Budget bathroom makeover (renter friendly) (2024)

Today I’m excited to share with you the details and sources of our recently completed budget bathroom makeover! This makeover is renter friendly because we kept all the original components- except for the faucet. Nothing structural was removed! I decided to keep the current beige countertops and floor and just use paint, new hardware, and decor to give it a whole new look! All for less than $200

This bathroom makeover took less than a week and cost less than I had budgeted! I had a lot of fun and love the results!

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I’m so happy to be able to show you the details and include pricing so you can get an idea of how easy and inexpensive it can be to update a space on almost any budget!

Even though we’ve lived in this home for over 6 months now, with a newborn, homeschooling, and getting our other house ready for the market, we didn’t have time to do a full makeover on the house before we moved in. This home was built 20 years ago and has a beige and brown color palette. It was very cheaply done builders grade trim and paint, and just not our “vibe”. What we did decide to do is makeover the house in stages. Here’s the before pics. They were taken right after we moved in and you can’t properly see the countertops and floor, but you get the idea!

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Makeover/ Remodel plan in stages:

  1. Makeover each room with paint and budget decor and some hardware/lighting updates
  2. Kitchen makeover with new appliances, countertops, and paint the original cabinets
  3. Replace doors and trim in house; Update bathroom flooring and cabinetry.
  4. Full Kitchen Reno with new layout, cabinets and countertops.

Budget bathroom makeover details

This bathroom was a blast to design! Deciding to keep the original countertops and flooring gave me some limits in my design which I think helps me make decisions. I don’t know about you, but I get easily overwhelmed when I feel like there are endless options!

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Painting the counters and tile floor was an option, but with a newborn baby, just getting the walls painted took time enough! I might still get to that before we do a full on renovation in there, but in the meantime I’m super happy with how it turned out. The fun of these kinds of design projects are that they present a challenge to work around. Because there isn’t a ton of time and money invested upfront I don’t feel locked in to what I decide, becauseI know I can change it later if I want to. I used to be intimidated by what I would pin and feel overwhelmed that I would never be able to achieve my dream looks, but now I know I can pull off the main idea and feel of the spaces I am drawn to even on the tiniest budget.

The design process for this bathroom makeover:

Firstly, I created a board on Pinterest with all the pics I loved of bathrooms that are a similar layout to what we have to work with. Pinning anything that struck me as beautiful and the feeling I wanted. After that I narrowed the decisions down to what I knew was staying and what I already had that I could utilize. The countertops, cabinet, and flooring were staying for sure. I also knew that I had some decor from my previous house that would work with the feel I was going for. Then I looked through my board on Pinterest to find pins I had saved that looked similar or would match with what I have.

Pins from my Pinterest bathroom makeover mood board

I chose the 2 main elements I liked that I knew I could work with. In this case, it was the shower curtain and the green cabinet. I knew if I stuck with a neutral palette I could work with the current beige countertops and tiled floors. Green was a color that was showing up a lot in my pins and I thought it could match with the beige to bring some more pop and draw attention AWAY from them. I then tried to source inexpensive elements that would create the feel I was going for. I narrowed it down to the components I already had that I knew I wanted include.

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Components of the bathroom design:

  • Matte black hardware
  • Some rustic wood elements
  • Boho minimal shower curtain and towels
  • Neutral color palette to match current countertops and flooring
  • Green painted cabinet
  • Gold or brass cabinet hardware
  • Caged farmhouse light fixture
  • Gold accent decor

After this I was able to create a mood board by saving pics of items I sourced or already had. Then I used the app on Instagram called “Layout” to make a mood board to see if they were cohesive.

My mood board made with the app “layout”

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Budget bathroom design details

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What I used that I already had for this budget bathroom makeover

Cabinets:I then tried to find a way to work with what I currently had. The original vanity cabinets had fairly simple lines and were in good shape. Seeing that buying new ones would be a large expense, I decided to paint them and add new hardware. That way I would save money to work with in my budget for other things. Originally I had planned to shiplap the other wall, paint the floor and counter, and reframe the mirror. However, those are all details my husband is better at, and he was too busy getting our other house on the market at the time to be able to help me. We might still add those elements or save them for the full renovation.

Light fixture: The light fixture was outdated but would be a large expense to purchase new as well. I searched for “farmhouse bathroom light fixture” and that caged light came up. I thought I might be able to purchase a few things inexpensively to give the light an update. And I did! I found cages on amazon, spray painted the base and bought Edison bulbs. I really like how close it looks to the one I pinned for less than $50!

Decor Elements: I had decor items from our last house’s bathroom I was able to incorporate in here. I did spray paint some hooks on the hanging towel bar from black to gold.

What I purchased for this makeover

Decor items: Next, I found the exact shower curtain in my pins at Walmart and the matching towels! I loved the cream neutral color palette with the cute black boho elements, and it was very affordable. The black boho rug I purchased to cut down on washings! The darker color helps hide dirt and stains and washes up nicely! I have washed in my washing machine multiple times, and just hang it to dry.

Hardware: The faucet I found on Amazon as well for less than $40 and I love it so much I bought one for another future bathroom update. The updated matte black towel and toilet paper holder were the best deal on Amazon.

Budget bathroom cost breakdown:

Here is the budget breakdown and sources for everything I purchased

Well, there you have it! I almost didn’t believe it myself until I did all the math! If you enjoyed this post let me know in the comments if it has inspired you to get in there and redo something in your house that you’ve been waiting to do because you thought you couldn’t afford it or didn’t know where to start! Just jump in!

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