Update Your Bathroom for Under $100
This should always be the first step in updating or remodeling your bathroom. Cleaning is hard work, but it doesn’t cost you anything but elbow grease, and it might even make you a few bucks. Grab three containers: one for trash, one for donations or items you can sell, and one for things that belong in another room. Start at the entrance of your bathroom, and start going through your things, progressing in a clockwise direction as you work. Do you really need ten bottles of shampoo? (If there’s one that you don’t like to use because of the scent or consistency, try using it for another purpose, like washing your shower or cleaning your toilet bowl.) Is your hair even long enough for scrunchies anymore? Empty out the cupboards under your sink and justify everything you keep. Try to make as much room under there for your belongings as possible, because you want to keep your sink and countertop as cleared-off as possible. If your shower looks sad and moldy, get a spray bottle and fill it with a mixture of bleach and water. It will get your grout and caulking back to a sparkling white in no time, without the scrubbing or recriminations.
2. Shower Curtains and Window Treatments.
Sometimes, all a window treatment or shower curtain needs is to be put through the wash with a brightening agent like Oxi Clean. You can even wash blinds in your shower. But if your shower curtain has finally given up the ghost, it’s not that expensive to sew one yourself, or to purchase a new one. Lovely and vibrant shower curtains can be had for under $20 and can transform the look of your bathroom completely. If your existing window treatments can’t be salvaged, consider sewing new ones. Or you can try the new paper blinds that can be cut to fit. They’re inexpensive, easy to mount, and a year or two later, if they’re dusty and no longer functional, you can recycle them with the rest of the paper and buy some more.
3. Cabinetry.
The most prominent feature in your bathroom is likely to be the cabinetry under your sink. If it’s old and tired, it is likely to date your entire bathroom. You can’t replace or even reface your cabinets for under $100. But you can do three things to give them a new look. First, consider whether or not your bathroom cabinets look old because they’re just dirty. Soap scum, grease, smoke and dust can put a film on your cabinets that you don’t notice on a daily basis. Get a bucket of hot soapy water and a sponge, and give all your cabinets a good scrub. It won’t cost you anything and it will give you a better idea of whether or not additional work needs to be done. If you still don’t like their appearance, consider adding or changing the knobs. You can pick up new knobs at your local hardware store on the cheap, and you can buy them even cheaper on EBay. You’d be surprised at the dramatic change just a few modern-style knobs can make on your bathroom cabinets.
4. Paint.
It may be that your bathroom walls are looking pretty grim. Scuffs, spatters, and nicks can give your bathroom a beat-up look. You may have grown immune to even seeing the cobwebs. As long as you don’t have matte paint, get a bucket and some soapy water, and start washing down your walls and baseboards. It’ll only cost you elbow grease and will brighten the bathroom considerably. If, however, you’re looking for a more dramatic look, consider re-painting. Unless your bathroom is gigantic, it won’t cost you more than $30 in paint and supplies, and you can use paint to create some real drama with accent colors.
Taking these four simple steps, you can dramatically change the appearance of your bathroom, and give it an updated, modern look. You can even do it all for less than $100, so what’s stopping you?
