Budgeting and Beautifying in the Bathroom ~ A "Shabby Chic" Frugal Farm Lifestyle ~ Entry #5

"Every wise woman buildeth her house..."

~ Proverbs 14:1a

Good morning, afternoon or evening, ladies! Thank you for joining us for the next installment of "A "Shabby Chic" Frugal Farm Lifestyle. Today we are sharing our pretty and not-so-pretty (but all very practical) ideas in the bathroom -- from beautifying your space on a budget, to bath and body care and all the little fun and frugal details in between! Why do we call this thrifty series "shabby chic"? It is because we want to share that you can take a "shabby" economy and make it quite "chic" in your home with the right set of eyes. Let's glean from the Proverbial homemaker and start "building" up in the bathroom!

I wanted to show a peak into our bathroom so that you can see it is not state-of-the-art. There is nothing new about it but it is still pleasing to our family because we keep it nice, clean and with little touches of love.

"Every room in the home serves a specific purpose, so the decor of each must be approached individually. Focusing on the particular function of the room, is an important first step in deciding how to decorate it."

~ Rachel Ashwell, Shabby Chic

The idea in our "shabby chic" frugal farm lifestyle is to focus on displaying the utilitarian items in a room to the best advantage for a simple but serene setting. Oftentimes we think we need mounds of money for an attractive home but in truth, it is just a few artful arrangements that make the coziest home. As I mentioned before, when we first moved into our old farmhouse, we did not remodel anything but simply began with a fresh coat of paint. That does wonders! We also removed an accordion door from a little closet area in our bathroom and allowed the pleasant contents to be seen and be more accessible (such as the piles of freshly laundered bath-towels).  The remaining undesirable toiletries such as personal products, razors and so forth were placed on the lower half of our shelves and were covered with a curtain to block the clutter. This didn't cost us anything but changed the whole look of the outdated bathroom. Perhaps there is something simple you can do to spruce up yours?

Taking our cue from Ms. Ashwell, we can see that the ordinary, needful things in each particular room make for the best decoration! This eliminates the cluttery feel while still making things pretty and "shabby chic". For instance, your cotton balls, q-tips and band-aids can be placed in these easy-to-make (and practically free) apothecary jars and can be adapted to any personal style. This allows you storage space for these items while making your bathroom attractive.

Fresh flowers and herbs from your backyard make the most loveliest (and free) accessories! We are always able to find something outside to use in a humble bouquet such as wildflowers, mint, lavender, roses or rosemary.

The only true "purchased" decoration used in our bathroom is this painting. Everything else is a useful necessity. I think the lack of clutter is beauty in itself. You can also see that our toilet is quite a relic! :) 

"Clean, simple, private, luxurious, and practical: These are the words that best describe a Shabby Chic bathroom. The basics of any bathroom should be functional fixtures that provide plenty of space for displaying toiletries, towels, and other bits and bobs."

~ Rachel Ashwell, Shabby Chic

Another idea is to display what Rachel Ashwell calls "bountiful piles of pretty soaps". We keep a good stock in our home as they have a long shelf life. Soap can be stored beautifully in baskets, decorative bowls, large jars or wide vases. If you have perfectly rectangular bars, they can be cut in half as there is a luxurious feel when you have a large amount displayed. When storing bulk soap for "show", I like to remove any commercial wrappers to give it a classic, clean look.

A few "chosen" bars can even be wrapped with scrapbook paper, wallpaper scraps and/or ribbons and presented in a dainty tea dish for added appeal. I love to use my vintage milk glass dishes but you can use discarded candy dishes or any other special item that you may have stored away. I also enjoy printing out vintage soap labels and wrapping excess bars with them for an antique feel. For rustic decor, you can decorate soaps in recycled brown paper-bags and add some natural twine for a final touch.   Any way you do this, you can create an attractive vignette for pennies while keeping a good supply of soap in your Proverbs 31 preparedness stash!

The same principle can be applied to other toiletries. Recycled glass containers can store mouth wash, homemade bath oils, bubble bath, toner, astringent, etc., while looking darling! Just apply pretty stickers, glue on some lovely clip art or decorate the bottles with beautiful lace. I also like to apply corks for an old-fashioned feel. These can be useful and attractive displays! Here is a gorgeous romantic printable page (shown above) which is courtesy of The Graphics Fairy. You will find a botanical inspired label page here, a French inspired page here, a dainty floral bathroom label set here and an apothecary set of spa labels here. With a few recycled bottles and jars, you have a frugal yet fancy toilette!



Shower curtains are also a wonderful way to dress up and remodel a bathroom on a budget. Perhaps your shower area is undesirable to look at? Simply place a curtain rod across and hide the whole thing! Even though you have shower doors and so forth, there is still no reason why you can't cover the whole operation with a pretty piece of fabric! Whenever I see an inexpensive and pretty shower curtain, I scoop it up and am able to change my decor according to the seasons.  I use the pastel prints for spring and summer and the darker patterns for fall and winter.

