Create a Spa at Home - Redo Your Bathroom

Create a spa at home and your summer staycation just got heavenly.

 

INSPIRATION

 

I visited a luxury destination spa at the Lodge at Woodloch in Pennsylvania last spring, and it is one of those places I would love to go back to. However, the luxury spa trip is difficult to fit in my schedule or budget, so instead, I decided to create a spa at home.

 

What about you? Are you busy making summer traveling plans? Or not? Don't worry, staycation is a perfectly fine option, and you will spend less money and do more when you choose to stay home. The best way is to bring the travel destinations home to you. I'll show you how you can create the spa at home and enjoy relaxation at any time. There are a few key elements for having that spa-like relaxing bathroom, I call them "the foundation" and "the trimmings". In this post I talk more about the foundation, and the things you must do first in order to transform the bathroom where you can actually relax with spa-like treatments.

 

TACKLE YOUR BATHROOM - DECLUTTER, CLEAN & ORGANIZE

 

I would love to tell you that I now have a new steam shower, Mexican tile floors, jacuzzi that fits the whole family and a Finnish sauna to enjoy spa days at home. Yeah right. Let's get real here; you don't have to have an interior designer to create an amazing bathroom the size of your garage for you to enjoy a spa day at home. Or do you need a very large budget. De-cluttering, cleaning and organizing are the key activities for creating the serene feeling to your bathroom.

 

Start by going through everything you have in your bathroom, and get rid of items you don't use anymore. Do you have products, like shampoo, in your bathroom that you bought but didn't like and now the almost full bottle is just sitting there, and you haven't touched it for 6 months? All of those "maybe-I'll-use-it-one-day" products will need to come out! At least collect them all together and store them in a cabinet, hidden from sight, if you are not ready to get rid of them just yet. Or think about donating them to a women's shelter.

 

Clean it! Your bathroom is full of what Colgate calls  Invisible Nasties, and the funk needs to come out of your bathroom. Moms (of especially boys) know that there are some other nasties in the bathroom that need to be deep-cleaned too before we can talk about anything serene and relaxing. Nothing really ruins mom's spa pampering day like a trash can full of diapers or dirty bathroom tiles. I like the Lysol 4-in-1 Bathroom Cleaner for deep cleaning. My two other cleaning product favorites that make cleaning easier and more convenient are the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Bath Scrubber and the lavender scented Fabuloso for the entire house. Note that I am not a cleaning expert at all but these are the products that I get the job done with.

 

 

Consider adding shelving or a cabinet where you can organize and/or hide the things you have in the bathroom. The less you see - the easier it is for you to relax and let your mind wander in your home spa. Also, when everything has its place in the bathroom, the easier it will be to keep it clean. Get larger baskets for towels for that spa feeling, and smaller baskets and containers for makeup and other toiletries. Wooden trays and boxes are great, and easily available.

 

IKEA is a great place for inexpensive organizing products, the Container Store is another great one to try. You might also want to see what Target has to offer, and Walmart actually has some nice containers as well.

 

MINI MAKEOVER

 

I did a mini-makeover to our bathroom with a new shower curtain, rug, and towels, and installed a few shelves on the wall to have more space for all my pampering products. In fact, now seeing my facial scrubs and bath salts, reminds me to schedule some me-time. While I normally like colorful towels, or towels matched in the decor of the bathroom, nothing beats white towels when you are looking for the clean spa-style look. A white simple shower curtain could be nice too when you want to calm the room, however, if your walls are light and already have a lot of white in the bathroom, try something with color, but keep it simple and think nature and something that fits the spa style.

I know - you are probably exhausted by the time you have accomplished all that, and you will deserve the spa day!

 

Remember that most of this you only need to do once (cleaning more often!), and then you have a spa of your own. Come back soon for more tips for your home spa!