What is the motivation to change it? Color? Tile? Style?

Soo dark, dated, masculine, heavy, claustrophobic! no?

I read it as earthy, not masculine (but I am a very much an outdoorsy woman, so earth tones sooth me).

Add some color with towels and rugs.

any ideas for a replacement vanity, mirror, wall color to soften or lighten up room?

It's awfully brown. And you aren't changing out any of the fixtures to white, to improve that. White is too stark with that. Keep the bisque toilet, and paint the vanity to match, as a start. See how you feel about that, with a low cost, low commitment change. That still leaves a lot of the brown though, with the shower being the biggest offender.

I will change what i have to. The toilet annd vanity are easy and, yes, i know they cant be white. What’s the least i can do or must it all go?

Honestly, from what it sounds like, to get the desired outcome you seem to want, the tiles got to go…

Lots of sympathy, from a woman who has a tiny brown bathroom (I hate brown) that I can't afford to change. I just leaned into a "nature/spa" look to the best that I could, with EVERYTHING in the bathroom either white or wood/wicker. Toilet paper and tampons in a wicker basket, spray cleaner decanted into glass spray jar, handsoap decanted into white pump. I even bought a wood hair brush for the open shelf. Working on finding a better way to store cleaner and paper towels so I can put a plant on the top shelf.

You could do the same with ivory, if you like it better. But get absolutely everything in containers that harmonize a simple color scheme. Get a simpler vanity with a slab-front door. Swap the faucet for a single-handle model--easier to clean and visually simpler.Decant soap into an ivory pump. All towels and bath mats in ivory. And I would suggest a simpler vanity. Basically just look for every single opportunity to simplify the visuals. And if you have a good space, add a plant.

Are you prepared to spend the 30K-60k that ripping that to the studs to start over would require? If you are, then hire a good kitchen and bath designer. If you are not, save until you are. You won't be satisfied with minor little changes that improve very little.

Not masculine but dated and very busy. The least you can do is to just close the door until such a time as you must change it--leaky shower pan--or have plenty of mad money to gut it. Changing the toilet is pointless and changing the vanity isn't going to make any significant improvement.

I see it's a small bathroom but we cannot see the wall behind the vanity. Please post pictures of all 4 wall if possible.

If you could find a washable, low profile bath rug in ivory that would work in front of the vanity and still clear the door, it might help to break up that floor tile. If you find something that works, buy two so you can swap them out since they'd be a challenge to keep clean if this bathroom sees a lot of use.

mcarrol's picture is lovely and a perfect example of lightening it up. I think with some of those simple changes you can creat a better look that you may be happier with until you're ready for a gut job.

I also suggest changing out the oil rubbed bronze hardware and use a polished nickel. paint the vanity a solid color to cover the outdated waxed look.

It looks like you vanity and toilet are off-white or beige, replace them with white, paint the ceiling and walls a warm white, get a brass faucet and accessories,. You seem to have a medicine/mirror cabinet replace it with a model like the one shown with a brass frame, buy all white towels,

I've got nearly the same bathroom I'm dealing with right now and will never get the value out of a gut so I have to find inexpensive saves instead. I love a masculine bathroom, but I don't find our bathrooms masculine. They seem like an assisted living facility collided with a gigantic piece of cinnamon toast.

Here's my MO:

1. Polished chrome hardware to provide a reflective surface to break up the sea of cinnamon. I'd swap everything in this room that is black hardware for polished chrome.

2. White toilet. Biscuit does no favors. I got my new toilet installed today.

3. White console or vanity. Instead of covering up the wall nicely, the vanity is just another unattractive surface against the cinnamon wall. I'd get a console sink with a lot of chrome leg to show.

It seems like 'Why would you want to show more of the horrible tile?' But an open vanity will make the room feel bigger and there is more chrome to cut up the brown. (I wish I could do this but my brown tile tiled over 1960's turquoise tile that is showing through under the sink so I can't have an open sink.)

4. Wall color ???? I'm still trying to figure this out for myself. Bright white doesn't seem quite right. Grey? Seems drab as hell. Khaki? Oy.

5. Towels - crisp white of course.

Oh, Kendrah's sink idea is great! Your vanity definitely adds a lot of weight. If you do a console sink with a shelf like her first picture, you can store essentials in an attractive basket but really lighten the room.

