I’m trying to slowly improve our house room-by-room and it can really add up. This past weekend I decided to tackle our master bathroom and was able to make it over within an afternoon! One key way I was able to do this was because I got an early copy of Designer Trapped’s newest product Designer in a Binder.
Tasha writes, “It’s not a crime, moral or otherwise, to want a home that you love. It does not make you shallow or materialistic. It does not make you a bad person.”. When we moved into our house I did think I was selfish to want to improve our house and make it our own because it is a really nice house already. Spending more money on our house seemed frivolous and unnecessary, but making our house a home, especially when we spend so much time in it, is actually quite sensible.
Listed below are the steps I took to make our bathroom feel more like a resort or day spa instead of a cluttered, dirty mess.
Step 1: Declutter all the things
I don’t know why, but I seem to collect clutter the most in the bathroom and the kitchen. I have stopped taking samples of beauty products because that was the biggest offender, but somehow, I still acquire more than I need in the bathroom. Decluttering in the bathroom includes, but is not limited to:
Throw Away:
- Expired medicine – follow local ordinances for disposal
- Open beauty products you have no intention of using again
- Hair ties that have lost their elastic
- Boxes for tools outside their warranty period
Donate:
- Beauty products that are unused that you have no intention of using
- Hair tools you don’t use but are still functional
- Bath towels that you don’t use
- Sheets you don’t use
- Organizational pieces like racks, or boxes that aren’t useful to you anymore
Decluttering took a couple of hours because when I moved into our house last October, I only unpacked the things I use every day and just stuffed the rest in the cabinets. I decluttered and cleaned at the same time because while I had a shelf empty to sort it, it made sense to wipe it all down at the same time.
Step 2: CLEAN
One thing that stands out in a day spa is the cleanliness of it. I can’t relax when I go to get a facial and all the shelves in the room are covered in dust – if that is how they take care of the building how will they take care of me? Bathrooms can get downright disgusting if not regularly cleaned. I’m sure you are doing the regular cleaning like cleaning the toilet but when was the last time you cleaned the baseboards or wiped down the walls or dusted the ceiling vents? I didn’t think it would make that much of a difference in how the room felt, but it really did.
Step 3: Complete all the projects that will take less than $20 and less than 20 minutes
For my bathroom, this includes fixing the caulk on the shower and tub (already had bought the caulk just never found time to do it), taking down the brackets from the curtains the previous owners had over the window, and fixing the board that fell off the cabinets. This does not include things like painting the walls (will take longer than 20 minutes) or anything extensive like that.
Other “under $20/20 minute” projects could be covering the countertop in contact paper, repairing nail holes in the wall, fixing the leaking shower head, or fixing a cabinet door that doesn’t close properly. If your house doesn’t have a project like this, then I commend you; you are an amazing homeowner. Finishing simple projects can also make the room feel more relaxing because the project isn’t hanging over your head anymore. It can be freeing to check something off your checklist.
Step 4: Decorate!
My favorite way to decorate is to steal decorations from other rooms in my house; the Nester calls this shopping your own house. All of the items I have for decorating around the tub I took from my office where I had too many decorations anyways.
The Dollar Tree has really great options for decorating and organizing on a budget. I found many candles that would look super cute if I didn’t already have about a billion tealights at home. I also really like their clear, plastic organizing pieces.
For the bathroom specifically, keep décor pieces simple and make sure they’re pieces than can easily be wiped down. Gross stuff happens in bathrooms and you want to be able to get the bathroom really squeaky clean. Every day spa I’ve been to only uses white towels, so if you want to go for that look you’ll want to purchase some matching white towels.
What about you? Have you tried to redecorate on a budget?