Five Quick Ways to Refresh Your Guest Bathroom For Summer

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MegaSummerRefresh #CollectiveBias

We have never really been people who have other people over very often.

For years, I had a list of excuses. My house is a mess. My house is too small. I have roommates who don’t like people. I have children who have bedtimes. My bathroom is gross and people will want to use my bathroom.

Finally, we live in a house that allows us to have people over. There’s enough room for everyone, we have a beautiful yard and I’m emotionally in a place where people in my house do not freak me out too badly.

Also, I spent an inordinate amount of time cleaning my house and throwing out baggage (both literal and figurative) to make room for other people in my space.

So this is the summer. This is the summer where I don’t cringe when Wolfgang asks to have friends over. The summer where I say “I can host it!” The summer where I open the doors and allow people into my space without that frozen smile that says “dear lord, please don’t open the office door because all my secrets are shoved in there and also a whole bunch of stuff I don’t want you to look at.”

*cough*

So after spending time (and vacation time from the muggle job) sorting and purging and cleaning the bedrooms in our house to prepare to host guests this summer, it was time for the bathroom.

The bathroom was looking grungy, with kids and baths and toothbrushing detritus (and spit) everywhere, and I really had not taken the time to “decorate”, short of a trip to Target when we first moved to buy a couple of towels because the bathroom was bare.

Now, y’all know I’m a single mom. I have only so much money and time, and I don’t like to waste either. So when I “redid” this bathroom, I had to keep it quick and on a budget.

I didn’t want to remodel, repaint, or do anything that would require a lot of DIY, because ain’t nobody got time for that. Especially not a mom who’s got two kids finishing up the school year, all the end-of-year projects and banquets and concerts and gifts to make and parties to host and attend.

So in the interest of getting this done in a quick, inexpensive and pret-a-porter kind of way, I headed to Target.

Toilet paper was in big letters on my list, so I grabbed some Quilted Northern® Mega Rolls. (Side note: I’m usually a “grab whatever is on sale” kind of girl for most products, but let’s be honest here…I did a gig with Quilted Northern a few years ago and I’ve been loyal ever since. PLUS, these Mega Rolls are 4 rolls in one, meaning I have to kvetch at Wolfgang a LOT less about forgetting to change the roll when it runs out, and that’s a HUGE bonus.)

Right now, you can get 10% off Quilted Northern Mega Toilet Paper using the Target Cartwheel app through July 8! 

So after grabbing my toilet paper and a few other items for my shabby-chic/rustic inspired bathroom idea, I was ready to rock.

I was able to get this whole shebang done (including the shopping and the vigorous scrubbing of the floor) in one afternoon, and my bathroom is all decorated for the summer, plus I have a rather generous stock of nice full-looking rolls of those Quilted Northern Ultra Soft & Strong® Mega Rolls (though Quilted Northern Ultra Plush® Mega Rolls would have been nice too!).

In the interest of helping some of my fellow harried moms get at least ONE room in their house looking nice while their kids are running amok all summer, here are…

FIVE QUICK WAYS TO REFRESH YOUR
GUEST BATHROOM FOR THE SUMMER

1. Pick a general theme. It’s so much easier to stay in budget when you have a main theme to stick to. That way, you aren’t all over the map. My bathroom refresh was inspired by that gorgeous clawfoot tub I have, and I worked the rustic/shabby chic theme in a simple way.
2. Deep clean. Pull EVERYTHING out of the bathroom before you put anything new in. Rugs, towels, all your toiletries, everything. Wipe down all surfaces and shelves. Use a scrub to get that gunk out of the tub. Clean the toilet (especially the floor around it). Thin out your toiletries, as nobody really needs 8 kinds of hair gel honestly. When you put everything back, group it by product type.
3. Hang some wall art. Bathroom walls need love too! It will sass up your bathroom so much to hang something on those blank walls.
4. Use what you’ve got. When you’re working on a budget, it’s best to take what you have and work with it. I had some lovely grey towels in this bathroom already, so I worked the rest of the decor in around the yellow/grey theme I already had going. It kept the budget way down, and if I need to refresh them at a later date, I will have the budget to do it!
5. Spoil your guests with a quality toilet paper. Think about it: would you want to use single ply toilet paper at someone else’s house? Or have to change the roll? With Quilted Northern® Mega Rolls, you change the roll less often than with other rolls, and you’re treating your guests like you should.

I was SO EXCITED about this bathroom refresh, I even made a video! Check it:

I was actually able to pick up EVERYTHING for this refresh in one trip to Target AND stay under my budget – including what MIGHT be a whole summer’s worth of Quilted Northern® Mega Rolls (depending on how many teenagers I have traipsing through my house this summer)!

If you liked my bathroom refresh, then you’ll love this! You can go vote on your favorite Quilted Northern character-inspired bathroom (choose from Daddy Gator, Little Miss Puffy Tail or Sir Froggy) and you could  win a $1,000 Grand Prize or $250 Target GiftCard!

Sweepstakes will run from June 19 to August 1, so don’t delay, enter today!

#MegaSummerRefresh #Sweepstakes (6/19 to 7/31)