Coastal Palm Leaf Bathroom Renovation Reveal

Finally – the powder room / guest bathroom – whatever room you want to call it – full renovation reveal is here!!

Some back story – we moved back in April and our home we bought was built in 1995 – and hasn’t been updated since 1995. But in reality – that’s kind of what we were looking for. All of the modern, or newer build homes weren’t in areas of town we desired to be in, or if they were, they were millions of dollars out of our budget. So, we were kind of desiring a “project” house in a location we wanted to be in.

This house didn’t have that “crispness” when you walked in – which is why it sat on the market for so long. When we toured, we loved the layout and bones of the house – NOT the cleanliness. I’m sure that turned off a lot of buyers, but we had the vision to make the changes to actually make it feel like home.

And one of the first rooms I wanted to make a change in, was my LEAST favorite room in the house – the main floor bathroom that guests use. Let’s take a minute to appreciate this before pic:

Even though it may be the smallest room, it’s a space that’s most likely to be seen by everyone who comes over. Yes, I want to renovate or master bathroom too, but that’s going to be a much larger project and not really a priority because nobody sees it, lol. The guest bathroom downstairs reno could be completed in a weekend with the help of Ross, my Dad and Uncle.

We did a complete gut in the bathroom – EVERYTHING needed to go. The toilet was semi – broken (aka not worth fixing), the wood floors aren’t ideal for bathrooms (leaks can ruin the floor and there was already some damage around the toilet), and don’t even get me started on the VANITY. Ugh. There’s was nothing a paint job could do because of the SHAPE. Anyway, it was actually nice to start from a completely blank slate without trying to salvage anything, because I could be as creative as I wanted!

Here’s the breakdown of what we did for the DIY bathroom reno:

  • Removed wood floors
  • Installed marble tile in herringbone pattern
  • New Vanity
  • New Toilet
  • 3 white Painted Walls
  • 1 Wallpaper wall install
  • New Baseboards
  • Mirror – actually not new! Just spray painted the old one

Not gonna lie – I say “DIY” but if you watched my Instagram Story highlights – you can tell Ross, my Dad, and Uncle did 90% of the work. I was more of the design consultant and errand runner – LOL. But I did learn a lot and my dad passed along the instructions for any future projects!

So I’ll start with the design elements + links to shop the bathroom products in this blog post, and have my dad ghost write a few upcoming tutorial blog posts for all you DIYers. Expect upcoming posts on “How to Install Herringbone Marble Tile” and “How to Install Baseboards.” Let me know if there are any other tutorials / instructions you would want! Or you can watch the video tutorial of the entire bathroom reno HERE on my Instagram Story highlights.

WALLPAPER 

I knew I wanted a feature wallpaper wall. Just 1 wall, because I felt a 5×5 room would be a little overwhelming. Also, it seemed much easier doing it on a 5 ft wall vs a 10 ft wall in a bedroom.

In the quest for choosing the wallpaper pattern….I spent  about 16 hours of google searching, multiple wallpaper website reviews, Instagram hashtag sleuthing, and more.

I had a coastal, “banana leaf” or “palm leaf” California vibe idea in my head – there’s really no inspo pic I had! I have modern / boho taste – maybe like Anthropologie meets West Elm with a blend of Serena and Lily? I’m not afraid of color – and don’t want an all white or super dark home – but definitely want to keep it feeling light and bright.

Banana leaf / palm leaf was also Ross approved – it wasn’t something majorly girly, floral, or bright pink. Trust me, I saw some that majorly caught my eye – but I thought the palm leaf print was a little more classic and brought in the coastal theme.

Searching for “banana leaf” or “palm leaf” wallpaper was a little tricky. I searched a ton of sites – Wayfair, Etsy, Amazon, Carter & Main, Target, WallBlush……there’s so many! It was hard finding a palm print large enough (lots had a small scale) or in a simple green and white color scheme. My final 2 contenders ended up being Carter & Main and Wallpaperie on Etsy – and actually purchased from Wallpaperie. It’s definitely a little bit more expensive per roll – but it is REALLY nice quality! It has a nice texture, non-vinyl so it isn’t toxic and safe for bathrooms with higher moisture levels.

I highly recommend Wallpaperie and they have a ton of prints in the palm leaf print isn’t what you’re looking for.

 

WHITE PAINT

Since 1 wall was a feature wall….the 3 other walls needed a fresh coat of white to really make the wallpaper pop.

