When it comes to home decorating there are few
rooms that have quite the impact of a bathroom or
kitchen when being decorated. There is something
wonderful about taking a tired old bathroom and making
it seem bright and shiny once again. Most people,
however, cringe at the thought of a bathroom remodel
fearing the absolute worst when it comes to their
financial situation once all is said and done. The good
news is that small steps can lead to big changes in
rooms as small as bathrooms. These small steps do not
have to have large prices in order to be highly
effective.
My suggestion with a bathroom is to assess where the
worst blemishes and eyesores may be. Painting the walls
can be a good place to start but you should first decide
whether you are planning to remove any cabinetry. This
is one room where it is best to save the painting for
later in the project rather than the beginning. The
vanity in many bathrooms takes up a good deal of real
estate. Gone are the days when chunky cabinets were the
popular choice for bathrooms. Now people want the
bathrooms to have the appearance of a wide-open space.
This means that cabinets and vanities are becoming
smaller rather than larger.
Most homeowners find that the removal of bulky cabinetry
in the bathroom often leads to some degree of patching
required for the drywall and noticeable gaps in
flooring. These will need to be addressed fairly
quickly, which means that now is a good time to select
color options for the walls and flooring. Smaller
bathrooms do well with lighter colors on the walls in
order to give them a larger appearance. Use towels and
decorations to bring in darker accents but keep the
walls light and bright. Also choose paint that can
withstand the high humidity of bathrooms.
Flooring in a bathroom also needs to be able to
withstand high heat and humidity as this room is rather
abusive to floors and walls. For this reason, hardwood
is not the floor of choice for most bathrooms. Ceramic
tile is an excellent choice and not terribly expensive.
There are also some laminates that are designed to
respond well to a high humidity environment such as will
be found in a bathroom. Choose flooring that will accent
the walls and the overall sense of décor you are hoping
to achieve when decorating your home and bathroom, as
this is not something you are going to want to change
often.
The toilet in a bathroom is fairly simple to purchase
but I recommend leaving it be unless it absolutely needs
to be changed. This is not a simple procedure for the
novice and experts are expensive. In this case "if it
ain't broke don't fix it" is an excellent motto to live
by. The same holds true with the shower. If, however,
you simply cannot live with your shower (or bathtub) as
is, you may want to try hiring professionals to come in
and resurface your tub. This is much less expensive than
purchasing a brand-new tub and will have yours looking
bright, shiny, and as good as new. Again you can avoid
the high cost of a plumber despite the fact that you are
paying for professionals to resurface.
To top things off, you will be amazed at the difference
that new knobs, fixtures, and hardware can make in a
bathroom. Add a couple of lamps for subtle lighting and
some decorative touches of your own and you have a brand
new bathroom without spending a king's ransom in order
to do so. The shower curtain and 'guest' towels should
be your largest splurges in your bathroom, as they will
tie the room all together. You shower curtains and
towels will blend the colors and designs in order to
create the overall atmosphere you should be hoping to
achieve in your bathroom. And all of this can be
accomplished one step at a time no matter how sparse
your budget may be.