Quick Bathroom Upgrades with Big Results

April Kennedy April Kennedy
Badalona Home Design, CONTRACT SOLUTIONS CONTRACT SOLUTIONS Bathroom
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A quick bathroom upgrade is one of the most satisfying home decorating projects one can tackle. It doesn’t involve ripping out or replacing expensive hardware and with a little bit of effort you can achieve some really powerful results.

Bathroom decorating is about more than just the big ticket items anyway. It’s about your towel rack, lighting, storage, textiles, scents and plants. The best bathrooms often have a very comforting sense of indulgence and the textiles, accessories and scents are the little things that really enliven your sensory experience of a bathroom.

Let’s not forget that most bathroom also have a neutral or white palette. This is great for quick and easy bathroom upgrades because a neutral backdrop tends to receded against more colourful or ornate furnishings. And if you don’t like your tiles and live in a rental apartment, there are also lots of temporary alternatives to sprucing up fixed cabinetry and tiles. So, without further ado, come with us to explore a few quick bathroom upgrades.

Install strip lights

The gorgeous warm strip lights here add a very warm, spa-like feel to this bathroom. The strip lights have been added inside the bathroom cabinets and obscured from view under the lip of the shelf. This helps create that very diffuse and sophisticated glow. Strip lights are often powered by small batteries or designed to be easily installed if there’s close access to a power-point. They are cheap and easy to remove. If you have some free wall space, it might be nice to frame a mirror and hide a few strip lights behind the frame too.

Upgrade the shower screen or tiles

Shower screens are available in beautiful, classic and contemporary designs these days. But if you really want to upgrade the look, consider investing in a new shower screen with a lovely classic design like this one by Italian designers Lizea Sass. They etch the design directly onto the glass with great results.

Alternatively, you might just use some adhesive glass or tile stickers. They could just be used to spruce up a tired old shower screen or change the colour of your tiles. But tile stickers and decals only look good if they are applied properly. Before application, properly clean the tiles so they are free from dust and grease. Then choose a sticker or decal that matches the existing tiles perfectly. This will help ensure that the grouting lines up and the area is properly sealed. Without proper sealing, water will edge beneath the adhesive areas and make the tiles curl and flake over time. But, that all being said, with proper application, sticker tiles are a really great choice.

Get Creative with your Shower Curtain

Shower curtains don’t necessarily need to be plain and boring. Just look at this ruffled shower curtain for inspiration. If you are keen for a DIY project, obviously you need to choose a fabric that can withstand damp conditions. It’s always good to use vinyl, polyester or a polyester-cotton blend. The little holes used to loop the curtain through the shower rail are called grommets and it’s important to add these too. Tool kits with a hole puncher specifically for this task are cheap and available in most craft stores. Don’t forget that most fabrics are sold in pieces that are too narrow for most shower curtains, so you’ll need to sew two pieces together.

If you aren’t that keen on taking on a DIY project, simply look around online and find a bright and fun new shower curtain for a fresh new look.

Spruce up your accessories

A quick spruce up of your bathroom accessories is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to upgrade your bathroom. Invest in some decent storage containers and hide away the mish-mash of branding that tends to add visual clutter to the bathroom. Then add a little indulgence tray on which to feature an offering of little soaps, perfumes and pretty glassware. You may even want to add a small floral feature like this with some pretty colourful glassware.

Update your textiles

Bathroom towels and textiles tend to accumulate and before you know it, you've got a bathroom full of mismatching towels and faded old floor mats. Repurpose your old towels in other parts of the home and invest in a new set of towels that properly match the curtains and floor mat. It's easy to be conservative with your choice of colour, but if you love bright colours, they can be a great way to enliven an all-white bathroom.

Create a clean atmosphere

A bathroom is a place that feels clean and refreshhing in every sense. This means that it's important to add room diffusers and purify the air with plants. Peace lilies are a good choice because they are easy to care for and can tolerate low-light conditions fairly well. They are also effective at removing mould spores from the air and will add a bright, lush spa-like feel to any bathroom. 

Finally, we would like to add that it's great to finish off your bathroom upgrade with a deep clean. This means polishing up your fittings, using bleach, white vinegar and a scrubbing brush, sealing any broken or cracked tiles and taking the time to remove stubbon stains. If they are particularly old, just leave some paper-towels soaked on the tiles or ceramics overnight. It will work a treat! 

If you are interested in bathroom upgrades, you'll love this Ideabook Watertight tips on preventing bathroom mould.

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