Home Tour Series: Powder Room Makeover Reveal + DIY Shiplap & Shelves

It’s a rarity in Baltimore row homes to have a first floor powder room, so I was very happy to have one in itself! When I purchased our home, it had an older, bigger sink and a dark beige wall color – making it a tighter space than it seemed. This took me forever to actually put together with absolutely zero reason why, as it was a relatively easy transformation for us! We did everything in a month’s time which felt like taking our time.

In this post, I will outline all steps and products of how we:

• Chose Paint
• Installed Shiplap
• Installed the Sink
• Hung Floating Shelves with DIY metal rods

Before

Some real life shown here, not everything is Pinterest worthy at move-in! We got a few things to personalize the space before we started the project, which started about a year after moving in. We wanted to take time to think, research, and feel out how we wanted it to function rather than jumping in before using the space.

During

SELECTING PAINT

To avoid even more trips back and forth to Home Depot, we always start by grabbing a ton of chips to bring home and tape up on the wall. This allows you to get out of the fluorescent store lighting and see the undertones in your space. From there, we get anywhere between 3-5 samples. For the walls, I knew I wanted a soft cream so this was a little harder as our powder room gets almost zero natural light. It’s also important to consider what the color looks like with your lights on. For the shiplap, I wanted a soft gray/green that has a timeless look. To sample this, we painted our favorites on a piece of wood to get an idea of the two pairings as pictured above).

The colors we ultimately went with are:

Walls: Behr, Shoelace   |  Shiplap: Behr, Sage Gray 

SHIPLAP INSTALLATION

DIRECTIONS

1. To head out to grab your supplies, measure the desired length for the shiplap & trim. It’s helpful to start with the longest wall. Using the stud finder, mark where each stud is located going up the wall.
2. Cut each piece to length and check that they fit.
3. Paint each piece prior to nailing to the wall – this will save time & your sanity!
4. Each piece will slide into one another. You can use spacers depending on the gap you may want, we did as we really wanted the deep lines. Make sure each piece is level and nail each piece into the stud.
5. Be sure to cut holes in the shiplap around the sink for the hot & cold-water supply. It’s ok if it isn’t perfect as your pipes will have a cover piece and wood filler can help clean it up!
6. Start installing the shiplap from the bottom up. Make sure each piece is level and nail each piece into the stud.
7. Nail trim.
8. Fill nail holes with wood filler.
9. Touch up with paint!
   
   

SUPPLIES

• Tape Measure
• Stud Finder
• Miter Saw
• Nail Gun
• Shiplap Panels
• Level
• Trim
• Paint
• Nails

Sink Installation

DIRECTIONS

1. Turn off your water!!
2. Remove old sink by unscrewing bolts and a blade knife to cut caulk to gently pull without ruining your drywall.
3. Mark where you want the sink to be and check that it’s level.
4. Drill holes into shiplap.
5. Install the sink using the hollow wall anchor.
6. Our pipes were white. To save money, we spray painted them dark brown to give a higher end look. Make sure they are removed from the wall – you can buy new ones or use the existing. Let them dry for at least an hour.
7. Reinstall pipes and turn the water back on!

SUPPLIES

• Sink (your sink will drive type & quantities)
• Level
• Spray Paint
• Bolts
• Drywall Screws
• Drill

Floating Shelves Installation

DIRECTIONS

1. Measure your walls to purchase wood. We go to a local spot, Second Chance Inc. and buy one long piece of reclaimed wood and cut ourselves for a consistent, effortless look.
2. Start by figuring out how low you want each shelf within your space, as well as the space between each shelf.
3. Using the stud finder, mark where each stud is located.
4. Confirm that your marks are level before drilling.
5. Drill each iron floor flange into the stud (two for each shelf) using the screws.
6. Screw the steel nipple pipe fitting into each floor flange. Note, if you can’t find black (I linked black) OR you want a different color, spray paint works well on these!
7. Screw black iron cap into the nipple pipe fitting.
8. Place reclaimed wood onto pipe fitting.

SUPPLIES

Shelves:

• Reclaimed Wood
• Black Steel Nipple Pipe Fitting (Pack of 4)
• Black Malleable Iron Floor Flange (4)
• 1/2 in. Black Iron Cap (4)

Tools:

• Drill
• Level
• Screws
• Miter Saw
• Stud Finder
• Tape Measure

AFTER

Shop All Decor