“I don’t have the patience, or the time, to renovate my existing master suite, but I’m looking for some ideas to add some life into my boring, cluttered bathroom. How do I go about doing this while keeping the project simple?” ~ Avery Kemp, FL
If you feel like your bathroom design and décor have flat lined, it’s not that difficult to breathe a little life back into it, and in just a weekend’s time, at that! We reached out to Palm Beach, Florida-based interior designer Joseph Pubillones, Green AP, for inspiration on how to implement small changes into your washroom to make a big statement. Whether it’s tiling just one focus wall, giving your walls a fresh coat of paint, or cleaning out the clutter, we think one (or a handful) of these ideas could be the ticket to a simple, yet dramatic facelift.
Try this at home:
- Clean sweep: The best way to make a statement in a bathroom is to keep it organized and clean. Minimizing products into boxes or nice containers cleans up the look. Thank “Spa.”
- Main feature: When tiling a wall in a bathroom—I like to use glass tiles or mosaics—avoid getting a design that is too heavy handed by using the tile or other material in just one area, like the wall behind your vanity, or the wall opposite. It creates a focal point, and from a financial point of view, it allows you to splurge in a small area with an expensive material while keeping costs down.
- Unexpected touch: A re-purposed antique cabinet used as your vanity or vintage mirrors as accessories can mix well with more contemporary fixtures and is a unique and surprising element that can add that “Wow” factor to your bathroom.
- Paint palette: Wallpaper, a fun decorative paint finish, or painting the walls a great, soothing color can have a huge impact and take a relatively small amount of time and money to complete. It’s the perfect weekend bathroom makeover project! Use a low or no-voc paint to keep the job eco-friendly, or a paper-baked wallpaper to avoid trapping moisture or mildew.
- Repurpose and reuse: Sometimes, especially in older or historic homes, if the tile work in your bathroom is in good condition, you can refinish and paint the tubs and sinks to keep the authenticity of the architectural period of your home, without having to swap them out and spend big bucks. Also, if your tiles are stuck in the, say… ’70s, with an avocado green scheme, pick a slightly lighter, or more vibrant shade of your old tiles to add cohesiveness, and make it look like the colors were on purpose!
