I completed this fun bathroom refresh at my friend, Annie’s, back in July- but am just getting around to posting it! Annie bought this house and the guest bathroom was dark and dull. It was all builder grade and has no windows, so she wanted to add her touch and brighten it up! At first, Annie just wanted to paint the bathroom white and add a board and batten wall with wallpaper above. But we decided to go ahead and tackle the entire bathroom! I put together a mood board based on colors she liked and we got to work!
First up was adding board and batten wall with wallpaper above. It was almost impossible to remove the baseboards because whoever installed the tile installed the baseboards first so it was grouted into the floor. Once removed, I replaced it with a 1×6 board and added a horizontal 1×4 on top with a 1×2 on top of that. The vertical boards are 1×2’s. We used this cute wallpaper!
Note: Just spend the money on good paint. It’s worth it. We went cheaper on paint and it took about 4 coats to cover the beige walls in here.
One important tip when installing board and batten is making the 1×2 vertical boards flush with the new 1×6 baseboard. A lot of the time, the walls aren’t perfectly even, and the 1×2’s need to be bumped out a little to be flush with the baseboard. There are many ways of doing this. You can use post it notes, shims, thin pieces of wood, or even ripped up pieces of paper like I typically do.
- Place the paper (or whatever you’re using) behind the 1×2 until you find the amount needed to make it flush.
- Make sure you board is level before placing your first nail.
- Use you brad nailer to place a nail through the paper and into the wall.
- Use caulk to fill the gaps between the wood and the wall.
Next we needed to remove the mirror. This was my first time removing a builder grade mirror that was glued to the wall. I was nervous but it was really easy! I used painters tape all over to ensure the mirror wouldn’t shatter when it came off the wall. I then hammered shims into the sides I could access. I moved my way around the mirror and it popped off! The circles on the wall are where the glue was. Just use spackle to fill those in, sand smooth, then paint!
We were going to paint the existing vanity, but decided to replace it with this one– which was much easier! There are lots of YouTube videos that explain how to detach the plumbing- it’s really easy! Then just remove the screws attaching the vanity to the wall.
The next step in this bathroom refresh was painting the tub using Rustoleum Tub and Tile paint. This stuff was unbelievably strong. It was eating up the paint rollers. We used 2 cans of this to cover the tub insert with at least a few foam rollers. I highly recommend wearing a respirator when using this product. I had 2 masks on, the vent in the bathroom on, all the windows in the house on, plus a fan facing out of the bathroom to suck the fumes out, and I still had to take a break every couple minutes. It will also stain anything it gets on so we made sure to paint before adding the floor tiles.
One of the last steps was installing peel and stick floor tiles from Wallpops! These are such a fun and inexpensive way to cover up boring tile. They are simple to use and look great. We used these!
And finally, we added decor to finish up this bathroom refresh! New mirror, new light, photo ledge, white shower curtain, brass faucet, and some brass knobs on the vanity. This bathroom is SO. MUCH. BRIGHTER now! It’s crazy what some white paint can do!
The bathroom AFTER! 
