It is a start of a New Year, and new beginnings usually bring us change in our lives. And if you New Year’s Resolutions revolved around organization, your home, or finally whipping a room into shape, then you are going to love this new five week series called
The 5 Week Design Jump Start Program
Last year I created the 5 Day Design Challenge and the year before that I did a 30 Day Mini Design Challenge (or simply search “30 day” on My Blog.In both I shared some simple, bit-sized ways you could improve your home, and therefore how you live in it! This year I wanted to take it one step further. Once a week for five weeks I’m re-visiting the most popular blog posts and projects. For each project, I’m sharing even more tips and tricks and:
I created a weekly freebie to go with each project.
Every week you will see a new custom Guide, Mood Board, Shopping List or more, so you can actually take all of these free ideas and make them work into your home. Happy New Year’s my friends!
For Week #1 I want to revisit a reader favorite:
Upgrade a Boring Bathroom into a Farmhouse Bathroom Gem
Design Jump Start Week #1:
How to Update a Builder Basic Bathroom
I had a lot of people email me or tell me that this was one of their favorite makeovers because it was so relatable. I think almost all of us have owned or have seen the infamous “Builder Basic Bathroom”. It is functional, but boring. The materials are usually inexpensive and uninteresting. While it works it needs some pizazz. You can picture it right now, can’t you?
I created this week’s Design Freebie to go along with this bathdroom makeover:
75 Ways to Update Your Bath Without a Full Remodel
Last year I got to work on a local project for a friend of mine. She has a beautiful home, but her bathroom off the garage was boring. It didn’t fit her personality. Luckily, together we were able to make some simple updates while still keeping everything in the same location (saving oodles of money).
Here was the “Before” of her bathroom:
12 Items to a Farmhouse Bathroom
After hiring me, she filled out her Design Questionnaire and created a beautiful Pinterest board full of traditional meets Farmhouse style bathrooms. While she wanted a few Farmhouse style touches (such as shiplap), she also wanted to keep it more elegant than rustic. Here is the Bathroom Mood Board I created for her:
Elegant Farmhouse Bathroom Makeover
And what to see the final look of her bathroom makeover? We saved money but not moving any of her plumbing fixtures, not reworking the floor plan, and even keeping her toilet. Instead, we spent her budget on updating the finishes of her bathroom:
5 Ways to Create a Farmhouse Bathroom
Farmhouse Bathroom Design Tip #1:
Update your flooring. A classic farmhouse bathroom floor could be patterned cement tile, marble hex tile, a simple gray tile, or even a rustic wood (I would suggest using a vinyl product over real wood)
Farmhouse Bathroom Design Tip #2:
Update your plumbing fixtures. If you can’t update all of your plumbing, then change out your faucet only. Polished Chrome, Polished Nickel, Matte Black, and Matte Gold Plumbing Fixtures all work well with the Farmhouse style.
Designer Tip: Polished Chrome is the least expensive, easiest to clean, and most classic finish. It never goes out of style! It is what I have in my own house, and always will.
Farmhouse Bathroom Design Tip #3:
For your vanity, try a matte white painted finish or a rustic wood finish. If you can’t change out your vanity, you can simply update it with paint: whites and grays work best for this look. Countertops such as marble quartz, concrete, or matte gray quartz tops work well.
Designer Tip: If you have a tight budget, try a dark gray or matte black laminate instead.
Farmhouse Bathroom Design Tip #4:
If you can only change out one item in your bathroom, change our your mirror. This Builder Basic Bathroom had the standard frameless mirror. Super boring. Go with a bold or eye catching mirror, and THAT will be the thing everyone remembers. Rustic woods, dark metals, or even a more modern thin framed mirror all work well in a Farmhouse Bathroom. This gold arched mirror is so much more elegant than the frameless mirror with plastic clips!
True Story: When my bestie bought her house, the first thing she noticed about the bathrooms were the upgraded mirrors in each space. She quickly overlooked the builder grade cabinets and floor because the mirrors were so gosh darn pretty!
Farmhouse Bathroom Design Tip #5:
Upgrade that light fixture! A simple DIY project is to swap out the boring builder grade bathroom fixture with something more lovely and custom. I love places like Shades of Light, Circa Light, and even Home Depot for beautiful fixtures. Or you can upgrade your look like we did in our Farmhouse Bathroom remodel. I swapped out her single light to two gorgeous sconces to create a custom, high-end look for a fairly small price tag.
Designer Tip: Your plumbing fixtures and light fixture finishes DON’T have to match! In fact I don’t even recommend it. I mix in 2-3 metals in every bathroom and kitchen I design. It creates a more layered, custom look that isn’t so matchy-matchy.
MORE FARMHOUSE BATHROOM MAKEOVERS
If you liked the look of this elegant Farmhouse style bathroom, check out some of these other Real Postbox Designs makeover projects. Click on the link below to see the whole project plus all of the product sources:
Farmhouse Fixer Upper Bathroom Mood Board
One Room Challenge Bathroom Makeover: Update Your Existing Vanity
FREE GUIDE: 75 Ways to Update your Bathroom Without a Full Remodel
Some of you may know this already, but my hubby and I actually OWN a remodeling company here in Michigan. I worked 10 years as a designer there, and have literally designed hundreds of bathrooms. So you KNOW I love a good bathroom gut job. However, not everyone has a full bathroom remodel in the budget. And guess what: not every bathroom needs it.
Did you know bathrooms are the most expensive space per square foot to remodel?
Yup. So I created a Free Guide: 75 Ways to Update Your Bathroom Without a Full Remodel that uses all of that hard won experience to show you the best tricks for your bathroom. Some are free, some are DIY, and some projects are a bit bigger. But they are all things you can do without tearing out your whole bathroom and starting from scratch.
HINT: My favorite trick is #24!
You can find all of the freebies from this series, as well as many others in my FREE RESOURCE LIBRARY. I’m always adding to it, so if there is something you would love to see in there, comment below to let me know!
Cheers,
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