Changing your shower curtain is an easy and inexpensive way to transform and update your bathroom. It just may not be quick.
It's a long established fact, here at Exquisitely Unremarkable, that I am a very lazy ~ and very cheap ~ kind of decorator. I enjoy a pleasant view, just as much as the next home decor junkie, what I do not enjoy is the process of making the view pleasant.
I like easy and inexpensive updates and quick results. That is why one of my favorite bathroom pick me ups, is the old shower curtain swap. It can completely change the personality and style of a bathroom in a way that only paint can, but way cheaper. And faster.
Or so I keep thinking that's the case. Until I dig in and I am in the bathroom for hours.
Oh yes, I have swapped out curtains before and I said I transformed my room in less than ten minutes. And I did. I changed that curtain in ten minutes flat, and that included the liner. What I didn't share was the hours of cleaning I did before and after I opened the curtain package.
Not so quick and as I inch ever so much closer to fifty, it's frankly not so easy either.
My kids use this bathroom, day in and day out. They are responsible for cleaning it and as you can imagine their definition of clean and my definition of clean is vastly different.
Exhibit A. Today I asked them, Is the bathroom clean? They answered in unison. Yup.
Yeah. THIS is not clean. THIS is a disaster. I know it doesn't look terrible, but up close it was scary.
It was also bland. Summer has passed and that light, lace curtain wasn't cutting it anymore. At least the tissue box was the right color. The guy's learning.
Anyway, sometime back in August, I saw a charming tasseled curtain on Pinterest and I tracked it down on Amazon and bought it. Easy enough. However, each time I started to think about swapping it out, I was bombarded with thoughts about what may be behind door number one.
With kids, you just never know...a tub that needed my kind of scrubbing, empty shampoo bottles, a floor that should be washed in the corners, a disorganized cabinet and overstuffed drawers. You get the idea.
And I stopped in my tracks.
That curtain sat in the hallway for almost five months because I just couldn't face it. In the meantime, the pile grew. Naturally I would need a new fabric liner behind the curtain (I don't like those vinyl ones.The odor kills me.). I found new towels on clearance. The kids broke another soap pump so I found an elegant one with a matching toothbrush holder. Maybe not as cheap a swap as I thought, huh?
And pretty soon the hallway table was filled with more bathroom accessories than I had in the bathroom. The pile had to go.
So today, I tackled the job. The super simple, very easy, incredibly inexpensive task of swapping out my shower curtain. Who's idea was this?
I have to say, now that it's done, I love it and it was totally worth the effort. Not only is my bathroom looking fabulous and ready for a new season, but it's clean.
Very, very clean.
Of course, the kids are no longer allowed in that room.
At least not until they can walk out leaving it this way.
In the meantime, they can use my bathroom.
I don't have a shower curtain in there. 😉
How to do feel about swapping curtains?
Oh and you know how I'm always saying that things don't really change a lot around here? Check out this photo of this same room from 2014. See, I told you. Once I find something I like, I stick, for a good long time.
Or maybe I'm just boring.
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| Master Bathroom Redo |
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| {Not So} Shabby Beach House |
I'm confused. In some photos the vanity is on the right and in some the vanity is on the left. (It's very pretty)
ReplyDeleteThanks Kim! The bathroom is SUPER small. It's hard to get a photo of the whole room from the inside, so I tool a few shots from the hallway mirror...hence the moving vanity!
DeleteLOL put police tape across the door so your kids can't enter the bathroom....it is so pretty!!! Of course I love the crimson. You have pretty accessories, too!
ReplyDeleteHaha! I should get that tape! And thank you. Every now and then I see a pretty white bathroom and I think, I should paint. Then I swap out the curtain and fall in love with the red all over again. Well, at least when it's clean! 😉
DeleteI love your fringed shower curtain!! I leave things the same forever too. Why mess with perfection?! And I can tell you that swapping a shower curtain totally changes the personality and actually lifts your spirits! You will have to see my latest post to know what I am talking about ;-) We are planning a total gut on our bathroom this winter so I didn't do all the heavy cleaning before I changed the curtain. I did get a new soap dispenser though :-)
ReplyDeleteOh...I can't wait to take a peek! Off to visit you!
