Homemaking Basics: The $15 Bathroom Makeover

As we live on a very tight budget, there is no way that I could have done up our bathroom in "Bed and Bath Store" style. However, I did find inexpensive alternatives that still resulted in a nice-looking bathroom.

Thrift shops and "dollar stores" are my best friends due to my budget constraints. Even so, a bathmat set at Dollar General costs $6-10. Not much, but I wondered if I could do better. A few aisles over from the bath section, I found a stack of woven floor mats, priced at $1 each.

For one dollar, I thought it was worth a try, so I bought it to replace our old rubber-backed bathmat. This cheap mat has worked wonderfully as a bath mat. The strips of cloth it's woven with absorb water well, it's thin so it dries quickly, and so far it has survived multiple trips through the washing machine (although it did fade rather dramatically during the first wash and turned my infant's cloth diapers a lovely teal color).

For another dollar, I purchased a shower curtain liner that matches my chosen decor color (shades of blue).
The gingham material and ribbon for the curtains I found at a thrift shop, and the punched-tin window decoration was another $1 purchase at a yardsale.

Freecycle contributed the lacy outer shower curtain, and the curtain rod with rings.An empty plastic onion bag provides a great receptacle for bath toys - it's stretchy, plastic, and provides great airflow to prevent mildew. It hangs on a hook attached to a soap/shampoo keeper that I inherited from some forgotten relative.

I have kept my bathroom very simple, however, the little odds and ends that you may want to add are easy to find at inexpensive pricing. Such things as soap dishes, hand towels, soap pumps, toothbrush holders, scented candles, decorative soap, and the like can all be purchased at a "dollar store", for $1 each.

Altogether, you should be able to put together a great look with only a little cash.