How Can I Update My Bathroom Cheaply
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Today I am sharing how to update your bathroom cheaply by painting stained trim white. Modernizing a bathroom with paint is the easiest and quickest way to give a bathroom a refresh without spending a lot of money.
My parents bathroom in our house was in desperate need of an update and phase one, painting the stained wood trim and interior doors white is complete!
If you are looking for large or small bathroom ideas on a budget or a quick bathroom remodel, this post is for you!

The image above shows the bathroom before we painted the stained trim and doors. As you can see, it’s very dark!
How Do You Modernize Wood Trim
Many homes built in the 1990s and early 2000’s featured stained wood trim and cabinets which in today’s world, are very outdated.
Modernizing wood trim is as simple as painting it!
In a perfect world we would remove the jacuzzi tub and install a soaking tub but in an effort to stay on budget (and my dad loves the jacuzzi tub) we will be keeping it.
We will be also leaving the existing shower tiles as replacing would be thousands of dollars.
We will however be replacing all the lighting and installing updated bathroom vanities.
Since painting the wood trim white in the rest of our house, we decided it was time to start the update in this bathroom as well.
The bathroom is so much brighter and even my dad has commented how he feels like he is “taking a tub” in the woods! ha
Tips For Painting Trim: read this post, how to paint wood trim white to see a detailed paint guide and steps from sanding, priming the wood as well as the paint we used.
FAQs about a Painted Trim
The goal of painting over the stained trim with white paint was to allow your eye to see the outdoors and not stop at the dark trim.
Mission accomplished considering even my dad (who doesn’t notice anything) recognized how gorgeous the bathroom looks and feels allowing the natural beauty from outdoors, filter in through the large windows.
Painted Trim For Less Than $100
There are several inexpensive bathroom remodel ideas, with paint being the most budget friendly. Whether you are painting the walls or just painting trim, a fresh coat of paint will transform any bathroom.
We hired a painting crew due to the size of the project (we had all stained trim in our home painted white) but this is an easy DIY bathroom update on a budget project that any homeowner with an ounce of “diy” can do themselves.
The next step is to update all the lighting, especially this large mediterranean chandelier (my mom can’t wait to find new lighting!) and update with something more of a modern traditional style.
We used Sherwin Williams Westhighland White (at 25% lighter) for all of our trim and doors. You can read my Westhighland White paint review to see all the details.
More Bathroom Remodels
We are having the bathroom flooring (all of the house flooring) refinished to a lighter natural oak in February ( I am so excited to remove the dark orangy stain!!) which will also coordinate and tie in nicely the new white painted trim.
These are just cell phone pictures that don’t do the bathroom justice. Once the bathroom is complete with new lighting, vanities and floors done, I’ll share the final reveal.
If you are looking for a bathroom remodel under $3000, click through to our small bathroom remodel at our lake house. It might be small but it’s packed with style and character! We also share bathroom remodel costs on this post, updating a 5×8 bathroom.
*You can find all the priming and paint products we used on our Amazon Storefront / Paint Supplies*
Our Modern Mediterranean House Renovation Series:
- modernizing our Mediterranean house with white paint
- how to paint stained trim white (we painted all the dark stained trim and doors in our house!!)
- how to prep and paint stair risers white
- grey kitchen cabinets with white countertops (our new modern mediterranean kitchen)
- bathroom remodel with white paint (our first floor bathroom makeover)
- modernizing a mediterranean home with new lighting
- basement renovation with new flooring and ceiling

Meet Jessica
What started as a hobby, Jessica’s blog now has millions of people visit yearly and while many of the projects and posts look and sound perfect, life hasn’t always been easy. Read Jessica’s story and how overcoming death, divorce and dementia was one of her biggest life lessons to date.