Simple and Affordable Updates to Our Vintage Modern Bathroom

A vintage modern bathroom decorated in white and gray with beautiful mosaic tile and brass accents.

When you feel like your home is falling apart around you the only cure is to redecorate, right? 

For the past 6 months, we have been living with only one of our three bathrooms fully functioning.  The plumber was here last week installing new pipes and fixtures in our hall bathroom,  which resulted in a big gapping hole in our master bathroom.   He didn't have time to fix our basement bathroom, so I had my husband lug the sink back into the space and I decorated and pretended everything was perfect.  Sounds normal, right?

A few months ago, I participated in the ORC (One Room Challenge) and completely redid our basement bathroom.  I painted, added board and batten and installed beautiful ceramic tile.  Everything was going great until we went to hook up the sink and a pipe broke off in my dad's hands.   Being on a deadline, I brought the sink in, took pictures and didn't think twice about the sink not being hooked up.  

Fast forward a few months....

Our laundry tub backed up forcing water to travel through and out of broken pipe in the bathroom.  I'm not talking about a sprinkle of water.  I'm talking full on downpour that traveled out of the bathroom,  under the steps and into my husband's office.

This isn't the first time we have experienced water issues in our basement.  You may remember a few years ago when I accidentally flooded the basement.  Clearly, water is not my best friend.

In an effort to make myself feel better until the plumber comes back, we capped the pipe, pushed the sink back in place, and I redecorated the bathroom.

I added a coat of gold leaf Rub 'n Buff to the guide to bathroom procedures sign that I purchased from Hobby Lobby last year.  It had been hanging in our master bathroom, but I thought it worked much better in the basement bathroom.

I also swapped out the round wood mirror for a new black metal frame mirror.   It's a little small for the space, but it's going to have to work until I can justify spending $299 for the one I REALLY want.

I was really missing the medicine cabinet that I bought from a local vintage market, so I moved the "Work Hard and be Nice to People" artwork to my office and hung the cabinet back up on the wall.  I wasn't ready to get rid of it, so back up on the wall it went.

Using decor I had around our home and less than $50 (for the new mirror and soap dish) I was able to finally complete the bathroom and make it feel more like my style.  Now I just need the plumber to come back and we just might have all three bathrooms in working order. 

STYLE TIP: HOW TO EFFECTIVELY MIX METAL FINISHES 

There's no need to stick to one particular metal or material when decorating.  Pick 2-3 finishes that work well together and balance them throughout your space.  Keep it intentional by choosing one finish as the dominant material then accent with the others.   

If you are interested in any of the sources in our bathroom you can find them here:  Affiliate links have been used.

• Wall Color: Sherwin-Williams On The Rocks
• Door Color: Sherwin-Williams Iron Ore
• Mosaic "cement" tile (Home Depot) 
• Bath rug (Target)
• Hand towel (Amazon) 
• Hand towels on sink and shelf (similar item linked) 
• Brass light fixture (Schoolhouse Electric) 
• Guide to bathroom procedures (similar item linked)
• Metal frame wall mirror (Target) 
• Wastebasket (Target)
• Ladies and Gents bathroom signs (Local vintage market, but I did find some on Ebay) 
• Black sandstone soap dish (Target) 
• Beekman goat milk bar soap
• Artificial sage plant (out of stock at IKEA, but now sold on Amazon)

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