Bathroom: Before and Current

I recently mentioned that I have been having itchy feet and wanting to change up my bathroom. There's nothing wrong with my bathroom now, it's just that after 4 years I'm finding it a bit boring and am ready for something new and exciting.

As I am still doing a lot of thinking and not much actual doing when it comes to my bathroom redesign, I thought it would be fun to visit how it looked in the past and how it looks today.

My entire condo was pretty depressing when I first purchased it, and the bathroom really reflected the overall lack of care and design that permeated the space. The blue walls were too dull in a window free space. The shower curtain consisted of only a stained liner. The bath tub had tiles with a random stripe pattern. The sink unit was dated and the doors didn't shut properly. And the floor tiles were the cheapest of cheap with absolutely no dimension to them.

Bathroom - Before

My initial thought was to completely gut the bathroom and start from scratch, but then reality hit. I was already doing pretty major renos throughout the rest of the space, including the kitchen. and none of it was particularly inexpensive. So I took a step back and considered how I could do a revamp without entirely starting fresh.

In the end, I decided a new sink unit would be a big improvement and would also add much needed storage. I purchased a new vanity from Dupont Plumbing and a new sink and taps from Home Depot. In a happy turn of fate, it turned out that the laminate counters I was purchasing for my kitchen were costed by a standard length, and the amount that would remain was the perfect size for the bathroom counter. The counters came from Triplast Manufacturing Co.

Funnily enough, the colour palette of my new sink unit was very similar to the old sink unit, but the new look really updated the space.

Bathroom - During

The bathroom also had a terrible large mirror, ugly "dressing room style" lighting and a cheap and nasty medicine cabinet.

Bathroom - Before

Until I looked at the picture above again, I had forgotten about the unusual red and black tiger striped wall outlet covers.

Bathroom - Before

I replaced the mirror and light with an inexpensive silver framed mirror from Home Depot and a cylindrical over the mirror fixture from Union Lighting.

I also replaced all the hollow apartment style doors in the condo, including the bathroom door, with shaker style mdf doors that I found at the Discount Door store and brushed satin handles from Home Depot. The doors were heavily discounted due to minor cosmetic imperfections that were easily filled and painted over.

So after all that updating, here's the current bathroom.

Bathroom - Current

It's fine looking, I just find it a bit blah and grey. The wall paint is Benjamin Moore Abalone. I painted most of my condo in shades of Silver Fox and Abalone, so I just painted the bathroom a colour I already had to hand as I had extra. The shelf came from Target. The towels are discontinued Pottery Barn. The shower curtain is the Hotel Collection Waffle from The Bay.

Bathroom - Current

On the opposite wall are some touristy art prints I bought while I was in Australia to remind me of some of the sea life I saw while snorkelling. They are in Ikea Ribba frames. The towel bar is a discontinued Umbra style.

Bathroom - Current

What you can't see is the lack of baseboards. When I first moved in, the bathroom had ugly small black tile as a baseboard. We quickly and easily ripped them out, and I had the intention to replace them with wood baseboards, but it hasn't happened yet. It's only been 4 years.

So hopefully my next bathroom update will show some progress. I would love to rip out the tub, wall tiles and floor tiles but sadly that's not (yet) in the budget. A change in paint and art is what I'm thinking, I want to make it a little more fun and funky looking without being tacky. The only thing I am pretty sure of right now is that this art print will make an appearance.

Deep - Lisa Congdon

And we'll see where I go from there!