UPDATE
Click here to see the completed room with all the details and sources!
It’s time for another round of the One Room Challenge and I’m so excited to get started! I have done a few of the challenges in the past – first with our master bedroom, then our master bathroom, the guest bedroom, and now the guest bath. I’ve been wanting to update this little bathroom for years now and finally decided on all the design decisions. (post contains affiliate links, see disclosure)
If you are not familiar, the One Room Challenge is a challenge in which featured designers and guest participants makeover a room or space in their home in just six weeks! I will share the update on the guest bathroom every week and post it here on the blog every Thursday until the final reveal.
Read all about the One Room Challenge here!
For this update, I am keeping it budget-friendly. My goal is around $500 and to obviously do a lot of the work myself. My plans are to make big changes with paint, lighting, and a few DIYs.
BEFORE PHOTOS
As you can see, the room is very small and very dark. It’s on the side of our house that gets practically no sunlight and the awkward small window does nothing for the room. And to really understand how small it is, you can see that when the door is open, it takes up the majority of the space.
But one thing the room does have is height. Our 9′ ceilings make the room feel a little bit bigger than it is, so I want to maximize that. And to balance out that awkward window, I’ll be replacing the builder grade mirror with one much taller. I also want to add an extra high shower curtain to hide the builder-grade tub surround since I don’t plan on doing any tiling or replacing it.
GUEST BATH DESIGN
The main design is black and white, and I will add some warm accessories like art, greenery, and towels to warm it up a bit. Because the bathroom is so small and dark, I’m using my go-to paint Valspar Ultra White for the walls. I’d love to paint the ceiling black after seeing this photo from Room For Tuesday. I think it would look awesome in photos, but scared it will still be too dark in real life. So I’ve just gotta try it and see. I think I will be painting the vanity white and adding my favorite black hardware.
Luckily, I have some leftover floor tiles from our master bath, so I’ll be installing those later this week. I will also be updating the vanity top and found a beautiful one at Home Depot that is less than $200. The ceiling light is from Pottery Barn Teen and is no longer available. I bought it months ago on clearance for about $100. This new vanity light is $19! And the mirror I also bought on sale and with a coupon for about $65.
One of the main reasons I’m keeping this bathroom on a budget is our master bath makeover cost me thousands. And when I say thousands, I mean thousands. Like almost four thousand dollars and we never even finished it. I’ve definitely learned from my mistakes on that makeover, and will not be making them again.
You guys know I like lists, so here’s my to-do list for our budget-friendly guest bath update:
- install tile floor
- update baseboards
- update door trim
- paint walls
- paint ceiling
- update and paint vanity
- change vanity hardware
- new vanity top & sink
- install new sink faucet
- remove old vanity light
- install new vanity light in a new location
- new mirror
- new shower curtain & rod
- install new window shade
I think that’s everything! It’s going to be a lot of work but I’m excited to have another room in our home completely updated and done.
Be sure to check out what the other One Room Challengers are doing to their spaces!


will be a fun one and a much lighter and brighter bathroom to enjoy in 6 weeks. Love a good to-do lists. .. I better start one myself!