Unisex Bathroom Decor ~ Elinor Get Style

Unisex Bathroom Decor

Fun, modern, gender neutral bathroom

The kids' bathroom is done!

I am FIN-A-LY sharing our kids' bathroom remodel- completely finished! The final reveal took longer than expected because I was looking for the perfect artwork and of course, monogrammed towels take time.

Derek and I bought our home in March of 2012. It was a TOTAL fixer. We bought it knowing that we would fix it up over time. We didn't have the money to re-do it all at once, so we've been tackling projects over time.

The bathrooms are pretty much the last of the renovation. We have two full bathrooms and one pretty big powder bath downstairs. Honestly, I decided to redo the kids' bathroom first because I already had the vision of what I wanted to do. Our master bath will just have to wait… for now!

Start with the bones.

To keep costs low, keep as much as you can, or are willing to without sacrificing your end result.

The complete bathroom remodel took about 2 weeks from start to finish. Everything in their bathroom was redone minus the existing tub and toilet. You can really save a lot of money by keeping your existing tub and vanity. Unfortunately, their bathroom needed a new vanity. It wasn't at a standard height, the countertop was cut in a super odd shape and the storage situation was awful.

So many fun, new changes transpired in their bathroom. A new vanity was installed, new light fixture, fresh bright paint, classic shower tiles, modern floors and fun accents. Their bathroom is tiiiiiny which means it needed to be light and bright.

Think about the overall look + feel.

It's important to have a dominant base color that keeps the look of the bathroom cohesive. I chose Chantilly Lace by Benjamin Moore, which is a bright, cool, white for the walls.

Since we have a very opinionated daughter and a son who can't give his opinion quite yet, I made the executive decision to go with a fun, modern, gender neutral look. If it were up to Penelope, she would have decorated their bathroom in rainbows with multi-colored everything, at least that's what she told me. Rainbows weren't high on my design list and having a ton of colors all over the bathroom didn't really tug at my heart strings,per se.

If you've seen pictures of our home on Instagram or here on the blog, you know I love a classic black and white space with neutral colors. Theo's monochromatic nursery is the perfect example of a modern black and white nursery. So, it's not surprising I designed a modern, black and white bathroom for the kiddos.

Their bathroom had an original vanity with a baby blue sink and a yellow countertop. Let's not forget about the bright yellow walls, either. The tiles on the floor were a muddy cream color and they looked super dingy. Their new bathroom vanity originally came with silver handles but I spray painted them black to match the faucet.

Work with the styles you've chosen.

I would describe their bathroom to be modern and fun with traditional elements. If you're going retro, you may not want to add Victorian light fixtures, catch my drift?

Their light fixture from Lucent Lightshop is one of my favorite accents to their bathroom. It's so unique and modern being two toned. Their new mirror has an industrial look to it making it modern yet very traditional. By adding a smaller statement mirror, the bathroom feels bigger. The original mirror was so big, it felt like it took up the entire wall.

I went with bright white classic subway tiles and white grout for the shower walls. Originally, the shower tiles stopped a couple feet below the ceiling line and now they go all the way up to the ceiling. Having the tiles go all the way up to the ceiling border creates an illusion of a bigger space. All the safety handrails were taken down and we added a shower niche for additional storage.

Now, onto the suuuuper fun part!

The decor: Choose complimentary colors to your base color.

The decor, the decor, the decor! Finding black and white accents were incredibly easy to find. So really, I had the most fun and best time with this. I saw this toothbrush holder and soap dispenser at Target on one of my outings and loved them. Naturally, I scooped them up before the bathroom vision was even set in stone.

I added gold and gray as complimentary colors to the overall look as well and loved adding pieces to round out the finished look. I've always loved Anthropologie's home line and fell in love with so many of their things I added them throughout the bathroom. The the towel ring, toilet paper holder and towel hooks are all from there.

This picture of a bull stood out to me when I saw it on Minted. I first thought about the sayings "grab life by the horns and get what you want" and "take the bull by the horns". This picture made me think about being fierce and facing life head on, looking straight on ahead just like this bull. Of course, I loved that it was black and white and dramatic.

Determine which elements will be everlasting.

This step is crucial. Styles are always changing and it's vital that you don't pick parts that are expensive and difficult to swap out. For example, don't install a super pricey vanity that is a pedestal sink when you know you'll want and need storage in a year or so. Or, don't add beautiful dark green tile flooring when it might just be easier to add gorgeous emerald green accents that are removale.

Ultimately, you want to play it safe with the big pieces. You want to design a space that can be changed over time without having to dip into the savings again!

I had such a great time redesigning their bathroom. I know their bathroom will grow with them as they get older. It'll be really easy to swap out a new soap dispenser or shower curtain down the road.

Before. Fun, modern, gender neutral bathroom