The Pink Elephant in the Bathroom

When I bought my 50s era ranch-elow five years ago, the bathroom was without a doubt, the ugliest room in the house. It had 50s era pink and black tiles (not my taste for sure but in excellent condition), a black honeycomb floor (which sucked every ounce of usable light out of the tiny room) and a hideous combo of 70s-era floral wallpaper and a Vegas-style vanity. In a word, it was the bathroom equivalent of a pink elephant. You can see the before photo for yourself below...

My job, on a very tight budget as always, was to keep what was good (the pink tiles) and do what I could to transform the rest from a nightmare into my own little dream of a bathroom. It's taken me five years to finally complete the transformation, but with a lot of personal elbow grease and a little help from my friends at Target, Home Goods and Lowe's, I've created a bathroom any girl would be proud to pamper herself in.

How did I do it on a budget of about $600? Well, I covered the black honeycomb floor, with a 12" marble-look peel and stick tile from Lowe's ($69). I found the adorable cottage-style, marble-top vanity at Home Goods for $279 (similar models sold for more than $1,000 at Restoration Hardware) and added vintage-style Price Pfister faucets from Lowe's (around $100). I replaced the dated (and completely useless) fluorescent 50s sconces with a vintage Price Pfister pair from Lowe's ($79). I removed the wallpaper (it came off like a dream, thankfully) and, after several failed attempts, I found the perfect hue for an accent paint, In Her Eyes blue from Benjamin Moore ($35 a gallon) . The rest was just a matter of bringing in some of my own collection of Shabby Chic accessories and adding great new finds, like the french-inspired metal tins below, available now at Target ($9.99) and aqua and pink Turkish cotton towels from Home Goods. Oh, and of course, my ever-present sanitizing hand soap from Bath and Body Works.

Ah...I think I hear a bubble bath calling my name now.