Giving your 1980s-style bathroom vanity or contractor grade cabinets a full-body makeover doesn’t have to eat up your entire weekend. Here are two projects (yes, two – I couldn’t just pick one) that are quick, easy and will make you fall in love with your bathroom all over again.
We all know wallpaper is back in style after a long stint in hiding, and you’ll never guess what designer/featured blogger Brian Patrick Flynn wants you to do? Wallpaper … your bathroom vanity. If it sounds tedious, don’t fret. You can knock out this project in half a day. Find a vinyl wallpaper pattern that you love but maybe couldn’t handle slathered over an entire wall. After removing the doors, sink and vanity top, you can start pasting the wallpaper and cutting away the excess with a utility knife. Smooth out any bumps or bubbles, reattach the hinges to the doors and vanity base and then add some gorgeous new hardware to complement its new look. (This is where project #2 comes in.)
If wallpaper isn’t your style, you can always add a colorful and playful coat of paint to your vanity for an instantly gorgeous look. But our favorite part of project #2 is the door knockers that have been repurposed as cabinet pulls. In virtually no time at all you can have a brand new bathroom vanity that’s sleek, stylish and wallet-friendly, too.
HGTV has all the step-by-step instructions and materials lists for both the wallpaper project and the simple vanity update. After you conquer these projects, we want to see and hear about your results!
Tell us in the comments below.
Love the pop of color – hate the door knockers. They look like, well door knockers. Very odd.
I love the vibrant vanity color, too. I think it looks so bold and energetic against the gray and white wallpaper.
My girl friend loves this! Was great inspiration for our new bathroom
That's great to hear! What color scheme did you go with in your space?
I dunno, I'm for the knockers, but that's just me! I always get a thrill out of using things in different contexts than they were intended. These anchor knockers would be very on trend in a nautical bathroom.
Oh, yes, they would be quite fun in a beach house bathroom!
Yuck! Love this website but you missed the mark on this one.
no way for wallpaper after taking wall paper down in a 27 yr old home where they never primed and had to reskim all the walls by hand and sanding and dust everywhere never never never–get creative with paint first!
I have had the same experience…remember the green and white fuzzy wallpaper?? We had to replace the wall…The stuff would not come down.
LMAO-I feel your pain
Totally in agreement about the wallpaper. Never, never again. Paint is so much better and it can be changed very easily.
I have done all the wallpaper that I plan to do in my lifetime. We just took down wallpaper and washed off the GLUE from our garage walls that has been there for about 30 years. We didn't have to paint BUT we could have painted 15 times easier than removing all the glue. I think putting it on a bathroom vanity cheapens the look of the bathroom. Painting it looks far better. After 35 years…..I will buy a brand new vanity.
Jill, I agree, it does take on the look of cheap…make stripes with paint. Kill the wallpaper, besides it won't stay if there is any splashing much..
Actually, don't care for either one. Too busy.
I agree….I am sorta liking the black stripes though.
Papering a cabinet? How cheap looking. I would rather buy something new!
Both of these projects, the wall covering for vanity and the door knockers are great for a photography shoot, but for someone to actually attempt the wall covering; unless you're a pro at this, it could end up looking deranged. And the knockers, that's just silly and people would think you're a little kooky using them as handles.
This is such a humous response. I do agree with "kooky" as a matter of fact that was my first thought before I read the comments.
Sorry, I meant humorous as in "Funny"
Ugh! What a way to mess up otherwise beautiful bathrooms – walls, mirrors. Cheapo.
Did I read "remove the vanity top"? How easy is that??? Painting or even faux painting would be much easier and probably look and wear better. I'm not a fan of the wallpaper used in this way nor of the door knockers. A househunter would have a laughing fit over either of these.
True
I like them both. For someone that wants to update their house without $ coming into the picture. It's a great idea. The door knockers I love – gives it a kind of custom look. Thanks for the ideas..
A few years back I wallpapered my ugly "pink" formica desk with a woodsy looking paper. I used polyurathane over the top of it (2 coats) and I am still using that desk today. It works great and if you pick the right pattern it can easily not show seams.
