Budget Bathroom Makeover Reveal

ByChelsea @ Making Manzanita Updated on Design, Room Reveals
If you need to give your bathroom a makeover, but want to do it on a budget...prepare to be inspired! We completed this budget bathroom makeover for less than $250. You won't believe these before and after pictures!

Full source list is linked at the bottom of post for your convenience!

This budget bathroom makeover contains affiliate links, but nothing that I wouldn’t recommend wholeheartedly. Read my full disclosure here.

Logan and I surprisingly don’t butt heads much about renovation projects and decor styles. But what we do consistently disagree on “phase 1 makeovers”…or what I like to call…making a room look better while we live with it and wait until we can fully renovate. Logan just sees it as wasting time and money on rooms that are going to change.

So sometimes I win and we spend a little time and money making things look better. And sometimes he wins and we completely ignore it until it is reno time. Like most things in marriage (and life)…it’s a give and take.

Table of Contents

Before Pictures

Before our budget makeover, our bathroom was a drab grey with outdated tile and accessories.

But this bathroom, oh my goodness….this bathroom was definitely something that I’ve let Logan win for probably a bit too long. We’ve been living in this house for about two and half years and I’ve hated it every second.

White bathroom walls, a vanity mirror, and a sliver of a white and red cabin themed shower curtain.

The baby blue wall paint was here when we moved in (and was repeated a few times throughout the house). I honestly think the flippers we purchased the house from just used leftover exterior paint from when they painted the outside of the house because it’s the same color.

the inside of our small guest bathroom is a boring white color with outdated tile and a cabin themed shower curtain and bath rug

The decor is pretty hideous with a rustic cabin theme complete with a faded shower curtain and an equally horrible bathmat. We purchased this decor RIGHT after we got married, back in that honeymoon stage where I still trying to choose things that Logan liked…hence the cabin theme. Believe it or not, we actually had CAMO towels at one point (those are long gone now).

A look at the inside of our guest bathroom before our budget bathroom makeover - white walls, a towel holder, and a large hole in the lower right side of the dry wall

We didn’t live very long with this big hole in the wall, don’t worry! Haha, we had to bust into the wall when we were installing the farmhouse sink cabinet in our laundry room.

A look at our guest bathroom vanity - a free standing sink and oval wall mounted mirror.
The view from outside our small guest bathroom, painted white with a cabin themed shower curtain, bath mat, and outdated tile flooring.

So here’s where we were…

I was sick of this ugly bathroom. Logan didn’t want to spend money on it because we really should probably do a full gut renovation of the space soon.

We agreed that we wouldn’t replace any fixtures, keep costs at a minimum, try to use up supplies and decor that we had elsewhere and all in all do a mini budget bathroom makeover.

Step 1 – Install a DIY Vertical Shiplap Wall

So I got to work. First things first, I had to figure out what in the heck to do with the wall that had a big hole! We could, of course, have patched it and retextured the whole thing…which would have been kind of a pain.

Instead, we completely transformed the wall by installing DIY vertical shiplap that was seriously less than $50 in supplies (most of which we already had)!

TA-DA!

Get more bathroom shiplap ideas here!

Before and after photos from our budget bathroom makeover - the picture on the left shows a white wall, towel holder and red shower curtain. The picture on the right shows a DUY white shiplap wall and forest green wall, white linen shower curtain, and updated towel racks.
click here to see how to install diy vertical shiplap walls!

Step 2 – Paint The Walls Dark

Your first inclination in a small bathroom with no natural light may be to paint it a light and bright color, but that’s just going to make things worse. Painting a small bathroom with paint color with more depth is a much better choice.

We went really bold here with dark green paint on the walls of the bathroom. This paint color is called Meteorological from BEHR Paint and you can learn more about it here. We also used this color in our master bedroom and master bathroom, so you may recognize it!

click here to learn more about this paint color

Step 3 – Painted Tile Floors

The next thing we definitely needed to address was the tile floors. The builder-grade boring tan rectangles had to go.

But again…I didn’t want to spend the time or money to completely replace the tile flooring, so we tried something we’ve never done before!

We painted the tile floors using this awesome paint that is made JUST for floors! To top it off, I added a fun stencil design that although tedious, turned out AMAZING!

Don’t you think?!?

Get more painted tile floor ideas here!

Before and after pictures from our Buget Bathroom Makeover - the picture on the left shows outdated tan and brown floor tiles. The picture on the right shows grey painted floor tiles with a white geometric line pattern stenciled over.
Before and after painting the tile floor in our Buget Bathroom Makeover - the left picture shows tan and brown tile floors, the right picture shows grey and white geometric painted tiles.
click here to learn how to paint your floors for less than $100 (includes video)!

Step 4 – Hang DIY Wall Art with Scrap Wood & Wood Shims

Then we made this super easy and cheap wall art to hang above the towels and it’s just perfect, don’t you think?

Get more scrap wood DIY projects here!

This gorgeous modern geometric wood wall art almost looks like a painting! It's hanging on our forest green painted guest bathroom wall.
click here to see how to make this DIY wall art with scrap wood and wood shims (includes video!)

Watch the whole bathroom makeover process in this video!

If you love DIY videos, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel too!

