Before & After | A Simple and Classic Kid’s Bathroom Refresh

Hello friends and welcome to reveal day of the New Year, New Room Refresh Challenge!  If you are just checking in here,  I am participating in a room challenge where a group of bloggers are giving a room in our homes a refresh in just five short weeks. For my room refresh, I decided to focus on our kid’s shared bathroom.  This bathroom serves our two boys – ages 8 and 5 and it was feeling pretty sad in here. Although it feels more like yesterday, we moved into our home 2.5 years ago and I hadn’t done a thing to this room since. 

It’s always stressful to put a time limit on updating rooms, but sometimes it is just what I need to avoid the distractions and get ‘er done. Although this bathroom challenge didn’t involve any big updates, the room really needed some loving to feel pulled together.  My goal was for the space to feel “fresh and clean” and have it be a space that they can enjoy now but also grow into for years to come. Oh, and I wanted the room to have a subtle “lake house” vibe. 

So with that, let’s take a walk down memory lane and remember where we started…

KID’S BATHROOM REFRESH: BEFORE

 

KID’S BATHROOM REFRESH: VISION

OK. Quick! Let’s move along quickly from those before shots to take a look at the vision for the bathroom.

KID’S BATHROOM REFRESH: AFTER

I am so happy with how fresh and clean it feels in this space now! The room really had great bones, it just needed some direction. Someday, there may be a phase 2 of this space as we may eventually replace the tub with a shower and at that point would replace the flooring. If it was up to the boys, it would have a Super Mario Brothers shower curtain and a mural of a football quarterback on the wall. Obviously, their bathroom wishes did not come true, but we can still all agree that this bathroom feels much better than a month ago. 

So let’s break down the details and take a closer look:

|| FRESH PAINT ON WALLS & CEILING ||

The walls got a fresh coat of white to cover the old gray paint and the ceiling got a coat of light blue.  The walls are White Dove and the paint is actually a mix of several sample colors that I had in the garage- the result is a very light aqua blue. Yay for using up old paint!  I love this classic combo of white walls and the “haint” blue ceiling. 

 

||  PLANK STATEMENT WALL || 

To get that subtle “lake house” feel, I thought it would be fun to have a plank style statement wall. So I was thrilled when I found this great plank style peel and stick wallpaper from Spoonflower. Honestly, I was pretty intimated about the thought of installing wallpaper, but overall it was a pretty easy DIY  and something I would definitely try again. You can read the full post here. 

 

|| LIGHT FIXTURES  || 

One of the biggest changes in the room were this pair of oil rubbed bronze lights. I think the dark fixtures really help anchor the space and I always like a few black touches in a room- even if I am going for a bright and clean space. Originally I was going to do gold fixtures and hardware in here, but it never felt “right”. Then when I found these great lights from Home Depot- I knew I had found the “ones!” 

 

|| CABINET HARDWARE  ||

If you give a girl some new light fixtures, you are going to have to give her some new hardware too! I love the way this mix of the oil rubbed bronze knobs and pulls hardware looks and how the glass knobs look with the new lights. 

 

|| ART ||  

I always struggle with art in spaces but fortunately for this room, I had art in mind before I even started. In fact, the art in this bathroom is what helped give direction for the entire refresh. Isn’t this print just so classic and sweet? 

I also needed something for the wall next to the window. I was planning to do the fly fishing art I shared a few weeks back… but as you know- things change as you work on a space and I just wanted to add a little more whimsy in here. It was just feeling too grown up! So I decided do a map of a lake we love along with this colorful map of the USA.

 

And at the very last minute, I made this abstract art for the plank wall!

 

|| THE DETAILS  ||

Let’s face it, when it comes to kid’s spaces, keeping accessories to a minimum is a must. I knew I needed to keep this small room clutter free, so I tried to keep accessories at a minimum. Here is a breakdown of the some of the fun items that helped to pull the space together. 

SHOWER CURTAIN & VALANCE

The old shower curtain was designed to hang extra long- 96 inches to be exact! So I went on a quest and found this great monogrammed one. For the valance- I just pulled down the green valance that was there and recovered it with this fun antelope print. 

MOSS GREEN DOOR

Love this little detail for this small space!

