{"id":393958,"date":"2026-01-21T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stylebyemilyhenderson.com\/?p=393958"},"modified":"2026-01-21T08:24:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T16:24:28","slug":"easy-upgrades-for-vintage-tile-bathroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stylebyemilyhenderson.com\/easy-upgrades-for-vintage-tile-bathroom","title":{"rendered":"The Easy, High Impact Upgrades Mallory Made To Her Vintage Bathroom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It’s the last reveal in my apartment before I move you guys!! If you want to see the rest of the space, I already revealed the kitchen<\/a>, living room<\/a>, dining room<\/a>, and of course, the famous closet speakeasy<\/a>. I’ve done A LOT to this space as a renter, and yes, I’ll have to reverse some of these DIYs when I move out (which is sad but also expected). To me, I’ve gotten to live in such an incredible space that healed me and truly felt like home. That was my one goal when moving in here: to make the space feel like home<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As someone who’s moved a ton of times throughout their life, I know it can take a lot to finally feel settled in a new space (months, years, even). Growing up, I moved all around Orange County because my middle\/high school was a charter school, so you didn’t need to live in a specific city to attend (shout out to Orange County School of the Arts). So my parents took that as an opportunity to move around and try out some different cities. I always tried to make my room feel like “me” wherever we went – even if it was just for a year or two. I think this really helped me get into decorating because I had so many fresh, blank slates. Then I went to college, and we all know how that goes – you move pretty much every single year, and your furniture is just a hodgepodge of things you can scrounge together. So I set up and decorated what I could, but I can’t say any of my college apartments were homey (or even cute…)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once I graduated, I sublet month-to-month in New York while job\/career searching, and then I eventually landed this EHD job in LA and moved into my first studio apartment in Hollywood<\/a>, and that was the first time I was really able to make my own space feel like home. It took a solid 3 years before it stopped feeling like a barebones Airbnb and actually felt like mine. But right as I dialed it in, life threw me for a loop, and I moved to New York (again) only to break up with my ex and come straight back to California, and a few months after that debacle, I moved into this apartment in Los Feliz. So that’s my life story: home edition. Moving into this space – I really just craved the feeling I had in my Hollywood apartment, where I would walk in, and every muscle would relax, and I felt like I could just breathe. Home can give you the feeling of peace and safety when the world outside lacks so much of it. So yeah, I did a lot to this apartment (especially in those other room reveals you saw) – but I FINALLY got it to feel like home, so I was really happy to accomplish that goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the flip side of things, as a renter, it\u2019s important to know what upgrades are going to be the most<\/strong> high-impact to you and then do those<\/em> things. This is your permission the leave the rest behind. It\u2019s important to remember in the world of picture perfect homes, sometimes, \u2018good enough\u2019 is totally fine – ESPECIALLY in a rental. In my bathroom, I was originally considering wallpapering (which I still think would\u2019ve been awesome) but once I realized that my dining room was the room that needed wallpaper more (this wallpaper<\/a>, to be exact), I invested my time and resources there instead. Had I been here for longer, I would have considered wallpapering, but I really didn\u2019t want to add to my plate of taking even more wallpaper down when I move out (it\u2019s a thing, trust me), and this bathroom was already pretty dang cute. So I decided to just elevate and swap a few small things to make it shine a bit brighter. Let me show you\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BEFORE<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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That tile!! The little shelf!! THE TUB! It\u2019s all so adorable. The only wonky thing is the fact that that cabinet just doesn\u2019t close all the way (maybe a new 2026 design trend??) The green vintage tile really just sings \u2013 I actually found\u00a0the perfect wallpaper<\/a>\u00a0I was going to install but like I said, it ultimately just ended up not being worth it for the cost, effort and removal. So I cut my losses, and instead came up with some affordable, easy swaps that would make the space feel like mine without breaking the bank or having to spend hours undoing it upon move out. And they were all totally worth it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I was looking for design ideas other than expensive (but awesome) wallpaper, and I saw this inspo photo and immediately knew I wanted to do something similar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n