DeleteI completely understand what you mean! Kids version of clean and mine are quite different!
ReplyDeleteThat said, your bathroom looks great! The bones are great, so things like a new shower curtain make it look super!
Exactly, Deanna!! They really do try, but it's not the same as mom clean! Thanks for the kind comment, I am in love with those red tassels.
DeleteLOL kids version of what is clean and what is not is so different than ours!!! The curtain is awesome girl. I love the fringe gives a whole new look to this bathroom. Love this.
ReplyDeletexoxo
Kris
I love that fringe, too, Kris! I loved it when I saw it on Pinterest and it's just as pretty in real life...
DeleteGreat job
ReplyDeleteWhy thank you!
DeleteLove the red tassels on the shower curtain, very sporty. I have some projects too that I put off and put off and then finally do them. It always seems that the getting started is the hardest part. Bathroom looks great.
ReplyDeleteGetting started is absolutely the hardest part, Lorri! I have to say, I'm happy it's behind me. Thanks so much!
DeleteI love the red pom poms trims, Kim. It is a great idea for your bathroom. Kisses, my friend.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mia...if I were as crafty as you, I could've added them myself!
DeleteBoth our bathtub & walk in shower have glass doors...which I absolutely hate. You cannot get them clean no matter what. So a few years ago I won a Pier One Gift card & bought a shower curtain for the main bathroom. I still use (&clean) the sliding glass door but the curtain makes the room look so much nicer.
ReplyDeleteI have doors in my bathroom, Jenny. The room is really, really tiny so we opted for them to make the room feel bigger. They are a mess and I hate them. 😉 Every few months, my doll of a husband literally takes them off the track and scrubs them down outside. My friends say, well, you should’ve gotten a custom one not a track, but you know, the glass still gets awful looking. I may get a curtain soon, too. I’m tired of looking at smudgy glass...
DeleteThose pom poms stole my heart, and you boring? Never!
ReplyDeletexxx
They stole my heart, too, Doreen. So did your comment. ❤️
DeleteYour bathroom looks so nice with that shower curtain and tassels. I too love easy changes like that. With a shower curtain at least you can do that and even with the handtowels.
ReplyDeleteExactly, Julie and thank you! I did splurge (well not really, $3 each on clearance) for new towels. Now I just have to keep the kids from using them! Ha!
DeleteLove the shower curtain! Those tassels! LOVE! Now I can totally understand about the clean. Ugh, it takes forever to clean a shower. We need to clean ours, but I can think of a lot of things I'd rather be doing. Ha!
ReplyDeleteThe tassels just drew my in Florence. Once I saw them, there was no way out!
DeleteYour bathroom looks great :)
ReplyDeleteA few weeks ago my curtain ended up in the tub ( something to do with the newest dog member here and my cat )
Being lazy about it I just went to the local Dollar Store ( the last curtain had me visiting numerous places / I think I've mellowed about it all by now :)
I never knew the Dollar Store had shower curtains. I may need to take a peek, Deb. Thanks! And good luck with that pup!
DeleteIt is so true, when you change one thing out, then everything else has to change too! That's why it takes so long to do it, because you know what is coming, ha! I agree with you on the idea of clean. I have been blessed with an amazing daughter who loves to clean! In fact, she has taken on the chore of bathroom cleaning for me since I had my carpal tunnel surgery, and she is amazing. I'm blessed, I know! Plus, we only have one bathroom, so that means I don't have to clean a bathroom at all, ha! Your efforts to spruce up the bathroom look amazing, and I love the touch of the flowers in the vase too! It always feels so much better after a bathroom is clean!!! Have a blessed weekend :)
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely a domino effect, Marilyn! You are super lucky to have a superior cleaner "on staff"! 😉You are blessed! I have to say that my kids are fabulous cleaners, too...when they want to be. Their rooms look like magazine shoots, that bathroom however does not. The flowers have been a bit motivating. Perhaps, they need to stay there all the time and the bathroom will stay super spotless!!
