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We’ve seen bathroom upgrades that range from $30 refreshers to $30,000 gut renovations. Depending on budget, you can change out the shower curtain in your bathroom or totally change the shower layout — and either option might make a big impact or solve a particular problem with the space that always bugged you. This $7,000 bathroom redo by Princess London (@noire_motif) changes a little bit of everything, from head to toe.
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Before, this brown and tan bathroom, which is used by Princess’s kiddos, “was a quintessential ’80s bathroom,” she says. It had dark stained cabinets, beige counters with built-in sinks, a no-frills sheet mirror, and a shower that was tiled only three-quarters of the way up to the ceiling. “No matter how much I cleaned the bathroom, it was just too dingy to feel clean,” Princess adds. “The tan-yellow walls never reflected good light into the space, making it feel even darker.”
The one thing Princess liked about the bathroom was the size of the linen closet, but “because it was right behind the door to the bathroom, it made accessing it feel really tight,” she says. “It needed to be more functional and organized.”
Other must-dos on her list: upgrading the vanity to include drawers and changing the linen closet to cabinetry. “The bathroom had not been updated since the home was built,” Princess says. “It was time.”
During the One Room Challenge, Princess got assistance from her father and her husband to demo the old bathroom. Then, on her own, she installed new tile for the floor and shower, built a new vanity and new cabinetry in place of where the linen closet was, roughed in plumbing with a new shower valve, built an accent wall with mirrors, installed drywall, roughed in electrical, installed a toilet, made a Roman shade, painted, and installed a vent fan. The only professional help she got was with cutting the new quartz countertop.
For her own projects, the tiling took longer than expected, Princess says, because of a “wildly out-of-level floor” and a tub and shower area that wasn’t framed to the standard dimension.” But the actual shower and sink plumbing was easier than expected. “It was my first time roughing plumbing,” Princess says. “I’d previously been intimidated by it, but we had PEX, a flexible plastic plumbing tubing, and with the clamp system it uses, I felt more confident trying it myself,” Princess says. And ultimately, the tiling work was worth it, as her glazed tile (in the shower) and matte tile(on the floor) elevate the space. Not only does the full tile job in the shower (all the way on the ceiling, too!) make it look luxe — it’s also easier to clean.
Princess’s favorite design detail is the mirror wall, though that wasn’t without its challenges, either. “I changed the design on it halfway through the project, and even with the challenges, I pushed through and completed it,” Princess says. “I’ve never seen another vanity wall like it.”
She elaborates on her blog: “On the back wall, I wanted to frame out the mirror — that idea never changed from the first drawing to the last — but I decided to elevate it by making reeded panels to surround the mirrors. I cut every dowel and placed them one by one.” The paint color she chose for her accent wall, vanity, and linen closet shelving was Sherwin-Williams’ Cast Iron.
Her advice for others taking on a full remodel from demo to daydream-y result? “Plan as much as possible, but maintain the ability to be flexible,” she says. “Projects hardly ever go smoothly. There’s always some issue that pops up. When it does, take a deep breathe and focus on the solution, not the problem.”
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Perhaps like many homeowners and DIYers, Roxanne Flett (@Roxy_Home_Living) never planned to tackle a kitchen reno on her own — that is, until she saw how costly it was to hire a contractor for a total kitchen demo.
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Roxanne’s kitchen before was nice — it had quality cabinets, 11-foot ceilings, and granite countertops — but she had a few qualms with it. “There was a lot of wasted space at the top of the existing cabinetry, and the built-in desk area was dated and not functional for our family,” she says. “I also did not like how the breakfast nook cabinetry bled into the kitchen and made it look like it was all kitchen. Additionally, the previous owners hired someone to paint the island and unfortunately the outcome was not so good. The paint had visible brushstrokes in every direction, and the outlets has also been painted.”
Roxanne knew the kitchen had potential to be so much better, and she also knew it didn’t have to cost tens of thousands of dollars. “I decided to update my kitchen by simply replacing the cabinet doors and drawer fronts and changing the color of the cabinetry,” she writes on her blog. Her kitchen makeover was completed as part of the Fall 2022 One Room Challenge.
First up: taking advantage of those tall ceilings. Roxanne ordered a set of smaller cabinets to be installed atop her pre-existing kitchen cabinets for maximum storage. She added new crown moulding above it for a luxe, seamless look, and then she painted the new and old cabinets in Sherwin-Williams’ Extra White to give them a more bright and contemporary feel.
In the breakfast nook, Roxanne closed in the desk and added cabinets there instead; the newly added storage was much more practical for her family’s needs. In order to differentiate the breakfast nook from the rest of the kitchen, she swapped out the nook’s cabinet doors and had totally new upper cabinet boxes installed. “I knew adding Shaker-style doors and drawer fronts to the new buffet would instantly set it apart from the kitchen,” she says.
On the upper cabinets, she installed glass door fronts, which also help to define the space and give it a little more character. When Roxanne ordered the doors, they had plain glass fronts. She upped their style a bit more with custom mullions from Etsy. This is a quick way to give glass cabinets or larger glass doors a makeover for around $100 — a smart trick worth saving!
Roxanne also added some more contemporary wood elements to her kitchen, like the shelving between her glass-front cabinets and her new range hood. She got her lumber from Home Depot and made the measurements and cuts herself. “The fact that nothing is square definitely created setbacks,” she says. “Adding onto the existing cabinetry was a bit challenging … I had to basically treat some areas like a puzzle, cutting pieces to size and shape to create an overall finished look. Nothing is ever easier than expected in these types of projects.”
