Artist Sara Jeffries painted her entire bathroom mauve in this budget friendly makeover.

At the beginning of the year, I made it a goal of mine to update several rooms on our main floor, if only just painting them. We’ve lived in this house since 2017 and we had only really updated the living room and dining room. Most of the house remained untouched by our personal style.

My friend had some leftover paint from one of her projects and offered it to me. The thrifty gal inside of me couldn’t resist free paint! And I had been inspired by mauve and pink bathrooms on Pinterest over and over again. So the gift of free paint was my open door to updating this bathroom in our late 1940s home.

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Over the years we had been able to update some of the hardware in the bathroom, like the nickel faucet (which I love), glass knobs, towel bars, etc. and added art, but the colors were dated to 2008. I’ve been loving the look of painting the walls, trim, and ceiling all the same color and think it’s also much simpler for folks like us who can be intimidated by home projects.

During this makeover we kept the builder grade vanity because I didn’t really mind it. Additionally, I thought if it was the same color as the walls, it would feel a bit more custom. It may seem like a shorter vanity, but I’m only 5 feet tall so it was never a concern for me.

Since selling my own artwork, I’ve also enjoyed hanging up my artwork throughout the house as a way to create my own gallery and show that I’m proud of my work. The bathroom was no exception. My Paris artwork is in the chain frame and the other pieces you see are secondhand finds.

“And the mirror’s soft creaminess pairs beautifully with the paint color - Emerging Taupe by Sherwin Williams. ”

Finding this vintage mirror was the game changer for this bathroom makeover. The previous mirror was large and rectangular with no unique features - it was like a basic mirror from a gym or dance studio. I asked my dad to start hunting for a secondhand mirror and he didn’t disappoint! This cream colored vintage mirror with French provincial style trim is the star of the bathroom! And the mirror’s soft creaminess pairs beautifully with the paint color - Emerging Taupe by Sherwin Williams.

I kept the light fixture because I was looking for a modern fixture to juxtapose against the vintage vibes and I honestly kept looking for pieces that were quite similar to what we already had. So keeping it was a win-win.

This bathroom is our only one in the house, so updating it was a big deal, especially since we really aren’t very handy people. My husband had to learn how to install baseboard trim and we had to juggle nap time and quiet time for our young boys. It was a learning experience but definitely gave me the itch to keep on going and make sure to put our personal touch on every space on the main floor this year!

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