Dear Danica, How Can I Upgrade My Builder Grade Bathroom Without Changing The Tile?

Hi Erica!

We can definitely make this bathroom fit your style without making any major changes!

So we have two guidelines:

1. We’re keeping the shower and floor tiles.

2. You want it to be more Mid Century & moody eclectic.

Let’s start with a moodboard –

The first thing I noticed with the bathroom is that it looks cold and somewhat hospital-like. It looks like there isn’t any natural light in this bathroom and a white paint color with cool undertones will instantly make it feel cold or blue. To counter the lack of natural light, we want a paint color that has warm undertones. You could still go with white, but a warm white will give you a much more calming feel.

That being said, you mentioned you want moody so let’s go for something a little darker on the walls.

Using the existing tiles as a guide, I see brown specs in the floor tile and brown veins in the marble shower tile so I’d pull a brown paint color for the walls. Brown can also lend itself to a mid century style quite easily. Consider the paint colors Griffin, Brainstorm Bronze, or Backdrop…all of which are from HGTV Home by Sherwin Williams. A moody brown paint color will instantly warm up the space and lend itself to a more luxurious, high end feel.

But the walls are still lacking some character so if you’re up for a little DIY project, I’d add layered wainscoting. This is the style I would do as shown by Meg & The Martin Men! The key to making wainscoting look high end is to add that inner decorative trim within each box. It’s an upgrade from your standard board and batten or box trim wainscoting and it makes a huge visual difference! Here’s a great tutorial. For a little extra drama, bring that wainscoting up the wall quite a ways (higher than halfway for sure…I’d aim for the mid point of your mirror) and paint it the same color as your walls but in a semi-gloss sheen.

Now to really lean into a luxurious vibe, we should consider hardware finishes.

I don’t mind the polished silver hardware against the brown paint color, but right now all the hardware is the same finish and adding in a second or third finish would definitely bring layers to the space. I’d throw in some brass or antique bronze hardware through the light, the towel bar, and the toilet paper holder. All of which are easy changes.

I noticed the towel bar is near the toilet and the toilet paper holder is across from the toilet. I’d swap the two locations and opt for a toilet paper stand instead of a wall mount for easier access.

So how do we mix the existing style with your mid century, eclectic style? Well I’d opt for a mid century wall sconce above the mirror in a brass finish to pop against the moody brown walls. Some modern hardware in brass (like the towel bar and toilet paper holder) tie in with the mid century light. The eclectic mirror in my moodboard has a beautiful antique, eclectic feel with the most beautiful antique brass finish. I love to mix antique brass with polished silver! And I’d go for a beige linen shower curtain to bring some soft texture to the space.

Since we’re on the topic of shower curtains…the silver/glass shower door is what dates the bathroom the most. My #1 preference would be to remove that and replace it with a shower curtain instead. But if that’s not possible without damaging the shower tiles and tub, then I would look into painting the shower door black.

Those 5 or 6 upgrades would do wonders for making your builder grade bathroom feel a lot more high end and the only bigger project would be the wainscoting!