Going home and using a dated, rusty, and moldy bathroom is a surefire way to dampen your mood after a tiring day at work. As much as you want to follow the self-care article saying that you should enjoy an aromatherapy bath at night, your dank bathroom just can’t make that happen. Or so you thought.
Rental spaces aren’t totally hopeless when it comes to redecorating. Some landlords are more lenient, allowing bigger changes like repainting, while others are stricter and prefer reversible modifications. If your landlord is the latter, or somewhere in-between, consider these dramatic yet removable bathroom redecorating ideas:
1. Luxurious Bath Product Containers
Shampoo and soap bottles with obnoxious colors and brand logos instantly cheapen a bathroom. Uniformed bath product containers will fix that and deliver the opposite effect.
Change the containers of your toothbrush, lotions, rubbing alcohol, and sanitary products as well. Simply put, re-home all your toiletries in plain, minimalist-style containers. Just label them using a matching label maker to be able to identify what product a certain container holds. You’ll be surprised to find how much the small change spruced up your drab bathroom.
2. Colorful Accents
Don’t be afraid of color; since the rise of neutral palettes and minimalist aesthetics, people have been shying away from hues that aren’t white, gray, or tan. But how can you make a space look more alive without a wash of playful color?
As long as it won’t overwhelm the bathroom, a colorful accent won’t ruin it. Consider a wall art, a shower curtain in your favorite color, some indoor plants, or a painted section on the wall, if it won’t get you in trouble. Pastel shades are a good color of choice if you still want to stay true to your neutral or minimalist tastes.
3. Posh Rugs
If you can’t change the hideous tiles, cover them up with posh rugs instead. Choose ones in a shade close to the floor’s color, so that the rugs would look more seamless in the space. If the tiles’ grout is all moldy and musty, though, clean them up thoroughly first before putting down the rugs. No bathroom would look and feel luxurious if it’s dank.
4. Elaborately-designed Mirror
Old mirrors are usually speckled with water and soap marks, rendering their reflection blurry. As such, it catches and bounces back light poorly. Fix that by replacing it with an elaborately-designed mirror, like a gilded one you’d usually find in a home’s entryway. Choose an oversized one; leverage the scale to make a strong style statement. If you’re allowed to install additional light fixtures, flank the mirror on either side with wall sconces. Settle for desk lampshades if that’s not an option. Either light will create more visual drama.
5. Glass Shower Enclosure
If your landlord gives you more redecorating freedom, strip off the cheap shower curtains in favor of a streamlined glass shower door or enclosure. But ensure that the bathroom is big enough for it because glass can be quite the splurge.
In any case, you can remove a glass enclosure safely by unscrewing the hinges and using a putty knife to scrape off the caulk. You may then reinstall it on another bathroom, which is hopefully your own by that time.
6. Neutral Theme
Don’t like bold colors at all? With consent from your landlord, repaint your cookie-cutter bathroom in neutral colors to make it more appealing. Bathe the walls in light grays, creams, or off-whites, or a combination of all three. Those elegant colors will definitely improve the bathroom’s cheap look.
7. Creative Storage
Ditch the plastic drawers and the medicine cabinet for hanging shelves. Attach one unit to the wall above the toilet, and another one above the sink. If there’s more room beside the toilet or the shower, install floating shelves there, too. Fill them with faux or real plants, some accessories, and your toiletries contained in luxurious holders. Stock up on lidded storage units, too, like an ottoman or woven basket, to hide your unsightly items.
8. Large-scale Lighting
Again, leverage the scale to make a strong style statement. Don’t forget the ceiling when redecorating a space. Recessed lights or fluorescent lights are dated and boring, so switch them up for large-scale lighting, such as a flush-mount chandelier. It’ll add visual interest and elegance to the space.
9. Adapt Instead of Resist
Sometimes, the best way forward is to work with what you have instead of fighting it. You may not be the biggest fan of your cheap bathroom’s look, but considering that it’s just a rental, spending for its improvement isn’t always wise.
If you’d be moving out soon anyway, just focus your efforts on finding accessories that will complement the bathroom’s features. It could be the way to hide the bathroom’s worst features and to bring out its best potential.
