The Neutral Trick
The key to a blissful new bathroom when you've barely got a budget, designers say, is to stick with neutral colors for big-ticket items. These items include sinks, toilets, tubs, countertops, and floors. Keep this in mind even when the well-appointed washrooms on the pages of home and garden magazines are screaming with fixtures in rich designer hues. "Bathrooms aren't as subject to trends in terms of color," notes Donnie Wilkerson, a designer and owner of Wilkerson's Do-It Center in Jamestown. "We may do a whole design on a house; the kitchen may be full of trendy colors, but in the bathroom we go back to the whites and away from the trendy colors."
Indeed, this year's "trendy colors" for bathrooms are go-with-anything, neutral off-whites with mouth-watering names like biscuit, bisque, and linen. These soft colors have replaced the sterile bright whites many chose for toilets, tubs, sinks, and even cabinets during the '90s.
"White is too austere; it looks too clinical," says Barbara Headdy, a sales associate and design consultant at Buzick Lumber and Home Center in Bardstown. "The new tones are soft and homey looking."
Bass attributes the move toward subtlety to a craving for warmth. "There's a lot of uneasiness with the culture that's out there, with the economy, with jobs," he speculates. "People are looking for something that's rooted deeper, a more secure feeling at home. They want warmth."
Besides, advises Headdy, "You can always change your wallpaper or your towels if you want a new color. Any color goes with a neutral basin."

Toning Down Finishes
Even faucets, doorknobs, and cabinet handles are toning down and showing up in brushed, muted chromes rather than traditional shiny brass. "People are frustrated with the way the (shiny) finish holds up and can tarnish," says Wilkerson, who notes that most faucet makers have introduced new versions of their shiniest faucets with lifetime warranties on the finishes.
Still, a tight-fisted facelift doesn't have to produce a privy with no pizzazz. With a nod to economy-minded remodelers, manufacturers have come up with affordable alternatives to pricey pieces like whirlpool baths and antique-look fixtures. Headdy says adding jets to a regular tub can make bath time just as invigorating as soaking in a state-of-the-art spa. And Kohler, a Wisconsin-based manufacturer of bathroom fixtures, offers a line of nostalgic pedestal sinks, matching toilets, and antique-look faucets for prices ranging from $164 to $390 per piece.

A Single Splurge
If there's enough money left to splurge on a single luxury, advises Wilkerson, shore up the shower, a fixture that every family member uses every day for varying lengths of time. He advocates enlarging the shower space-even if it means removing a little-used bathtub. Add multiple, adjustable shower heads and body sprays, and install a seat for an everyday bathing experience that rivals the more time-consuming soak in an expensive whirlpool tub.

Updating Vanities
Replace those old, white melamine drawers and shelves with furniture-quality cabinetry. Wood-grain vanity cabinets sitting on raised legs like a dining room hutch are showing up in the bathrooms of homeowners who want the decor of their homes to flow from room to room-even to the bathroom. Bass says the luxe look of worn wood is easy to achieve by applying inexpensive crackle finishing paint-available at any home center-to an existing wood cabinet. "It gives something of an Old World look and looks more expensive than it really is," he says, noting, "The new finishes are made to look like old finishes."
Vanities are not only getting fancier, they're growing taller: most remodelers eschew the typical 32-inch-tall vanity for a 36-inch counter, which allows an adult using the sink or mirror to bend less. And designers are advising homeowners to forget the fantasy of his-and-hers basins on the vanity; most counters are too small to accommodate two bowls plus the myriad makeup, hair care products, and appliances that compete for space.

Final Touches
For the floor, cultured marble is popular but pricey; as an alternative, high-pressure laminates mimic the look of more expensive natural materials and hold up well in a room prone to puddles and wet footprints. Earthy floor colors like sand and eggshell complement the new bathroom neutrals.
Finally, focus some attention on brightening the room by adding lots of mirrors and better lights. Designers complain that many homes have harsh fluorescent bulbs around a lone vanity mirror-a light that's poor for applying makeup because it can change the color of the complexion. Bass recommends softer incandescent lighting and lots of it. "If your house is 40 years old, the lighting in the bathrooms is probably horrible," he says, noting, "As you get older, your eyesight isn't as good as it used to be. It helps to have better lighting in the bathroom."
And there's no need to redo the room all at once, says Headdy. "Take a look at the overall picture and plan it out as if you're going to do the whole thing," she says. "Then pick and choose what needs to be done first." Eventually, she says, even the tiniest touches will add up to a bathroom worth boasting about.

Warm Towels, Warm Bathroom
The bathroom seems like the coldest place in the house when it's time for a pre-dawn shower. Warm it up a bit with a clever supplemental heater tucked under the floor or disguised as a towel rack.
Heated towel racks are radiators in disguise. Designed so they're safe to throw your towel on them while you're in the shower, some of the racks stand alone and can be plugged into any outlet, while others can be mounted to a wall and hard-wired into your room's electrical system.
"The majority of hotels in Europe have them," notes Owen Kantor, vice president of Runtal North America, which sells wall-mounted units for $499 to $850. And American homeowners are buying more of them as their bathrooms are becoming more important to them, he says. "Today, the bathroom isn't just for washing up and getting out," he notes. "It's a room that's an inner sanctum for people, a room of leisure. People like to relax while they bathe. The comfort and luxury of a warm, dry towel is all part of that."
Besides toasting your towels, the rack radiates heat into the room, so it helps warm the air.
Once you're wrapped in that comfy towel, wouldn't it feel nice to step onto a heated floor? Under-the-floor electric heat can warm a whole room. Or you can install it in spots-in front of the shower or sink, for instance. It costs from $5 to $15 per square foot to install, depending on the system.

Bathroom Safety
Even if you're beautifying your bathroom on a budget, don't skimp on spending when it comes to safety. Every bathroom should include:
Ground-fault circuit interrupters. If you're remodeling an older home, equip every electrical outlet in the room with a GFCI, which will quickly break the circuit if there's a problem. (Installing GFCIs has been a requirement by the National Electrical Code for new construction for several years.) This can prevent you from suffering a potentially fatal shock while using a hair dryer or electric razor.
Ventilation. Moisture that gets trapped in a bathroom can promote the growth of unhealthy mold and mildew, which can damage wallpaper and even your walls. Install a ducted exhaust fan in every room that has a shower.
Good lighting. Whether you're shaving or applying makeup, good lighting ensures you'll avoid mishaps and look your best all day. Designers favor soft incandescent lighting for the bathroom, and recommend steering clear of harsh fluorescent lights because they can alter the color of your complexion.
Grab bars. Even if you're young and healthy, a grab bar in the shower is extra insurance against an accidental fall. Make sure yours is bolted into the wall studs and not glued to tile or screwed into drywall.
Locks. It's easy to install locks on your medicine cabinet and under-the-sink storage areas to keep children away from medicines and poisonous cleaners.