I am so excited to show you this makeover!  I finally finished the kids’ bathroom and I love it so much more than when we first moved in. Come see how I turned a blah guest bathroom into a super cute whale-themed kids bathroom!  (Full disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Your support is awesome!)

Here’s a little taste of the “after” bathroom:

Let’s go back to where it all began… So when we first moved into our house last October, there were all sorts of fun colors in every room (most of which were an awful, dark red). The spare bathroom was no exception.

Yellow walls with black and red décor? Oy.  It was a little harsh for my taste, to say the least. So off I went to find out what kind of theme I wanted that would work for both my son and daughter to share. I had already changed the bathroom a little bit, but only by putting up what I already had. So here’s what we started with:

Not too awful, but definitely not what I wanted for the kiddos.  After scouring Pinterest, I decided that whales were super cute and versatile! Plus, whales seem to be everywhere, so finding things to fit the theme wasn’t too difficult.  The first thing that needed to go were the yellow walls. We decided on blue paint with wainscot and chair rail on the one large wall. I set to work taping off everything to get it ready. (The whale painting was the first thing I purchased and what made me choose the theme – I bought it at one of those wine/painting parties, which are so fun!)

Here’s the spot we tested out the paint and taped off where the wainscot would go, which is pictured right underneath.

Next, I decided to change out the brass and silver fixtures. I decided that I didn’t want the silver faucets or any of the 1990’s brass that is EVERYWHERE throughout the house.

After researching how much it would cost to replace all the fixtures ($20-$30 for ONE doorknob!) I did some digging around for other options. Lucky for me, Pinterest was to the rescue once again! I found out that I could spray paint them oil-rubbed bronze! I know, it sounds crazy. And does it last? The answer is yes, and some people have had it last for years!  I bought a few cans of Rust-Oleum Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint and it was seriously magic! For $5-$6 a can it’s a bargain upgrade.

I started with the faucets. At the time, my husband was on a trip and when I told him my plan he said I could just wait for him to come home if I wanted. Um, no thanks. I’ve got this. A couple YouTube videos later, and I was on my way…

Yeah buddy! It was a little more complicated than I thought it would be (shutting off the water, taking it apart under the sink, etc.) but I’m so glad I learned how! I’ll do another post on a spray paint tutorial to show you how I did it. But after I painted the faucets and whale hooks, I decided to do the light switch plates and even the toilet paper holder!

Here’s what the faucets look like now. Why yes, I did reinstall them myself!!

So much better! Next we put up the wainscot and chair rail, as well as the whale hooks (from Hobby Lobby) that I also spray painted.

I knew that I wanted to put up some bath pictures of my kids, so I ordered 20″x20″ canvases of my favorites and put them up. I LOVE how it turned out!  I highly suggest measuring your space to decide which size will work best. I originally thought that 10″x10″ would be ok, but when I measured it out that would have been way too small. So glad I went bigger!

I found this wooden whale wall décor at Hobby Lobby, but when I chose the colors for the bathroom it didn’t match at all…

So I whipped out my acrylic paints and painted it myself! It took less than 15 minutes to turn it into this (I used the shower curtain I bought at Target as the color reference):

Now he’s right above the door, and he matches!

I also used my amazing Silhouette Cameo machine to cut out vinyl whales for my accessories. I bought this plain bathroom set and stool from Target:

And turned it into this:

I love how it turned out! My Silhouette Cameo has come in so handy for so many projects that it has practically paid for itself. I’ll be posting more of those soon.

After that, it was all about the details!  Even though I was in love with the painting I bought, it didn’t exactly match the colors I had picked. So of course I had to repaint it to match. Ahhh, much better!

I love these happy little whales! I got the whale figurine and whale tail from Hobby Lobby and I had the shelf already, but I think it was from Target.

Then I added a few more bath pictures of the kids in cute frames (from Hobby Lobby).

And then came the towel holder and light switch plates. The towel holder was the only thing I bought that I didn’t spray paint; it was already oil-rubbed bronze.

Here’s what it looked like before!

Then we replaced the light fixture, which made a huge difference! (Purchased from Home Depot.)

I also added a new (oil-rubbed bronze of course!) shower curtain rod and little whale hooks! Adorable!

There you have it! That is how I made over my kids’ bathroom – small changes can make a huge difference! Have any questions? Let me know below!

Xoxo,

The Flight Wife