How clever!
Thank you, it is a built in desk, It has held up beautifully and you would never know I am hiding pink formica underneath.
Two wallpapered vanities, double yuck!!
To stay budget friendly in my bathroom remodel, I removed the "kick" from my solid 30 year old 55" cabinet, lifted it 6" with stout decorative legs, painted it chocolate, added satin nickel pulls, then topped it with large travertine tiles and a vessel bowl that sits deep in the counter. Great look for less than $200.
sounds great!
How creative was that? Love the tips! Bet it is a beauty! Thanks, Shelia
Now THAT sounds beautiful.
This is an idea that sounds beautiful and classy!
Like Sue Ball said – once you have had and tried to remove lots of wallpaper, you do not want to ever have wallpaper again. I finally got it off one bathroom and now need to tackle a big kitchen with late 80's out of style wallpaper. So hard to get started with this project. Paint would be so much easier to redo.
I took wallpaper out of my kitchen a few years ago because I told a friend how hard it was going to be. She came over about a week later and said, this wallpaper looks like you might have one or two problem spots but overall it will come off very easily. She found a corner and before I could say anything had pulled off a nearly 6 foot section of wallpaper. We had all the wallpaper gone in under 2 hours. The part that took the longest, was where the cabinets were on top of the wallpaper.
I hope that yours goes as quickly as mine did.
I agree, wall paper of old is old.
They both look cheep and crappy. Trailer trash kinda looking..Sorry. But it is true.
First its "cheap" secondly its a great way to disguise an ugly old vanity with wallpaper. The knockers are too big in proportion with the doors and look bad.
They both look so tacky
those are 2 reasons to redo your bathroom!!! Very ugly and tacky to say the least!
Dislike throwimg cold water on someones idea of "beauty". However not exactly what I would want in any of my homes. But beauty, like art, is in the eye of the be-holder isn't it.
I get ill thinking about wall paper. I guess designers can't dream up anything new so wallpaper is an easy design trip to collect some cash. Surely designers can do better than this. I agree it looks verrrrry tacky. This designer would never get past my front door.
Love the striped wall paper on the wall,sink and faucet but the cabinet ugh…….
I hate to say this, but this is so typical HGTV. If it's not craftsman, it's geometric and I'm really getting tire of both. I agree with most comments…deep six the wallpaper.
well…. you never know…… right?
Wallpaper is meant for walls, door knockers are meant for doors. I just don't like the look.
didnt like either, new cabinet,bowl and faucet at home improvement store around $400– so if youre gonna pay a plumber to remove the "top" and reinstall it too, why not pay him to put in the new vanity- you'll love it for many years, I do caroline, dallas, ga
Just wondering the durability of these cabinets, it seems when you keep opening the doors that might tend to make the paper become loose and wrinkle. We just took wallpaper off our kitchen walls, lots of hot water with vinegar to remove it but them we had to scrape, sand, etc. it was difficult. We went back to painted walls, love it.
Actually whoever came up with the idea of putting wallpaper on a vanity….what was THAT person smoking??? I mean really…wallpaper is called WALLpaper for a reason…cause you put it on WALLS! Duh! And just how long woudl you think that vanity would stay looking like that? I mean how durable is wallpaper to washing your face and hands every day, not to mention accidently "bumping" it….it would last as long as a snowball in He–….that's how long!
Really reaching for a makeover!
That look is fine for a restaurant but could not live with it everyday its just too busy.
You'd be much better off just buying a new vanity. Wallpapering a vanity is just plain foolish. Chances are that if you have an old ugly vanity, you also don't have state of the art ventilation. That means your bathroom is a high humidity room. That wall paper will peel off in no time. Arghh…
Also, the designer's suggestion to "just take off the vanity top" of course does not mention, that you would have to undo all the plumbing. It's only worth doing if you then install a new, better, storage-smart new vanity. Neither of those in the pictures is worth saving. They're ugly, papered, painted or not. Plus the walls are wallpapered too. Way too busy, and ugly to boot
The door knockers are pretty funny. The look versus the durability of refinishing something is always an ongoing battle I think. We like the idea of something but once we create it we realize we have to live with it–this is probably a great example… Now, I think If it were me and I wanted to try something crazy I would take an image of something I loved (like a Japanese Hiroshege print) and enlarged it at kinko's and mod podge the whole damn thing to the vanity- then cover it with two-part resin, so no amount of humidity would mess that baby up. Anyway, that's just me–and remember it's your house, do what the heck you want to it.
