This post is actually about three bathroom updates, the first of which concerns this baby – the window. Aka the anti-privacy device located conveniently above the place that we do our most private business.
It’s kinda ridiculous that we haven’t done anything to it sooner, considering the window is nearly a straight shot view to the neighbor’s house. It’s not like we live right on top of each other – heck, we’re not even sure they can see much from this distance (we can’t see anything in their tiny far-away windows) but it’s still just a little odd to see this whenever we step out of the shower or whenever I’m standing up doing my man business.
So to get some privacy coverage while maintaining maximum light in the room, we decided to frost it using our tried-and-true frosting film technique (we’ve had luck with this stuff from Home Depot). In this instance this was a $0 project for us because we already had all of the supplies on hand (we had some leftover frosting film, but normally it’s about $19 for a giant tube that can do a bunch of windows and even large glass doors). Oh and it bears mentioning that this window has mullions update: just learned they’re actually muntins (those white criss-cross things) that are encased between the glass, so they don’t stick out. So although it looks like we would have to cut 12 rectangles of frosting film, we just needed two since these are sneaky interior ones.
You can see the whole process on video below (or here on YouTube), but it’s actually of a different window in another bathroom. So just continue below the video for the photographic tutorial for this space.
You’ve seen us frost the side door in our current house this way and we gave a more thorough tutorial when doing the basement windows of our old house. So rather than rehash the step-by-step descriptions again, I figured we’d mix things up and take you through the process with pictures and captions only. Here goes nothing…
And now for the big finish…
Feel free to click over to this post and this post for more detailed how-to-use-frosting-film instructions. Oh and I realize it’s a bit hard to tell in these pictures (since the window kinda gets blown out anyways), so here’s our best attempt at showing the difference via photos:
You probably won’t notice it in photos going forward, but just know that every time you look at pictures like the one below – it means we’re no longer putting on a show for the neighbors. Hooray for leftover frosting film and a zero dolla project.
Oh and you’ve probably noticed some additions to the top of the toilet tank. You can thank Sherry for that.
She brought in one of the potted succulents she made here and we DIYed that 7 art a while back (here).
She also threw down a little dish to catch the earrings she often forgets are still on until just seconds before hopping into the shower (she used to rest them on the toilet or the windowsill but worried they’d get lost). Now they have a spot to hold them hostage. You know her and drop-spots. They make her all smiley.
You’ve probably figured out by now what the “frosting” and “tanking” parts of this post title refer to. Any guesses about the sucking? Keep it clean, folks.
Let’s look behind curtain #1 for the answer.
It’s our new suction-cup-tacular shower storage. We opted to ditch our over-the-showerhead caddy because it was practically visible from the bedroom door. Yup, it was quite the eyesore. So we wanted to do something more subtle on this other side that would mostly be hidden by the curtain from nearly all angles of the room (we keep the curtain about one third of the way closed when we’re not actually showering… or two-thirds of the way open if you’re an optimist). So this stuff can all hide behind that panel of fabric, out of view (unless you’re standing in the shower looking at it straight on, like the picture above and below.
We’ve had mixed luck with suction cup storage before, but these guys from Bed Bath & Beyond had some sort of extra-strength locking system that gave us the confidence to give it a go. They have a hard outer-cup around the suction cup inside and you have to sort of swivel them to install them to supposedly lock them in place. So far, so good. Even with two steamy showers under our belts (they also stood the overnight test, which means we didn’t awake to the sound of crashing down in the bathroom).
We got two hooks…
…and two baskets (which also had the locking suction cups) for a grand total of $22 after handing over four coupons. Gotta love that BB&B lets you use one for each item that you’re buying and they never expire.
I know it’s weird to be excited about hidden shampoo and razor storage, but for a tiny room that we’re in at least five times a day, it really does make a pretty decent difference. The room feels less cluttered and college-shower-y.
Oh and a reader mentioned they had hanging baskets that were hung over their faucet that fell off the wall and turned on the water and covered the drain so their house flooded (so sad!) – so for safety reasons it’s best not to hang these over the faucet. We like the other side of the shower for them since they’re behind the curtain and you don’t get sprayed in the face when you’re grabbing stuff out of them.
