Emily Rodgers of Dayton, Ohio, knew her bathroom was dated and dull, but didn’t want to spend a lot of money updating it.
“I had just finished completely renovating my kitchen, so the budget was on the low end,” she told TODAY Home. But with a little bit of creativity and some elbow grease, she was able to completely transform the bathroom into a beautiful new space.
First up was replacing the beige linoleum floor tiles. “I had originally planned on painting (them) with a tile stencil,” she said. That is, until she ran into the marble look-alike peel-and-stick tile at a home improvement store.
“I grabbed a box brought it home, pulled some out and realized how beautiful the quality was,” she said.
Rodgers described the tiles as having a matte finish with irregular marble veining — and they were easy to install.
“The hardest part is cutting around the toilet — otherwise they are easy to stick down and have stayed really well,” she said. “There is also an option to space out the tile and grout in between to make them look even more realistic.”
For the walls, Rodgers removed the old square subway tiles and replaced it with shiplap.
“I had previously worked with shiplap in my kitchen and knew how forgiving and affordable is was,” she explained. “After picking the green paint color, everything fell into place.”
Other updates included demoing the existing vanity and adding a new one, installing a new pendant light fixture and hanging a new mirror.
The majority of the project took only one weekend, including the demo, shiplap installation, painting and floor installation. “I started on a whim so it took a couple more weeks to source and get the mirror and light fixture,” she said.
And the total cost? About $500. Rodgers said the vanity was what took up a good chunk of that money.
Not only did DIYing the room cut costs, but it also contributed to one of her favorite things about the space. “I do all of my renovations and makeovers on my own, so there is always an immense amount of pride in every project I do,” she said.
See more of Rodgers’ projects on her Instagram account @mylushabode.
