Updating an Old Bathroom Vanity

Sabrina
by Sabrina
So many of us have builder grade bathrooms that are fully functional and practical but yet lack basic appeal.
If spending $5K+ is not in the books for you, what can you do to give new life to an old bathroom?
Create a new colour palette and make a few minor adjustments!
Now—of course—if you have hideous coloured tiles from the 1930’s then I’m sorry, not even new paint will help you. However, if you do have a neutral tile similar to what you see in my main bath then there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.


My plan for this bathroom is to do a classic black and white theme. By covering the pink walls with white paint, all that dated wall and shower tile recedes into the background, like magic! It a great way to camouflage the problem areas and create focal points with colour (in my case—using black).
Moving on to the vanity, I begin by removing the pink countertop and cabinet hardware. I’m going to be re-positioning the holes for the hardware so I fill them prior to priming the unit.
Painting everything in its place, I used the colour Graphite (1603) from Benjamin Moore, which by the way is one of my favourite shades of black. I would describe it as a chalky black. It has a bit of a grey undertone to it................
Since we also got rid of the pink countertop, we replaced it with this faux marble laminate. I used a high quality formica laminate from Belanger Laminates which almost looks like the real thing.
Last but not least, the hubs installed a new sink and faucet. You can easily use your old sink and faucet if you really wanted to keep costs low but since the vanity is the only place we are really spending any money, we decided to switch the fixtures as well.
For more details, please visit PLN's post by clicking the link below....
Sabrina
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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Frequently asked questions
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3 of 4 questions
  • Mary Mary on Jul 16, 2016
    I have shop tube lighting in my (1980's) bathroom. How can this be changed? It throws shadows everywhere.
  • Dig3620745 Dig3620745 on Jul 18, 2016
    What prep work needed to be done to the cupboards before painting
  • S S on Oct 04, 2016
    were you going for a retro-60's/70's vibe with that hardware in the middle of the cabinets?
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3 of 22 comments
  • Kia Kia on Dec 15, 2016
    The bathroom turned out really nice. I'm interested in the counter. Can you take an upclose picture of the edges. It really does look like the real deal.
  • Beth Beth on Aug 09, 2020

    Looks good, but I don't know why you'd want to reach down so far to open the cabinets. Placing the rings in the center of the doors is too high on uppers and too low on lowers!

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