So there ya have it: a frosted window, a spruced up toilet tank and some hidden storage sucking it up on the shower wall. All for twenty two beans.
Here’s our updated to-do list:
paint the walls so they have some contrastreplace the boob lightpaint the cream trim whitehang some bathroom-friendly artcraigslist the toilet and replace it with a classic white onedo something to add privacy to the windownix the ugly and cluttered showerhead caddy- remove the door so we can shave the bottom to allow for a rug/bathmat (and add a door stopper so it doesn’t squash the art)
- replace the border tile around the room (maybe in phase 2?)
- move the blue pendant light to hang centered in front of the window
- replace the floor tile down the road (just to break things up since there’s so much of it)
Anyone else have a favorite privacy method for the window in their bathroom? Or a go-to item for the top of the toilet tank? Or a perfect solution for storing all of their shower necessities?
Psst- To follow this bathroom sprucing project from the start, check out this planning post, this painting post, this light-swapping post, this art and trim-painting post, and this toilet-updating post.
andrea says
Love the bathroom and totally dug the linked tutorial, which is a post I somehow missed and am thinking I may need to try, but I spent the whole post going SHERRY WHAT IS THAT NAIL COLOR IT IS PERFECT. Please share?!
YoungHouseLove says
It’s my friend’s! It’s School of Hard Rocks by Essie. Yay borrowed nail polish!
xo,
s
Callie says
Hey, I just recently filmed our bathroom window!! I love that it’s removable since we’ll be moving in a couple years. I LOVE having the light – we used to have blinds but never opened them, so huge net increase in natural light in the bathroom now!
Also I wanted to tell you that your post about redoing Clara’s dresser (awhile ago) inspired me to do a bathroom vanity refinishing project that I just finished and posted about on my blog! I linked back to you guys about a hundred times, haha. Thanks for the inspiration – I loove how my vanity turned out! Working on a bathroom is so rewarding because one uses it all the time :)
Callie says
Oop I don’t know if my blog address showed up: It is http://house-capades.blogspot.com :)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw love it! Congrats!
xo,
s
Jessica says
Just curious – what’s your timeline for starting phase 2? Excited to see some subway tile. : )
YoungHouseLove says
We’re not quite sure! We have more outside stuff and a deck project we want to take on soon, so it might be something we pick up again in a few months or later this fall!
xo,
s
Ashley says
I hope your shower baskets hold up! We had one and it came crashing down in the middle of the night while I was sleeping. My husband was out of town for work, so I had to investigate all of the rooms all by myself it was sort of scary!
When I showered the next day I had found the culprit… those darn suction cups didn’t hold. (we had the ones from BB&B that lock into place like yours).
It’s also nice to know I’m not the only one who gets sprayed in the face by items in the shower head caddy. We have one hanging in our shower, and my conditioner bottle never fails to tip over and spray me in the face along with spraying over the shower curtain. We need to hang our shower curtain directly below the ceiling like you YHLers, and maybe the floor wouldn’t end up wet too! (:
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- here’s hoping!
xo,
s
Gibson says
Cool stuff. Dude, peeing standing up is just for urinals, definitely not to be done at home….that’s just nasty. :) Parents, teach your little men this please because the ladies don’t like cleaning it up, and it sprays. Nuff said.
Kimmie says
We have the same BBB suction cup hooks for our loofahs too, and just a warning, they DO end up falling off. Ours have lasted over 4 years, but have fallen down about 4 or 5 times. So not too often, but just a fair warning :) I hope the baskets stay up better though, since they’re using two suction cups instead!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Kimmie! We hear from some folks that using command hooks to hold them up can keep them hanging so if ours pop off we might try that! 4-5 times in 4 years isn’t too bad though!
xo,
s
Michael says
Careful with the metal pieces on your shower caddy…they will rust out pretty quickly, even if the label on the caddy says they won’t rust. If there is any contact with the tile, it’ll leave a rust stain on the tile, too. Lesson learned the hard way :(
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip! We’ve had metal showerhead-racks for a few years and haven’t had rust on the tile (perhaps on unsealed or porous tile like travertine or marble has this issue?) but we’ll keep an eye out!
