsibility to wear a mask. Yeah, so if we do do that, I definitely will wear a mask.

Emma: Yeah.

Elsie: I don’t think we will though. So for our kids, we’ve just been talking about like other ways we can make it really special for our unique situation. Our heartbreaking thing isn’t really trick or treating, it’s that we’re not coming to Missouri for Halloween. Last year we had our first haunted house. It was the beginning of an annual tradition. And this year we have to take a pause. So we were a little bit bummed out about that because it was super fun and super special. So this year we’re going to try to make it special in other ways and then hopefully we can continue the tradition next year. So, yeah, I wrote down a couple of ideas that we’re going to do with our kids. And if you’re like, what do I do? I need help. This is for you. OK, so the first one is dress up and trick or treat no matter what. Do you have a door? Yes. Do you have costumes? Yes. You can go trick or treating at your own house! And here’s a cute idea my friends told me. So if you have any, if you have a Jack and Jill bathroom or any other room that functions like that, where it’s like one room, two doors, you can make your kids go back and forth, back and forth, like through the different rooms to knock on the different doors. And one parent can just stay in there with the candy and like act surprised over and over again. I thought that was the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.

Emma: Yeah, I love it. It’s very funny. It’s very homemade Halloween. I love it.

Elsie: Yes. Also this year for the blog, we made a Halloween Countdown calendar and it was Emma’s idea. Emma gets all the credit and…

Emma: It’s Elsie’s calendar.

Elsie: It’s my calendar, though, and I made it adorable and I’m super proud of it. So I’ll link it in the show notes. And what it is, is it’s kind of similar to a holiday advent calendar where each day in October, leading up to Halloween, kind of get a little treat. You can have you can put a candy in each pouch or you can put we put a printable in the post that has activities and they’re easy activities like play the monster mash or like, yeah, watch Casper. It’s nothing that’s like going out and risking your health. It’s just simple little things you can do at home, baking cookies and whatnot. I love a slice and bake cookie.

Emma: Who doesn’t.

Elsie: So yeah, the countdown is super fun, if you don’t have time to make it, well I would say just make time to make it because here’s the thing. I didn’t have time to sew it all so I made it with glue. It’s really not that hard.

Emma: Yeah. Yeah. If you ever get stuck on a sewing project, have you heard of glue? (laughs)

Elsie: (laughs) That’s so true. That’s pretty much my whole M.O. because I’m not a, I, I regret not being a great seamstress and I kind of hope that someday in my life I might be. But for right now, glue.

Emma: Glue. (laughs)

Elsie: So and the third one is, like I have been wanting this, I have been campaigning for this all my life. So there’s…this is my moment. OK, you can celebrate Halloween all month. You don’t have to celebrate Halloween on just Halloween. Candy, craft projects, spooky music. You know…

Emma: Yeah you can get dressed up!

Elsie: Decorating your house together.

Emma: Have a little dance party in your costumes.

Elsie: We got out our tub of fall and Halloween decorations and we just put it in the living room and let Nova do her way with it, like she decorated it her way and it was awesome.

Emma: Yeah!

Elsie: There’s a spider on everything. It’s so cute. So, yeah, I think just spread it out and just try to enjoy each day and try to remember that, you know, just because one part of our year, to be honest, many parts of our year are not the way that we want them to be or the way they normally are, there’s still a lot we can hang on to right now. And we’re making those memories with our little kids. They’re going to remember what they had. They’re not going to remember what they didn’t have this year.

Emma: Yep. Mmhmm.

Elsie: Preacher moment over! Amen. (laughs)

Emma: Hallelujah!

Elsie: Ok, so before we go, we haven’t done an embarrassing story in a while and Emma has a really funny…

Emma: Seasonal.

Elsie: Seasonal-related…

Emma: Funny and seasonal. (laughs)

Elsie: OK Emma, take it away.

Emma: All right. So for our app company, we had a video call. It’s like a once a month video call we have with another team for Filmm, which is one of our apps. And I always work from home. So I was still home and I was just in my office room, which is now — it used to be a guest bedroom and then it was my office because I really wanted a door. If you’ve listened to our podcast for a while or read our newsletter, you know that I was very like, needing an office with a door. I just wanted to be able to shut the door so that I could have meetings and things. And I got it! So I was in my, you know, smaller than my last office space, just a guest bedroom sized room, and I had a pumpkin candle burning because, of course, you know, I’m kind of obsessed with candles. Elsie likes to troll me about it, but I love candles and…

Elsie: They’re a little bit toxic.

