March 23, 2010

The Bathroom








The bathroom was a kick-myself-in-the-head project.  It was a doozy.  I hated it.  I could definitely see the progress, because it was also the room in most need of a paint brush and a caulking gun.  But it just killed.  The reason was, I had in my mind that I wanted a grey bathroom.  When I say grey, I mean white with black in it.  You know, something kinda modern and clean-looking.  What I don't mean is Sweet Baby Boy, Welcome to my Nursery! blue.  And I didn't mean purple either.  Turns out I seriously should have consulted with someone besides me and the voice in my head in the paint store.  I'm sure if you had that moment on video you could see the smoke coming out of my ears I was thinking so hard.  Gah.  Every time I try to pick out paint I wear myself totally OUT.  My feet get hot.  I have to go to the bathroom.  My cell phone rings; it's buried at the bottom of my bag.  I'm thirsty, I forgot my water bottle.  I have a small piece of fabric that includes the perfect shade that I keep holding up to every swatch, hoping.  I won't even go into how much sway the name of a paint has over me.  Because, I mean, Hillside might be the right color, but Bay Leaf just sounds better!  So that's my paint color plight.

Unsurprisingly, I ended up cutting in around the shower, the sink and the fixtures with the baby blue (which, for the record, is officially named Silver Mist by Benjamin Moore), and then had to redo the whole thing.  Lesson learned: if the swatch is horrid, the wall will might be horrid.  If half of a wall is still unbearable - stop. painting.  In the end, I had Ben Moore remix the paint, and then I mixed it again.  Rather than grey, I ended with something just a hair more serious than what I lovingly nicknamed My Little Pony Eyelash Whisper purple.



It is what it is, a rented bathroom with a color I didn't choose the first time and would never choose again, but has ended up growing on me.  Dustan replaced some molding around the shower with fresh cut strips of wood, we caulked and cleaned and I painted every inch of trim with glossy white.  I mean - our bathtub is actually pretty inviting now!  Awesome.  Here are a few small projects making up the larger project:


Our mirror before I painted it black.  (I see a red door, baby.  It's my theme song.)


Our hamper before.


The bathroom before. 


Too bad those previous renters didn't leave behind the stupendous selection of Bath n' Body Works handsoap!  (I mean, did you count them?  Those were some fresh coconut japanese honeydew rainwater cherry blossom hands.  

After!




5 comments:

  1. your free-hand painting skills are insane. come to my house? i could use a couple of those flowers somewhere in my living room- they're killing me. for what it's worth, i had this very same color issue in our bathroom in our 2nd apartment- i ended up with the baby blue- which was perfect as long as the light was off.
    love it, bets.

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  2. Just found your blog and looked at the last few projects you guys have been up to. Very cool! Makes me want to clear out my garage and drag out that old, brown, 80's dresser I've been wondering what to do with.

    I wanted to paint the sunroom in our last house a light gray and I think I tried that exact same paint color from BM, with the exact same results. The guy mixed it 3 or 4 times and I finally went with a beige color. If you ever find the perfect grey, let me know! I'm still on the hunt =)

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  3. Love the neti pot on the shelf!

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  4. Your incredible talent abounds, and I love that bathroom! When I found the perfect grey (no bluish tone) it was called "Dove Grey"..... j

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  5. You did it again! The bathroom looks great, and I especially love the rug. Very nice! :)

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