WINDOW TREATMENT  

Scrap fabric and liquid stitch FOR THE WIN! I made these cafe curtains for the window and LOVE the way they look! I ordered a simple tension rod and curtain rings from Home Depot to complete the look. So glad to have those broken and cumbersome plantation shutters gone and love this simple classic pattern to help tie the space together. And I love the combo of the cafe curtain with the antelope print. 

 

TRASH BASKET

I am SUCH a sucker for baskets in a room and this one is just perfect for that subtle lake house vibe. In order to turn this basket into a trashcan, I found a simple clear trash can to line the inside that will prevent it from getting ruined. 

VANITY TRAY

Just a few counter accessories for these boys. And of course, a few dinosaurs. 

STEP STOOL

When I started clearing out this room to give it the refresh, I found three random step stools in here. I was originally going to buy a pair of matching new step stools but then I (sadly) realized that the big guy doesn’t really need one anymore. So, I decided to give one of our old ones a makeover!  I love this Williamsburg Blue paint color- I found it at Home Depot. It feels like the perfect shade to still feel little, but not too baby. 

TOWEL RACK

At first I was going to use a traditional towel bar. But then I remembered that I actually wanted them to hang up their towels and needed to make it as easy as possible! So I went with hooks instead. Think it will work? I plan to add their name in this rack so they know which towel is theirs! 

LAUNDRY BASKET

Similar to the trash basket, I love the way this basket adds texture to the room. This is probably one of my favorite pieces in the whole room! And again, anything I can do to make it easy to get dirty clothes off the floor, I am all in! 

 

|| RUGS & BATHMATS  || 

I never knew I could love a bathmat so much! These are the softest rugs EVER and I definitely find the little guy laid out on them almost every night. With the T-shaped space, I was really struggling with what to do for a rug. Ultimately, I landed on a larger and smaller matching set of these gray cozy rugs. They are perfect in here! A huge thanks to Mohawk Rugs for providing these.  (I promise I will try my hardest not to steal them for the master bathroom. )

|| UNDER CABINET STORAGE  || 

 It felt great to completely empty out all of the cabinets and drawers in here! In just 2.5 years it had collected quite a few random things that needed to find a new home. I hope to share more details on this storage solution in a separate post. But here you can see how I am really using these cabinets to their fullest thanks to lots of storage items from Home Depot. 

 

 

Well that’s all for now! This small room is hard to photograph but I hope you feel he transformation of the freshness through these pictures. Even though this room didn’t get any big changes made to it, it’s amazing what fresh paint and new lighting and accessories will do to a space! I hope you enjoyed following along on this room refresh and feel inspired to make a change in your own home too. 

BEFORE & AFTER

                

 

All of the weekly recaps, sources and links to the other participants are below. I can’t wait to see everyone else’s room reveals!

xoxo-

Heather

NEW YEAR, NEW ROOM Weekly Post Recaps

Week 1: LET’S KICK OFF THE NEW YEAR WITH A KID’S BATHROOM MAKEOVER

Week 2: HOW TO ADD AN EASY STATEMENT WALL WITH PEEL & STICK WALLPAPER

Week 3: FREE, READY-TO-PRINT GALLERY WALL || FLY FISHING ART

Week 4:  CHECKING IN ON THE BOY’S BATHROOM REFRESH

SOURCE LIST

HOME DEPOT

Reclaimed Wood Frame      |    Wicker Baskets- Laundry and Trash Can     |    Oil Rubbed Bronze Vanity Lights |  Tension Rod & Curtain Rings   |     
Under Cabinet Storage: Chrome Tray , Plastic Drawers, Baskets, Shelf Liner   |   Oil Rubbed Bronze Cabinet Pulls   |  Oil Rubbed Bronze Cabinet Knobs    |  Gray Towels   |  Sky Blue Towels   |  French Blue Paint for Step Stool   |  Towel Hook Bar  

MOHAWK HOME Large Gray Rug   |   Medium Gray Rug 

SPOONFLOWER Peel & Stick Wallpaper  

Be sure to check out all of the other spaces that will be updated as part of the New Year, New Room challenge below.

Casa Watkins Living // The Boho Abode // Delineate Your Dwelling // Haneen’s Haven // The Happy Housie // Homemade by Carmona // House by Hoff // Jeweled Interiors // Kaleidoscope Living // Our Fifth House // PMQ for 2 // Rain on a Tin Roof // Southern State of Mind // Taryn Whiteaker // This is Our Bliss // Thou Swell // Up To Date Interiors

 

 

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