You’ve got a perfectly good toilet, sink and tub, but you’re thinking of giving your guest bath a little more oomph with a little re-modeling, for a change. But, before you go swinging that hammer to knock everything out  in order to give it a completely new look, think again. Why knock out perfectly good quality fittings just in order to get a new look. Instead, try our 5 tips to a bathroom make-over using mostly accessories. Not only will you save a fortune but you’ll have updated your bathroom to unrecognizable status in half the time it would take you to re-model.

Give Your Bathroom a Feature Wall

People often forget this or shy away from color when it comes to bathrooms but just like other rooms in your house, the best way of giving it an entirely new look is with color! Now, you will have to take into consideration the color of your existing fixtures and work from there, but most often it’s the standard whites, off-whites and creams that your working with which is easy.

Start by picking a wall. The best choices are your mirror wall where your sink is, or if one with a window, but it’s your pick. If your bathroom is well lit with natural light and spacious enough to pull it off you can go with color on most of it’s wall, otherwise stick with just one. Don’t shy away from using bright shades. Used correctly with the right lighting and accessories it can look modern and classy.

Mirrors

Just changing the Mirror you can immediately transform your bathroom. Don’t go in for a dull, flat, lifeless piece of Mirror mounted on your wall. Choose a mirror with a frame, even a simple frame, but with a frame. It instantly takes your decor levels up a notch.

Next you need to consider size of the mirror. You don’t want to overwhelm or underwhelm your bathroom with a mirror that’s not the right size. I would suggest against wall to wall mirrors for a guest bath and stick to a size suitable to the wall it’s placed on. Besides size, the shape is also critical to the feel of the space. An oval or round mirror gives it a more feminine or dainty feel while a square mirror can set the tone for a contemporary bathroom. Rectangular mirrors are the most common and you can always play with the proportions for effect.

Lighting

Bathroom lighting is key to giving your space the look you are going for. The right lighting can make your small bathroom look larger and more spacious. Soft lighting can be inviting and relaxing after a tiring day.

Consider the Bathroom features you want to highlight and use a light to play on this. For example- Recessed lighting placed on the wall besides or above your mirror work as both, making the mirror an important feature in the space but also serves purpose to light up the users face.

The key is balance, making sure that you have enough light in the right bathroom locations to satisfy need, coordinate the look, and provide the appropriate ambiance.

Accessories

One of the quickest and simplest ways to update your bathroom’s style is by replacing the accessories. This includes towel bars, paper holders, robe hooks, towel rings, laundry baskets, shelves and other small storage units. These can be installed in 2 hours and make a big difference to the space. When you decide to give your bathroom a new look, try purchasing these items from the same source to achieve uniformity and completeness of design and placement of these is just as important.

A general rule is two-to-three counter accessories, such as a tooth brush holder, cup holder and soap dish is the best number to avoid clutter and keep a clean simple look. Shelves can be used for potted plants, potpourri or votive candles along with other decorative pieces you may like to add.

Linens
Other than toilet paper and soap, your bath linens are probably the most used in the bathroom. They can bring your whole bathroom look together. Available in all colors, sizes, types of fabrics the choice for linens is endless. One way of picking linens and the most common is to go with coordinating the colors of your towels and linens with the Bathroom theme, but another interesting way to spruce things up is to use a completely contrasting color. This can be pulled of by changing your shower curtains and picking a bath mat in the same contrasting color of your linens.

Give some or all of these a try and you’ll have your bathroom looking like new in no time!