i'd go big on a humorous shower curtain, cover the floor as sophie suggests. you won't notice anything else.

A curved shower rod

If keeping the dark mirror, & if vanity is real wood, stain it dark espresso or sand prime,paint black.

Or,

Get a mirror that matches rod colors or white frame. Then white wash or sand,paint,prime vanity white.

Keep it cohesive with color choices.

A good cleaning and maybe paint.

agree,,,paint, curtain, new mirror, hardware.

the only thing I would have to change is that countertop. but thats me. you can find remnants to replace that.

or, look on Craigslist. sometimes you can find those oak cabinet vanities w/granite tops. paint the wood a cool, bright color.

another option is a spray epoxy enamel coating for all of those tiles and bathtub. it will make it look bright white and brand new. about 500 for everything.

did you know you can paint vinyl flooring?

do something like this, Paint the walls white, find a new countertop remnant for $50, and mirror that spans the vanity width (often free on craigslist) maybe look for some extra tiles on clearance for a few bucks and tile behind the sink....all sorts of cheap ideas.

A magic eraser can do a lot [it won't restore our stained/gross laminate in kitchen though]…

If you want to liven it up for the kids, I'd paint the vanity cabinet a bright color, maybe a turquoise blue -- you could even paint the mirror frame the same color (or white). Otherwise, agree with the cheery shower curtains, rug, towels. You could probably put $75 into a newer faucet if you wanted a bit of an updated feel for yourself.

Vessel Sink Faucet Bathroom Bath Lavatory Single Handle, Brushed Nickel · More Info

Yellow and Turquoise Bathroom · More Info

Monika Strigel Lily Mint Mermaid Shower Curtain, 72"x69" · More Info

Khristian A Howell Eloise Shower Curtain · More Info

As someone mentioned above, you can try to have the tiles painted white and even the tub as well. We did that to an old bathroom where we had pink tiles and pink tub. The cost of painting/glazing the tiles and tub came to about 600 or so. It was so worth it.

You can also find very nice vinyl tiles that you can use to cover the current ones. they come in various designs. I would also paint the cabinet and change the hardware. paint the walls as well. I think you have a chair rail (couldn't tell from the pictures) but if you do, you can paint the walls in 2 colors. You can do all these changes yourself for really cheap and will make a big impact.

I have to say, this bathroom is far from gross unless it photographs exceptionally well. The only thing I *might* do is paint. But I'm pretty cheap so knowing it would be torn down relatively soon, I probably wouldn't even do that.

I know how hard it is to live in a space that just isn't pretty though. Are you interested in a psychological trick to get you through it? Put the money you would budget for this in the bank in an account labeled "Bathroom." Just leave it there... Whenever you feel like you can't stand that bathroom for one more day, ask yourself if now is the time to spend that money. Maybe it will be! Or maybe you'll find that you can indeed endure for a little longer. Then you'll be that much further ahead for stage 2 when it comes :-)

LOL! "Two to four years is a long time".........to live with a thing that doesn't WORK. I doubt there is anyone over fifty who hasn't lived with some hideous thing for a bit. Scrub it, paint it, hang a curtain. Kids...actually do not care. A good guess is you will want every spare nickel for a future reno. Putting lipstick on a working pig simply diverts dollars from your plan. Two gallons of paint, Home Depot hardware, and a shower curtain if you must : )

I decided to find my own place to buy and move into after a time spent splitting the rent for a large 2 story home with a friend and her family - the upstairs hall bath was the only one I had access to, and after living there a few months, the fight to keep the mold away was a fight I was losing, the shower handle could only safely be turned to the cold side (it would have come off if I tried to turn it to hot - and take some of the tile with it), and the toilet started to threaten to overflow *after* plunging - I guess three people using said shower and toilet was just too much after 35ish years of ignored maintenance except for when the landlord needed to show the place to prospective tenants.

The unstylish paint, giant department store-looking mirror, peach tile and hard water spotted fixtures were the least of my concerns.

Give it a good scrubbing-down, a nice shower curtain, and something complimentary for the window. Then wait 3 months before you do anything else. Chances are that by then you'll be used to it, and it won't bother you any more. By then you'll also have found other things that are more important to do with your time and money.

paint it something bold, add in a shower curtain with a design so it brings life to the room then enjoy for the next year or two.

I did have to chuckle at "2-4 years is a long time to live with something you don't like..." I mean, we all survived high school right??

2-4 years is a blink of the eye especially when you're raising kids. You may spend less than ten minutes each day in this room, less if your kids can bathe themselves.

