If you’re like me, you’ve spent more than a few lonely nights scrolling through images of celebrity bathrooms, lusting after Jennifer Aniston’s magnificent marble tub or Kylie Jenner’s vast vanity. As a member of the Broke and Chic team, I recognize that in no time soon will I enjoy such a luxurious water closet — but that doesn’t mean I can’t take small steps to transform the bathroom I have into my own cozy, welcoming, hygienic space.
If you don’t have the budget to build a bathroom the size of most L.A. apartments, don’t fret: You can follow my steps for transforming your dumpy bathroom into a swanky sanctuary:
Give Everything a Place
The first step toward luxury is eliminating clutter. You never see a sumptuous bathroom with the countertops covered in dirty makeup brushes or hair styling tools; everything is clean and well-collected. Thus, you should put some effort into accumulating organizers to give everything in your bathroom a proper place.
If your current vanity or bathroom storage solutions lack the square footage to contain your belongings, you can hang shelves to add storage space. If your bathroom is small, you can be creative — hang a shelf over the window or door, above the shower and in other spaces that are out of the way. Then, pull a KonMari and use small boxes and containers to arrange your belongings in an easy-to-remember system. Even this small organizing effort will make your bathroom feel 10-times more lavish.
Invest in Better Towels
If you’re using the same towels you got as a high school graduation present from your neighbor, it’s time to upgrade. Because bath towels last for a long time, it’s worth a splurge to get something ultra-deluxe. You should look for towels with a weight between 600 and 900 grams per square meter (GSM), which are the densest and absorbent of towel types. Additionally, you might look for towels made of Turkish cotton, which has longer fibers that provide a softer feel. You might balk at first at the price per towel, but you can likely get away with buying just two to four.
Buy a Sophisticated Bathmat
There aren’t any rules that say bathmats have to come in juvenile colors and textures. The point of a bathmat is to absorb any water and prevent the tile floor from becoming dangerously slick. Thus, you can be much more creative with your bathmat than you might have been in the past.
One intriguing bathroom design trend is using a small Turkish or Persian rug in place of a terrycloth mat. These rugs are beautifully patterned and are typically made from tufted wool, which wicks moisture better than any other material. Plus, rugs of this type are mature and sophisticated, and they blend well into most color schemes. You can find used small Turkish rugs relatively easily in thrift stores and online, so you don’t have to drop too many dimes on a unique mat.
$39.00 via Urban Outfitters
Mix Your Metals
Mixed metals is a style feature that has seeped into every room of the home, but because bathrooms have so many metal elements — to include faucets, shower fixtures, drawer and door pulls, storage racks and more — this is the perfect room to begin experimenting with this design strategy. Because I’m not particularly handy, I hired a Los Angeles faucet repair service to install my new antiqued bronze sink faucet and brass shower fixtures. You might consider a variety of metals around your bathroom, such as:
- Copper
- Aluminum
- Stainless steel
- Wrought iron
- Brushed nickel
- Polished chrome
Be Creative With Wallpaper
You can and should be liberal with paint in your bathroom. Colorful cabinets are all the rage, and dark, moody walls are another big trend, especially in smaller spaces. However, if you want to add even more visual interest, you might look into applying wallpaper. Wallpaper has become so much more than the horrid floral print in your grandmother’s kitchen; wallpaper comes in modern and eye-catching patterns and textures. You can put wallpaper on an accent wall, above or below a chair rail or even as a faux–crown molding.
via @tarynwhiteaker_designs
You don’t need a billion dollars to deserve a comfortable, attractive bathroom — but that doesn’t mean you should blow all your savings on a bathroom to rival Chrissy Teigen’s. With these small, affordable steps, you can make any bathroom feel luxurious.