LOL…WHITE PAINT. Don’t even get me started on the hardest color choice of all. I read SO MANY BLOG POSTS ON BEST WHITE PAINT……compare and contrast photos….the works. Read all about warm vs cool and Sherwin Williams vs Benjamin Moore. Studio McGee is an all time favorite place for my design inspiration…..and they’ve recommended Benjamin Moore Simply White numerous times. I had a gut feeling I was going to go with Simply White because I’ve heard them recommend it over the last few years of following them, but I still had to do my research. White Dove snuck in there as a top contender at the end, and same with Chantilly Lace….but ultimately I went with Simply White.

I absolutely love Benjamin Moore’s Simply White! I laugh looking at it on the walls now, because it doesn’t look anything special – it just works! It looks perfect and I’m so happy I went with the gut feeling choice of Simply White.

MARBLE TILE

I had no idea how to tile shop, but knew I needed to do it in person. I went with 6×12 tiles as my Dad recommended tile 4 inches or larger for bathrooms for less grout (and also much easier to lay if you are doing it yourself). I could have gone with 6×18 for a more apparent herringbone look, but my Dad also said those tiles break easier! I went with the simple choice and size of 6×12 and super happy with it!

To pick out the marble, I went to Floor and Décor in Nashville. I picked out the marble I *thought* I wanted online – but when I got to the store I picked out something else! They were both marble – but I went with a more white Carrara Marble and less grey option (really hard to tell the difference online).

LIGHT FIXTURE

Gold milk glass bulbs…..exactly what I wanted!!

 

VANITY

Blue / Navy is a trendy color right now – you see it popping up in all white kitchens as an island color so it was forefront of mind. I thought I might have to paint a vanity navy – but nope! I was able to find navy vanities available to buy, with gold hardware! I found it originally at AllModern / Wayfair, but the price was cheaper at Home Depot! I’ve linked all the retailers below so you can price check.

GOLD HARDWARE

Surprisingly, I didn’t have to buy new hardware for the vanity because I actually liked the gold handles it came with. The specific gold I like is “brushed gold” or “brushed brass” or “satin gold” – nothing too yellowy or brassy.

I needed to find a faucet, towel ring and toilet paper holder in brushed brass. Faucets we’re pricier than anticipated – gold was of course more expensive than other colors. Kohler, Moen, Delta are brand names with quality behind them, but I reeeeally wasn’t interested in spending $400 for a faucet. I went with a brand I’d never heard of, Kingston Brass, for under $100! We will see if the gold doesn’t tarnish over time.  It was a little bit more “gold” than I wanted, but close enough for the price. Same with the towel ring and toilet paper holder.- which I found on Amazon!

TOWELS

Now we are getting to the fun part – the accessories! I tried a few – simple white with navy stripe, coral for a pop of pink, and white textured. I ended up keeping the simple white with navy stripe – the Threshold Signature brand from Target was the softest, thickest and fluffiest of the 3.

TRASH & BINS

The trash can I want is on backorder, along with the natural woven bins to store toilet paper on the exposed rack on the vanity.  So I haven’t bought them yet, (well I bought this cute pink trash can but returned bc it made the room look too juvenile) but will update you with pictures when I can order them! Linking them below along with a few similar options.

 

MIRROR

I saved money in the mirror department on this project! I ended up repurposing the old mirror -by spray painting it glossy white. It’s crazy what a can of spray paint can do!

 

ACCESSORIES

I’m not here yet! My Mom gave us a palm tree soap bottle (it’s plastic so technically not reusable but we will refill it lol) that matched the wallpaper perfectly! That’s what currently in our bathroom, so TBD if I officially buy a “real” soap dispenser. Some options below.

For artwork, I’m thinking Palm Beach / Beverly Hills hotel vibes with a pop of pink for the artwork. You can tell I really want to incorporate pink in this room! I’ve tried and failed with the trash can and towels so far. I haven’t found the perfect piece of artwork yet for the room, but I’ll know it when I see it!

So there’s the bathroom reveal! I promise I’ll follow up with more technical instructions on how to actually do the work – aka installing the marble tile, baseboards, and more! Let me know what you think below!

Hi, I'm Anna!

Welcome to the corner of the internet where you’ll find boho & bright style, travel adventures, and life in my latest “hometown” – Nashville, Tennessee. My love and I recently bought a house – and we’re taking on the renovations ourselves! You’ll be seeing more home content here – from DIY tutorials to home decor inspiration. We have a LOT of ideas for this house, implementing slowly one room at a time!

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