xo,
s
Megan - Newly Wife says
Looks gorgeous! And I love the vase as TP holder as I heard about in the comments. :)
Kristi says
Say, if your suction cups ever fall down, I had great success drilling a fancy crystal cabinet knob into the back wall (short wall opposite end from the shower head) and hanging my shower caddy there. Doesn’t show, doesn’t get my stuff/soap all wet and doesn’t rust out the caddy like the typical hanging method does. Plus, it’ll hold a ton of weight so I can have all of my eight million products on it!
YoungHouseLove says
So smart!
xo
s
Wendy says
I never thought to accessorize the back of a toilet with anything more than a candle. Cute. And I’m glad your lucky number is 7 and not number 2. That might send a different message. ;-)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, true!
xo,
s
Venita says
Our bathroom is in the basement with a teeny shower window looking out into our neighbor’s driveway. Since I shower early in the morning while it’s still dark out, I never gave much thought to the window. However, with Summer fast approaching and the sun rising earlier, I should have noticed that early morning daylight was beginning to seep in. I did not, in fact, notice this until one morning, whilst showering, I looked out and saw the neighbor’s toddler pointing from their car into my shower, where she had a clear, full-on visual. I hope I have not scarred the child for life!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I would have screamed and probably slipped and fell on some soap. So glad you survived!
xo,
s
Sam says
I like the frosting film idea for a bathroom window. My guest half bath has a great big window that looks casually out into the side yard. Right now it is covered by a very tacky disposable temporary cellular shade. This looks like a much better idea!
Ashley says
Another option in place of application spray is to use a bit of dish soap and water in a spray bottle. That’s what many auto shops use for window tint (which I watched my dad do in his shop when I was a kid). I put up privacy film on our garage windows last summer and used it and it went up great! Also helps things like parking stickers inside your vehicle that many people end up taping since they won’t stick.
YoungHouseLove says
Love that tip!
xo,
s
Erin says
I haven’t made it through all the comments yet, so sorry if someone else pointed this out, but I actually heard from BB&B not too long ago (in the past year?) that they were going to start sticking to the expiration dates on the coupons and not letting people use them forever and ever anymore…it might be a thing where it depends on the individual stores (kind of like how we were able to use a 20% off coupon on our Dyson, even though the coupons explicitly say you can’t), but I just wanted to give everyone a heads-up to double-check so they don’t sit on their coupons and then not be able to use them.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip! They told me about three years ago at mine that they would only be good for the entire year on the coupon (ex: one that expires in Jan of 2012 was good until December of 2012 but you couldn’t use it Jan of 2013) but that’s the last I heard of it and it’s definitely not enforced. I wonder if they think coupons encourage people to shop and they’re afraid to say “they’re not good anymore” when they have been good for so long!
xo,
s
Amy says
Ooh, Sherry, love the nail polish!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Amy!
xo,
s
Ashley says
I love how you gave your toilet top accessories. I feel like all I ever put there is a tissue box (do you hide tissues??) and anything else falls off (or falls in)!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, we’re low class “blow your nose with toilet paper” folks. It feels the same! Haha. I think we have one box of tissues in the guest bathroom for more civilized guests though. Haha.
xo,
s
Hilary says
Love frosting. We did our master bath with those sheets (4 of them) and it was kinda a pain… so we sprayfrosted the laundry door one, and I swear by that stuff now!
YoungHouseLove says
We hear that stuff is great too!
xo,
s
Emma says
The frosted window film project you posted in the old house basement became my go-to solution for the bathroom windows in our current apartment. We live in a gorgeous 1930s tudor style building, and it pained me to think we’d have to cover the beautiful original panes with curtains of some kind and lose precious sunlight! . Of all the awesomeness you’ve created (and ive copied :)this pleased me the most for our home, lol. Thanks for being so darn smart!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Emma! So glad to help!
xo,
s
mary says
I’m sure it’s been said, but I’ve used that style suction cup to hold up very large, very heavy banners in a shop window (the type made of the heavy-duty rip-stop stuff). Those suction cups are HARD to remove when you want to – so I’m sure you’ll have good luck with them in the shower :)
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Mary! Here’s hoping they stick!
xo,
s
Emily says
I love that nail polish color, Sherry! Do you know what color it is/where you got it? (btw, I imagine the things people ask about/notice in your pictures must be so weird sometimes!)