A couple details you might not notice at first glance? Roxanne added a bit of texture (with moulding pieces) to her island before repainting it in Sherwin-Williams’ Halcyon Green, and she didn’t like the black insides of the kitchen’s can lighting before, so she painted them white. Her new cabinet hardware is from Amazon, her new sconce is from Kichler, and her light fixtures and barstools are actually the same ones as before — they just look new in the totally refreshed space.
All in, Roxanne’s redo cost about $5,000, and she says she achieved all of her goals. The space is visually more impactful, has more storage, functions better for her family, has a brushstroke-free island, and has a distinct dining nook. Mission accomplished! In the future (and with more budget), Roxanne says she might get new appliances, and she might paint her countertops with a white marble epoxy kit, but for now, she’s thrilled with her budget-friendly overhaul. “I absolutely love the after,” she says.
Sarah is a staff writer at Apartment Therapy. She completed her MA in journalism at the University of Missouri and has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Belmont University. Past writing and editing stops include HGTV Magazine, Nashville Arts Magazine, and several outlets local to her hometown, Columbia, Missouri.
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If you’re lucky enough to have a basement in your home, you know how valuable that extra space can be. And you know just how dark and dreary that space can be, too, owing to little natural light and frequently low ceilings (it is underground, after all).
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This project by DIYer and blogger Suzannah Stanley (Create/Enjoy) is all the proof you need. Before she started her makeover, Suzannah’s basement wasn’t exactly inviting. The unfinished concrete floors and walls made the space dark and cold — and even a haven for bugs, according to Suzannah.
But she envisioned so much more for her 1,100-square-foot basement than a place to quickly skirt in and out of to do the laundry. After tossing around a number of ideas, including an office, music room or small playroom, Suzannah finally settled on transforming the space to include an extra guest room, which she finished as part of the One Room Challenge.
The entire project came together over the course of six months or so, thanks to a combination of professional help and DIY projects. Suzannah had pros do the drywall and electrical work earlier in the year, then painted the new bedroom (PPG’s Safari Brown) and installed the trim herself. (The shapeshifting color is a favorite element of Suzannah’s, she says — “Is it brown? red? pink?”) Then, of course, came the new decor to turn this space into an actually usable sleeping area.
The room’s style is a bit vintage and a bit modern, but 100 percent soothing. The earthy wall color helps this room feel lively even without a lot of extra decor — crucial for a small space. Suzannah stuck to the basics here: a bed (outfitted with a headboard she scored for free and revamped with Calico fabric), a couple secondhand stools to serve as nightstands, and a small dresser.
Plug-in wall sconces on either side of the bed are practical for reading. To get this cool custom look, Suzannah bought plain sconces and recovered the white shades in a blue fabric that ties in with the new bedding.
Another smart DIY: Suzannah downloaded free museum art and had the pieces printed at FedEx before placing them in vintage frames. The display looks high-end, but for a fraction of the price.
While the basement may have started out cold and buggy, the bedroom Suzannah carved out has become a peaceful haven nestled in the rest of the finished basement. And its sophisticated look comes courtesy of Suzannah’s daring decor choices. “Choose lots of pieces and colors you love, and you’ll probably be able to combine them in a way that harmonizes,” she advises. And here, they absolutely sing.
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When you live in a small space, atmosphere is particularly important. A dark, dated, and wholly uninspired aesthetic can quickly make it seem like the walls are closing in on you. On the other hand, a bright and airy modern space can make close quarters feel like a cozy haven.
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Take it from Christine Urbanek. When Christine purchased her RV as a place to retreat to whenever her Airbnb is rented, she knew she had some work to do. “I bought it to renovate,” she says. “I love interior design, and really wanted to make something cute and homey to stay in on my property. I also work for myself from home, so figured it would always be a nice office or guest house as well.”
If Christine was looking for a project, she found one in this RV. While some pieces had been updated, like the floors, others were in their original, years-old state. There was plenty to do to transform the space into the retreat Christine envisioned — and she was able to do it in a few months. She had to hire a pro to replace a rotted wall in the kitchen area, but Christine took on the rest of this makeover herself as part of the One Room Challenge.
The first step was removing all of the wallpaper borders and stickers in the kitchen so that Christine had a smooth surface to paint over with a bright white. “The surprisingly easier-than-I-thought thing was painting over the wallpaper,” she says. “The secret is using a good bonding primer.”
In place of the old wallpaper border, Christine chose a mini subway stick-on tile in white for the kitchen’s backsplash. The all-white color scheme makes the space between the lower and upper cabinets look bigger, and lets the black-framed windows pop, too.
With the walls and cabinets looking brand new, it was time to decorate and bring the space to life. The main focal point in the living space is a cozy couch that Christine purchased from a home stager. Behind it, she added some warmth to the windows by scrapping the old shades and adding in budget-friendly DIY curtains instead. They’re actually tea towels Christine scored at TJMaxx, hung from dollar store curtain rods using basic curtain clips.
There were a few additional DIY projects to help make the space more functional. The shelf under the TV, for instance, is mounted using a piano hinge so that it can fold down for the RV’s slide — or retractable extension — to be pulled in. Christine also made the coffee table herself using old plywood from her house’s kitchen cabinets and mid-century-style hairpin legs. Add in a cute two-person tulip table with a pair of woven chairs, plus some comfy throw pillows, and this once-dreary space is now unrecognizable.
“I love how bright and airy it is,” Christine says. “It feels very homey.” The ultimate goal!
