I have the best mom. The best. She's lived in her house for almost 15 years. Its a beautiful house, and for all of us it is home. But. Even the Prom Queen needs a new look after a decade flies by! We've all seen the brassy, goldeny-oaky goodness the late 90's gave us. So she's decided its time for some updates. Woo Hoo! I don't know anyone that deserves it more than she does.
We started with the main bathroom that everyone uses.
{Before}
My disclaimer here is that I'm super lame and lost the before pictures. So I took some of the master bath. It is the exact same size, and has the same layout and finishes that the main bath did. The only exceptions are that the bath in these befores has a small window and the door is on another wall.
It had your basic builder-grade huge frameless mirror, UGLY vanity lighting, faucet, cabinets, you name it. Also, these are pretty small bathrooms. .
So not that bad, just not that good. We decided about a week before Thanksgiving to do a complete cosmetic overhaul before the turkey was served. The goal was to update the look as much as possible while still keeping the flooring, vanity, counters and shower insert. We still have a few small touches and fluffs to add, but I'm so excited about the results that I had to share what we've got so far.
Drum roll, please...
{After}
My mom likes warm colors and has pretty traditional style. She was picturing painting the vanity darker and maybe putting a nice color on the walls. But I saw bright, light, shiny things because there is no window-this bathroom was dark and small. And I really wanted it to just be... pretty. You know, a pretty room for a pretty girl! I talked her into gray for the vanity (secretly getting a lighter shade than she approved) and painted the ceiling, walls, door and trim all bright white, which she questioned (questioned!).
Luckily now there is no question. Only love. I used pearlescent white on the main wall that houses the toilet, vanity and mirror with my favorite design and created awesome hand-painted wallpaper. I seriously love this design. I've used it here and here before. This version is gorgeous and subtle, but has some of my much-desired shine and adds a lot of depth to the overall look.
We used baseboard trim from the HD, a simple miter box, hand saw and Liquid Nails to frame the mirror. I had pictures of how ridiculously easy it was, but they are lost with the befores. Luckily, there are a million tutorials in the blog world. I used this one as a reference.
To keep with the warm tones and traditional feel of the rest of her house, we used Oil Rubbed Bronze fixtures and a Dark Walnut stain over the gray paint on the vanity and mirror frame.
We also changed out the shower curtain rod and rings and added this pretty shower curtain. I love that it's bright, but still has touches of warm gold and brown, and a dark rich shade of peacock blue.
When the door is open it blocks a good portion of this back wall-what you see is just about the only open space between the door and the shower- so I left if pretty plain. We changed out the towel bar, added yummy new towels, and hung a J that I snagged from the living room.
We just shopped her house for shiny accessories to fill the shelves. She actually had golden sparkle handmade soap sitting in a closet. Meant to be, I tell ya. They could maybe use a little more fluffing. We'll have to keep our eyes open in our travels. But pretty, no?
Can I just say that I love that apple? I've loved it since I was little. I kind of want to steal it.
Again, trying to keep it warm I painted the vanity gray with dark walnut stain and a clear coat for protection and shine. No distressing. My mom's not a distressed kind of lady. It still needs hardware, which will add much. I've gotta get on that.
Even the ceiling got a makeover. It hadn't been painted in years (like maybe 15) and there was no overhead lighting. Just the base to a sad broken boob light. We bought a cheap cheap globe and I sprayed the base Oil Rubbed. Crazy how something so insignificant could make such a difference.
I loved doing this room! If you could just walk in and feel how much brighter and bigger it feels. Its so hard to get a good picture of the entire space. As I mentioned, it still needs a few tweaks. The near future includes new flooring and cabinet hardware and more fluff, so check back for updates.
I love you mom!
