The small 2 piece bathroom just off our mudroom was a nice feature in our home but definitely nothing to write home about … until recently.

When we bought our home, this little half bath came equipped with a pedestal sink. At first I didn’t mind it, but I soon realized that we had ZERO storage and it eventually cracked when a glass soap container was accidentally dropped in the basin. (Mom fail: the container was pretty, but glass and toddlers just don’t go together!)

BEFORE:

I couldn’t wait to get my hands on some white paint and shiplap to brighten up this little space and have it fit in with the lake house vibe going on in the rest of the house. We also needed to find a sink and vanity ASAP that would meet our storage needs.

AFTER: 

The result! By adding paint, shiplap, a functional vanity with storage and some finishing touches we completely transformed this half bath into one of my favourite spaces in our home!

Do you have a bathroom that is in need of some TLC? I’m going to walk you through the 5 steps we took to add function and style to this little half bath!

1.PAINT 

One of the easiest ways to change a space is by slapping some paint on the walls! We have been using “White Dove” by Benjamin Moore all throughout our home. This beautiful white goes with everything and also makes any space feel brighter, lighter and more spacious! As soon as we added the white, my eye was drawn up to the high ceilings and the bathroom appeared twice as big!

2.ADD SHIPLAP & TILE

Adding shiplap adds INSTA CHARACTER to your space!

  • Head over to your local hardware store (we go to HomeDepot) and pick up some MDF boards.
  • Find a nice employee, and ask them to cut the board into strips, 8 inches in width. They have a handy dandy machine right in store that does all the work (and is usually free of charge!).
  • We always paint one coat of paint on the wall first and one coat on the boards.
  • Then measure twice, and cut your first board to the proper length.
  • We install the first board from the ceiling down using a nail gun.
  • When you are ready to put up your next board, use a nickel for spacing.
  • Then, add 2 more coats of paint to the shiplap using a roller and rolling in the direction of the boards!

We had a small box of white subway tile left over from our kitchen and laundry remodel. We used “oyster grey” grout from Home Depot. Jason installed the tile so that it would show just above our vanity and behind the toilet. Originally we wanted to tile right to the ground but this is the amount of tile we had left so we went with this design. In the end, we like it more!

3.CHOOSE A FUNCTIONAL VANITY

This vanity is the Martha Stewart Seal Harbor Vanity in Sharkey Grey finish. It is beautiful and has a ton of storage. In the first small drawer, we house the girls hair brushes and elastics for getting hair done during busy school mornings. We have wipes and diapers in the second drawer for our neighbours little girl who is here a few days a week. We also have some extra hand towels in the third drawer that are for this bathroom only! In the large cabinet we have toilet paper, kleenex and hand soap stored. Everything we need is now at our fingertips!

The cultured marble vanity top is low maintenance and looks like the real thing! We have been using this vanity for about 8 months now with no issues.

4.MIX AND MATCH FINISHES

Nickel, brass and gold sure look good together!

Don’t be afraid to play around with your finishes! We chose a nickel finish for our faucet, vanity hardware, toilet paper holder, and sconce. The anthropologie hook and toilet bowl brush container are aged brass and the round mirror from Home Sense is gold.

5.ADD FINISHING TOUCHES TO COMPLETE YOUR SPACE

I headed over to my local Home Sense and picked up these white frames for just under $15 each. I loved the how the frames reminded me of shiplap. Our bathroom has no windows but I still wanted some greenery so I headed to this site to choose and print my own botanical artwork. I printed the pictures at Costco and then popped them in the frames.

I found the brass toilet brush holder at Bed Bath and Beyond.

I FELL IN LOVE with this beach house wastebasket that I found on Pinterest. It is sold at the Container store. After searching all over my city for one that would compare I came up empty handed and decided to pay the shipping for this beauty. At the end of the day, purchasing this online was still cheaper than a lot of wastebaskets I found here. Totally worth it!

The Ocean Crater hook from Anthropologie is the “jewelry” for this bathroom. I picked up the hand towel from Home Sense.

It’s always nice to have a good quality room spray in your bathroom. I picked this one up from Williams Sonoma and the essential oils always leave this little space fresh and inviting.

Claire is still too little to reach the sink so I purchased this adorable stool from Marshall’s. The white and wood finish compliment the wastebasket perfectly – like a match made in heaven!

ONE MORE BEFORE & AFTER:

We were able to complete this bathroom project in about 3 days! We purchased all the materials and then got busy. Ordering the finishing touches was the longest part of the process. Do you have any must have items in a bathroom redo? I would love to hear about it!