
Since we moved in 4 years ago, redoing the bathroom on the main level has been one of our priorities. Since we moved in 4 years ago, it’s actually been our only bathroom, as the upstairs one had so many issues, we simply bolted the doors shut. Sharing a small bathroom between 4 people has honestly been just fine, I don’t really love to clean bathrooms anyway, so having one small space to care for was a-ok with me. But the status of the bathroom itself was less than ideal. Here’s a few reasons why we’re turning our grungy old potty into the perfect Swedish Cottage bathroom.



Why we’re remodeling our bathroom
I’m not sure I need to elaborate too much after show you the above photos, ha! But obviously you can see that everything in our existing bathroom was OLD. The tub and sink were a very lovely shade of institutional pink and the plastic shower surround a very putrid yellow. The plywood vanity was housing a healthy mold colony. The linoleum floors had been leaking for a very long time, creating a lovely bubble in the subfloor. The toilet was rusted and corroded before we got to it, and then my boys have done a number on it over the last few years.
Before we redid our roof last summer, there was a skylight in this room that had been leaking for who knows how long. Once we removed the drywall, there was a fair bit of mold and rot. The light fixtures were old, the medicine cabinet…OLD. And, the cherry on top: there was a nasty old Thermadore heater in the wall. Needless to say, this bathroom was a gut job from floor to ceiling.
I will say that learning to live with this bathroom over the last 4 years has been a very good exercise in contentment. Was it pretty? NO. Was it nice? Definitely NO. Was it usable? YES. Could we go to the bathroom and get ourselves clean? YES. It has served us as best it could since we’ve lived here, and for that, I truly am grateful. Well done, good and faithful bathroom, you earned this facelift!

Making the best choices when you remodel
This remodel at Bramblewood is not actually my first rodeo. Before we lived here, we (aka my Dad and husband, I was pregnant with my youngest) essentially flipped a little 1947 “Cottage on the Corner,” as we called it. You can see the photo above.
In our last remodel, I made some relatively safe choices. Most things were simple and white, and to be totally honest, I still really like simple and white. There weren’t too many things I regretted, and I feel like my classic choices also made the house easy to sell when the time came. But there have been a few things I’ve learned about selecting products over the years, so I thought I’d share a few of those lessons and what we’re using in the bathroom refresh this time.
What we picked for our Swedish Cottage Bathroom
If you’ve been around here long, you’ll know that we’re infusing Swedish cottage style into our little 1928 cottage here at Bramblewood. It has just the right architecture for this look, as I talked about in THIS POST, and so it makes designing a new room a little bit easier.
Shower/bath. Who doesn’t love a beautiful tile shower? I definitely do. BUT we put a lovely tiled shower in our last house, and you know what? I REALLY hated cleaning it. After only a couple years there the grout looked really worn. The tiles got water stained. And every time I showered in it, I felt bummed about how it looked. So, this time, we chose a nearly seamless fiberglass shower surround (and tub). This thing is basically bulletproof. It will be easy to clean. Last forever. And look nice, clean and bright for years to come. I went with classic chrome finishes, and I’m super happy with how it looks. Here it is just freshly installed.


We decided to go with a tub and shower combo as we still have kiddos who like a bath. We also installed the showerhead plumbing super high for my tall husband (and future tall boys). We’ll use a shower curtain for this shower (easier to keep clean or replace), and I just cannot wait to use that beautiful new thing!
Tile floors. We are going to go with tile floors in this bathroom, even though we decided not to tile the shower, simply because I already had this tile. I bought it over 3 years ago and it’s just been sitting in our barn ever since. I even tried to sell it for a while, not sure this reno project would ever happen. But it’s a really beautiful product, and I’m so excited to see it installed next week!
Beadboard. Let me let you in on a little secret, I don’t love drywall. I’m sure this is making my Dad chuckle if he’s reading this, but truth be told, it’s entirely his fault. I grew up going watching him build custom homes with all sorts of incredible finishes, so he’s the one to blame for my drywall aversion. Obviously there is a reason most homes have good old sheet rock, however, and that’s affordability.
At Bramblewood, I have employed a little trick in several spaces, including this bathroom project, that has helped break up the drywall and make the room look more custom. Natural wood beadboard. Not mdf, REAL wood. It’s labeled as an outdoor siding in the hardware store, but if you prep it well before painting, it’s a truly beautiful product. We will have a 4ft wainscot around the perimeter of the bathroom, which will be painted Alabaster by Sherwin Williams to keep things light and bright and flowing with the adjoining kitchen.






