Even though the hall bath is probably the smallest room in the house, it’s probably the makeover I’ve put the most into in regards to those tiny details that can make a big impact. Almost everyone that comes into our house is going to see this room - it’s the bathroom guests use and it’s also right off the main hallway so you can see it from the living room. Honestly, I’m not typically a person that focuses on details too much (I tend to be more big picture), but in a small room, the details can be a lot more noticeable. Here are four small touches that can make a big difference, as they did in our hall bathroom makeover:
- Update electrical outlets: When we moved in, all of the electrical plugs and switches were almond in color and most had seen better days, to the point where they looked dingy and dirty. In the bathroom, the previous owners attempted to update the look by adding stainless outlet & switch covers to match the more updated fixtures. While it probably looks better than the old ones, it still made the bathroom look old & dated. For me, it was worth the small investment to have an electrician come out and swap both out to a bright white. The goal isn’t to make these focal points, but they should blend in with the rest of the room.
- Caulk: After I’d touched up the paint in the hall bathroom and cleaned up the vanity, I realized that the caulk around the sink and edges of the vanity was looking really rough. Lucky for me, the caulk was so old that it was really easy to scrape out. For the tough stuff, I took a hair dryer and held it close for a few minutes to loosen a bit more. From there, I used a caulk gun and re-caulked around the sink and vanity. This made the whole piece look so much more clean and crisp - again, you don’t necessarily notice clean, white caulk, but you do notice the dirty stuff!
- Beadboard & Trim: Because the bathroom is so small, I wanted to add some sort of architectural detail in here to give it more visual interest. Hanging the beadboard wallpaper (I purchased mine from Lowe’s) horizontally instead of vertical mimicked the stripes on the shower curtain and added a more modern (rather than cottage) twist. The trick with beadboard wall paper is to treat it like you would actual bead board - which meant caulking all the edges, and the wood trim piece we nailed into the wall. I gave everything a coat of bright white semi-gloss paint, including the existing baseboards, to make it look like one piece. I still need to go back and paint the base board on the other side of the bathroom, but since it’s behind the toilet, you don’t really notice it that much (and I’m not really looking forward to trying to paint it on my hands and knees!).
- Color Scheme & Mood Board: This is the first room I’ve done a mood/inspiration board for (even after two full renovations) and it was so helpful to keep me on the right track when it came to accessories and styling. Even though we didn’t do the full renovation, the colors in my inspiration post came through and really made everything look cohesive. I can get to the same point in other rooms, but it takes me much longer - the bathroom felt more complete than any room I’ve done and in large part, it was because I had a plan at the beginning. I won’t be doing another room without this step!
What are the little things that make a difference in your decorating?
Margaret Piper says
Really enjoying reading your decorating blog! You are so talented to do all this work yourself. Love seeing what all you have done to your home.