Guest Bathroom Update for $85

A few weeks ago I finally got around to painting our guest bathroom upstairs. It only took two years. I don't even see this bathroom very much so it wasn't really on my radar. However its the one our guests use so I want it to look presentable. It took me one weekend to paint everything and then I put it all back together the next weekend.

The day we moved in

The bathroom tile/tub/toilet are original to our 1963 house. They are in really good shape so I wanted to embrace the blue and not do a full remodel. The only update that I had done previously was paint some of the hardware which can be seen here.

My first task was picking a paint color. I wanted something blue or gray to match the existing colors since there is already enough color without bringing in a new one. But at the same time I didn't want something really blue since there was already so much...I narrowed it down to two choices. Barely Blue by Pantone/Valspar (bottom) and Tempered Gray by Valspar.

 

Pascal voted on the barely blue. My job is to narrow down the choices and then he helps in the final decision. I bought a gallon in Satin. It ended up being the Valspar Signature paint with primer. At almost $35 it was more than I have ever spent on paint but that was the recommended paint with that color. I don't know that I would buy it again but I will say that I got really good coverage with only one coat and it even covered up some oil rubbed bronze spray paint that I got on the wall with only one coat (more on that later). Since the room is so small and has a slanted wall I ended up painting the ceiling the same color as the walls.

Before I actually painted the walls (which I did all by myself thank you very much) I painted the sink vanity and the medicine cabinet. I painted the vanity the same Valspar Wet Pavement that I used in the office and on the credenza and painted the medicine cabinet the same color as the walls.

The laminate was peeling off on part of the cabinet so I patched it with some spackle

After taking all of the hardware and doors off I had to prime with my favorite oil based primer. I used a combination of a small foam brush and a two inch foam roller to apply the primer and later the paint. I did one coat of primer and two coats of paint. By the way, the oil based primer is very smelly. So if you have to use it inside, open a window and wear a mask. This bathroom doesn't have a window so I ran the fan. If it hadn't been December I would have taken the doors outside but I still would have had to paint the vanity and cabinet inside anyways.

In the above picture you can see the right side of the vanity with only about two inches between the wall and the vanity. So at first I thought that I really didn't have to paint that since you can barely see it. Buttt you really could see it and Pascal said it looked ridiculous...

Thankfully I have very small hands and arms so I was able to reach back there and just use a small roller. 

After I had painted the vanity/cabinet and the walls/ceiling I decided that I wanted to spray paint the sink faucet and the light base the same oil rubbed bronze as the rest of the hardware. I didn't really think this through too much and I did it while Pascal wasn't home...Again open a window/run a fan and wear a mask. Or better yet detach the faucet and light and take them outside. I have seen several painted faucets on Pinterest so I decided to just go for it. I figured that I would only be messing up a free faucet and I can always replace it later. By the way, I should have done this before I painted the rest of the room. 

I taped off as much as I could and did several light coats of my favorite Rustoleum oil rubbed bronze spray paint. 

Thanks Joann Fabrics for always helping me with my crafting needs

So shiny and new! Spray paint does seem to leave a fine mist everywhere so even with my taping off there was still spray paint on the sink. Thankfully it scrubbed right off. But I panicked for a minute. 

I am pretty happy with the result. I also painted the gold base of the original overhead light. I figured that even if the faucet starts to chip after only a year it was still a $5 fix instead of buying a brand new faucet like this $98 one. 

After adding some new accessories the bathroom was all put back together! I am really happy with how it turned out. Even though I just made little changes I think it looks much better than the original. 

I still have one more thing I want to do. I bought some Polyblend Grout Renew to redo the grout in the bathroom. So much grout. I think it was originally white but its pretty much gray in most spots so I am going to make it all gray. For $10 hopefully it turns out to be a good update. 

Here is the final budget breakdown for the bathroom remodel:

$35 Barely Blue wall paint

Already had the gray cabinet paint and the oil primer

$5 for the rug

$10 for two cans of oil rubbed bronze spray paint (for all of the hardware I did before and the faucet/light)

$5 plastic shower liner

$5 oil rubbed bronze shower curtain rings

$15 shower curtain (TJ Maxx!!!)

$10 grout renew

= $85

Not bad for the whole bathroom.