Emily says
Oh.. just scrolled up and saw the answer.. facepalm. Nevermind!
YoungHouseLove says
No worries!
xo,
s
Ashley H. says
John’s Comment about doing his stand up man business, made me think about the fact that sometimes I am caught off guard when I have in my head that one of you is writing and then it turns out its the other. Have you ever though of doing a contest where you have readers vote to see if they can tell who is writing? I think it would be fun at least.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, we have thought about that, but since we usually refer to each other a few times in each post (ex: Sherry helped me ___ or John suggested we ____) it might give it away. We do hear that some folks make a game out of it themselves by reading a post without looking who wrote it and trying to guess. Haha.
xo,
s
Trela says
When I see what you two accomplish in a day, I crave summer vacation. Good call on the suction cups. Ours have rarely failed us (and that was likely from the kidlets experimenting with them). I barely notice the trees in your tile now.
Stacy says
This is a weird question and I don’t mean to sound like a perv, but is the frosted film you use “naked proof”?
We have a window that sits between the shower and toilet. For guys it isn’t a big deal. My hubby is 6 feet tall as is my son, so our neighbors are not going to see a whole lot regardless of what they are doing.
I on the other hand am 5’5″ and well, let’s just say if I didn’t use a blind and or a curtain of some sort, the neighbors would get a view.
One neighbor in particular enjoys gawking over our 6′ foot stockade fence. I have no idea what he thinks we do on our side of the fence, but blech! He doesn’t do it all the time and usually I catch him doing it while I’m washing dishes, but it’s creepy regardless of what I’m doing.
Right now I have lined curtains in the window which I like and can be moved to anywhere else in the house. He can see that the light is on, but cannot see much of anything else. I suppose he could see a outline if somebody stood right in front of the window, but why would a person do that?
I’d really like to have the natural light back, but I need a solution that is creepy neighbor proof.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, yes- we have checked with the light on at night and all you see are shadows flitting around if someone is in there waving and jumping up and down. Maybe have someone hold it up and go outside and turn on the light and double check things before you hang whatever film you get since some are thicker than others!
xo,
s
Lynne says
I’d love to see pictures of the window from the outside too, to get an idea of how it looks. Especially at night with the lights on.
I’ve toyed with the idea of privacy film that doesn’t sacrifice too much light, but I’m in a rental so I have to be careful what I do (New Zealand landlords are anal!).
Also, what would be involved with removing it?
YoungHouseLove says
You just spray it down with the applicator spray and pull it hard to remove it. Then use Goo Gone to remove the stickiness on the window and it’s as good as new. Will have to take a pic of the window from outside when I get a chance. At certain times of day it’s hard to see anything but the reflection of the outdoors on the window, but at night it looks like a glowing white box with the lights on inside, sort of like other windows with the lights on, but diffused and less clear since it’s frosted.
xo,
s
Charlotte says
where did you find the container to hold the toilet paper?
Is it glass?
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, it’s just a glass vase from Target meant for those giant sticks. I brought TP in my purse to make sure it would fit. Haha.
xo,
s
Laura says
Toilet paper in your purse….LOL!
Lisa says
I used the frosted film stuff two houses ago, and had a really difficult time peeling it off when it was time to leave. We just moved into a new house (still renting), and had a really high window that let in too much light–it was heating up the room and was positioned so that it bounced directly off the glass top of our dining table, which was blinding. Since I’ll have to remove it when we leave, I spray glued a piece of sheer ikea curtain to it, which still lets the light in but in a softer, diffuse way instead of searing our eyeballs. And the spray glue comes off with Windex (I did this treatment to my china cabinet a while back).
you can see it here:
http://trappedinnorthjersey.blogspot.com/2012/04/covering-high-window.html
YoungHouseLove says
Smart!
xo,
s
KarenH says
I like your film solution! That would be a great solution to keep in mind if I ever go back to day shift work. The blinds I have now keep the glare down when I’m trying to sleep during the day.
