Design on a Budget Part Quattro: Decorating the Bathroom, On the Cheap

Recently I have redecorated my bathroom. It went from blue to green and brown. 
Apparently I'm going through a green phase right now. 

I hope I'm not turning into my grandma who painted everything she had green. I mean everything. I remember going over to her house and the kitchen table and chairs - green, dressers - green, buffet - green. Lots of green, that's what I'm getting at here. 


Anyway, here are some tips to keep costs down. I have a small bathroom so it needs to hold a lot but look organized and neat.

1. Repurpose. (Below) I used a candle holder that I already had to hold my Q-tips. Other ideas? How about a small cute coffee cup, or tea cup, these are easily found at a thrift store if you don't have one. Maybe you have a small pot that no longer has that plant in it. 

2. Shop outside the bathroom section. My old rug was blue, I needed brown, but when I was looking for bathroom rugs they were $$$. Why would I pay $16-$20 for a 2ft rug?? Well I wouldn't. I went over to the rug section and found this rug (below) for $7! It matched perfectly!

3. Use perfume/cologne bottles for decoration. There is one thing my husband cannot live without and that's his cologne. He needs to be smelling good at all times or the world may end....not that I'm complaining, but he's a little obsessed about it. Anyway, the result is empty bottles. Some are cool looking so I decided to use them in our decor. I tore off the label and put them in our medicine cabinet which has a small windowed area. 

The small bottle is actually mine.

There are two shelves. One holds the bottles, and I put an old card I had behind to fill the space, the second or top has a flameless candle, and soap on a rope! Both were gifts that can now be displayed.

Soap on a rope!

To cut down on other costs related to the bathroom here are some more ideas, (you may even help the environment):

• Figure out how much shampoo/conditioner/body wash you actually need to get a nice lather instead of just dumping a bunch out into your hand. Granted my hair is short, but it takes less than you'd think. 
• You don't need to use conditioner every day. Some people don't need to wash their hair everyday, but I'm not one of those people. 
• I have switched to men's razors! I used my husband's one time when I was out and found that they last at least twice as long as mine. They stay sharper, and don't rust as fast! Try it out. 
• Don't take 1/2hr showers. What are you doing in there anyway? 
• Cut down on your TP use. 3 sheets! 
• Add water to your hand soap to make it last longer.
• Then there's the age old rule: If it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!