Spruce Up Your Bath Without Busting the Budget
Does your bathroom cry out for a facelift? While a full remodel might be needed to create the bathroom of your dreams, such efforts can be expensive.
According to the National Kitchen and Bath Association, the national cost of remodeling a bathroom in 2016 was over $11,000 and some remodels cost over $30,000.
If those numbers make you cringe, read on for a few ideas to refresh your bathroom at a much more budget friendly price.
One caution; if your desire to spruce up your bath started because you noticed a leak, take care of that first. If you have a leaking faucet − or worse, a leaking toilet − that needs to take top priority. Remember, damage done by long-term leakage is not covered by insurance, so it's pay now or pay later − and later can be very expensive depending on the severity of the damage.
Now, on to the budget friendly spruce-up tips:
- If you want your bathroom to look more fashionable think new, colorful towels and rugs, a new shower curtain or a new toothbrush holder and water glasses. Consider bringing in other accessories to hold bathroom supplies, like decorative glass jars or baskets.
- If it's storage you're seeking, purchase some inexpensive wall hung storage pieces. If you're handy, you might want to make shelves to hold additional towels and bathroom supplies.
- Looking for other types of bathroom storage? Consider adding toilet paper holders, a magazine rack and new towel racks.
- Paint the room. Good paint isn't cheap but it's one of the most inexpensive ways available to make a room look entirely different within hours.
- Change the lighting and the fixtures. Adding light, especially to an interior bath, can make a big difference in the way the room looks and feels. A new faucet can almost seem like a spa addition.
- For bathrooms with windows, change the window treatment. Colorful curtains can help pull together a room that's got some dated tile colors in it that you don't want to remove because of the expense.
If you've read through these ideas and concluded it's a remodel you really want, but you can't afford to do everything right now --- remember you can remodel in stages. Talking with a designer is a great way to start and you can also search the Internet for advice and ideas.