I think the bathroom is just fine the way it is. Nothing wrong with the toilet or the sink. I cant see the light fixture in there, but, it seems a bit dark in there, so a change to a nicer light fixture, and some led daylight type bulbs about 3500-4000 would make a huge difference. Lots of things to spend money on, why spend it on something that looks nice already.

I don’t know if this would work or not, but it made me think of adding frosted window film to outside of shower glass to cut down on the view of busy tile.

I like ker9’s suggestion.,either the film or a spray frost.

@ker9 - This is a brilliant idea. I might use it in my bathroom too. My shower also has a strip of glass mosaic accent tiles in browns and sages - ugh. Home Depot circa 2010.

@Ker9 and @Kendrah

You must be seeing different pictures that I am seeing... I only see the one picture at the top of the OP's bathroom and no window! unless something was written in a comment which I didn't see.

@lisdev, put film on shower glass. There are tons of different types with or without pattern.

@ker9 Hum... not sure how that would hold-up in a bathroom with the humidity.

"@lisdev, put film on shower glass."

"@ker9 Hum... not sure how that would hold-up in a bathroom with the humidity."

It won't.

Spray frost holds up well in a bathroom

As others have posted, in order to get the bathroom that you want the tile really should be removed and replaced.

I'd throw $2,000 into this now. See if you like it enough to live with it for 2 years, 5 years? I'm in favor of kicking the can down the road if you don't have your heart set on the headache and expense of a major renovation. Bathroom gut renovations are no fun.

Are you in a condo? I noticed your kitchen post showed a pretty small kitchen.

Yes in a nyc co-op where nothing is easy

I like Kendrah's idea for a new vanity and leave as is. I also wonder how a dark blue vanity might look, or even if you painted the one that you have.

Ah, a kindred spirit. I live in an NYC coop too. I wondered from your kitchen pics if this was the case.

I bet your big wide medicine cabinet provides valuable storage.

I found this YouTube video installing privacy film on a shower.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TLq5hwjOOmY&pp=ygUNI2NpbmVtYXNob3dlctIHCQnYAKO1ajebQw==

From experience (ie my own decor errors), I would not install a blue vanity. No color either than white or ivory. Your tile is like mine--a mix different browns. Blue or another strong color will just accentuate the clashing pink-browns and yellow-browns. More visual chaos.

The super in my building installed this sink for me. I love it. The basin is large, but so is the surrounding area, which serves as a countertop of sorts.

In a tight squeeze bathroom, I highly recommend a single hole faucet. It allows more room to set things down on the sink surround - glasses, handsoap, whatever. Incredible what a difference an extra 4 inches makes.

The legs were a smidge too wide but my super was easily able to adjust them to fit the space.

Toto Drake is also my favorite toilet for a small NYC bathroom. The dimensions are compact but it doesn't feel small when you sit on it. And, it has a great finish on the bowl that keeps it so much cleaner than any other toilet I've ever owned. No more blue tabs!

+1 on the Drake! We installed the same in our tiny brown bathroom. Works much better than the compact Kohler it replaced.

Small bathrooms are hard. If you don’t need the vanity, install a wall mounted sinks with long sides. We did that in our powder room. Single faucet is also a space saver.

I think Dani gave you the best way to visually remove a lot of the “brown walls”. Plus covering the shower doors with some kind of frosting. White everything else, including a big, comfy floor mat.

Here is the sink we put in our tiny powder room. Home Depot

I would consider Dani’s ideas of beadboard. I actually like your bathroom as well as mccarrols,

Note on console and wall hung sinks - before you go down that line, I'd consult with your super.

We added a console sink in ours. It had to be bolted into the wall (wall mount). How do you do this to an existing bathroom that you are not demo-ing and not wanting to open up the walls? Do you have blocking for it? Where are the studs? None of this is simple when dealing with a coop.

If you are going the way of an easy spruce up and the path of least resistance, get a sink that is either a cabinet (though I do think a console would look better here) or a console that has a frame it rests in and doesn't need wall mounting - not sure if that exists or if they all need some kind of wall mount.

Here's how it might look with frosted glass

Such great advice already - I think new sink and toilet will go a long way - maybe a small natural fiber rug to knock back the flooring a bit - agree with fresh white towels, also simplifying clutter in the shower can also help