My budget small bathroom makeover

Small space makeover on a budget 

Over the past few weeks, I have been tackling some DIY jobs within my small bathroom. I had a really small budget for this makeover and I had to work with what I had. I changed my bath panel, added a new toilet seat, I added some shelving and I gave it a fresh lick of paint to give it a new look. I also tackled some of the ugly jobs, like removing mouldy seals on my bathtub and shower door. All of these jobs added up and I am so pleased with how my bathroom is looking. I would love to change my tiles but unfortunately, I just don’t have the budget for that this year so I worked with the tiles I have and decorated around them to compliment what I already had. I also killed off the last of the magnolia walls, this was the last room in my home that had ugly magnolia on the walls. I am sorry if you are a magnolia fan, I stupidly painted the whole house with cheap Magnolia paint when I moved in a few years ago and I have spent that past five years trying to get rid off all the Magnolia rooms. I am pleased to say I am now rid of it lol. I also have a Youtube video sharing my finished bathroom. 

Replacing my bath panel 

You can see how I replaced my bath panel in a video which I will link below. I got my bath panel from the B&Q in Liffey Valley. My old bath panel was an ugly plastic one which had cracked and gone discoloured. I was able to tackle this job myself and I used my old bath panel as a template to cut out my new one. I then slotted it into place and already the bathroom was starting to look cleaner. To tie in with the new bath panel I replaced my plastic toilet seat. My old one was also plastic and far from glamorous so I replaced it with a new wooden one that I picked up from Argos. 

A fresh lick of paint 

As my bathroom is really small I decided to paint it in a light bright colour to make it look bigger. I used the Dulux kitchen and bathroom paint in the shade iced white.  I also painted my radiator with some radiator paint and I gave my skirting boards a fresh lick of paint with some brilliant white eggshell paint. Painting the bathroom made it look so much cleaner. You just can’t beat a fresh lick of paint to make a space look so clean. 

Tackling mould 

Now, I won’t lie. I am a bit of a loo snob and I cannot pee in comfort if there is black mould on tiles or seals. The seal on my shower door was starting to deteriorate after cleaning and the seal on my bathtub was peeling and becoming mouldy. I started to look online and see how I could replace these myself. I did get a quote off a workman to reseal my bathroom and it was so expensive that I decided to do it myself. There are loads of great videos online on how to replace your seals. I removed my old seal with a tool I picked up in the hardware shop. This took me about an hour to remove. I then cleaned away the mould with some bleach and allowed it to dry overnight before applying the new seal.

I used the Polycell sealant to seal my tub. Now, I am still on the fence with this product. I cut the pieces to size and I carefully placed them on the tub. My only issue was that it lifted when it was drying. So, I applied some heat to the seal to warm up the glue and then it started to stick and it stopped lifting. Take your time when applying this product and try not to lift up and put back down. Try and get it right the first time if that makes sense. I allowed it to dry for a full day before using the shower. I did search online to find out the drying time for this product but I couldn’t find any information so I allowed a full day to dry. Always make sure you are 100% confident your bathtub or shower is sealed as leaks can cause serious damage. My bathtub is on the ground floor but it still needs to be fully sealed from water. Water damage can be costly, get a professional if you are unsure. You can also use some tube sealer and apply with a gun. I will link a really good tutorial video below if you want to try the tube sealer. 

A big tip to reducing mould is wipe down your shower after use. This is something I have started to do as I am sick of battling mould so I have decided that prevention is better than cure. I have a micro fibre cloth in the bathroom and I give the tub and shower door the once over when I get out of the shower. I was able to get a replacement rubber seal for my bath screen from screwfix.ie You can also pick these up from Amazon and eBay.

Adding some shelves and trinkets

Once I tackled all the boring labour intensive jobs I was able to have fun and decorate it with my trinkets. My bathroom is a small space but I was able to use the walls to add my own personal touches. I added two floating shelves to the wall above the toilet seat. These floating shelves are from The Range. I loved these shelves as it was hard to find shelves narrow enough. I used my drill to drill in the brackets and added my shelves. This only took me about an hour to hang my shelves. I used the spirit level on my phone to make sure they were straight. 

If you have a small room that you want to make look bigger then a little trick is to add some mirrors. I picked up this round mirror from The Range. The wood on this mirror complemented the colour of my tiles. Round mirrors are also on trend at the moment. If you are wondering why my mirror seems so low this is because I am only 4ft 11 and I need to be able to see into it lol. The small narrow cabinet that is in the room is from Argos. I bought this when I first moved in but you should be able to get a similar one. 

I decorated my shelves with some of the trinkets that I brought from Ikea and Homesense. You can check out my last homeware haul video to see what I picked up. I used colours that complimented the colours in the room. My colour palette is mainly whites with pops of sage green and light pink. I also added a painting to one of the bare walls. I loved this painting because it reminded me of my recent trip to Provence. 

I hope you liked my small bathroom makeover. I no longer dread when guests want to use my bathroom and I feel it matches the rest of the decor in my house. Do you have a bathroom that needs some TLC? If you are lacking the budget then do what I did and work with what you already have. You can check out the finished bathroom in my video below. Don’t forget to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to my channel. 

Thanks for reading, 

Chat soon,

Catherine. 

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5 Comments

  1. Lostvestige
    August 23, 2018 / 11:33 pm

    Ahh your bathroom is looking so clean and refreshing! Love those shelves above the toilet. Amazing job!

  2. Catherine Carton
    August 29, 2018 / 7:23 am

    Aw thank you, I am delighted with it! x

  3. Unknown
    October 1, 2018 / 11:39 pm

    Hi, Your bathroom is beautiful. Can I ask where you purchased the white dispenser bottle with the pink lotion in next to the Le Bain bath.

  4. April 12, 2021 / 6:33 am

    Your bathroom looks amazing. I love all your accessories. Can I ask for a link to the apothecary jar if you have it?

  5. daintydressdiaries
    Author
    April 12, 2021 / 7:08 am

    Hi Carol, thank you! That Apothocary jar is from TK Maxx.

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