accessorize, baby!
Because it’s the little things that can make the biggest differences …

1 Frame and hang pictures: And don’t even thinking about buying pre-framed art. You’ll end up with far more interesting pictures – and save money as well – by matting and framing your own photos, drawings, postcards, or even cool vintage images clipped (or color-copied) from old magazines, books and calendars.
2 Change the hardware – toilet roll dispensers, towel racks, cabinet pulls, toilet seat covers and the like can all generally be pretty easily replaced. Make a trip to your favorite hardware store/Home Depot-type mega-store and find a sleek new set of bathroom accessories to replace whatever ugly, dated hardware might have come with your digs.
3 Get a new shower curtain. If you’re feeling particularly crafty, you can sew your own (just get a cheap plastic liner to waterproof).
4 Skirt the issue: use sticky-back velcro or hot-glue or tacks to attach a skirt around the bottom of the sink basin, to hide exposed nasty corroded plumbing and give you a storage nook. Yeah, I know, you’re envisioning some ruffly, country-cute monstrosity of a skirt, but if you make your own by hemming a piece of cloth, skipping the gathers of course, you’ll have a chic, tailored version that’s not frou-frou at all. Of course, if you’re going the kitschy route and have elected to turn your bathroom into tiki heaven, a grass skirt would make a fab cover-up.

desperate measures
Sadly, of course, some bathrooms will still look less than presentable despite your best efforts. At times like these, resort to lighting tricks. Replace your regular switch with a dimmer — nothing like keeping the lighting nice and low to hide all those flaws. Or in the same line of masquerade-it thinking, switch your bulbs to lower-wattage versions, and look for bulbs that have a warm hue to the light they give off. Still another lighting tactic is to go with colored light bulbs for a moodier, funkier feel . Naturally, if you use your bathroom for makeup application at all, it is still generally a good idea to have at least one set of reasonably bright white lights near the bathroom mirror, but there’s no reason the overhead lighting needs to be glaring as well. When you’re stuck with a room that’s severely lacking in the finer details of good décor, the best tactic is to aim for ambience.