Our Daughters’ Hall Bathroom Makeover: A Quick Weekend Project

Tell the DeSpains to stay home for the next few weeks (errr, months!) and we’ll get ourselves neck-deep in more projects than we know what to do with!

We’ve lived in our home for just over two years, which has given us enough time to envision how we want to put our own touch on our new-construction home. Being in quarantine was just the extra time (and excuse) we needed to hit the “play” button on some of these visions and bring them to life. Has been fun!

Here’s a look at the girls’ hallway bathroom.

Hall Bathroom Makeover

I shared on Instagram yesterday that this entire bathroom makeover was kicked off by the towel rack ripping out of the wall. Hadley and her best friend were using it as a gymnastics bar back in January, and though Hadley kind of knew better, I can also see why this seems like a valid idea when you’re in kindergarten. 😉

I replaced the bar with a set of hooks from Wayfair that ended up being junk, junk, junk. Despite good reviews, it was flimsy and ripped out of the wall within a couple of months.

Fast forward to March where there were now two massive holes in the wall that needed to be patched and re-painted. This was the “play button” I needed. I discussed with Jamie going ahead and repainting the bathroom after doing the patchwork and then using a set $500 budget to makeover the room. He agreed, and I went to town. 

I have never seen a room that I didn’t love that was painted Benjamin Moore’s “Simply White”, so this was my base. It’s a true, soft white and looks great in rooms with plenty of natural light as well as rooms like this with zero natural light. 

I then grabbed a mirror online from Studio McGee’s collection at Target. I adore Studio McGee’s decorating style and was pumped to snag this mirror for $80.

(P.S. The items I want online from Target are often out of stock. I’ve recently started signing up to receive updates when they are back in stock, which is usually super quick. If I don’t order them right after receiving the email though that they’re back in stock, I lose them again. Just a tip to sign up for the notification, and then hop on it! This was the story with this mirror.)

The room’s color scheme – white, gold, and pastels – was inspired by the bath mat from Urban Outfitters (sadly no longer available) The large ruffle shower curtain is also from Urban Outfitters. I purchased a clear liner to go behind it as well. I kept the same oil-rubbed bronze rod and hooks.

Since we needed new hooks, I looked no further than Pottery Barn. We hung extra-large Pottery Barn hooks in our entryway and have been beyond satisfied, so I figured we’d stick with what works. These hooks were so easy to install and are simply perfect.

I read a tip once about mixing metals in a bathroom that advised to group metals together that are on similar eye levels. For example, the light fixture and mirror or the faucet and cabinet hardware. This advice helped me feel okay with adding the gold light fixture, breaking away from the oil rubbed bronze that’s prominent throughout the room. 

I did a good chunk of research when looking for a gold fixture, and this one from Joss and Main had the best reviews for the best price. The Edison bulbs are from Home Depot. 

Here’s a better look at the light fixture itself. 

After a bit of browsing inspiration pictures on Pinterest and Instagram, I knew that I wanted shelves over the toilet. My eye just kept gravitating to this look. I initially assumed I’d just grab some white wood floating shelves, but then Amazon showed me these, and I was undone. The gold plus glass was just perfect for this room, so I snagged two!

I framed the girls’ infant bathtime pictures (Hadley’s needs a bigger frame) and picked up a few other items to decorate the shelves with as well:

• a white unicorn with gold horn (because both of our big girls love all things unicorns)
• the faux lavender (to tie in with the shower curtain)
• the light pink ceramic ball (because Studio McGee says that every room needs different/interesting textures, shapes, and sizes of decor, and I just generally do what they tell me to do, haha!)

The framed picture was shopped from my small bin of extra decor. The print was a bridesmaids gift from my best friend’s wedding in 2017, and I thought it was the perfect, soft addition to this space. 

The pink and gold chicken wire basket is from Hobby Lobby and houses wipes and a spare roll of TP (much easier for my little girls to grab instead of reaching under the sink).

While I was on the kick of purchasing bathroom things, I grabbed a toy organizer from Amazon. It’s worked out well and has stayed in place. It does cut off a couple inches of “play space” for the kids, but otherwise I’d highly recommend this one. 

The hand towel and bath towels are from Pottery Barn Kids. The toothbrush/paste holder is actually a pencil holder but does its duty just fine in the bathroom functioning as so. 😉

And here I am! Hi! Hope you enjoyed this quick run-through of the girls’ bathroom makeover. It was a lot of mental work designing and finding the right items around budget and physical work with taking things down and re-hanging everything (and getting rid of all of the shipping boxes and packaging – OY!) , but sometimes things are more gratifying after you’ve worked hard to make it a thing. 🙂

More: the girls’ bathroom refresh in Kansas <—- a hot mess but I sure was trying! haha

Budget (with tax and shipping): $500 

Shower Curtain: $42.32

Curtain Liner: $11.10

Mirror: $84.80

Towels (3 bath + 1 hand): $54

Hooks (3): $57

Light fixture: $111.65

Toothbrush holder:  $6

Spray paint for stool: $6

TP Basket: $5.50

Shelves (2): $68.90 

Shelf decor (6 items): $32

Wall paint and supplies: $59.34

Toy caddy: $14.03

Bath mat: $42.32

Total: $594.96 ($94.96 over budget)

Let’s chat!

Have you used white paint on your walls that you’ve loved? What is it?