BEFORE | A Plain, Dated Space
AFTER | A Fresh, Trendy Space
After: Simple wall paneling, floating shelves, vintage-style hardware, and lots of white paint better reflect the home’s farmhouse aesthetic.
Inexpensive builder-grade finishes rarely stand the test of time. When Angela Jimenez moved into her 1993 Parker, Colorado, home, her bare-bones bath looked outdated and worn. (See “before” photo at right.)
To add some life to the space, Angela started by painting the walls and vanity, then used a special paint kit to give the laminate vanity top a granite look. Inspired by shiplap walls found in old farmhouses, she attached horizontal V-groove planks halfway up the walls, capping them off with MDF 1×3s.
Angela isn’t alone in tackling a dated builder-grade bath on a budget. In Brunswick, Georgia, homeowner John Shumaker faced a similar challenge in his 1990s primary bath: “particleboard cabinets, laminate countertops, and dated wallpaper made the space feel dull and dingy,” until designer Kim Kelly of Bella Rustica Design covered the wallpaper with shiplap-style pine planks—saving on demolition costs in the process.
The bath belonged to Angela Jimenez, who moved into a 1993 Parker, Colorado, home and inherited a bare-bones bathroom outfitted with the kind of inexpensive builder-grade finishes that rarely stand the test of time. Rather than gut the room, she set out to layer in farmhouse character with paint, paneling, and salvaged scrap wood.
To add some life to the space, Angela started by painting the walls and vanity, then used a special paint kit to give the laminate vanity top a granite look.
Inspired by shiplap walls found in old farmhouses, she attached horizontal V-groove planks halfway up the walls, capping them off with MDF 1x3s.
Before adding new baseboard molding, Angela glued down the ripped sheet flooring and covered it with adhesive-backed driftwood-look vinyl planks, which she chose for their water resistance and easy installation.
Putting her stockpile of scrap wood to use, she framed the existing mirror, built a set of floating shelves, and replaced the old metal towel rack with one she crafted herself, then painted them all white. A new shower curtain covers the sliding doors and adds some color; a wire basket is a stylish storage boost.
Angela is thrilled with how much bigger, brighter, and more up-to-date the room feels. “The farmhouse elements add a cozy, inviting feeling,” she says. “It’s a completely new space.” (Scroll down for the “after” photo and project tally.)
The Project Tally:
- Created shiplap-style wall paneling using V-groove planks from the home center capped with MDF 13s, then added new baseboards $50
- Painted walls with a quart of light gray and used a leftover can of white on the planking and vanity $10
- Updated the vanity with a countertop paint kit made to emulate granite that was bought (but never used) for the kitchen renovation $0
- Covered old sheet flooring with vinyl planks $20
- Built floating shelves and a towel rack from scraps of pine, plywood, and MDF that she had mostly on hand, plus crafts-store wood knobs she found on sale $32
- Added a new shower curtain and rod, brushed-nickel bin and bar pulls, and metal accents, including a wire basket and a candle lantern $84
Total: $196
This kind of frugal refresh is increasingly rare. According to the This Old House 2026 Bath Survey, just over a quarter of homeowners (25%) managed to keep their total bathroom renovation under $5,000, while the majority spent between $5,000 and $20,000. Staying on budget mattered to nearly everyone surveyed: 36% called it “extremely important” and another 45% called it “very important” when making renovation decisions.
Homeowner Insights: Even modest bath projects can balloon unexpectedly. In the This Old House 2026 Bath Survey, 32% of homeowners reported their renovation cost more than they originally budgeted, with water damage repairs (24%), structural issues (22%), and mold remediation (18.1%) cited as the most common hidden costs. A cosmetic-only approach like this one—paint, paneling, and hardware over existing surfaces—is one of the surest ways to sidestep those surprises.
