Bathroom Refresh Design Ideas

Okay, here me out – I know this post is probably coming out of nowhere.  But… BUT!  We will eventually (sooner rather than later) need to update our main upstairs bathroom.  So, let me share a little sneak peek of the bathroom refresh design ideas I’ve been stewing over the past few months.

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Whether it’s the completion of our basement bathroom, the start of the Fall One Room Challenge, or the Ikea Kitchen Design Event… I’ve got this bathroom project on my mind!

And no, we are probably not participating in the One Room Challenge this time around :(

I’ve been life-busier and posting a regular weekly timeline is tricky.  Plus, I didn’t actually plan on doing the One Room Challenge, so nothing is ready to start.  But we can pretend this is the room we were going to do, okay :) 

Let’s talk about our upstairs bathroom.  First of all, I LOVE this space that we updated in the Fall of 2020.  Here is the rainbow bathroom reveal post if you want to see all the photos.  Plus, there are plenty of links to the projects we completed during the weeks of that One Room Challenge.

Essentially, we painted the existing vanity, painted the countertops, painted the shower tile surround and tub, installed new flooring and painted all the walls (plus did fun rainbow accents).  

While it would have been great if everything held up through the years, unfortunately that is not the case.

Why Are we doing a Bathroom Refresh?

The first thing that started going awry was the white paint on the bathroom tiles.  It yellowed in the sun, and I reached out to the company to ask why.  They gave me a discount on the paint I bought… but it was still yellow-y streaky.  Then the tub paint started peeling.  I’m not a bath-taker in our house (everyone else is), and each time someone takes a bath, little chips of paint come off.  (The wall surround paint is still stuck on good… just yellow).  

On a related note, I painted my brother’s bathroom with a different brand of Tub and Tile paint.  I wanted to see if it would last better.  Still need to go and visit him, so TBD. 

And the vanity?  Well… it’s falling apart.  Remember, this was the old vanity that I just painted.  The drawer I open and close every day is just wood rubbing on wood.  Or, particle board?  It’s kind of tippy if you open it too much, and there is sawdust mess below the rubbing.  

Plus: storage.  Bins have been great on the lower section where we have doors and open cabinet.  But it’s annoying that I have to move things to get to my bins.  And now that the kids are getting bigger (ie: they have their own stuff) it would be nice to have designated space for them. 

For the most part, the painted countertop has held up well.  There are some areas that have permanent paint stains (kids), and one section started coming off where the sink goes to the counter.  I think there’s a levelling issue, since the water gathers there and started warping the counter a bit.  (That spot was janky even before I painted it). 

So let’s talk about the vanity cabinet! 

Bathroom Vanity Plans

Our current vanity has three doors and two small drawers.  But I want MORE DRAWERS!  At 57″ wide, we have the space for a lot of storage.  Do I want a pre-made vanity?  That would be great… but I hate hate hate that we’d have weird 1″ gaps on the sides.  (Since most vanities are 55″)

And you know I’m a fan of weird vanity ideas too, ha. 

But for this bathroom… I’m thinking Ikea!

As in, their Sektion kitchen cabinets… just in a bathroom :)  Here is a mockup of what we would have.  Three sets of drawers on each side, and a center door cabinet in the middle.  I’d also maybe do a hidden drawer or two to have even more storage inside.

With a 57″ size, we could do 3 cabinets at 18″ each, plus a bit of fillers on the sides.  OR a 24″ center section (with 2 doors) and then two 15″ drawer stacks on the side.  

A month or so ago, I visited Ikea to check out the different cabinet colour options. 

I was initially thinking green for the vanity in their Axstad Gray-Green colour.  I love the little shaker details in the doors of the Axstad line.  Overall, it would be a great pick :) 

But… what if we did wood instead?

In my bathroom refresh design moodboard below, I have the Tistorp option (it’s the right center in the images above).  It’s a flat panel design in a mid-brown.  I also like the Enkoping (centre-left with the raised panels) but the flat would be easier to wipe down.  PS: the lightest wood in the photos above is Vedhamn and is solid oak.  Lovely but $$$.  

Oh and we also did our rental kitchen in the super lightest wood-look (Enhet – pictured in the photo two above with the coloured cabinets).  Also a good option!

I looked at countertop colours too – and polled my Instagram Stories.  Most people like the marble-look on the left!  So we’d probably go with that :)  

(Or a real stone?  I’d prefer an undermount sink so it’s easier to clean… but do I want to spend the money?) 

Bathroom Refresh Design Ideas

So… let’s say we replace the vanity.  The Ikea kitchen cabinets would be higher than the current vanity, so would come up around where the current countertop surround is.  Not so bad… but what if it’s higher?  Would my lovely stripes look weird?

And yes, it is higher if installed at the standard kitchen height using the provided Ikea feet.  Installing the cabinets on a 2×2 frame would bring them lower, but not as low as the current vanity.

I do love the rainbow stripes, but is there such thing as too much rainbow in a house?  (See our rainbow hallway ha).  It would be lovely to change the stripes to a nice wallpaper accent wall.  But then… is there so much thing as too much wallpaper in a house?  (See all the bedrooms) 

We also have these rainbow frames on the long wall.  Assuming we wallpaper the vanity wall, we could also put wallpaper in the center of each of the panels.  

Wallpaper Sources

1. Heloho Green Floral Wallpaper on Amazon
2. Lativo Floral Peel & Stick Wallpaper on Amazon
3. Laurel Green Wallpaper from Happy Wall
4. Green Leaf Peel & Stick Wallpaper on Amazon
5. Groh Green Floral Wallpaper from Home Depot

Honestly, these were papers I quickly found when I searched “green floral wallpaper”.  If I were to go the wallpaper route, I’d probably spend an inordinate amount of time deep-diving all. the. options. 

Bathroom Refresh Timeline

For now, I think updating just the vanity would be a big improvement on the functionality of our bathroom. 

We also should remove the peeling paint in the bathtub… 

Then I’d probably paint the shower surround tiles so that the walls are no longer yellow and streaky.  We could probably keep the rainbow stripes and panels for a while, and then decide on a wallpaper before we sell the house?

Basically, nothing is set in stone 100%, and any feedback is welcome :)  Obviously had this bathroom been our One Room Challenge this Fall, I would have had everything decided.  Or at least 90% decided, ha. 

So yes, wood or green vanity?  Wallpaper now, or later?  What about the rectangular panels?  So many questions!

And like… should we just go ahead and order the cabinets while this Ikea Kitchen event is on?

Oh, one final question.  Do you prefer a double door in the center of the vanity (ie: 24″ wide), or is one door fine (ie: 18″)?  What’s better.  More plumbing/open storage, or slightly wider drawers?

(I mean, anything would be better than the two drawers we have now!)