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Jul 19, 2012

Main/Guest Bathroom Redo (and Redo Again)

Raise your hand if you've decided to paint a room spur of the moment. Now how many ran right out and bought the paint and did it? Keep your hand up if you then decided you didn't like it and painted the room again the next weekend. Am I the only one with my hand up now? I hope not.

But that's exactly what happened. I told you previously about buying the oops paint and starting on the main bathroom. Let me break down the rest of it for you.

I'll refresh your memory with a picture of the bathroom before we moved in. There was a whole lot of turquoise goin' on.


I tore out the medicine cabinet, the towel rack and the toilet paper holder, spackled, and got to painting.

Here is the first version.



I love the paint colour, I really do. But it just wasn't right. Part of it is because the room is small and has no window so it seems dark. Trust me, in this picture it looks far lighter than it really is. And part of it is the blue counter top. It looks kind of grey in this picture but it is very blue. Almost navy blue. 

This wasn't a gut job, and replacing the vanity isn't at the top of the to-do list, so we had to work with what we had. And taupe wasn't working with the blue. It does as an accent colour, but this blue is very overwhelming. Plus I wanted to decorate in greens (had already bought the shower curtain and the artwork), so it just ended up a big ol' mess.


Last Friday night (please don't sing) I decided I wanted a light grey-blue wall instead. With white accents and the blue countertop it would be perfect, right?


I made Tom take everything down off the walls again and I got to painting again. I think I'm finally ready to show you the result. Remember that there is no natural light source so the pictures aren't terrific.


The colour is Behr's "Reflecting Pool". And yeah, it looks white doesn't it? Hmmm, there may be some more painting in my future. But I'm going to think about it for a while first. Plus I'd like to move on from spending all my time in this room.


Details:



I had Tom build a new - bigger! better! woodener! (not a word) - medicine cabinet for me.




I put him through so much with this thing. I changed the size, I changed the bottom. And then when it was done he dropped it on the garage floor while he was drilling pilot holes for the wall screws. I'll admit I cried. He had to rebuild the doors and I had to repaint the handles. But it's all good now. I'll write a separate post showing how it was built and finished.



One thing I needed was a place to hang my "tools". I found these knobs at Home Depot and I love how matte they are. Originally the board was part of the cabinet, but I had Tom cut it off and hang it a couple of inches lower. It had sides before but I think this gives it a cleaner profile.





I've shown it with just the hair dryer hanging but this is what it really looks like day to day. So much better than piled up on the door handle!



The entire room is done in oil rubbed bronze-esque tones, though they aren't all matchy-matchy. 






The medicine cabinet handles are from Lee Valley. They were spray painted with two coats of anodized bronze and one coat of oil rubbed bronze (after the little cabinet mishap). That way there is complete coverage with just a little bit of sparkle.



I even painted the soap dispenser. Thanks to House of Hepworths for this idea. I don't have a Cricut or Silhouette so I tried painting on an S, but it didn't turn out. So I sprayed over it. I kind of like how you can still see the S ever so slightly.


Tom also built a frame for the mirror that is routed on both the inside and outside edges. I finished it to match the cabinet and it is a thing of beauty. Our first mirror frame was very plain compared to this one. 


It makes the mirror look huge. And hopefully makes the room look bigger also. The best part is that it was made completely from scrap wood so it cost $0.00!

Some little touches -

a chippy basket for extra rolls of paper


extra towels and bath salts




baskets for makeup and nail polish


The shower curtain is a twin flat sheet that I hemmed to floor length. I found a dark bronze shower curtain rod and matching ring clips. I love that with these clips you're no longer limited to traditional shower curtains.



I found a painting that has all of the colours of the shower curtain in it, but in circles instead of stripes. When there is more time I'm going to have Tom build a frame for it to give it more presence. 

(Who messed up my towel?)



That's it for today's bathroom tour. How about a before and after?



Please tell me someone else has gone through this much hassle to get the room they wanted?


~~~~~

I'm linking up here this week!

39 comments:

  1. LOVE the after!!! You did a great job!

    xo
    Shar

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  2. Love that sink faucet - I want one!  and that pedestal jar photo - so pretty!

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  3. our toilet should look good cause it reflects our personality..it says that "show me your bathroom and i'l tell you who you are"..so we need to be more organize when it comes to our bathroom and our comfort room, it should be clean and it should look good..

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  4. Christina at I Gotta Create!July 20, 2012 at 7:55 PM

    That's a lot of work but it turned out nice. Love the fixtures.
    Thanks so much for linking up at I Gotta Create! <3 Christina

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  5. Your bathroom makeover is amazing. Nice Work. Smiles, Paula

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  6. You and Tom did a fantastic job Barb!  What a transformation from when you bought the place.

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  7. What a huge difference!! I love your bathroom and you should be very proud about how gorgeous it turned out! And what a handy guy building you the medicine cabinet! I am in love with it.. maybe you should have him build more so that you can sell them! So glad I found your blog.. I am your newest follower! I would love for you to check out mine too!

    -Peggy 

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  8. Looks so great--I love the new cabinet!  Our *tiny* bathroom was just remodeled, but still needs to be decorated and set up for storage.

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  9. Great redo!  It is such a big difference!

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  10. I liked the taupe paint color but I think it blended too much with the cabinet and frame of the mirror.  It looks great now!

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  11. You are not alone.  I painted my guest bedroom and it wasn't what we expected and the next day I was painting again.  Annoying but worth it in the end.  Thanks for sharing at DIYbyDesign's Sizzle into Summer party.

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  12. Great before and after... I have been there with the painting thing, sometimes you just don't know until it is on the wall! I have some exciting news for you, you were selected to be my blog of the week, this means, I put your button on my blog for the week, and invite you to come guest post if you would like next week!  I am featuring you tonight at the weekend show off party!

    Carlee
    www.ladybirdln.com

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  13. Small bathrooms are so hard to work with, aren't they?

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  14. Thank you so much! I look forward to reading your blog.

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  15. Thanks! Except you know I'm going to paint it again, don't you? I can't stop myself.

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  16. I know! He wasn't acting very patient at the time though!

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  17. This is so well thought out and you did a great job of maximizing the space. It looks pretty in both paint colors in the pics but I understand that sometimes things photograph differently than they really appear. Well done. :D  Thanks for sharing on BeColorful.
    p

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  18. Look great! I love the toilet paper basket!

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  19. My family's gone through at least that much trouble to get a room just right - you're not alone by any stretch. I think all of the attention to detail is what really makes the room. (Using the router for the mirror frame, handles to hang your hair care tools, dedicated storage spots for your make up and toilet paper, and even the monogrammed soap dispenser.) 

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  20. Beautiful transformation! I love the oil rubbed bronze accents! :) 

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  21. Amie @ PinkapotamusJuly 29, 2012 at 6:56 AM

    Wow!  Love the transformation.. it looks so rustic and beautiful.. great having a handy hubby, huh!  (I have one too.. such a bonus in the hubby dept)
    Thanks for sharing with the Pink Hippo!
    xoxo
    Amie @ Pinkapotamus

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  22. It is really beautiful and well thought out!  Thank you for sharing this at my Make it Pretty Monday party at The Dedicated House.  Hope to see your prettiness again on Monday.  Toodles, Kathryn at TheDedicatedHouse

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  23. Love it! it looks great! :)

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  24. Thanks Roeshel!

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  25. Barb, what a transformation! I love the woody cabinet your hubby made! lucky you!!


    great job, love the "feel" of it:0)
    Cheers
    Andrea

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  26. Thanks! I wasn't sure about the light walls but they're growing on me!

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