Bathroom Upgrades
When it comes to bathroom upgrades, it’s easy to get inspired by DIY videos and Pinterest. But here’s the thing: bathrooms are tough spaces. The constant steam, water, and daily use can turn a quick fix or trendy project into a headache faster than you’d think. Here are some things to avoid.
Peel-And-Stick Tiles
They look great at first, but steam and moisture make them peel fast, leaving your bathroom floor looking like you don’t want to put bare feet on it.
Poor Re-Grouting
Rushing through grout jobs often leads to cracks and gaps, letting water sneak in and causing mold before you know it.
Overpainting Old Tiles
Tile paint sounds easy, but it chips under daily scrubbing and shower steam. In less than a year, you’re back to square one.
Floating Shelves
Sure, they look modern, but cheap anchors in drywall can’t handle heavy bathroom items. Unless you’re very careful, eventually everything crashes down.
Wallpaper in Bathrooms
Moisture bubbles and peels even “bathroom safe” wallpaper. It’s frustrating watching your pretty pattern curl up after a few showers.
Cheap Vanities
Budget vanities swell, warp, or peel from constant humidity. They look nice for a while, then start showing water damage almost immediately.
Poor Caulking
Messy caulk lines trap mildew and peel quickly. Without proper prep, your tub edges look worse than before within months.
Stick-On Backsplashes
Adhesive backsplashes can’t stand up to moisture and cleaning sprays. They lose their stick, curl at the edges, and ruin the look of your bathroom.
Poor Plumbing Fixes
Using tape or sealant instead of proper fittings often ends with slow leaks that rot cabinets and floors before you notice.
Handmade Wooden Towel Racks
They look lovely until the wood warps, screws loosen, and the rack pulls out of the wall with your towels.
Over-The-Top Mirrors
Gluing a fancy frame to a builder-grade mirror seems clever until it warps or mold creeps behind it from trapped moisture.
Painted Bathtubs
Tub refinishing kits aren’t worth it - they peel and discolor fast. After a year of baths and showers, the paint chips and looks worse than before.
Poor Lighting Installs
Wrong bulbs or badly done wiring leave the bathroom too dim or, worse, dangerously overheated. It’s not worth the regret or the fire risk.
Open Shelving
Minimalists love open shelving at first, but then everything gets damp, dusty, or cluttered. Your bathroom ends up looking like a messy closet.
DIY Shiplap Walls
This is a cute trend, but in a humid bathroom, wood warps and paint peels. Instead of cozy, it turns shabby really fast.
Vanity Paint Jobs
Without the right prep or sealant, bathroom vanity paint chips within months, especially around handles and sink splashes.
Cheap Faucets
Bargain faucets start leaking, corroding, or losing their finish quickly. They never look as good as when you first installed them.
DIY Shower Doors
Misaligned tracks or poorly sealed edges cause leaks. Pretty soon, puddles are forming outside the shower every single time.
Epoxy Countertops
They look great fresh, but heat from hair tools and constant water exposure leads to peeling, bubbling, and yellowing.
Decorative Stones in Showers
Trendy pebble floors feel luxurious if you like that sort of thing, but cleaning mold from grout lines becomes a nightmare within months.
Wood Accents
Wood and humidity rarely mix well. Wooden bits in the bathroom will probably start warping, cracking, and even growing mold.
Bad Bidet Installs
Cheap, poorly fitted bidets often leak or break, leaving you with soggy floors and a lot of regrets.
Too Many Hooks
Putting lots of hooks on the walls seems practical until they pull out, leaving drywall holes and clutter everywhere.
Tiny Sinks
Downsizing for style backfires when you can’t wash your hands without splashing water all over the counter.
Floor Stencils
Painted patterns look artsy, and they’re fun to make, but they wear away quickly under daily moisture and cleaning.
Over-Siliconing
More caulk isn’t better. Excess silicone traps dirt, peels, and looks messy fast - making everything harder to clean.
Overly Trendy Tiles
Bold patterns feel exciting at first but age fast. Within a year, many homeowners wish they’d picked something classic.
Unsealed Grout
Skipping grout sealant saves time short term, but mildew stains set in quickly, making the bathroom look dirty no matter how much you scrub.
DIY Shower Curtains
Cute fabric projects quickly get moldy without proper liners. It’s a waste of time and effort when they end up ruined.
Mismatched Finishes
Mixing too many metals feels fun while DIY-ing but starts to look chaotic after you’ve settled into your new bathroom.
Over-Accessorizing
Filling shelves with décor makes cleaning harder. Dust and moisture turn once-chic items into a grimy, cluttered mess.
Inexpensive Exhaust Fans
Cheap fans barely clear steam, so walls sweat, mirrors fog, and mildew creeps in way too soon.
DIY Shower Niches
Without proper waterproofing, DIY niches leak behind the wall, leading to costly hidden water damage.
Overly Bright Paint
That bold teal or mustard yellow looks exciting and unique when you first put it up but it quickly feels overwhelming. And worse, it shows every splash and streak.
Carpeted Bathrooms
They might feel cozy underfoot at first, but moisture quickly makes them smell musty, trap stains, and even grow mold. Within a year, most people seriously regret the choice.
