5 Quick & Easy Budget-Friendly Upgrades to Ready Your Home for Holiday Guests

Updated October 2022

It’s that time of year when family and friends start gathering to celebrate the holidays. If your home is the place to be during the holiday season, you want everything looking its best—including your bathroom.

If you haven’t remodeled in a while, we have 5 easy ways to spruce up your bathroom without spending a lot of money. You’ll not only impress your friends but maybe even your relatives!

1. Upgrade your toilet seat.

Is your toilet seat chipped, cracked or discolored? Is it always shifting an inch to the right or left when you take a seat? (Annoying!) Or perhaps you purchased a cheap one a long time ago and it’s time to upgrade. In addition to sturdier seats and more polished looks, some toilet seats have features that will make you wonder, “Why didn’t I think of that before?”.

Slow-close (or soft-close) lids that don’t slam, convertible seats for kids and adults, and seat warmers come in handy any time of year.

For a major upgrade, The TOTO Washlet will make your toilet a true throne. While it costs more than a traditional toilet seat, you can get features such as:

  • a heated seat
  • automatic open and close sensors or SlowClose lid
  • a retractable self-cleaning nozzle for warm water cleansing
  • automatic body drying

Can your current toilet seat do all that? Learn more about Washlet® toilet seats here.

WASHLET Functionality

If you have (or will have) young children in the house, this toilet seat works for both recently potty-trained kiddos and adults. The NextStep toilet seat by Bemis has two seat sizes in one. Plus, it is easy to clean and has a slow-close feature, so you won’t hear “slam” ever again.

Bemis NextStep® Built-in Potty Seat™ Toilet Seat

2. Replace your bathroom faucet.

Bathroom faucets come in all shapes, sizes, and finishes these days. Grime builds up, finishes rub off, and colors go out of style when it comes to faucets. With a variety of designs to choose from, it can be a quick way to update the look of your lavatory. Choose something stylish, like matte black, or opt for something that pairs nicely with the other hardware in your bathroom.

When replacing a faucet, be sure to note the hole placement on your sink or counter. Is there one hole or three? How far apart are the holes? You’ll need to conform to the pre-drilled mounts in your bathroom lavatory, but you’ll still have plenty of faucet options.

 

3. Brighten up your bathroom with a new light bar.

Updated lighting can impact how everything in your bathroom looks. Transform a small or low-light area into a welcoming room with proper illumination.

Whether you’re looking for new shape bulbs or to shed more light over the mirror, lighting can make or break the functionality of your bathroom. Men don’t like shaving in the dark, just like women prefer not to apply makeup in low light.

In addition to adding more light, if you have an ancient-looking light setup, changing your light fixtures can give your bathroom a much-needed updated feel.

When choosing a light fixture, ensure the light properly extends over the mirror or medicine cabinet. You don’t want to lose the light before the sink counter. Also, consider the other items in your bathroom. When you buy and install a new light bar, you’ll want it to complement the rest of your theme.

4. Hang a new mirror.

Replacing an old mirror is simple. It doesn’t cost much and requires minimal handyman skills. If you have a surface-mounted medicine cabinet, you can also replace it with a mirror. You just won’t have as much storage space. If you have a recessed medicine cabinet that’s embedded into the wall, hanging a mirror will be a little more tricky, but definitely still a great upgrade.

By opting for a mirror, you can choose from many fun shapes, sizes, and colors. Or you can keep it neutral by going with a frameless or minimalist glass one that coordinates with anything. Keep the width of your vanity in mind when selecting a mirror. In most instances, it should not exceed the width of the vanity, but it should fill it.

5. Swap the towel bars and vanity hardware.

Towel bars and drawer pulls take a lot of wear, so after many years of hard work, it might be time to replace them. We stock a wide variety of styles in the latest trends and colors! Black, gold, brushed nickel, and chrome are our best sellers! Find pieces that match or complement the other hardware in your bathroom.

We’ll walk you through it.

It doesn’t take much to give your bathroom a facelift. In fact, a few hours and dollars can make a world of difference.

Stop into a Handy Man showroom, and we’ll recommend everything from the most durable toilet seats to the most popular bathroom mirror styles. We have a ton of items in stock, so you can start your bathroom refresh right away!