Bright basement bathroom (done!)

Good Monday to ya! How was your weekend? I was fighting a cold all weekend but managed to fit in two movies and plenty of DIY, so that’s a good one for me. :)

I’m continuing my no-spend August by wrapping up a HUGE project. I love the no-spend idea – not only do I save money when I do this (no impromptu trips to HomeGoods!) but I get a lot done. Stuff I’ve been putting off for months!

Our basement bathroom is one of those projects. It was thisclose to done anyway, and I had everything I needed on hand…so this one is checked off the list! WHOOT.

Let’s look back at how it looked a few months ago:

If you’ve been around for awhile you know we finished our basement last year. We did it slowly so we could pay cash and it took about six months total. The basics are in and everything is coming together beautifully, but there’s still a LOT we want to do down there.

So we had it finished but the basement bathroom was still incomplete, as you can see above. The floors were installed earlier this year, along with the main fixtures – the toilet and vanity. Then I showed you how I installed some storage in the form of DIY floating shelves:

I LOVE those shelves – I’m still so happy with how that came together.

But there were a few things left to do – back when I painted all the doors black in the basement I pooped out and didn’t do the back of the bathroom door. Soooo…I got that done:

Three coats and done!

Back when we had the electrical work done for the basement I knew I wanted two lights above the sink, so we guesstimated where the vanity was going to go. Well the outlet for that room ended up being right in the middle of the sink (right where the mirror went) so the guys came out a few months ago and moved the outlet (and one of the lights) for me.

They patched up the drywall and I just hung the mirror back over it and left it:

So yesterday I sanded it down and touched up that paint and a few other spots in the room. I also caulked the rest of the baseboards down there as well. OK, maybe I wasn’t thisclose to done. ;)

I used the mirror that used to be in our upstairs powder room -- it was shimmery brown so it needed a redo bad. I taped it off to prep for spray paint:

I’ve seen a lot of people not taping off and just using a razor to clean up on mirrors, but with spray paint that’s too messy (for me). So I covered it with newspaper, taped it all down and checked out my spray paint stash to decide on what to do:

I started with the satin nickel color and it was pretty, but when I got it down there it was so…boring. ;) The lights, faucet and mirror were all the same. Then I took it back outside and just went with a basic white – but, duh, that was pretty boring too. I wanted a pop of color on that wall and kept looking to my spray paint to find the right color (not spending money on DIY and all.)

Well I finally found the color I wanted in my regular paints:

It’s the same aubusson blue color I used on this project:

It was PERFECT. And it only took three tries. ;)

The blue brings the color in the towels and shower curtain over to that side of the room:

You can see all the sources for these items in this post (most was from Target).

Originally I planned on using our pedestal sink from upstairs in this space, but when it came time to install it I realized I really wanted something more substantial and something with storage. So I shopped around and found a really inexpensive vanity at Lowe’s that worked perfectly:

It’s really shallow but the sink juts out so it’s still a great size. It’s perfect for this skinny bathroom. (You can find it here online.)

I’m pretty thrilled with how this little space came together! Well…it’s not exactly little -- it’s just long and skinny:

It’s about 11 feet by four feet -- there was no other way to set up the room with the beams in the basement and the rough in plumbing. Also we had to make it this long to incorporate a support column into the wall. When the door is open it goes right near the vanity so there’s actually not much room to spare.

I had a mantra in my head the whole time I was finishing off this space -- “It’s just a basement bathroom.” :) So I went pretty basic with the finishes – the faucet, shower head and lights were all basic, inexpensive finds. We spent a little more on the toilet since this is in the basement – we wanted something that will hold up well (since the plumbing down here has to work against gravity).

Even though we didn’t splurge on much, I think the space turned out beautifully. One thing I don’t regret at all in the building process – I made sure we had a TON of lights in this space. Early on I thought it may be overkill but since I’ve realized it’s a great thing in a room without natural light:

We have a total of five lights in this space – recessed lights in the shower and by the door, the light in the fan and two over the sink. I love the look of the two lights over the sink – I did the same in our upstairs powder room. :)

I do have one more thing to do in here – paint all the trim (baseboards and door trim). But I have to do that in the entire basement so I’m going to wait till I can knock it all out at once. (That will be a fun day. Want to come over and help?)

Here’s a look at the before and after side-by-side – my favorite. ;)

I’d still like to add some art or something to that big wall at some point. I have an idea in mind but for now I’m just thrilled to have this space done! I’m knocking things off the to-do list and it feels so good! I may do these no-spend months more often!! (Although I’m starting to get a HomeGoods itch.)

If you have any questions about this space that I didn’t answer, let me know and I’ll get you info in the comments!