5 affordable ways to spruce up your bathroom this spring
I've got a badddd case of the spring-cleaning bug these days! Ever since April hit, I've been eager to clean/rearrange/refresh all the corners of our little home, so I'm starting small, room-by-room. My first spring focus was health and wellness (read about my journey with that here), but now that I've established a routine in that area, I'm devoting more time and energy to some aesthetic things on my agenda, starting with the bathroom!
Here are 5 simple, affordable ways to spruce up your own bathroom this spring:
1. Scatter plants & flowers.
Eucalyptus is my favorite greenery to hang in the bathroom. It's not only beautiful but also has great health benefits. Heat and steam from your showers activate its essential oils which tend to stimulate mental activity as well as strengthen your immune system. It's best to switch your sprigs out every couple weeks for maximum freshness! Read more about Eucalyptus benefits here.
If your bathroom has a window, placing plants on the windowsill (or any available shelving) is a natural room-brightener. The pictured cactus has grown a ton since moving it to our shower windowsill! I was worried about it getting too much water from typical shower moisture, but it turned out to be great for it. In fact, it bloomed for the first time ever!
2. Transfer liquids to amber bottles.
This one came by impulse for me...The other day I suddenly decided I wanted all the bottles in our house to look uniform. I put off the impulse, until finding out that amber bottles are SO cheap. Soon enough...I placed a bulk order from Specialty Bottle.
I transferred our shampoo, conditioner, and hand wash into brown, plastic pump bottles. Glass is preferable in my opinion, but since our ledges are narrow, I decided to get plastic for these since it'd be all to easy for glass to fall and break.
Since we live in dryyyyyy dry dry Colorado, lotion nearby is a must. I'm currently loving this Geranium Patchouli lotion, by San Francisco based Etta & Billie. It goes on so smooth (unlike a lot of other thick lotions) and the scent is mild and calming. The lotion is general body lotion, so I use it on my hands, arms, and often as face moisturizer too, since the ingredients are so clean. Their skin balm tubes are great on-the-go options too, made of a skin nourishing mix of organic cocoa butter, fair trade shea butter, and organic virgin coconut oil.
3. Be innovative by utilizing unlikely items for practical purposes.
For a long time, I had this vision of a copper pipe as a shower curtain rod! I hadn't seen it anywhere before which made me want to do it even more. It has become one of my favorite parts of our bathroom. I'll be sharing a DIY on it next week!
Some other unlikely items you could incorporate in your bathroom are a hanging "fruit" basket and a ladder. We use this thrifted copper basket to hold bathroom items instead of a shower rack. Candles and bath oils are great to store in them. I recently added a bath scrub brush to be more efficient and do a brief scrub at the end of showers here and there!
I found this simple ladder at IKEA on clearance for $2, which is great for holding our toilet paper and hand/bath towels. Kyle added a small dowel in the ridges to serve as a toilet paper holder and then the top edge is great for holding soft linen towels like this one from House of Baltic Linen! This particular towel is so big that it couples as a table cloth for us!
Another way to hold towels/toilet paper I've seen lately is by rope! Here's a neat DIY for that.
4. Incorporate a lamp for relaxing low-light during evening time.
It's so jolting to sleepily stumble into the bathroom to brush your teeth, only to be woken up by a bright, overhead light. Adding a small lamp (perhaps with a low-light Edison style bulb) will give you just enough light to perform your nighttime routine without the drag of being woken up by harsh light.
5. Have a designated bathroom candle to light when guests are over or for night-time showers.
Candles are an instant relaxer! Lighting a bathroom candle (or two) is such a welcoming signal to guests, as well as a great accessory for wind-down showers or baths. Our current ones are from Alixx.
I sincerely hope these tips help you to spruce up your own bathroom(s) into a springy, relaxing part of your home! Feel free to comment below with any of your favorite bathroom musts. I'd love to hear from you!