French Cottage Bathroom Reveal

Don’t ever let a dark and dingy bathroom lead you into the depths of despair!  Enjoy this inspiring reveal of our new French Cottage Bathroom makeover, including the drastic “before” and “after” images.

*This post contains affiliate links to my recommended products.  Sources are found throughout this post or on our “Shop Our Home” page.

I love a good “before” and “after”, don’t you?

For my own kicks and giggles, let’s just start this post out with a really good reminder of what our small bathroom used to look like, and how we found it when we moved into our 1990’s home.

Sad. Sad. Sad.

What’s even more sad is that my wide angle lens bit the dust right when I wanted to take these pictures.  So we will have to settle for 2 wide angle, slightly grainy, iphone shots for now.

(Any recommendations for a good wide angle lens????)

But the good news is, the transformation is still incredibly obvious, and things will get a lot clearer as we take a closer look with my 35 mm lens.  So come on through the door, and let’s discuss all the juicy details of this refreshed beautiful new French Cottage Bathroom!

In true TIDBITS fashion, we worked on building classic foundational elements to the space, and then infused the room with thrift and vintage finds to add character and charm to our home.

Adding a small window to the space was the first major transformation.  It’s my personal philosophy, but no bathroom should be without a window.  Steam, hot irons, hair spray . . . ventilation is good.  After the window, we dug into the other design elements.

The first thing we need to chat about is the breathtaking white marble, provided to us in partnership with Wayfair.  Did you see my bathroom flooring inspiration post where I shared the selection I was debating from?  I also did a French Cottage Bathroom inspiration round up and a design board, where you saw elements that were inspiring this makeover.

There were so many pretty options, but after installing this marble, I had no regrets.  Not a single one.

I’ll be back with my husband soon to give you a ton of tips and tricks for installing marble, but for now I just want to point out what a beautiful backdrop the marble tile shower surround and flooring are for this space.  It really was the key component.  I knew no matter what design decisions I made after that, it would all come together naturally with marble as the background.

Even a perfectly chippy $10 green stool looks stunning surrounded by marble.  And to think my mother suggested I give it a fresh coat of paint!  For shame!

Personally, I think it alone brings in the cottage feel I was hoping for, and is perfect for assisting my wee ones in reaching the sink.

Moving on from the stool . . . let’s talk about the vanity.

She’s a beauty too, and welcomes French style and handy dandy bathroom storage into this space.

I discovered many similar vanities to this one online, but this very one from Houzz fit the dimensions and bill for this particular space.

But you won’t believe how we came across this mirror!  I found the mirror for $6.00 at a thrift store.  It already had a yucky looking frame, so my husband ripped that off and replaced it with a smaller piece of wood trim and we topped it with an accent wood piece I’ve been holding onto for years.

I painted it with some FolkArt Metallic paint, and about $20.00 later, we have a beautiful large mirror!  It isn’t exactly what I had hoped for in this space, but for $20.00 – you won’t see me complaining!

I love this vintage style sink faucet I found on Amazon, and I added a thrift store mirrored tray and other thrifted findings to the countertop.

I even had to make the T.P. holder and waste can attractive for a space like this.

Some other fun finds were this handheld mirror (that my kids conveniently broke), and this half bowl I use to hold a washcloth, comb, and often my phone while I listen to podcasts in the morning.

If you know anything about me by now, you know I love open shelving.  I was thrilled to find this wrought iron detailed shelf for $15 at an antique store, and I’ll show you soon how I painted it up to fit this space better.

I think the butterfly candle holder was found buried in our yard.  It’s a good thing I have very curious children.

Wrought iron is a popular decor element used in European areas, so I was particularly on the thrift hunt for some for this space.  I found a wall sconce candle holder and a some kind of potted plant hanger that I knew would be perfect for towel holders.

The hubs might have thought I’d gone crazy when I asked him to hang them for me.

He’s totally on board now 😉

These towels were a big splurge for me.  I’ve never spent very much on towels before, but when I saw these, I just couldn’t un-see them for this space.  Plus, I did spend $6.00 on the mirror, sooooo . . . . . . . . 

Heading over the the bath/shower area, I used 2 lace curtain panels for the outer shower curtain, and a simple waterproof layer for the lining.

All tied back when needed with some lovely curtain tiebacks.

This bathroom desperately needed a new shower head, so we opted for this detachable head from Delta.

I don’t love the cord hanging in the way, but I find these hand held spray down faucets to come in so very handy with kids.  It was an absolute must for me.

The wide shower head is divine, and I love that there is a handle for turning on the water and the temperature separately.  I can keep it at my favorite temp and don’t have to fiddle with it each day.  Pretty snazzy!  (Not a sponsored post.  I just really like it and wanted to share!!)

I also enjoy seeing my new favorite hair and face products propped up on the tub, ACURE from Grove Collaborative.  The ingredients used are very body and environmentally healthy.  And they smell delish!

I stand by everything Grove stands for and love their products, so if you want to try some out, I have a standing offer with them and if you CLICK HERE you can get a FREE Mrs. Meyer’s soap and $10.00 credit to your purchase right now.  Then you can try ACURE for yourself if you want to!

I hope you enjoyed seeing a glimpse of our newly refreshed bathroom.  The change for us has been unbelievable.  Whenever we take this much care of a space, I find I love to clean it, decorate it and of course – be in it.

Thanks so very much for stopping by to see this reveal, and I’d love to hear what your favorite element was!

If you enjoyed this bathroom reveal, you may also like to see our Master Bathroom reveal!