I bought one of those corner caddies–with baskets on a tension rod and sits in the corner. Like you, I like having the caddy at the opposite end of the water, only I didn’t think about stuff falling and turning the water on inadvertantly; I just thought it crowds my active washing area less down there :)
Ashley says
What does it look like from the outside? I have a bathroom window that faces the front of the house. I wonder if that frosted window would look different from the outside.
YoungHouseLove says
It’s usually semi-obvious that a window has been frosted from the outside at certain times of day, but if you look at the facade of your house and the bathroom window is small and obviously a bathroom, I think it’s cool to have a frosted window there. Some builders put frosted windows in every bathroom from the get-go. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Deb D. says
Not sure if you covered this, but how does the frosted window look during the day from the outside? Our master bathroom window faces the street (and our house sits close to the street) so I’m sure that we’ve given the neighbors and passing motorists a show more than once when we’ve forgotten to shut the blinds completely. I’d like to put the frosting on the bottom window but worry about what it will look like from the street and if it would throw off the facade of the house. We have similar windows to what you have in your bathroom. Thoughts?
YoungHouseLove says
It’s usually clear that a window has been frosted at certain times of day, but if you look at the facade of your house and the bathroom window is small and obviously a bathroom, I think it’s cool to have a frosted window there. Some builders put frosted windows in every bathroom from the get-go. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Maria says
We’ve been looking for a way to get some privacy in our bedroom, because our bedroom window faces the street. Right now we have privacy film on the window, but I think it makes the light in our bedroom really ugly. The light is much prettier when you use frosted glass. But we can’t do that because we need to be able to see out. sigh…
tiffany says
great post! love the frosted panes, thanks for sharing the diy… t.
Rachel @ Rediscovering the Kitchen says
The frosting looks great! I am impressed by the amount of light it still lets in; my sheer curtains in the living room do block a considerable amount of light even though they are practically see-through. Do you remember if it was a specific type of film?
I hope the suction cup things work out for you guys. We bought some that claimed to have a locking system too – worked great! They never fell down once… for about a month and a half. After that we just couldn’t get them to stay up no matter what trick we tried. Ended up putting them on the mirror downstairs which worked… for about a week. Sigh. Here’s hoping you don’t get a dud product like we did!
YoungHouseLove says
I don’t remember if it was specific film other than it’s called “privacy frosting film” and sold at Home Depot and meant for bathroom windows. Hope it helps! As for the suction cups, we have heard from folks who have used 3M hooks to hold them up so we’ll resort to that and keep everyone posted if ours start to pop off the wall!
xo,
s
Heather says
Alright, you inspired me and I finally finished my own bathroom, for the price of $6 for shelf brackets. My blog has pictures, and I linked to you! Thanks for the motivation!!
YoungHouseLove says
Niiiice! So organized. High five for getting on that!
xo,
s
Lara V says
WOW! Perfect timing for this post!!! We are remodeling a loft/finished attic space in our house and I have 3 triangular windows that need something like this!!! Did you ever look into patterned frosting material??? Just curious! How much light does it block??? Thanks in advance! Loved the Titanic reference!! LOL!!!
YoungHouseLove says
We didn’t look much at the patterned paper sine we knew we wanted something basic so our giant art right next to the window wouldn’t compete but they do sell some options at Home Depot with designs (and we’ve seen them online too). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Lara V says
Awesome! Thanks for the info!! We will check out Home Depot this weekend!! I’m hoping to share some photos with you guys when it’s done! It will be a huge change!! Have a great weekend!
YoungHouseLove says
Good luck Lara!
xo,
s
Larissa says
You definitely need to add this to your bathroom re-do list. I can’t believe you haven’t already done it, actually. I mean, “Women from as far away as Portugal and Mozambique are buying the product for their husbands”. Maybe for Father’s Day…
http://www.jonnyglow.com
P.S. I never would have guessed that shower caddies would generate so many comments!
