The term "spa like" has become common place when describing the ideal bathroom, but why is that? When people think of a spa they think of a place that is relaxing, a place where you can rejuvenate and get away from it all. Our lives today are busier than ever and we are in constant communication with one another so the idea of disconnecting and being quiet (like you are in a spa) is very appealing. When you are selling your house you want to appeal to this need that the buyers have and a great way to do that is to showcase your "spa like" bathroom.
So how do you do that? First and foremost it's got to be clean. A bathroom is a place where you scrub up yourself and no one wants to do that in a filthy bathroom. I always tell people to do a good thorough clean of their home before they put it on the market and then just maintain it while it's listed. In the tub and shower focus on getting all the soap scum off. If you have a glass door make sure it's sparkling and if you have a shower curtain consider replacing the dingy plastic curtain with a newer one (they're $5 at WalMart). If you do have a shower curtain I also recommend having a decorative one in addition to the plastic one. It doesn't have to be expensive and can be plain old white, I'll explain why that's important later.When you clean the toilet make sure you wipe down the outside of it too. People don't necessarily look to see that it's clean but they will notice if it's not and there is only one thing that makes that messy and it's yucky. For the floors consider keeping a dust buster close by so that you can quickly vacuum up all the random hairs that land on the floor, those also fall in the yucky category (at least for me they do).
Once it's clean you can add the "pretty". On the counter tops and any open shelves I generally tell people to remove all products. Bathroom products tend to be bright in colour and eye catching which makes sense because at the store each company is trying to get you to select their stuff off the shelf instead of their competitor.
The exception to this rule is perfume bottles which tend to be attractive in their shape and colour. If you have a couple of products that are similar in colour then feel free to group them together. You might have a couple of perfume or cologne bottles that are black, grey and white. If you also have a hairspray bottle that is grey then feel free to add it to the mix as well. It's about creating continuity. If you have a rainbow of bottles it's distracting and the eye stops every time there is a major colour change so if you have similar cololurs the eye keeps moving and the person looking can easily take in the whole room. This concept also ties into my tip about having a decorative shower curtain. It's not realistic to remove your shampoo, conditioner, body wash etc. every time you have a showing so that the buyer isn't distracted by the bright colours. In addition if you have kids with a mountain of bath toys, removing all of them can be a pain. A quick way to have those things "disappear" is to close the shower curtain.
Having towels nicely folded over the towel bar is a must as well has making sure the mirrors and taps are sparkling and the toilet seat is *down*!
Usually our time getting ready at the beginning of the day is the calm before the storm so show a buyer that can happen in your house. A few decorative candles, a small vase (or glass) of fresh flowers and some fluffy towels in a basket can help to tie that all together.
For some visual inspiration check out my pinboard.
