One Day Makeover: Staging A Kid’s Bathroom To Sell In Just 8 Hours For Under $200!

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DIY HOME RENOVATING PROJECT

One Day Makeover: Staging A Kid’s Bathroom To Sell In Just 8 Hours For Under $200!
Today, I’m showing you how to stage a kid’s bathroom to sell in just one day and revealing my daughter’s new colorful, and nautical bathroom theme. I’m also giving you a free printable download that’s certain to melt your kid’s heart and look amazing in any bathroom for young kids (or even kids at heart)!

But first, I must come clean…

This, my friends, is what my daughter’s bathroom looked like just two days ago. I didn’t stage that photo. I just walked upstairs with my camera and started taking pictures. This is how her bathroom looks all the time. She likes us to leave her toys in their “sleeping” positions, so we typically don’t even corral them after her baths, despite having ample storage thanks to this amazing toy scoop.

Some times, Christine cleans up the toys and does a scrub down of the shower. But for the most part, this is how it remains unless company comes to visit (this is our only full bathroom upstairs that isn’t attached to our Master Bedroom, so it functions as a guest bathroom as well).

At first glance, it’s not even that bad, really. I mean, yes it’s super cluttered with bath toys, but that would be a quick 10 minute clean-up, right? It’s not like we don’t have good storage – you can see that we’re not even using the cabinet to full capacity!

That’s definitely how it looks at first glance…

But take a closer look and the details reveal a bathroom that was never really fully loved. This 1990s suburban bathroom was probably gorgeous when it was built. But over time, the caulk has begun to crack and yellow. The faucet finish is actually peeling off. Just like the bathtub faucet in our Master Bathroom, remember? Plus the vanity is in fine condition but it’s definitely outdated in style.

See how gross that caulk around the tub has gotten? The grout is also extremely dirty!

We knew we didn’t want to invest a ton of money in this bathroom, but we had to do something to freshen up the space for resale. So armed with $150 and 8 hours, (broken down over 2 days because who ever has a full eight hours to do anything??), I got to work!

KID’S BATHROOM STAGING IN 8 HOURS: The Plan

There’s no way to complete any project in eight hours without a sturdy amount of planning. Every step has to coincide with the previous and remaining steps in order to fall into place perfectly. All materials must be on-hand. The biggest reason for renovation projects taking longer than scheduled is unplanned home improvement store trips. I was not about to fall victim to the five-trips-in-one-day syndrome. I knew I had to think through every single possible scenario in order to make this work.

First, I made a list of problems in the bathroom that needed to be addressed;
– outdated vanity
– broken faucet + drain
– slow drain
– cracked / yellowed caulk
– stained walls
– tarnished mirror
– stained grout
– insufficient towel storage

With this list, I knew I’d need to:
– replace the faucet + drain
– replace P-trap (or possibly just unclog)
– paint walls
– add hooks for towels
– replace the mirror
– address vanity (maybe paint?)
– remove old caulk / recaulk
– decorate

Two weeks before my planned remodel, I ordered all of my new hardware and then spent the weekend before shopping for anything I’d not yet purchased. I bought excess caulk and new paint for the vanity that I can also use to repaint the dinged-up island in our kitchen. Two for one, guys. Two for one. I even got a bottle of this miracle grout restorer to make that old, stained grout look new again (thanks to a tip from Sherry at Young House Love).

So when Monday morning came, I was ready to tackle this project!

8 Hour Bathroom Makeover: Day One

Knowing there was no way I could actually dedicate an entire day to this bathroom, I decided to chop the makeover into two separate days – one day to clean up and paint, then one day to install the finishes.

First, I removed everything that wasn’t staying, aside from the plumbing fixtures. I knew I’d need to turn off the water to the entire house and painting without water is just no fun at all! So I decided to keep that task set aside for Day Two.

I’m showing you these pictures because I want you to know that it always gets worse before it gets better.

What I found behind that old bathroom mirror was simply disgusting. Years of dust and grease??? (ohdeargod, please be grease) has caked up and caused… well, just believe me. It was gross.

I didn’t want to buy new paint, so I found a quarter of a gallon of the paint we used inn our foyer (more on that here) in our garage and decided I could totally reuse it IF I could paint the bottom half of the wall white, using leftover paint from our trim projects.

To do that, I’d need to install some sort of wall treatment on the lower half of the wall. Since I had scraps leftover from our dining room (here) and failed foyer attempts (details on that here), I decided to work with what was already in our garage and forge ahead.

I patched the holes in the walls (here’s a good tutorial for doing that via Lowe’s) and began painting the bottom 2/3 of the wall white in order to prep for the trim. The upper 1/3 got a couple coats of Maison Blanche SW7526 from HGTV Home By Sherwin Williams Color Collection (available here).

