GardenWeb user monicae gave her black and white bathroom a modern update. Swapping the dated gold accents with nickel-finished alternatives and adding a contemporary vanity and lighting fixtures made all the difference here. Check out the before and after pictures below.

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See more pictures of GardenWeb user monicae's remodel.

photos: GardenWeb user monicae

Ordinarily, when I hear "avocado bathroom" I have flashbacks of unattractive '70s decor. But I love this bathroom renovation by GardenWeb user equest17. Check out the before and after photos below. Can you believe that she only spend $75 to renovate? The countertops, which she painted herself, saved her a bundle of money and, from the pictures, you can't even tell they're not granite.

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photos: GardenWeb user equest17

I’m always thinking about ways of making my bathroom more spa-like. Sometimes I dream of adding a bigger tub. Other times, I wonder what it would be like to have my own sauna. If I lived somewhere that only got a few hours of sunlight each day, I might even consider adding a tanning bed like Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. These options are well out of my budget right now, but fortunately there are more affordable ways to give your bath the feel of a spa.

As promised yesterday, here are a few more of the great green products that I’ve been seeing. Today’s topic: conserving water with smart plumbing fixtures.

According to the people at Waterpik, you can save up to 1 gallon of water a minute without noticing a difference when you shower, just by switching your shower head. Check out the Waterpik EcoFlow 1.5.

While you’re conserving water in the bathroom, consider switching to a an eco-friendly faucet like the Rothbury from Moen, which can help reduce your water consumption by more than 30 percent.

In addition to being good for the environment, conserving all that water will save you money by lowering your water bill. It’s win-win.

Last night I turned on the tap to let the water heat up before I did the dishes. After a few minutes I absentmindedly stuck my fingers under the water to test the temperature. Well the water got hot a lot faster than I had anticipated and, let’s just say that a string of expletives followed. It’s so easy to forget that your tap water can hurt you. Did you know that every year thousands of people are seriously burned or even killed after being scalded by hot tap water? Neither did I until I had a chat with the helpful people at the Home Safety Council. They gave me some great suggestions for preventing hot water burns and told me about a new product that is pretty cool, especially if you are bathing young children. If the water gets dangerously hot the H2otStop anti-scald tub spout reduces the water flow to a trickle. When the water temperature cools to a safe temperature, usually in less than 30 seconds, the water flow resumes as normal. What an easy way to make sure your children are safe from burns when they’re in the tub.