Emma: Yeah, she thinks they’re toxic, agree to disagree.

Elsie: This is one of our biggest debates!

Emma: It really is, that and your pink and lavender chairs. (laughs) But so I’m always counting down the days until I can start burning pumpkin candles. Basically, I am that kind of basic person and I have no regrets and no remorse. I love pumpkin candles. So I had one burning and it was the kind that has the wood wick where it kind of crackles when it’s burning. And I just love that sound. It sounds like a tiny fireplace and it smells great. So I had that going and it was new. So this was like the first burn. I was letting it burn for a long time so it could get its memory burn where it burns all the way to the edge. So you don’t get that weird…where it burns straight down and doesn’t even use all the wax.

Elsie: This is a candle lesson. You need to learn, yeah.

Emma: I’m into candles. I’m into tea and I’m into candles. (laughs) So I’m cool, anyway. So this wood wick candle is burning, and I’m on my video call with this other team and all of a sudden my smoke detector starts going off in my house and once one starts going off, they all start going off. And so I, I muted myself and I got up and went to go check. So I was like, is there a fire in my house? But I didn’t see anything anywhere. And they were still going off like crazy. So then I just got off the call and couldn’t get back on because I had to deal with this. And it turned out that my pumpkin candle set off the smoke alarms in my house. And so I couldn’t finish my video call for work like a true professional.

Elsie: Oh no!

Emma: Yeah, but, you know, I feel like if you’re going to set off your smoke alarms for a pumpkin candle, that just shows like your commitment to the autumn season.

Elsie: How many candles was it?

Emma: It was just one!

Elsie: It was only one?

Emma: Yeah! I was just one candle, but it had this kind of thick wood wick and my room isn’t huge. It’s just like bedroom size, like it’s kind of a smallish space. I guess apparently it was way too small of a space for this candle. (laughs) So. Yeah. So that was really embarrassing because everyone else on the call was like your smoke alarm’s going off. And I’m just like running around trying to figure out what it is. And I just had to get off frantically. And then later I was like, OK, it was a pumpkin candle, everyone. Sorry about that. (laughs)

Elsie: Yes I love it! I wish I was on that call so bad.

Emma: It was very cool. I seemed very cool and together and professional. (laughs)

Elsie: Thank you all so much for listening to our podcast this week. Thank you for sharing it with friends and for leaving us a review. We read some of the reviews this week and they were very kind.

Emma: Thank you.

Elsie: We love you and have a great week.

Emma: Bye!

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I had this dated bathroom vanity in our basement bathroom, and I wanted to modernize it with some paint. I also ordered wood knobs so that I could paint them the matching color. Here’s the before:

I followed the exact steps in this painting tutorial. The only big change I made was that I used a foam brush to paint instead of a sprayer. Asa told me that as long as you are careful that it won’t necessarily look bad to not use a sprayer. So I went for it. I like foam brushes for painting because they don’t leave as many brush strokes as paint brushes.

I wanted to share this with you to encourage you that YOU CAN DO THIS. In the past, I’ve had stuff I painted turn out bad and I had no idea it was possible to get a result this good. I highly recommend it even if you’ve had bad luck in the past.

The prep work recommended and the hard drying paint made a huge difference. I would 100% feel confident painting a vanity, a bookshelf or piece of furniture this color in the future.

In fact, the following weekend I was so pumped up about my new “skill” that I painted my own front door with hard drying paint.

If you’ve been too nervous to paint something outdated in your home, I hope this post gives you the confidence needed to get started! Oh—and one more cool thing. This whole project took me around 4-5 hours. I did it in two days. Not bad considering how much it improves our bathroom. xx. Elsie

Credits//Author: Elsie Larson. Photography: Amber Kelly. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.

This is actually one of the smaller master bathrooms I’ve lived with square-footage-wise, so making use of all the possible space options has been extra important here. I’ll show you the mistakes I’ve made over the years and how I’ve fixed them now in this bathroom!

Mistake #1: Not making use of wall space. In our last house, I figured out the wall was actually a great area to store bathroom items. I made this wall storage DIY to help store makeup brushes and my most used makeup and I loved it!

For this bathroom, I made a hidden medicine cabinet to store my daily skin care items and it keeps a lot of items off my counter (helping to keep it cleaner) and you would have no idea that it’s storing so much—it just looks like a cute print!

Mistake #2: Not using shelves for storage. It’s not uncommon to have a shelf in a bathroom, but I usually see them with more decorative items than with actual items of use.

