Girls' Bathroom Makeover Reveal for $100 Room Challenge

How $100 and lots of succulents transformed this teen girls' bathroom into a fresh, fun, and functional space to start the day right.

We've crossed the finish line on this $100 Room Challenge, and I'm thrilled with how it turned out. Plus, for the first time ever, my budget came in at exactly $100!

If you're just tuning in, you might be wondering what the $100 Room Challenge is, and you can read more about that in the first post of this series. Then hop over to week 2 where we stained the bathroom vanity and painted a cabinet, and then week 3 which was all about painting walls in this small space bathroom.

Finally, here's a couple of quick before pics to remind you of where we started.

Now let's get into the fun stuff, the reveal!

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Girls Bathroom Makeover Reveal

We don't give a lot of thought to bathrooms usually. But we should because besides our bed, they are usually the place where we start and end our day.

For my two teenage girls, I really wanted them to start their days in a place of peace and encouragement. (If you've ever been a teenage girl, you might remember that the mirror was not always a source of encouragement.)

It sounds like a tall order for a bathroom, but with a few touches of nature, in the form of plants and succulents, and a few encouraging printed words, this bathroom feels a lot calmer and happier now. Here's how we did it.

Fresh Paint

The first order of any room makeover is always paint, especially when I'm trying to stretch my budget. The walls in here were a drab pinkish beige, which was OK for a while, but the girls both agreed on a grayish green from Sherwin Williams, called Bay Sands. I love how it provides a neutral backdrop for all our bright green plants.

Painting small spaces like bathrooms is all about edges and details, but it was so worth it to transform this space into more of a spa-like bath.

I also painted the small cabinet next to the toilet and shower with leftover white paint from my kitchen cabinets.

Grounded Colors and Stained Cabinets

I decided to stain the vanity cabinet a deep dark brown. I thought that would compliment the greenery from the plants, while also downplaying the orange tones in the granite countertop.

Not to take the metaphor too far, but I think the dark brown sort of represents the ground, or dirt, that that is the foundation of any good garden. It makes sense to me that the cabinets should be dark and grounded, so the fun stuff on top can really shine.

Fun Artwork

I found the two prints that hang above the hand towels at Hobby Lobby on the 75% clearance aisle. One was $3 and the other was $4. I love their clean white frames, modern style, and quirky plants.

Easy Organization and Storage

Every bathroom needs good storage and organization. The rings and towel bars that lived here before never worked for my kids. They always threw their towels haphazardly onto the bars, and half the time then ended up in heaps on the floors or countertop.

So I ditched the bars and rings for hooks. I found this whimsical "towels" rack that fits perfectly in the space behind the door to the shower room.

And these hooks with spaces for labels were perfect for hand towels next to the sinks. I love name labels on things like this.

I bought the hooks at Hobby Lobby while they were on sale for 50% off, so all of them together only cost $12.

Then I picked up a four-pack of plastic storage baskets for all the stuff under the sinks. Now the girls can pull out a basket like a drawer. They each keep all their toothbrushing and face washing tools in a basket, so it's easy to corral and put away after using. Hopefully this means it won't end up all over the counter every day!

Fresh Linens

The whole point of this teen girl bathroom makeover was to add a touch of sophistication to the space, and that meant the old flowery shower curtain and hot pink towels had to go.

We replaced the shower curtain with this modern black and white patterned one from HomeGoods ($20), and I got a new black curtain rod and rings from Walmart ($11) to complete the look.

I love how the little stripes look a bit like arrows.

Then I dug into my stash of white towels from our AirBnB house and supplied fresh white bath towels and hand towels. No more mismatched towels piling up on the the floor! (Now the piles at least match.)

Free Printable Wall Decor

I wanted something special and personal in the empty space above the toilet, so the girls helped me pick out a Bible verse they liked, and I designed this printable.

Then I repurposed an old IKEA frame by painting it glossy black, and painted the mat a vibrant green. Now it's a fun pop of color in this neutral space, as well as a good reminder to start the day with hope.

Want your own? You can get this free printable, as well as access to my entire printable library by signing up for my newsletter here.

Lots of Plants!

We had no room in the budget for anything else once we finished our other projects, so our plants (the entire basis for our design) had to come from what we already had in the house. Fortunately I had plenty to choose from!

I'll tell you a little secret. Every one of these plants is fake. I love real plants, but alas, I have a black thumb. And this bathroom gets very little natural light. So I opted for easy.

Fake plants used to be awful, but there are so many good succulents and green plants out there that look real and come in cute containers. Here are some options similar to the ones I used:

• Faux greenery in concrete pots
• Mini fake succulents in white pots
• Tiny artificial succulents in terracotta pots

I finished off the look by digging up a white wooden tray from my decor stash and some glass containers for cotton balls and Q-tips. Together with the plants, it makes a nice centerpiece for the countertop, and hopefully will discourage the accumulation of hair care products and makeup in this space.

How we Spent $100 in this Girls' Bathroom Makeover

It's always amazing to me how fast $100 goes! Here's how our budget broke down. (And I do mean broke down!)

• Wall Paint: $33 (Sherwin Williams "Bay Sands")
• Cabinet Stain: $0 (Minwax gel stain in "Coffee")
• White Cabinet Paint: $0 (Valspar Cabinet Enamel in a custom mixed white)
• Wall Art: $7 (Ours were on clearance at Hobby Lobby, but here's another fun option for botanical wall art)
• Storage Baskets: $17 (HomeGoods)
• Towel Hooks: $12 ("Towel" hooks and Label Hooks from Hobby Lobby)
• Shower Curtain: $20 (HomeGoods)
• Shower Curtain Rod and Rings: $11 (Walmart)
• Plants and Decorative Items: $0

That adds up to exactly $100, and I had to get real creative/resourceful for that last item. But that's when it pays to be a decor and craft hoarder!

We ran out of money for cabinet pulls and a frame for the mirror, and there was no way to conjure up the raw materials for those from my stash, but I may come back and add those later.

I'm so happy with how this teen girls' bathroom turned out, but more importantly my kids are too! Some clients can be hard to please, but I lucked out with mine.