SFGate

Cynthia Taylor-Luce How much money are you allocating to the project? Will you do everything yourself or will you hire all the trades involved? More details please! Do you mean this to be a gut job or a cosmetic cover-up?

Michelle Gareau I'm looking at something cosmetic, I'm putting in the labour myself and have a 500$ budget for colors tiles etc. the counter are new!

chelseabeagle Yes, you can all this work yourself and have a wonderful bathroom on a budget! Have you visited a local Habitat Re Store? You can buy tiles, paint, plumbing accessories and even a new tub if you're lucky.

We found a large tub, pedestal sink, bathroom accessories, new taps and tiles all for under $300 (Canadian).

olldbobbi For purely costmetic changes, I would paint the vanity (maybe an espresso color), add towel holders and a toilet paper holder. Change the drawer and door handles to something more modern. [houzz=Classico Roll Stand]
[houzz=Bathroom Accessories]
[houzz=1930's Colonial Revival]

olldroo Check out Target for a new shower curtain that makes a statement, they have a large range, some colour would be nice.

http://www.target.com/p/room-365-birds-and-branches-shower-curtain-72x72/-/A-14006512#prodSlot=medium_1_1&term=shower curtains

http://www.target.com/p/stella-shower-curtain-pink-70x71/-/A-13185576#prodSlot=medium_2_6&term=shower curtains

http://www.target.com/p/gardenia-shower-curtain-72x72/-/A-13752203#prodSlot=medium_2_29&term=shower curtains

Michelle Gareau What if i changed the mirror to something like this? Here a better picture of the bathroom also i was thinking of taking out a row of these plain tiles to add it an accent tile but I'm not sure how to pull in the tile above the sink...Any ideas

Michelle Gareau I almost forgot.. The vanity is solid wood. I'm thinking about stripping it and staining it a darker color.

Carolina Photo To Go LLC I like the mirror you have chosen if you are changing the color of the vanity. JCPenney.com has home decor that does not break the budget. If you put up a hand towel holder. Look on Avanti.com for decorator towels. They are beautiful. Bed Bath and Beyond carry them and you can use the 20% off coupon for one item - we get the coupons all the time. Don't know if they put them online or not - a lot of stores do that now. So before you go shopping a store you might check.

Also if you are not used to redecorating, Lowes or Home Depot are the best places to get towel bars etc. People working there will help you. I bet you could even get them to tell you what you need to install. You might need a stud finder to ensure a towel bar stays put. My hubby does it so I am not sure. You tube has a lot of how to install videos if you need help too. FYI, dont put a tooth brush holder near commode. Some sources say germs fly out of commode when you flush.

janishill Don't do anything to the tile. Accent tiles are nice, but if you have never done tile work before you might end up creating a problem.

Yes. Stain the cabinet darker, add new knobs, a towel bar to the left, and a storage shelf behind the toilet. Remove the medicin cabinet altogether and replace with a new.

Paint the walls a nice shade of green:http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/siennalaurel
whihc looks sencational with the dark cabinets and light tile.

A new shower curtain - with liner - will go a long way in changing the appearence of the room and a rug in front of the vanity.

Here's a link for how one woman did it: http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2011/01/budget-bathroom-makeover-linky/ and if you scroll down there are links for other inexpensive bathroom updates.

Hope to see updates!

Michelle Gareau Wow thank you all! I'll put update up as I go, I'll probably have more questions... :)

carolannhgs Michelle, I think some light texture to the walls would be good, perhaps you can find some faux grasscloth wallpaper if you think you can hang it (the other would ruin your budget) and at least do the wall behind the sink and counter? A very light tan to cream? Shop around for new faucets in either crome or perhaps oiled bronze which is pretty. A Nice basket from Pier One or Ross on the counter with some hand towels would be nice and add to the texture. Also a thinner long basket for the back of the toilet would hold some more accessories. I would do a dark stain to the base cabinet, almost black. Get a shower curtain with texture in a "natural" look and find a mat that brings out the dark color of the base cabinet for the floor. New handles for the cabinet would be cool but you could also paint those to contrast. Mine went from old gold to dusty antique silver and it made a nice difference! Find a couple of "natural" pictures of leaves or flowers or seed pods and hang those in there too. It is a bit bare.

olldroo If the vanity is painted, you probably won't be able to stain it, it will need a lot of stripping and still no guarantee it will work. I would take one of the colours from the counter and paint the cupboards - bobbi suggested espresso, I'm thinking a latte for something a little paler, but definitely in that coffee shading, and put a paler shade on the walls. The room doesn't look very big so I wouldn't go too dark.

The mirror you have chosen will look far more modern and I would place it higher too so it doesn't get splashed as much. It looks like it could sit on top of the tiles and be at a good height.

The tiles look in good condition and blend with the counter top well, you could be giving yourself problems if you try to do anything there. Save your money, I don't think it is necessary.

The shower curtains I mentioned above were to give you ideas of the variety Target has but these are ones that now could go - and they have some great matching accessories too, particularly the Cayman. Am I right in thinking the grout is a yellow shade? Cayman could tie this in.

http://www.target.com/p/tree-shower-curtain-and-shower-hook-set-brown/-/A-10731587#prodSlot=medium_1_27&term=shower curtains
http://www.target.com/p/cayman-floral-shower-curtain/-/A-12188252#prodSlot=medium_3_11&term=shower curtains
http://www.target.com/p/salina-shower-curtain-72x72/-/A-11295025#prodSlot=medium_6_37&term=shower curtains
http://www.target.com/p/dandelion-fabric-shower-curtain-blue-70x72/-/A-12164537#prodSlot=medium_6_45&term=shower curtains

Michelle Gareau I agree the mirror should be higher.

What if i painted the walls in a light blue-gray color paint (dark brown) or stained the cabinets changed the mirror for the one i showed earlier? Should i changed the grout colour it's actually supposed to be white but its slowly changed tints? And would this shower curtain be too much?

http://m.jcpenney.com/mobile/jsp/browse/product.jsp?_DARGS=/mobile/jsp/browse/ppThumbnail.jsp_AF&_dynSessConf=8883984920440064241&deprtId=dept20020570041&ppId=1cc4c2c&sub_catId=cat100660242&containerId=&dimCombo=&/com/jcpenney/profile/bean/UserSessionBean.currentResultIndex=13&subcat_Id=&cateId=cat100720083&_D:/com/jcpenney/profile/bean/UserSessionBean.currentResultIndex=+

janishill The paint will be too dark. Use the same color, just a lighter shade.

I like the zebra stripe but it could be overwhelming in such a small space.

I like this one Roo posted: http://www.target.com/p/dandelion-fabric-shower-curtain-blue-70x72/-/A-12164537#prodSlot=medium_6_45&term=shower

but I especially like this one:
http://www.jcpenney.com/dotcom/bed-bath/bath/shower-curtains-accessories/ideology-bijoux-shower-curtain/prod.jump?ppId=pp5001930295&searchTerm=shower+curtains&dimCombo=null&dimComboVal=null&catId=SearchResults

olldroo Sorry, Michelle, the zebra is a bit too much and I also think you have too small a space to mix blacks and browns. Blues and browns look great together, but I would keep the vanity a lighter shade and find a prettier clearer blue, as the limited light in your room could send the colour you have chosed too grey. Get some colour chips and cellotape them to the wall to check it out in all lights. The JC Penny shower curtain does cheer the room without an overpowering pattern and it seems there are a few blues in that to take your wall colour from.

If you want to refresh the grouting, buy a grouting pen, these allow you to paint over the grout and bring it up like new.