How do I update my small bathroom on a budget?

You can add open floating shelving for an airy and functional look. Adding new backslash tile will “bling up“ the space. New hardware on the vanity.

Dark is easier to fix than small! Start with white paint and white curtains, if you have a window. Get white towels and a white shower curtain, if you use one. White throw rugs. Anything you can replace, replace it with white. It will feel lighter and bigger right away. The space above the toilet can be a good spot for a cabinet for things like towels and extra toilet paper, and depending on how your door opens, a slim bookshelf (painted white) on the wall that is behind it when it's open can hold a lot of toiletries and such. Use brightly colored soaps and washcloths to add splashes of a color that you love. If white isn't your thing, any really light color will work fine.

I think we all have one of those small dark bathrooms. I know I did. The first thing I did was to change out the light fixture over the vanity to a more modern style which would take LED bulbs (so much brighter). I painted the walls in a very light gray and the ceiling in white. Bought Over the toilet glass shelves so the light would pass through to the whole room. Built a shelf for the vanity with a cutout in the middle to go around the drain pipes for towels, cleaning supplies, etc. and then for the bottom shelf bought chrome storage units with slide out drawers for cosmetics, etc. You can get these on Amazon or Bed Bath and Beyond. Then add colorful towels and shower curtain and you are done.