For more design silliness, check out:
http://www.aretedesign.blogspot.com
Cheers!
arete design
Well, I like both ideas. Actually have already painted one bathroom cabinet and it was beautiful! I own a home and lease another. The quest bath in the leased home will soon be updated!! Thanks
I actually thought these were "before" shots and was looking for the "afters. I think they are busy and cheap looking esp the one on the right. The door knockers are more distracting than stylish.
I applaud the use of texture mixed with the bold color in both of the baths. Although it is not something I may do in my own home it inspires me to think beyond the much over-worked looks we have seen.
PS. As for all the negative comments posted above.. it is sad that your supposed level of taste is not matched by your level of courtesy.
After reading the comments, I conclude, there is a lot of drab neutral homes out there! To the designer, I think the wallpaper is a great idea on cabinets when polyurathaned over to protect from the wet. I also think the choice of wallpaper is lovely. The knockers are a cute idea as well, however, they are too big for the size of the doors and it shows. It does make you think outside the box when it comes to door handles though,and instead of bashing the idea, it makes me want to consider other options besides the typical door handles. Thanks for sharing, and forgive the nasty comments, as they haven't got a creative bone in their bodies!
I became an Interior Designer in 1973 and retired a few years ago. These ideas have been around before–and were viewed as nightmares a few years later. The wallpapered cabinet wil be ruined when the paper is removed, and think about it…using the door knockers will result in fingernails scratching the paint behind them. Plus, the door knockers are so out of proportion they make the cabinet to look even smaller than it is. I confess, I sold thousands of rolls of wallpaper during my career, but I can't see myself ever using or recommending wallpaper again.
I painted two bathroom vanities in my house. They were ugly, cheap, builder-grade cabinets, but I couldn't afford to replace them so I painted one black and one espresso and added contemporary brushed-nickel pulls. When I showed them to people they thought that I had replaced them with new ones and they couldn't believe it when I told them that I had only painted them! If your vanity is old or cheap looking, some glossy oil-based paint goes a long way on a tight budget!
I agree with most of this post, I am not too sure about all that wallpapering.. Especially on a bathroom vanity. I really did not like the look, looks dated. The doorknockers just does not do it for me.
Wallpapered a stairwell in our house, when we first purchased it. Gradually over time it became boring (and shabby, as seams began to curl open). Taking it off and getting the glue off to get a good surface for paint was a HUGE investment in time and sweat! Everytime I look at wallpaper samples, I pull my hands back , remembering the pain.
Like many above, I just finished removing old wallpaper out of my guest bath, dining room & kitchen (What was I thinking when we built this house!!?!?!?). Channeling Scarlett O'Hara, "With God as my witness, I will NEVER have wallpaper again, regardless of how popular it is!"
Wall paper really? Both look really cheap and just plan BAD. Painting is sooo much easier and much more professional looking and more crisp. As for the door knockers well again cheap, cheap, cheap looking. The whole effect is so icky. Would not even think of doing something like that w/ wall paper A 30 yr old bathroom should really get a new vanity and fixtures.
looks more like "Desing on a Dime" or a Nickel! Save up and get it done right.
That croc-looking vanity looks amazing. Definitely going with that for our new guest bathroom.
I love the ideas that you have…Can't choose just one, they are all great!!! Thank you for sharing it with us.
That's Really nice.Background specially wallpaper really added beauty of the Bathroom.Good concept really like to apply in my home also.Thanks for such a nice Blog waiting for more such blogs which give different ideas to renovate different area of the House.
why don't this work?
ughhh, no