Then I began primed and painted the vanity in Midnight Blue from Behr Marquee Paint Colors. Did you know that you could tint primer? YEP! When I got my color mixed, I just took them a quart of primer and asked them to tint it as well. This helps dramatically when you’re going dark. It’s like adding a base coat and cuts down on the number of paint coats you’ll need! The paint I used is available here and here’s the best primer for adhesion when painting furniture or cabinets.

By the end of Day One, things were already starting to feel more fresh in this space. The lighter paint colors had lightened it a lot and the Maison Blanche had miraculously matched the beige ceramic tile stripe in the shower surround! It felt like it was actually purposeful and not just some old tile that we didn’t feel like replacing!

Even the vanity top – which we didn’t replace – looked a gazillion times better with the weird sidesplash removed. I think the navy helped to neutralize the color and make it look less yellow, too.

Of course, I still needed to do a major clean.

Side note: Remember when I interviewed 3 real estate professionals last summer and Nathalie Carrigan said the biggest thing people can do to sell their homes faster is JUST TO CLEAN IT??!

Um, yeah. We needed to give this bathroom a deep scrub! (If you missed that post, you can read all about it here: Making Smart Home Investments to Increase Your Profit: Advice from the Pros).

8 Hour Bathroom Makeover: Day Two

Now we get to the good part! On the second day, I had 4 hours left in my timeline and I wasn’t about to waste any of them.

I spent the morning installing a board and batten wall treatment, using the leftovers from our dining room and foyer. If you want full details, you can get the complete tutorial here.

With the new trim in place, I added a row of 3 hooks on the wall beside the door, replacing the old towel bar that really wasn’t efficiently storing anything.

Above the row of hooks, I wanted to add artwork but I really didn’t want to spend any money. Instead of ordering artwork or making a trip to Home Goods, I decided I could make my own graphic art print that matched the room perfectly and gave a little wink to my daughter by incorporating a few of her favorite things.

I used these simple white hooks to seamlessly blend them into the wall treatment. These towels are pretty fun and I really wanted them to stand out against the white.

While all of the caulk and paint dried on the new trim, I applied a coat of grout renew and recaulked the tub surround and sink. Here’s a close-up shot of the newly refreshed grout and caulk to show you just how much it helped to lighten the stained floors. I think I should probably apply a second coat of the grout renew right before we list this Spring but for now, I’m happy with it.

The new caulk around the vanity is the real star of the show! I mean HOLY COW! It’s completely freshened that old, dingy sink top and made it look nearly brand new again!

The other star of the show? This new faucet I installed to replace the one that was chipping and gross.

If you’re particularly aware, you may notice I even replaced the toilet paper holder. Yep. I sure did.

The old one was builder grade and chrome, so it didn’t match the other finishes in the space (the light and vanity hardware is all satin nickel). But I actually didn’t spend any money on it! I had to remove the one from the powder room because it kept falling out of the wall. Down there, we opted to get one with a single bracket (this one to be precise) to keep the tension low. But since we already had an existing satin nickel holder that we’d taken out, we decided to use it here! It will work better here because it’s not installed into drywall, rather it’s installed directly into wood, which will hold it better. So that was essentially a free upgrade!

More free upgrades? Sure! I’ve got a ton of them!

This mirror was purchased (a $7 thrift store find!) for our powder room when we moved the arabesque mirror into the living room. But I didn’t love it in there. It was a tad small for that tall wall. So with a coat of paint – the same shade I used on the vanity – it got a new life in this kid’s bathroom! I think it looks charming.

I also reused these bathroom accessories – the soap dispenser and toothbrush holder – that we’d been storing from our last home’s master bathroom.

To bring in another grey touch, I hung this whale wall shelf that I found years ago at an antique store for $5 over the toilet. I love that it has a cheeky nod to the nautical style but doesn’t look too thematic. I can’t find a similar one online for under $200 but I did find this rocket shaped shelf which is ADORABLE and affordable!

Another cheeky nod? That octopus hook I used to hang the hand towel. I bought it years ago and it’s actually been in this bathroom before. Since we decided to go full-tilt into colorful / nautical, I knew I had to put it back in its place. You can actually still buy them here.

I also grabbed one of these spice racks from my office and painted it coral to hang under the mirror. It’s a perfect place to store my daughter’s q-tips in this adorable blooming cotton swab holder!

So are you ready to see the entire newly refreshed space?

First, let’s take a look back at the BEFORE.

And now, that same angle AFTER:

Can you believe I did this all for under $150?! I mean, seriously! Let’s hear it for the navy blue vanity! Talk about a refresh!

And now the opposite side of the bathroom, BEFORE:

AFTER:

HELLO SUNSHINE!

This room truly came together in a big way with the help of this shower curtain.

This artwork ties everything together! You can grab your free printable download here.

Now let’s take one last look at the BEFORE and AFTER:

Feeling inspired to make over your own kid’s bathroom? Here’s your full source list. I’d love to see how it goes! Remember to tag me @tmoorehome on Instagram to show off your handy work! I love sharing your success stories with my friends!

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Thank you!

HAPPY DIYING!

xoxo
Teri

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