Update Your Bathroom for Under $100
Ever feel like you need a change? Updating your bathroom on the “cheap” can be done- easier than you think!
The best thing to make a big change is paint! Go to the home improvement store and ask to see their mistinted paints or returns. I got a gallon of paint today in a beautiful color for $3. The original price was $20. Even if you can’t find mistinted paint, you can get a gallon fairly inexpensively. Be sure to check at Walmart. I also recommend if your hinges and handles are worn looking, getting a can of spray paint to paint them. This should cost less than $1. Don’t limit paint to the walls! Paint the cabinets, trim, even ceiling if you feel like it. Almost anything can be painted.
Check thrift stores for light fixtures, or new globes for existing fixtures. Check yard sales. I have gotten several “new” things this way. You can also check local Pennysaver-type newspapers, classified ads, and online for-sale sites. Check out Yahoo groups for those sites in your area. My biggest secret? FREECYCLE! Go to Freecycle.org and look for a group in your area. Everything posted on this site must be FREE!!! I regularly change things out in my home this way.
If you have a window to dress, check out any of the above places, but also check out clearance sections at most stores. They rotate regularly. I couldn’t find any curtains I liked, so I bought inexpensive flat sheets and made curtains out of them. I cut and hemmed them to the length I wanted, then at the top where the larger hem is, I cut the sides to allow a curtain rod. I liked it so much I have done it in nearly every room!
USE WHAT YOU HAVE! I had a small wall shelf in my kitchen. I moved it to the bathroom and displayed my rather extensive collection of perfume bottles on it. You could also display decorative soaps, pretty bottles of toiletries, plants, even small knick-knacks. Whatever you like. I recommend always placing a plant or arrangement in the room.
Baskets are an inexpensive way to store things. Walmart has some really cute ones in the craft section. Pile in magazines, extra towels, toiletries, whatever you need to store. The less cluttered the room looks, the more relaxing it will seem.
A simple shower curtain change can freshen the room, too! Dollar stores have these pretty cheap. You can even buy the cheaper plastic ones and on the outside of that, go back to the flat sheets for cloth. Hang the plastic one on a rod slightly behind and below the fabric one.
If you have a very large mirror, you can buy an etching kit cheap at Walmart. Use it with a stencil to stencil the outer edges of the mirror. No one will know you did it yourself! You can even etch windows if the mood strikes you.
Finally, you can change the flooring for just pennies. Many home improvement stores such as Lowe’s and Home Depot have vinyl remnants VERY cheap. Ask for them! We got enough to do our son’s bedroom for $12.00. If you are desperate and they don’t have remnants you like, look for the peel and stick tile. Even stores like Big Lots carry those.
Change the little things. A new trash can, toilet paper holder, toothbrush holder or any of those type of things can make a big difference. You can even change or paint knobs on cabinets, or change the toilet seat.
With a little imagination, it isn’t as hard as you would think to change your bathroom on a very tight budget.