Bathroom vanity, sink + faucet. After a few years of pinning all the Swedish Cottage inspo I can find, I pretty much knew exactly what I wanted when it came to a vanity setup. And the good news is, it was a budget friendly option! I’d seen the IKEA HEMNES vanity with the large, lipped sink in so many Swedish bathrooms, so that was actually the first item I ordered for this project. I haven’t decided if I’m going to paint the vanity yet (I kinda think so, Providence Olive by Benjamin Moore anyone?) but I’m so excited to get it into place!
The sink we are going to use is the IKEA RUTSJON. I LOVE this sink. It looks so good in photos, but when it arrived and I opened up the box, I was even more pleased. It’s so heavy, has a beautiful finish, and I just love the back + side details.
For the faucet, we’re actually just reusing in inexpensive, classic chrome faucet we bought at Lowe’s and added to our old vanity. It’s cute, easy to clean and budget-friendly.
Lights. One of the things I’m not real picky about is lighting. They’re easy to switch out, styles tend to change over the years, so inexpensive options are usually good with me. As we’ve leaned even more in the Swedish country look, I’ve gone to the globe lights I see in nearly every photo. And that’s what I’ve picked for the bathroom. There will be one sconce on either side of the mirror over the sink, and I think they’ll look so cute!
I did go with an aged brass finish on the metal part instead of chrome. I don’t like it when things are too matchy matchy, and all the rest of the light fixtures downstairs are brass with the white globe.
Mirror. I also went cheap with this one. Even easier to switch out than a light fixture, I figure if I don’t love it when we go to hang it, I’ll simply return it and try again. I thought the arch shape would be a fun contrast with all the square edges in that small room.
Accessories. I will be reusing the toilet paper holder and a few towel hooks that we already had. They’re chrome, from Lowe’s and will look great in this space. I’m still contemplating putting some kind of cabinet or shelf above the toilet, but I’m not going to worry about it at this point. I can tackle that later on.
I think I’ll also add brass knobs on the vanity, use some white waffle towels in here and possibly this shower curtain in Green/Cream.
Common elements of Swedish cottage bathrooms
Over the last four years, as I’ve researched, dreamed and planned projects in our cottage, I’ve had to time to not only refine my aesthetic, but test it out in our space. Everytime I have implemented features I’ve seen in Swedish country homes, I have been THRILLED with the way they look and feel in our home. Everytime I have diverted from that look, well, I’ve ended up redoing it. Here’s a few of the features I was inspired by for our bathroom space.






Swedish cottage bathroom features:
Globe lights. As you can see from the above photos, globe lights are everywhere. They’re clean and simple, and easy to clean as well, which I really love.
Patterned floors. I fell in love with the idea of a patterned tile three years ago, so much so, that I purchased the materials for a project we weren’t even ready to do yet. But when I look at these photos, I’m sure glad I did! The green in the leaves of the tile matches my kitchen perfectly, and I’ve also accented with blues throughout our house. It’s going to be perfect.
Wainscot/beadboard. Whether it’s tile or wood, the Swedes love a bathroom wainscot. And the best part? It makes things so easy to wipe down and CLEAN. Have you noticed a theme here? I need things to be easy to clean and keep nice. I have BOYS afterall.
Light colors. I haven’t decided how I’m going to use color in this space, but I have a few areas to play with. Either way, I am planning to stick to the house-wide color palette of Alabaster by SW, Providence Olive by BM and Abingdon Putty by BM. Maybe the walls Providence Olive and the vanity Abingdon Putty? Or keep it super light and vice versa!? We shall see!
Chrome bath fixtures. I’ve always loved Chrome in a bathroom. Maybe I’m just a classic girl. But I think it adds such a polish and clean feeling, and when you combine it with classic lines, can just be such a beautiful metal.
Share your thoughts!
Alright, I wanna hear what you think! Leave a comment below with your thoughts on my choices for our main bathroom.
And pin this image if you too love a clean, simple Swedish cottage bathroom. I can’t wait to share the finished space with you!

Kali
About Me
Hi! I’m Kali. Oregon mama, farmer’s wife and creator of the Potager book and blog. Join me and as we cook and garden the seasons!
Comments (2)
Randall
June 13, 2025 at 1:49 pm
You have great vision daughter…..always a blast spending such quality time with you remodeling and making so many decisions….and as your mom would say yes we are a dangerous pair!!
Kali
June 20, 2025 at 7:06 pm
Love you Dad! Thanks for teaching me anything is possible and for teaching me how to work for it! LOVE YOU!