You know those projects that you complete 80% of the room and think to yourself, “This is good for now. I’ll do the rest in a day or two.” Yup, the boy’s bathroom was one such 80 percenter. I finally took the time to finish the last 20 percent of this bathroom makeover by giving it a refresh with some paint and new knobs.
The bathroom used to look like this:
But, before that, it looked like this:
I find it comical that I took an underwater themed bathroom and gave it a seaside retreat feel. I guess you could say I pulled this big whopper from within the ocean and laid it out on the beach. LOL.
Let’s break it down now. Here’s how to paint a bathroom vanity so it will withstand the abuse of two young boys:
I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)
Materials:
- Valspar paint + primer – Beige Shadow
- Paint brush
- 3M Sandblaster Pro Sanding Sponge 150 grit
- ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape
- Minwax Polycrylic Satin finish
- Shelf liner
- Sumner Street nickel cabinet knobs
(Before I painted the vanity, I gave the mirror frame a quick coat of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Provence. I gently sanded the frame and added Miss Mustard Seed antiquing wax to give it an aged and distressed look.)
Clean off the vanity with a gentle all purpose cleaner or a damp rag.
Remove all the doors and drawers. You can leave the dummy panel on the top if you don’t want to go through the hassle of removing it. Remove any knobs or hardware.
Protect the vanity counter top with painter’s tape. Also, cover the floor and the wall where the vanity meets the wall with painter’s tape.
Rough up the vanity surface with the sanding sponge.
Paint the vanity with two coats of Valspar Paint + Primer in Beige Shadow.
Replace the doors and drawers once they are dry. To protect the bottom of the drawers, add adhesive shelf liner. (Because you NEVER know what two young boys will spill or store in those drawers!)
Apply 3-5 coats of polycrylic protective finish to the entire vanity. Allow each coat to dry before applying the next one.
Re-attach or add new knobs to your vanity.
Stand back and admire!
You can read my tutorial for adding a decorative wall shelf.
The opposite wall still has my branch towel bar.
And I recently added those Waterlogue vacation photos. You can read the tutorial for making your own watercolor art and matting it like a pro.
You can also follow my tutorial for installing board and batten and decorative moulding.
I’m not sure why it took me 3 years to finish this bathroom.
The resulting refresh feels soooo…well refreshing!
Want more ideas for giving your bathroom a refresh? Subscribe to the Lowe’s Creative Ideas magazine:
Or view more creative ideas from the Lowe’s Creative Idea bloggers !
There’s also a magazine app so you can have inspiration on the go! And, don’t forget to follow Lowe’s on Pinterest or on Instagram!
Disclosure: As a #LowesCreator, I was provided with a Lowe’s gift card to purchase supplies for this post. I was not told what to write. All ideas and words are my own.
Pin for later!
We just purchased our home (early 90s build) and the bathrooms and paint were beautifully maintained, but still in the 90s. I love your suggestions. Could we swap out that particular paint for a chalk paint? I like that it seems to be more eco-friendly.
Sure!
I love the paint color on the walls, would love to use it. What is the name of the color and the brand?
Slate Blue by Benjamin Moore 😉
Bathroom looks great! I love the paint color-what is it?
How has the vanity held up with the Polycrylic? I’m thinking of using that for my kitchen cabinets but I’m wondering how well it holds up over time
Leslie, it has held up great!!! And I can tell you that my boys are not easy on that vanity. 😉
Hi, I have a project like that waiting game for me… question: how do you attach a frame to a mirror already on the wall? I wouldn’t want to remove the mirror and damage it, so I’m thinking that there should be a way to attach a frame to it. Can you advise ?
Thank you so much!
Did you sand the surface after every coat of the minwax polycrylic finish?
Elizabeth, for this project I didn’t. I was in a time crunch and the polycrylic was going on smoothly.
Thank you for sharing this. I am quite curious if you added the mirror frame to the existing mirror or did you take out the old mirror and get a whole new one. I noticed that in the first picture, there was no frame on the mirror. I have a mirror with no frame and it looks like it needs one!
Where did you get all your seaside/beachy decorations?! (for someone who lives no where close to water, I am having a heck of a time finding beachy decor for my bathroom!)
Beverly, have you tried craft stores? You could always look on Amazon or Ebay too.
Brittany,
Love your web site and this bathroom. Did you change the vanity top in the boy’s new bath room? I read all the comments and no one mentioned it, but the new bath’s vanity top looks so much brighter and whiter.
Nice job, I really liked the wooden wall trim and towel rack, very unique.