YoungHouseLove says
Hahahaha.
xo,
s
Holly@Loveoflifeblog says
LOVE the Titanic reference! And I’ve never had such a great result from applying this stuff- you did great and there are no bubbles. Great job!
Kacy says
It looks so nice! And your titanic steamy hand scene reference had me spitting out my coffee laughing out loud….good start to my slow morning here at work. Thanks! :)
Lexie says
I’m so jealous – the frosted window looks great! We have a full window in our shower and the window film wasn’t enough privacy when you have to stand so close to it in a confined shower. You could totally see a full body silouette which is … weird. We have a vinyl roller shade now. :/
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, glad you figured that out! I wonder if it had to do with being so close to it. Since the toilet is a few feet from the window we’re not right next to the frosting film, so from the outside it’s just a vague shadowy flickering movement if someone is in there doing jumping jacks.
xo,
s
Susan says
Your blog got me to frost our bathroom windows 2 years ago. I love them! So nice to not have clunky blinds.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, so glad!
xo,
s
Alison says
Yay!! Looks good! What is on the border tile btw? Sorta looks like cauliflower;)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- it’s sketchy looking trees. Not terribly, but not really us either. Can’t wait to switch it out for something more our style down the road!
xo,
s
Alyssa Wine says
It looks great! You inspire me to use this on my french doors. There are no visible “sight lines” (into other people’s windows) but still a little unnerving to waltz by a big glass door when I’m not exactly fully dressed.
Sheila @SZInteriors says
What a great solution! I just worked with window film for the first time on a volunteer ‘giving back’ project, and found it was much easier to work with than expected. And the results were awesome, as are yours!
YoungHouseLove says
So glad! It’s not bad, right?!
xo,
s
SherL says
Really don’t want to peep, but was hoping to see a pic of the bathroom window looking in from the outside with someone on the inside so I could tell what the silhouette looked like.
Thank you for your daily dose of creativity, excellent writing and family life. S
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, it’s hard to capture on camera, but you don’t see a silhouette of the person inside, it’s just a frosted square with gray shadows that sort of ambiguously move around behind it. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Amy says
Discovered window film two years ago after I moved into my first house and disovered that a kitchen window looks right into the neighbor’s bathroom, and since they didn’t want to install curtains or blinds (ick), I was left with running out to Home Depot in a hurry for a quick fix! Love that it stays put, looks great and that it’s a cheap, quick fix.
Erica says
Curious if you can see through the frosted window at all? We still wouldn’t mind seeing the wildlife out back window, but also need the privacy. I know sometimes you can see blurred things when stuff is frosted? Just curious! Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
In order for no one to see in I think it has to be completely frosted – so we can’t see wildlife out the window, but the neighbors can’t see us. Haha. I think you can get frosting with less density but folks might still be able to see in with the lights on at night if it’s too sheer!
xo,
s
liz says
I’ve had great luck with that basket, it’s been holding strong since I moved into my apartment in September. Mine is a corner one and it has two reinforced pressure-y locks and two regular old suction cups and a few times the reinforced ones have come un-done but the regular ones keep it up. Just to be safe I don’t put anything breakable (like a glass bottle of shower gel from sabon) in those baskets. BB&B is the best!
Susan says
I especially like that 7 on the back of the toilet. It’s like a scorecard, and 7 is a pretty good score!
YoungHouseLove says
Ha! I’m not gonna think about what it’s rating us on.
-John
Laura says
“Pretend you’re in the steamy car scene from Titanic”
LOL! Loved that caption. Just saw the 3D movie yesterday.
Tiffany B says
I saw this on pinterest and thought of you Sherry:
http://pinterest.com/pin/217298750740158147/
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- that’s one way to keep John from stealing my good scissors!
xo,
s
HerLateNightCravings says
My husband and I just frosted our bathroom window like this too! Of course I got the idea from you guys!! It was easy and does the trick. We added a little bamboo blind as well. Thanks for the tip!!
Jayme @ Her Late Night Cravings
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, so glad!
xo
s