Coastal Style Bathroom Makeover

Beautiful bathroom design ideas and bathroom decor tips in this coastal style bathroom makeover. Simple and clean bathroom design.

I am so excited to finally be able to show you our coastal style bathroom makeover! This wasn’t really a project that we were planning on taking on this year but, after a leak in our toilet required us to rip up the bathroom floor, we decided to just take the plunge. Our house is about 25 years old and this bathroom had not really had any significant updates over the years, so I guess a bathroom makeover was due! Here’s a quick before photo for you {you can see more photos HERE and HERE}

 

How to Plan Out a Bathroom Design

When you’re planning out your bathroom design, it’s always helpful to think in terms of how you want the bathroom to function and how you want the space to feel. Do you want something elegant? Do you prefer a more spa-like feel? Does it need to be family friendly for small children? Sometimes what you might prefer aesthetically might not always be what will actually work best or be practical for your family. Once you’ve figured out your “must-haves”, you can then start to move on to the actual product and design decisions.

With our bathroom makeover, there were a few main points that I tried to keep in mind with all of my purchases.

1. I wanted a classic design that would last for many years to come. This meant staying away from anything too trendy or theme based.
2. I wanted something that would be easy for the boys to keep {somewhat!} clean. Although I do do a deep cleaning of the bathroom once per month, they’re responsible for keeping things clean on a daily basis. The simpler the better!
3. I wanted to create a space that was easy to keep organized and had a simple, relaxed feel.

Coastal Style Bathroom Makeover

I didn’t really set out for any particular “style” for our bathroom but, once it was done, it definitely had a coastal vibe! It’s funny how things just seem to come together in the end.  The bathroom walls were painted with Sherwin Williams “Passive”. It’s a nice light grey with slightly cool undertones.  Greys are always a funny color to deal with {and can be so different from room to room} and I was happy that it didn’t have too much blue in it once it was up.

For the accents, I went with a mix of black and chrome. I love chrome but I felt that all chrome was just a little too formal. I think that the black brings in a little more of a casual and modern feel and it let me keep the black towel rack that we have had since we first moved in.

Bathroom Vanity

My main “must have” in our new vanity was double sinks and I must say that they haven’t disappointed.  It has been SO nice to not have to listen to the boys squabble over one sink every morning

That being said, choosing a bathroom vanity was the hardest and most time consuming part of the whole makeover. After looking at pretty much every model in every store around here {and online}, I was kind of disappointed at the options. Many of them seemed to be very cheaply built (despite not being cheap!}, were out of our price range, didn’t have great quality reviews, or didn’t really offer a lot of useable storage. {TIP: remember to think of what will be available for storage AFTER all of the plumbing in goes in.} Most of the vanities also came with the vanity and countertop together and often I liked the finish of the vanity but not the countertop {or vice versa}.

On my third or fourth trip to Lowe’s, I talked with one of their bath associates {not just one of the general associates} who recommended a semi-custom solid wood vanity. I had overlooked it in the store because the floor model was just a small single-sink vanity with a wood stain and countertop that I didn’t like.  There were a lots of other design options to choose from, however, and I was able to customize the door styles, color, sink style, and countertop. I love how deep the sinks are and the countertop is a nice thick, carerra quartz which is pretty much indestructible.

Light Fixtures

I always like to splurge a little on light fixtures as I really think that they add a lot of interest to a space. I looked everywhere for a light fixture that I liked, and finally found “the one” at a local lighting store {you can also find it on Amazon HERE}.  In case you want to look for them elsewhere, they’re the Piermont bath light by Quoizel. I love this one as it still has some chrome on it to tie in with the faucets, but the added black makes it less formal looking and a bit more modern.

Shower and Tub

Although I love the look of the big glass showers, they’re definitely not low maintenance for cleaning and not something the boys would do well. The kids also still like to take baths so we stayed with a tub and shower combo. Our old shower tiles were pink and so ugly that I never took a photo of that side of the bathroom for any of my blog posts. Now I wish I had a good before picture!

I went with a polished marble mosaic tile for the shower walls and took it right up to the ceiling. I absolutely love the look of the tile but, if you’re going to be installing it yourself, be warned that it’s definitely not an easy tile to work with. There were also a lot of broken tiles in the tile sheets so be sure to look through them carefully before purchasing. That being said, I am super happy with it and would pick it again. The marble will require resealing about once every 6-12 months, but I have to do it for our marble flooring in our main floor bathroom and it doesn’t take long.

Linen Closet

Our bathroom linen closet received a good decluttering and few new organization products. I had 4 of the striped bins already and just picked up a couple more for the top shelf to keep our first aid supplies and a few other random items. Now that it’s so tidy, I’m actually debating whether or not we should put the doors back on. I was always the only one that shut them anyways!

Bathroom Decor

I kept the bathroom decor pretty simple in this bathroom – mostly because the boys just don’t care. lol!  I definitely would have added a few more decorative pieces if it was our master bathroom, but less stuff means less to clean. We had a couple of shelves up above the toilet in our old bathroom and it just ended up being a dust magnet.

This sign is one of the only things that made it from our original bathroom {although I did move it from its original location}. I think it’s a good message to see first thing every morning.

Especially in a boy’s bathroom, you can’t go wrong with a few air purifiers. 🙂

I hope you enjoyed the bathroom tour! I’ll be putting a post together on all of my bathroom organization tips soon. Let me know if you have any questions!

Bathroom Sources

If you’re looking for any of the items used in our bathroom, I’ve linked as many items as I can. If I missed anything, just let me know.

• Chrome Metal Laundry Hamper – Amazon
• Black and Chrome Light Fixtures – Amazon {I got mine locally}
• Glass Hand Soap Dispensers – Grove Collaborative
• White Tile Soap Dish – Target
• Polished Mosaic Marble Shower Tiles – Lowe’s
• Bathroom Faucets – Lowe’s
• Vanity – Lowe’s {I know this has to be ordered in store and I couldn’t find it on the website. Ask for a semi-custom wood vanity with quartz counters}
• It’s a Good Day to Have a Good Day metal sign – Decor Steals {This is a daily deal site so you’ll need to keep your eyes open for when it’s available.}
• Closet Bins – Amazon
• Black Metal Vanity Mirrors – Select Mirrors Canada