The key to maximizing your use of a shelf is to have a mix of purely decorate items along with pretty versions of items you actually use and hidden storage containers—think cotton swabs and Q-tips in glass containers, room spray in a glass spray bottle, pretty beauty items, marble canisters … that kind of thing!

I also keep a lot of my smaller makeup items in a little 3-drawer organizer I keep on the shelf which keeps them all together, tidy, out of sight, but nearby as needed.

Mistake #3: Not having enough baskets and segmented bins. OK, so this is one that I’d been doing, but I count it here because I hadn’t been doing it nearly enough. Having a few bins with segments to separate items is good, but I eventually realized that it was optimal to fill pretty much every inch of space that I could with either a larger basket or a smaller segmented bin. Once I filled up every nook and cranny with a container of some sort, it seemed almost impossible for the storage to get messy and disorganized—everything has a spot!

I got a bunch of divided bins like these and these to sort my smaller items, some deeper bins for taller beauty things, large bins for lotions/hairspray, and some small bins of various sizes to fit anywhere there was an open spot (this non-slip liner works amazing to keep all your bins from sliding around as well).

I’ve also always wanted one of these to organize my straightener/blow dryer (they have over-the-door or wall-mounted options too) and I love how it keeps them (and the cords) all nice and tidy.

Basically, I would take some measurements of your drawers and the area under your sink and then buy a bunch of containers in all different sizes and just play around to find a configuration that works best for your space and what you want to store.

Then, once you have what you need, just return all that you didn’t use! It’s a huge pain to try and get exactly everything you think you will need on the first go, so now when I organize (like I did with my hall closet) I just buy half the store of anything I might possibly use and then return the leftovers later. 

Mistake #4: Not having a laundry/cleaning section. OK, I think I may be most excited about this new addition to the pack. I can never find a clean washcloth when I want one, and if I can, it just ends up sitting around on my counter once it’s used because I can’t seem to remember to take it to the laundry pile and both problems have been so annoying.

I finally bought a pack of black washcloths (black will hide any makeup stains) and they are all folded in a long bin under the sink now with a matching bin right behind it for all the dirty ones. I also use my DIY reusable makeup wipes, so I keep my mesh laundry bags for those in the bin as well so I can wash them all at once with the washcloths.

We also use cloth napkins/rags instead of disposable options, so I just wash them all at the same time to fill out a load. Also, I hate having to hunt down a scrub brush or sponge when it’s time to clean the bathroom, so I got a little basket to fit a brush, sponge set, and some cleaner to keep in the sink cabinet at all times.

Mistake #5: Not keeping my most used items handy. This is one mistake that you will know right away if you are making it! If getting ready or taking off your makeup (or washing your face) at the end of the day is always frustrating because you have to dig that one, or two, or three things out of the back of wherever you are currently keeping it, then you have a location problem.

Everything you use on a daily basis should be easily accessible and you shouldn’t have to hunt for anything. Put everything you usually use in one day on the counter and make it your mission to find a nearby spot (on the wall, shelf, or clearly visible in a top drawer) to keep that item.

I know sometimes I’ve kept some makeup in my purse makeup bag, so I’d have to find the bag in my purse each day to finish getting ready and then hopefully remember to put the bag back in before I left. In those cases, having multiples of certain fave makeup items will make getting ready so much smoother and you can leave your touch-up bag in your purse where it belongs. ‘

I also tend to put on jewelry right after I do my makeup in the bathroom, so I use some Command Clear strips to attach this acrylic necklace hanger to the inside wall of my cabinet so they are nearby as well. Since we have double sinks now with our bathroom makeover (we used to have a single one in the old setup), there’s definitely less counter space.

So I tried to keep as much as I could off the counter this time and only have a small vanity organizer where I can keep my most used makeup brushes, toothpaste, and a spot for my glasses and earrings that I take off at night. It’s a great way to keep a few things handy while keeping clutter to a minimum.

There you go! I must say that I’m pretty excited to actually use this bathroom on a daily basis and have everything I need nearby. It also feels good to know that if we ever move I’ll know my favorite ways to organize a bathroom and I can set up a way that will work for that space pretty quickly.

If you have a must-have item or tip you love for bathroom organizing, let me know in the comments! Hope doing a little organizing will get your year off to a good start as well! xo. Laura

Looking for more bathroom organization tips? Be sure to check out our guide for organizing your home (room by room).

Credits // Author and Photography: Laura Gummerman. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.