Budget Powder Room Progress

I’m splitting this post in half with another post coming about my favorite painting tips and tricks. I did so much painting in this powder room that I thought maybe you guys want to hear what my process is.

The entire room has been painted from top to bottom. Gosh, I love paint…like really love paint. It’s so much bang for your buck. It smells and looks like a brand-new room and it’s not even done yet. When my son walked into it today he said “mom it looks like a bathroom in a really expensive restaurant”. Love hearing that from a 14-year-old boy and that is with the vanity door still off and nothing decorated.

(For those of you who asked, I use Photoshop for my design boards)

I made some decisions and changed some things. Let me explain.

Budget Powder Room

The countertop:

I searched high and low online for a good price on precut and drilled vessel sink countertops like I already showed in my last powder room posts (click HERE and HERE if you missed it).  They are out there but it’s hard to find the right size you need, especially when your vanity is as small as ours.
Then I tried to decide between black or white marble. It would have been nice to mix it up a little and get that pretty black marble but I decided to stop at the local granite place where I bought my quartz kitchen countertop (If you are local, Emerald Granite formerly Zumrut Granite is great and you can see my countertop HERE). I asked them about scrap pieces that I could use in black or white and we found a small piece of carrera marble. They cut (with backsplash), polished it and drilled the faucet and sink holes for $200 and I think that price was great. So white it is.

And the moral of the story: Don’t forget about your local places. I’m a big online shopper but some of the home improvement deals are still at your local supply stores.

If you are on a budget, then it’s always great to have several options you love instead of being stuck on something specific. I have been there and it’s ok too, you can wait for that specific piece you really want but it’s faster if you have different options and I really want this little space done fast because we use it a lot. And in my book you can never go wrong with classic white marble. We have an antique bistro table that I bought 19 years ago at an auction and we still love it.

Check out what the precut pieces of similar-sized marble pieces cost online like HERE or HERE  for around $350.

The vessel sink:

I went to Lowes last week and ordered a white vessel sink for $80 (THIS one). Did you know that when you go to Lowes and order items in the store online, you don’t have to pay shipping?  Well the sink came a couple days later and it required a square hole to be cut, so it slightly sinks in. That kind of REALLY annoyed me. When you look the Lowes’ youTube video about how to install a vessel sink, non of them require a square hole. I was not going to cut anything larger than the small round drain hole I already have in the marble. I ran and returned the sink immediately. They have another square vessel sink in the store which would have been nice too but also required a stupid square cutout. No thank you!
After that I went to good old Amazon and found this sink HERE for half the price which I ordered. $40.99!!! Yes please!

I do love the low-profile oval vessel sink I used in my moodboard but I didn’t find one that fit my small vanity, so I had to go with a higher round sink.

I also ended up ordering THIS white pop-up drain and love it:

The faucet

This is a short paragraph 🙂 I had that one sitting in the basement and it didn’t change. I’m using it and love it. It’s the Delta Faucet Vero Single Handle Centerset Lavatory Faucet with Riser. It was wasting away in our basement for 1.5 years but it’s going to have it’s moment in our room. Finally! I don’t know what I was waiting for.

The Walls

I went back and fourth with the wallpapers and while I love love love them (click HERE if you missed the post), I truly hate to wallpaper. I used to work in the wallpaper department and had to install with the guys while I worked at one of the largest furniture stores in Germany and I hated hanging wallpaper. The thought of doing that in this small room gives me hives. I browsed my inspirational bathroom Pinterest board last week (click HERE to see the board so you can follow me too) and found one of my all time favorites. I had totally forgotten about it. Love when that happens! You can see that pin and bathroom by clicking HERE.
And like you already saw in the first photo above, I decided to achieve something similar. Well I didn’t get to the execution yet… I just made the file and ordered it as a custom stencil from StencilsOnline. I didn’t get it yet though. Wish me luck. I’m not the best stenciler either but as always, I love that it’s so much cheaper.

The Mirror

I painted our existing mirror black. It was originally black when I purchased it from Lowes but I painted it mint for my last powder room makeover (click HERE). It was meant as a vanity mirror.
I’m still really adamant about getting the gold arched mirror (click HERE) in the mood board though. This is only a temporary fix because those little cutouts in the frame are a pain in the rear. Just imagine kids splashing water all over and trying to clean that mirror. Not good and the reason I want it gone eventually. But it looks good even though it’s hard to clean.

Oh and I even one was far as to clean the inside of the vanity again.

The Vanity Light

With my Birthday/Christmas Etsy gift card I ordered the light in the moodboard but in black with gold hinges and it’s being custom made. You can find it HERE.

Like this one:

The Vanity

As I said the vanity needs to stay because there is no flooring under it and I’m not redoing the entire floor so I can get another vanity. So I’m in the process of painting it but let me tell you, painting it black isn’t as easy as painting it a light color. Every speck and piece of dust shows up.
I have received my new shaker-style door I ordered on Amazon HERE and am actually spraying that piece in the garage which is so much easier than painting the vanity in place in the bathroom. And the custom cabinet door company has been more than helpful and informative with helping me figure out my door.

Also, check out how I changed the kick plate of the cabinet to make it look more like a piece of furniture.

UPDATE: the room is finished and you can see more of the space by clicking HERE

mirror HERE | sink HERE | pop-up drain HERE | faucet HERE | similar vanity marble top HERE | lighting HERE | cabinet door HERE | similar towel HERE and HERE | towel ring vintage and you can find a similar one HERE | basket HERE and my tassel tutorial HERE, handmade soap HERE and HERE | click HERE for the stencil DIY and you can buy the stencil HERE and HERE now | DIY huge tassel HERE

That’s where I am at for now and I’ll get into all the painting tips and tricks next time. Sorry for all the bad cellphone photos this time.

Tschüß,