Budget Bathroom Makeover: Reveal Photos

An inside look out our new Buget Bathroom Makeover - deep green painted walls decorated with bohemian style wall art, a white linen shower curtain, and round vanity mirror.
Two pieces of wall art we hung on out bathroom's new deep green walls. One picture is a wooden frame with geometric patterns, and white paper with the text
A look from the outside of our guest bathroom after our Buget Bathroom Makeover shows the newly painted grey and white tile floor and new white linen shower curtain.
A closer look at the DIY wood wall art we made of our updated guest bathroom makeover shows the raised texture and different colors of wood.
We created a fun two toned bathroom wall with DIY white shiplap on the bottom half, deep green paint on the top half. A DIY wood wall art hangs on the wall, and we see the grey and white tile floor.
A look from the inside of our new Buget Bathroom Makeover shows the vanity, freestanding sink, round glass mirror, and boho style wall art hanging on deep green painted bathroom walls.
A close up look at the free standing white sink, round glass vanity mirror hanging on the deep green wall, and a wall mounted soap dispenser.
We decorated our guest bathroom with a faux indoor plant and candle, which sit in a wicker basket on the back of the toilet.
A look inside our updated guest bathroom - an updated grey and white tile floor with a stenciled geometric pattern, white linen shower curtain, deep green painted walls and boho chic wall decor.
A closer look at the white linen shower curtain, boho style wall decor, green painted walls, and white toilet in our guest bathroom.
A portion of the DIY wood panel wall art shows raised wood panels, hanging against a deep green wall.
A small corner of our updated boho style bathroom, with a partial DIY white shiplap wall; the top half of the wall is painted deep green, and diy wooden wall art hangs in the middle of the wall.
An up close look at the new towel holders - simple wooden pegs mounted to the wall, holding a textured grey bath towel
A potted plant and candle sit in a wicker basket on the back of a white toilet.
A close up look of a boho style woven wood wall hanging, made up of tan, black, and light brown woven wool against a white background.
A close up look at the dark green painted wall, and diy white shiplap wall. On the dark green wall hangs a DIY wood wall art project. A grey towel hangs from wall mounted wooden towel holders.

Budget Bathroom Makeover Cost Breakdown: What Does it Really Cost to Remodel a Bathroom?

Vanity Light*$51
Light bulbs$10
Paint (2 gallons)*$86
DIY Shiplap – see full supply list here$50
DIY Floor Paint – see full supply list here$100
Basket on toilet$12
Faux plant (50% off)$8
Candle$10
Wooden container for extra toilet paper (50% off)$14
DIY wooden wall art (only needed to buy wood shims, rest was made with scrap wood!) – see full supply list here $5
Hand towel*$13
Bath towel*$20
Towel hooks$18
Shower curtain (60% off!) $20
Toilet paper holder$17
Towel ring*$61
Wall mount soap dispenser$30
Wall decor quote$15
Wall decor frame for woven hanging$5
TOTAL BUDGET BATHROOM MAKEOVER COST$540
OUR COST (subtracted things we already had)$222

*We already had these things on hand, but for the purposes of coming up with a cost estimate for this budget bathroom makeover…we will assume you need to buy them

Budget Bathroom Makeover Room Sources

I’m SOOO happy with the budget-friendly makeover we did in this bathroom…now I’m just scratching my head a bit wondering why it took me 2 and half years, haha.

What about you….are you team wait-til-you-renovate or team make-it-better-while-you-wait???

Before and after pictures of our Budget Bathroom Makeover - four images show the changes made to our small guest bathroom, including new painted tile floors, painted walls, and new decor.

What was your favorite part of this budget bathroom makeover??

Let us know in the comments below!

Chelsea @ Making Manzanita

Chelsea is the founder of Making Manzanita - a DIY and renovation blog - where it's all about making your house a home you love one DIY at a time. Chelsea and her husband, Logan, have been renovating homes since 2015 and have seen the sweat equity pay off. They enjoy teaching readers how to renovate with confidence. As an influencer, Chelsea has collaborated with brands like The Home Depot, Etsy, Behr Paint, DAP Products, Walmart, Frog-Tape, and Kreg Tools. Making Manzanita has participated in One Room Challenge and was a finalist in the Fall 2019 Jeffrey Court Renovation Challenge.

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19 Comments

  1. Impressive workmanship, especially since you have most of the supplies on hand. Your bathroom looks fresh and tres chic. Congratulations on your makeover project.

    Reply

  2. Everything thing looks so amazing!! I love the shiplap, and I’m going to do this in my bathroom. The floors are gorgeous and that green is everything!! ?

    Reply

  3. Chelsea you are so inspiring! Oh my gosh I can totally relate! My husband doesn’t want to spend the time/effort on anything until we renovate it. And I’m getting so tired of looking at the ugly. Did you say you made the woven wall hanging? You’re so talented! I love your style! I love the paint color with the natural wood and woven wall art. So inspiring, I must just need to do some ‘make a room look better while we live with it’ projects in my house.

    Reply

    1. Hi Michelle! Thanks so much! I love the challenge of trying to make a space look better for limited funds! Yes I did make that little woven wall hanging. One of my “quarantine” hobbies that I’ve picked up over the past few months is looming! I got a weaving loom at Amazon and I’m loving it! 🙂 Hope you continue to find inspiration through our projects. Have a great day!

      Reply

  5. Your bathroom is giving me “Modern Boho Fever” and I’m loving it, I am here for it!!!!..My boyfriend and I are moving in a couple of months & I’m going for that Boho with a splash of dark colors like a deep Navy or Green or Terra Cotta and you hit the nail on the head with your bathroom. I knew I clicked on you for a reason. Thanks for being an inspiration on my new home style journey.

    Reply

    1. Thank you!! We absolutely love how our bathroom turned out. Modern boho is totally where my style has been going these days. I’ve found that it helps to pick a “whole house” color palette to keep things cohesive. So for our home, we’ve been sticking with neutrals (black whites and grays), pops of dark green and greenish blue and now we’re even mixing in some mustard yellow accents. Good luck with your new home journey!

      Reply

  6. Your results are quite good looking. I must say one thing though; I often comment to people that we would like to see more pictures, perhaps of the before and after side by side, as you did. That was useful for us. However, the pictures in this posting were overkill.
    T

    Reply
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