I have also re-purposed twin flat sheets (these are found in abundance and very inexpensive at thrift shops) into beautiful shower curtains with a simple hem and some button holes. Curtain panels can be reworked to obtain the same goal. With clean walls, a fresh piece of lovely fabric and attractive displays of your toiletries, you have yourself a pleasant organized room for pennies! 

Now, moving along to the nitty-gritty! Let's start with the towels. In our home, we have a rack behind the door and a few hooks hung around the bathroom. Everyone in the family has a designated hook to keep their bath-towel and knows to use it for a few days. The concept is that you are technically "clean" when you come out of the shower. This means less laundry for the household, less detergent used, less on the electric bill and less water consumed from constant wash loads. Bathroom towels can really add up! It may gross out some of you but I assure you, you can get used to it if you really want to shed expenses and your workload -- not too "shabby" if you ask me! :)

"The biggest mistake that people make with their locks is over-washing them. There are plenty of good hair-care products available these days. But even the best shampoo, if used too often, will tend to dry your hair and wash away important natural oils, no matter how much conditioner you apply afterward."

~ Rosemary Gladstar, Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health

Another way we stretch money which is also healthier for your hair is to shampoo and condition less. Yes, less ladies! Shampoo (and conditioner) do add up and e$pecially with all the long hair in our household! (I cringe to put all this personal information out there but if it helps someone to free up their finances via micro-managing, then I will take my chances.) In the summer when it is stickier and greasier due to heat, I wash my hair twice a week. In the autumn, winter and spring, it is generally once a week. As Rosemary Gladstar further explains, "at first this will feel uncomfortable. But the "squeaky clean" feeling we have been taught to achieve is, in essence, hair that has been stripped of its natural protective oils." So you see, by being frugal, you are also being very beauty savvy and "chic"!  I know there are also methods to keep clean hair with baking soda and an apple cider vinegar rinse. These are thrifty options you may want to consider. I am keeping these ideas in my back pocket and may try it one day.

Besides shampoo and conditioner, we don't buy any fancy body products but keep a simple bar of soap in the shower. While body wash is nice, it is not necessary and does add up. When you squeeze the contents out of the container, you are using up mounds! A bar of soap-in-hand is less waste. Even legs can be shaved with a simple bar of soap and lather.

Other bath and body items can easily be made yourself! I used to buy so many products until I was forced to clip the budget. It was amazing how "fine" I lived without them all! Your face can be washed gently with ground oatmeal (just mix a bit with water or milk each time you wash to form a paste and gently rub into your skin -- for extra luxury you can mix in dried rose petals, calendula, chamomile or honey). Follow this with a simple astringent/toner (i.e. inexpensive witch-hazel) and finish off your beauty routine with a dab of coconut oil (and if you are able -- a few carefully chosen essential oils based on your skin type).

We also make our own room sprays, body scrub, bath salts, lip balms, deodorant and so forth. Though I only use hairspray on Sundays, you can easily make up your own for pennies if you wanted to (visit Our Simple Homestead for the recipe)! We share all of our bath and body tutorials here if you are interested and there are many frugal recipes in our Ebook too. These products all add up and you will be amazed at how much you are able to save if you choose to simplify your beauty routine. This often means using more natural products which is an overall blessing to your health and quite chic these days! 

Regarding the rest of the expenses, the toilet paper, q-tips and cotton balls are purchased in bulk for the price discount. The bathroom cleaning products are all made frugally (you can find a variety of our recipes here) and instead of purchasing tissues, we use handkerchiefs (there is a stack sitting in a basket in our bathroom at all times). I know that many of you have excellent ideas to save money in the bathroom and I would love for you to share them! And I hope I haven't frightened you all away with all the gory details! It is just that I promised to be real descriptive in this series because in my experience, the $avings are all in those little things called detail$! Happy homemaking!

Earlier in the Series:
A "Shabby Chic" Frugal Farm Lifestyle Diary ~ Entry #1

From A - Z {Alpha to Zucchini} ~ A "Shabby Chic" Frugal Farm Lifestyle ~ Entry #2
From Beautiful Books to Blueberries ~ A "Shabby Chic" Frugal Farm Lifestyle ~ Entry #3
From Curtain Covers to Regal Repairs ~ A "Shabby Chic" Frugal Farm Lifestyle ~ Entry #4

All the fine print. This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: The Art of Home-Making Mondays, Modest Mom Monday's, Monday's Musings, Make Your Home Sing Monday, Good Morning Mondays,  The Scoop, Tuesdays with a Twist, Raising Homemakers, Wise Woman Link Up, Homestead Blog Hop,  Wow Us Wednesdays,  Coffee and Conversation, Homemaking Thursdays, Home Sweet Home, Our Simple Homestead, Awesome Life Friday Link Up, Five Star Frou Frou Friday, and Shabbilicious Friday. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these. This post may contain affiliate links (which are merchant links that help to support this site at no additional cost to you if you purchase an item through them). Rose label clip art is courtesy of the Lilac and Lavender blog.