Don't let a dated bathroom dull your decor.
If your bathroom's tiny pink tiles or aqua porcelain fixtures give away its age, you're never going to fool people into thinking it's the latest modern design. But your vintage bathroom doesn't have to look dated. Use your bathroom's best features to your advantage. Add accessories and decorate touches to accentuate the positive and downplay the negative and help your vintage bathroom blend in with your up-to-date decor.
Instructions
1. Repaint the bathroom in a neutral or complementary color. New paint freshens any look and if your bathroom is small you can change the look inexpensively with a single gallon of paint. Paint everything in a crisp, fresh white, or choose a color that complements the tile and fixtures. If you have a blue toilet and sink from the seventies, paint the walls a darker shade of blue. Or go for contrast with a rich, tomato red. If you inherited pink tile, chocolate brown walls add a modern look, or go for a more Victorian feel with burgundy walls. You can also repaint woodwork and cabinets the same color for a sleek, streamlined look.
2. Update the accessories. New towel and toilet paper holders and faucets can change the whole look of your bathroom. Oiled bronze or polished nickel fixtures can give the oldest bathroom a modern look. While you're at it, change the light fixtures. Replace a ceiling globe light with a small chandelier, or add sconces in place of round white bulbs over the mirror.
3. Add new curtains, shower curtain and rugs. Textiles add texture, warmth and style to your bathroom for much less money than a total makeover. Turn that pink-tiled bathroom into a romantic hideaway with lace and gauze curtains and plush white rugs, or give the blue fixtures a nautical theme with sisal mats and navy and white curtains and towels.
4. Mix in unexpected accessories. Install an electric fireplace and mantle, a bubbling fountain, or a trompe l'oeil mural depicting a Tuscan garden on one wall of your bathroom. You can purchase murals at stores that sell wall coverings. Add live plants to your bathroom if the room gets natural light, or install life-like silk plants. If your bathroom has the space, add a padded bench for seating or a wine rack to hold spare towels. Hang framed posters on the walls.
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