5 Easy & Affordable Bathroom Ideas

Looking for some easy and affordable bathroom ideas? Consider these 5 updates:

  1. Painting is one of the most inexpensive ways you can update a room, relatively speaking, and especially if you do it yourself. A gallon of paint averages just around $31 depending on where you live. Don’t forget to factor in primer if necessary and any other tools you might need to get the job done right.
  2. Install a backsplash. Beyond protecting the wall behind the sink from water, a backsplash adds the finishing touch to a bathroom. Two inexpensive options include Fasade faux tin and Aspect Peel & Stick metal, stone or glass backsplash. Both are easy DIY projects that don’t require a contractor or the hassle of mortar and grout.
  3. Accent a wall. Put the focus on one wall in the room. Paint it a different color than the other walls, add wainscoting halfway or install Fasade wall panels. The panels come in 4’x8’ sheets to cover more room than a Fasade backsplash, but they’re made of the same material so they’re easy to handle. And, because they come in a multitude of styles and finishes, they’re a quick way to dramatically update any space.
  4. Reconsider the shower curtain. When was the last time you updated the shower curtain? A pretty new pattern can enliven a room. Find coordinating art and accessories to really make it stand out.
  5. Update hardware. New pulls and handles make a huge difference. Nothing says dated like builder-grade hardware, especially if it’s a shiny brass or other dated finish. Change out towel bars, door knobs and the toilet tissue holder to coordinate.

To learn more about easy and affordable bathroom ideas using Fasade decorative vinyl backsplash panels, visit Fasade Ideas. More information on Aspect peel and stick tiles can be found at Aspect Ideas. To purchase these products, visit DIY Decor Store.

How to Frame a Mirror

The vanity mirrors in the two bathrooms of my home irritated me. They served their purpose, but aesthetically? Not so much. I soon learned there was a solution.

The mirrors were the large, frameless cheap kind that builders hang when they are unimaginative, budget-minded or both. The one in the girls’ bathroom measured approximately 4’x 3’ tall. The one in the master bath was even larger, about 6’x3’. Tacky metal mirror clips held them in place.

Since fixing the problem became somewhat of an obsession, i went on the Internet trying to find easy and inexpensive solutions. I didn’t want to invest a lot of money in the project because we were trying to sell the house, but in the meantime I had to live there and look at the monstrosities. Of course, I could have removed them altogether and hang smaller framed mirrors, but I couldn’t find any I really liked. Proportionally speaking, if I were to buy new, it’d need to be fairly large to look decent.

So imagine my delight when I came across how to frame a mirror. The author is a creative gal who owns a furniture refinishing business in Utah called Sweet Pickins. While she is far more handy and creative than I, she came up with a simple solution to making over ugly vanity mirrors that even the DIY-challenged like me can pull off. She used inexpensive baseboard and chair rail molding to frame out the mirrors, glued it on and did her cool distressed painting application.

Anyone else have such a design/décor dilemma? Let me know what you did to fix it. And if you have any other suggestions, I’m all ears.