Start with the sealant and the grout

Nothing ages a bathroom faster than grey, peeling silicone around the bath and a set of grubby grout lines. Before you spend a penny on anything decorative, deal with the grime, because no amount of pretty accessories will disguise a mouldy edge. A tube of mould-resistant bathroom silicone costs a few pounds and, if you have never done it before, watch a short video first — it really is a job most people can manage in an afternoon.

Scoring the old sealant with a knife, spraying it with silicone remover and leaving it to soften makes removal far easier than hacking away at it. Clean the joint, dry it thoroughly, then run a bead and smooth it with a silicone tool or a wet finger. Leave it a full 24 hours before anyone uses the bath or shower.

For grout, a grout pen is the thriftiest trick in the book. Two coats over cleaned, dry lines will make a tired tiled wall look sharp again for under a tenner. If a few tiles are cracked, keep any spares from the loft — or hunt for a close match and accept that a slightly different tone in a corner is barely noticeable.

• Replace silicone around the bath, basin and shower tray
• Use a grout pen to refresh small areas of tiling
• Clean extractor fan covers and check the fan actually runs

Change the mirror and rethink the light

A small, dated mirror above a basin makes a room feel mean. Swapping it for the largest mirror the wall will sensibly take will bounce light around and make a narrow bathroom feel wider almost instantly. A frameless or slim-framed mirror in a simple shape is usually cheapest, and a landscape mirror hung above a basin can make a poky room feel broader.

If you cannot drill into tiles, adhesive mirror plates or a lightweight mirror hung from existing holes are perfectly workable. Then look at the light. A tired ceiling fitting with a bare bulb casts unflattering shadows, and swapping it for a flush fitting rated IP44 or higher is a cheap upgrade. Warm white bulbs around 2700K to 3000K on a dimmer, or a simple pull cord, will flatter both tiles and skin tone. If electrics make you nervous — and in a bathroom they should — pay someone qualified rather than guessing.

Pull everything into one colour story

This is where thrifty styling beats expensive renovation. Most tired bathrooms are simply visually noisy: a navy towel here, a bright green bath mat there, a plastic soap dish in a third shade altogether. Choose one palette and stick to it. White with warm stone, soft grey with charcoal, or off-white with brushed brass all work beautifully.

Replace the visible offenders in a single shopping trip:

• Towels and hand towels in matching or tonal shades
• A bath mat that echoes those tones rather than fights them
• A ceramic or bamboo soap dispenser instead of a plastic bottle
• A simple bin, a matching toothbrush holder and a tidy tray
• A fabric shower curtain in a soft neutral — the washable kind

Matching your metal finishes matters too. Chrome taps with brass hooks and a black mirror frame will always look muddled, so decide on one and let it repeat on the towel rail, the hooks and the light pull.

Small-space storage that earns its keep

Clutter reads as shabbiness in a small bathroom, so every storage item should do two jobs or take up almost no room. A slim floating shelf above the loo holds candles and spare loo roll without eating floor space. A narrow over-door hook rack takes towels without a single screw hole. A hanging shower caddy keeps bottles off the tray edge so the sealant stays cleaner for longer.

Rolled towels in a basket look intentional and hide a multitude of sins. If you have a cupboard under the basin, decant cleaning products into matching bottles or simply store them in one deep basket so the inside looks calm when the door swings open.

Paint, handles and the little swaps

Repainting is the cheapest way to change a whole room's mood. Use a dedicated bathroom paint with a mid-sheen finish on walls and a mould-resistant formula on the ceiling. If the paint is flaking, sand back and use a stain-blocking primer first. A tired wooden stool, a plain mirror frame or a flat-pack cabinet can all be transformed with a small tin of bathroom-friendly paint in a chalky off-white or deep green.

Then work through the small hardware. A new toilet seat costs very little and makes a surprising difference. Swapping a dripping tap washer, replacing a rusty towel radiator valve, changing cupboard handles for simple brushed metal ones — these are the details your eye catches without you realising. Add a plant that copes with humidity, such as a spider plant or aloe, and you have a room that feels considered rather than costly.

A sensible order of work

Do the grubby jobs first, because they are the cheapest and the most transformative: sealant, grout, extractor, deep clean. Then make the single biggest visual change — the mirror and the light. Follow with the colour reset and storage, and finish on paint and hardware. Spread it over two weekends rather than one frantic Saturday.

Budget around £100 to £150 and you can genuinely refresh a tired bathroom without touching the suite. The trick is restraint: pick one palette, fix what looks grimy, and let the light do the rest.