I wish I had a video camera to record their smiles as they looked with pride at their new powder room! Cathy & Charles finally got the powder room they hoped for (woohoooo!). How did it look before? We can describe it in one word – UGH! Yep, that was my clients and my professional diagnosis. Don’t believe us? Wait till u scroll down to see the before photos.
BEFORE PHOTOS
(room diagnosis = eew + UGH!)
We agreed that almost everything had to GO, including the pink-salmon color toilet (eek!). My mission, to design a modern powder room economically. Your mission, if you plan to makeover a small powder room, is to remember my 6 tips for transforming it economically. Ready to see how this small powder room got a huge modern makeover?
The Design Presentation Board that I showed Cathy & Charles. Little details count SO MUCH. Even the toilet! Seriously, even-the-toilet! They both agreed that white color was the way to go when choosing a new toilet. However when it came to the shape Charles was a little hesitant. He was hoping to get a toilet with an oval (elongated shape) design.
What I love about my clients is that they don’t hesitate to ask questions and voice their opinions. I actually loooove when they do bec it shows a trust level, that they feel like they can tell me anything, which I highly encourage. So, when Charles mentioned his feelings about the shape of the toilet I explained THE WHY; why I selected a round shape toilet. The reason? bec it would make the powder room feel bigger since round is shorter in depth than an elongated shape. ‘Ooh’ I recall him saying. Which made my heart smile bec at that moment I knew that they were both now comfortable with the design. And my clients comfort is very precious to me.
Bye bye old floor tiles, wall tiles, toilet, and sink. Hellooooo gorgeous wall mounted counter top with drop in sink and new tiles, paint color, cabinet, hooks, light fixture etc gorgeous etc. I wanted the room to look serene and bigger than it was so I knew that the SINK + COUNTER TOP had to be very special. And it was, we unanimously agreed that our favorite ‘item’ in the room is the floating wall mounted counter top stained to match the wall cabinet. I looove how you can see the grain of the wood through the beautiful stain.
THE AFTER PHOTOS
6 TIPS FOR ECONOMICAL MAKEOVER
- your paint color is a super power!
- ditch wallpaper, go with decal
- create storage at different levels
- economical tiles that look expensive do exist
- your room jewelry is the light fixture (be subtle!)
- if you can’t find it, then make it (economically of course!)
Here’s what we did, and perhaps what you can do in your powder room bathroom to spruce it up from blah to glam . . .
- your paint color is a super power! We painted walls with a LIGHT COOL tone color, it made such a HUGE difference to have a bright airy cool color vs the warm (warm colors feel more cozy = tight vs airy and open)
- ditch wallpaper, go with decal! We added a wallpaper decal to 1 wall for visual interest. Yep, a decal! A simple yet gorgeous decal my friends!! Decals are SO MUCH more economical + less messy to handle than standard wallpaper since the decals already has adhesive backing
- create storage at different levels. We added . . . . .
- (top of the wall) a wall mounted cabinet
- (middle of the wall) three hooks to hold hand towels etc (dontcha LOVE that POP of color)
- (middle of the wall) a mirror with a shelf to hold small items
- (middle of the wall) the countertop was constructed with more space on the left side than the right so items like soap dispenser could be added.
- (bottom of the wall) a trash bin with a lovely birch wood grain design to hold all the unwanted (a must have in powder rooms!). That’s right, even the trash bins we use in our designs are stylish (wink!).
4. economical floor tiles that look expensive do exist! Add economical floor tiles that LOOK expensive! The hexagon matted tiles we used cost less than … (ready for this) … $5 per square foot. Remember how the floors looked before? eek! Pssst, did you notice the floor tile design? The hexagon design is similar to the hexagon wallpaper decal. Yep, that’s how we roll here … cohesive beauty!
5. your room jewelry is the light fixture (be subtle!) Add a ceiling light that impresses WITHOUT distracting. Do you remember their other ceiling fixture? So, NOT modern
6. if you can’t find it, then MAKE it! That’s what we did with the counter top. Simple wood planks cut to size, mounted to the wall, then stained to complement the color of the wall cabinet.
I love it when a design in paper comes to life! It’s what fuels my passion and what brings smiles to my clients beautiful faces. Cathy and Charles are a sophisticated hip modern couple who totally deserved this powder room renovation. I am so happy to have been a part of their journey in transforming their house into feeling more like ‘their’ home. Wait till you see how their other rooms turn out. Hint: gorgeous!