Ideas for Decorating a Rental Bathroom Using All Temporary Touches

I wasn’t really planning on giving our downstairs bathroom a huge makeover. Some art, a rug, and maybe a small window treatment were all I really had in mind. But when I stumbled upon a few lucky finds that all clicked together just right (and almost by accident!), I rolled with it. And I am so glad I did because we now have a gem of a powder room that is so bold, fun, and fresh…in fact, it’s now one of my favorite spots in our entire house! I am so excited to reveal our downstairs bathroom for you guys today, and share the totally doable, budget-friendly (and temporary!) ideas for decorating a rental bathroom!

The Before

I’m not sure I ever showed you our downstairs bathroom as part of the original home tour? It’s actually a full bathroom right off the foyer; and it’s the only one on the lower level. It’s a small bathroom small and painted the same brown as the rest of the house, but it has a nice layout with a window and white cabinet vanity. The one solid wall of the bathroom can be seen from the foyer and hallway leading to it, so I always thought some sort of feature wall would be perfect in here. Paint would have been the easiest choice, but since the wall is only about 70″ wide, I was open to pretty much anything I could find at a good deal (e.g., wallpaper, fabric).

As you can see from the picture above, I had found the scrapbook paper art and some matching accessories to get me off in a direction that would complement the foyer. But it wasn’t until I found this navy and gold splatter peel-and-stick wallpaper on sale at Target that the entire space literally “clicked” into place. Let me show you the easy things I did in here to transform that boring “before” into this stunning “after”!

How to Transform Your Rental Bathroom

Create a Feature Wall

The peel-and-stick wallpaper is obviously the one element that produced the most dramatic change in our rental bathroom. Not only because it’s bold, but it provided me the much needed inspiration to take this tiny bathroom from drab to fab with bathroom decor accents. The second I saw it, I knew it was the missing element! I’ve mentioned before that using removable wallpaper isn’t always the most affordable option, especially for renters. But as I suggest in this post, there are things you can do in order to keep the cost manageable. In this bathroom makeover, I used two pieces of my own advice: 1) I used the removable wallpaper on a small feature wall, which means I didn’t need a ton of rolls. In fact, I just needed 2, and have lots of leftovers for other projects; and 2) I stalk my wallpaper sources regularly, so I was able to get the two rolls during a Buy One get One 50% Off promotion. When all was said and done, this feature wall cost me $45 and about 2 hours of time. Since it took the whole space from “meh” to “ah-MAZING,” I’d say it was money and time very well spent!

DIY Your Window Treatments

Once the wall was covered with the bold wallpaper, the white wooden trim above the window looked strange and out of place (look back at the “before” picture to see what I’m talking about). I didn’t want to create a window treatment that would compete with the amazing paper (plus, the window is soooo tiny), so I created a faux cornice box from cardboard and extra wallpaper (it’s held in place with peel-and-stick Velcro!). Although it’s hard to see in some pictures because it’s practically camouflaged, it was the perfect finishing touch to the window: easy, inexpensive, used things I already had on hand, and matched the sleek and modern vibe already going on.

Tie in Smaller, Decorative Accent Elements

The wallpaper is certainly the show-stopper, but it’s really the other small elements sprinkled around the space that make it feel complete. From the art on the wall, to the decorative soaps on the tray, and the frame behind the door, the pops of salmon, red, and gold are scattered consistently around the tiny room to help it all feel connected and intentional.

By the way – how amazing is the paper on these soaps?!? I found them on clearance at World Market and scooped them up because they matched my scrapbook paper art. I still can’t believe how well they bring everything (wallpaper, art, frames) together in the end!

This makeover story is really about small, easy and affordable details that all came together just right. A fantastic whimsical wallpaper bought on sale. Some chic gold frames filled with super inexpensive DIY artwork that add a pop of color. A geometric rug on the floor to add texture and some basic striped towels on the bar. A brown basket to maximize storage space under the sink. And chevron shelf liner to tie in the navy accents. Fun decorative bath products. I’d love to say I started with and followed a plan like I usually do. Instead, this transformation was a series of random finds…discovered months apart…that all came together in the best way possible. It all feels like a happy accident…maybe that’s why I love it so much!

If you’re curious about the sources for everything you see here, I have one word for you: Target. Not intentionally, but almost everything you see is from Target with a few exceptions. Some of my exact items are sold out but I was able to find very similar ones from other locations! Here are some links to help you out:

Blue and Gold Splatter Wallpaper | Gold Frames | Blue and White Rug | Striped Towels | Gold Tray | Decorative soap | Hand lotion | Brown basket | Chevron shelf liner

I love that this room was completely transformed using off-the-shelf, budget-friendly products. Nothing took me a ton of time, and nothing was too expensive. There were no huge DIY projects to complete and no big changes I’ll have to figure out how to un-do when it comes time to move out. Wallpaper + Art + Textiles + Accessories = One heck of a cute bathroom!

I hope you guys like this peek into our downstairs bathroom. I’d love to hear your favorite part of the makeover?