Decorating a Bathroom- Inspiration

I must admit, I've never put very much thought into decorating a bathroom. To me, a bathroom has always seemed more functional than beautiful-- throw a few towels and some soap in there, and you're good to go, right? Well, I recently got the itch to do something with the very "blah" little powder room on our first floor, and let me tell you-- I have had such a fun time dreaming up ways to make this little space shine. We started out with this:

So. Much. White. The only real glimmer of color is the tacky gold medicine cabinet mirror that was probably installed when the house was built in the '80s. This bathroom took the "fun" right out of functional.

I'm happy to say, we've made some progress, and it's looking a little better. Here's a sneak peek:

We were certainly getting there, but I was still not quite sure what I wanted to do with the walls. For such a small room, there is actually quite a bit of wall space--what exactly do people want to look at when they're in a bathroom? Since I was relatively new at this whole bathroom decorating thing, I did what any other sensible girl would do in my situation: I scoured the internet in search of inspiration! Here are a few ideas I've found that I think might just do the trick.

I remembered a post on one of my very favorite blogs, i heart organizing, where Jen spray painted an old frame to make it chic and gorgeous. I used this as inspiration for our medicine cabinet mirror and may try it with some picture frames in the space as well.

I loved this beautifully staged shelf in Sarah's bathroom over at The Yellow Cape Cod. Our bathroom isn't big enough for something this elaborate, but I would love to do a simpler version.

Finally, have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE monograms? This one was perfectly coordinated into this small bathroom, and I have a feeling that our powder room will end up with some sort of monogram as well.

I am so excited to make this room not only functional, but beautiful as well. Stay tuned to see the finished product!

How do you dress up your bathroom decor?