DeleteLove the new shower curtain! My eyes were immediately drawn to that pretty counter and faucet too. Love them! Such a pretty bathroom.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lisa! It’s a tiny bathroom with no window, so it gets a bit dark. I needed a little bit of bling to lighten it up!
DeleteLove the new shower curtain (and I can totally relate). Has anyone ever told you that red was your color? ;)
ReplyDeleteMaybe once or twice! 😉
DeleteYou sound just like me! Although, I've had the same curtain for 6 years... plain white. Boring, but I like it, because I can bleach it :)
ReplyDeleteThe bathroom looks beautiful, my friend.
love to you,
rue
Plain white is my favorite. It's what I just swapped out, because...well, you know....red. 😆
DeleteLove the new curtain, love the color of the bathroom and love the stories you share.
ReplyDeletexx oo
Carla
Carla, your comments always make me smile. Thank you! ❤️
DeleteThat is one very pretty bathroom. The shower curtain is perfect. Love the trim!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Stacey!
DeleteOccasionally I walk into my daughter's bathroom, throw up a little, and run back out. Why is it that girls that are raised by such clean and neat moms can be such pigs? Seriously, my daughter. I just can't. The hair. The soap scum. The mess. The wet towels. The toothpaste everywhere. The floor that hasn't seen a mop in a year. There's a reason when I was shopping for my new home I was very specific that Shannon's bathroom could NOT also double as the guest bath. Nope, not happening! That's the way it was in my rental and I was constantly yelling at her to clean up the bathroom! Now her room is en suite, so she's the only one that has to look at how disgusting of a pig she is! Whew, that felt good to get out, ha ha!! :) The freshened up bathroom looks amazing, Kim - I love that shower curtain!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if boys are the same, Debbie? I really thought girls would be cleaner, but the answer would be a firm no way based on my experience. The pretty curtain is a tiny bit motivating right now, but that will wear off soon. It’s coming!
DeleteIt looks beautiful now!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I have to say, it has motivated my kids to keep it clean!
DeleteAwesome, your choice of trim on the shower curtain just inspired me to add some to the plain linen shower curtain I just made for my husbands bathroom. We are emptynester's now and live in a 2 1/2 bath townhouse, giving both of us our own bathroom...thank goodness, because sometimes our spouses are worse that our kids when it comes to keeping a bathroom looking good.
ReplyDelete~ Elena
I'm so thrilled that you found some inspiration here, today, Elena! And your own bathroom...that sounds dreamy! Sign me up!
DeleteI love the bathroom curtain you put up! It really is pretty, practical and fun!
ReplyDeleteThanks Debbie! I don't know why I left it in the package so long. I really love it.
DeleteI'm so glad I scrolled down and found this post, Kim. And I just went over to Amazon and put the liner in my basket because I've worried so much about the dangerous chemicals in plastic shower curtains. But the only safe ones I've found in the past were bamboo, expensive and didn't sound as if they'd keep clean.
ReplyDeleteYes, your new shower curtain is so pretty, as is the kids' bathroom after their mama cleaned it up and spiffed it up, but I really owe you thanks for the safe fabric liner, and at that price too!
Dewena
Dewena, I am so glad you found this post useful! You know, I hated those plastic shower curtains. I could never breathe when I swapped them out. When the fabric liners came out, I was skeptical, but thrilled. They work and I have used only them for years now. I used to be able to pick them up in the store, but now I see them less and less. Everything seems to be online. I hope it works out well for you, let me know!!
DeleteSo pretty!!! I use those shower hooks, sure makes it easier to switch out the curtain!! I’m trying to find a good black and white striped one right now ❤️
ReplyDeleteThey really do make the job easier, Susan, I agree! Good luck on your hunt. It sounds like a classic design!
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