I agree with some other posters that it really isn't bad. The tub doesn't look bad from the pictures. If you cannot live with the vanity area, you can paint it, swap out the hardware and update the counter and sink for a reasonable small amount of money.

I wouldn't put much else into it.

These are all fantastic suggestions. It's always great to have confirmation that the bathroom is so horribly awful. I think I've been jaded by the beautiful houzz images. I will definitely take the suggestions of making sure the bathtub is safe and super clean - then hang a nice shower curtain - bleach the heck out of that toilet - change the paint color and perhaps lay down a washable rug.

Diana I think that's really wise.

Loving beautiful things is great; being discontent because we think we don't live up to the standard is a terrible feeling... I think everyone experiences that in some manner at some point in their lives.

If the city isn’t going to come along and red tag the place because the bathroom alone is worthy of condemning, get a rug and a nice shower curtain before bleaching the heck out of the toilet and anywhere else in the bathroom that might need it - then go on with life and daydream about what the space will look like when you’ve turned the temporary area into a permanent hallway(?) leading to that new addition you mentioned. ;)

Check with the pediatrician about lead poisoning. I had the understanding that you had to injest it. After a bath just rinse them off until you know for sure.

for 70 years people took baths in those tubs and never had issues. lead is only an issue if it's in small particles and is inhaled or you eat paint chips. as long as it's encapsulated, it's perfectly safe.

Children have an exaggerated sense of time because a year is a huge percent of the time that they have been alive. So, while a year might seem like 5 years to a 6 year old, in the overall timeframe of life, a year is nothing to an adult. And the older you get, the more like it seems like a month instead of that year.

Which is how you can tell the kids online without knowing people’s actual ages.

So true Sophie.

Nobody ever got sick from living in an unstylish home.

As a young couple with 2 children we moved into a well-laid out house in a great neighborhood, that had very dated carpets, tile, baths, kitchen etc. My wonderful father helped us do a bit of painting and then we saved for 10 years for a renovation, unlike many of our friends and family. (One sister in law asked me how I could stand it.) It really didn't bother me and it didn't put a damper on the entertaining that we did there, or our wonderful family memories from that time.

Your cabinets and hardware have a mid century look to me. When you decide to re-do the bath, look at selling the hardware. The same mid century star shaped towel ring my sister had in her house sells for $150 on Ebay!

"Which is how you can tell the kids online without knowing people’s actual ages..........."

lol and you totally rock, Sophie . Made my day. Also reminded me of my teen years and sharing the single bath with the hideous rusted medicine cabinet, freshened daily wilt paper towels inside as that is where the the ORAL care resided for all five of us. I. Am. Still. Here. Amazingly enough.

based on _ _ years of personal and observational experience, the amount people entertain is inversely proportional the the dollar value of their home. its almost like adam and eve in the garden of eden... they didnt know they were naked til the serpent told them they were. the more you look at houzz photos, the more the serpent whispers in your ear.....they less you feel confident to entertain. after all, guests might see things like small appliances or laminate countertops in your kitchen, or the tp in the bathroom, and then what will they think of you?

love yourself, love the home you have.

I’ve never come across a snake that hissed, “so...you...REALLY...like those cabinets? Suit yourself. The stylish will feature strong pieces painted avocado green to pay homage to the millennial obsession with avocado toast throughout the home interior. You DO want to be stylish, don’t you??”

Since snakes lack opposable thumbs, it only makes sense that they would need people to click the link to various design ’movers and shakers’ websites. It’s not like staring at the keyboard while concentrating using their minds to do it really hard is going to work out well. ;)

I'd paint the cabinet under the sink a semi-gloss black to match the mirror.

I have an ivory chenille shower curtain with a soft pattern and warms up the room, different from standard shower curtains. Maybe a rug on the floor with some pattern. Leave the walls white. Try to get a new switchplate, something silvertone to match the sink hardware. Remove those pulls before you paint and replace them with something white, and simple.

can't see the lighting..is it centered to the mirror?

the mirror seems to be oddly placed, and is in a kinda of dissonance with everything else..so I'd see whether can be switched

otherwise, I'm with everybody else's who suggested, besides cleaning, finding a fun curtain, rug, maybe accessories and some small art impervious to water damage/very non-precious..it'd be a nice and maybe better than nice bathroom..you can turn it into enjoyable and personal place to be, for kids and guests, while you wait for your big renovation, with just a few touches.

i do love this vanity cabinet btw, including hardware..if it's of any interest to anyone..))