Bathroom Reveal

Remember way back when I got the itch to redo our main bathroom upstairs? It's the bathroom our kids use to take baths and our guests use when they visit. It's decent enough in size, but it was lacking - majorly - in style. This is what the bathroom looked like after we painted the cabinets white years ago:

White cabinets, white towels, white tile, and white shower curtain, if I remember correctly. It was one of those projects that I had started, said "Good enough," and left alone, never coming back to reassess. Then {Oh happy day!!} I received a catalog from Restoration Hardware with a stunning bathroom. The pages beckoned to me, calling out "Come in. Relax. Pamper yourself." Luxury! Do you remember?

Image taken from here.

It didn't take more than the spread on pages 22-23 of the Restoration Hardware Annual Bath Event catalog to inspire me to find the perfect dark brown-black paint and get started on my own bathroom transformation.

First, Dave removed the ugly tile backsplash and strange small counter over the toilet.

A couple coats of Behr's Dark Cavern to the cabinets, and we were well on our way to a bathroom redo.

In the whole Project Paint the Upstairs ordeal, the bathroom was repainted with Berkshire Beige right before Dave and his dad were about to install a new granate countertop.


Berkshire Beige took its place on the walls.

The new counter and sink waited impatiently
to be installed. Or maybe it was me who was impatient?

Just when we thought it was smooth sailing with the counter installation, we ran into a hurdle. The cabinets in the bathroom had been custom made, and they weren't a standard size. Rather than having to order a custom sized granate counter {and pay extra money galore}, we bought a standard sized counter and a new standard sized cabinet base to fit the counter. We weren't counting on the added expense of the new cabinet base, but the new counter would have been too wide and too deep for the old one. Add that to water damage to the inside of our existing cabinet from a crack in the old sink, and it was a pretty easy decision to go ahead and purchase a new cabinet base. The new base got a couple coats of Dark Cavern before Dave and his dad put it in place.

Watching Dark Cavern dry....

With the installation of the new cabinet, counter, and faucet, the bathroom was almost complete.

My favorite bit of bathroom decor went back up on the walls as soon as the paint dried....

Each baby's butt, only appropriate for the bathroom.


While I waited for the counter and cabinet to be installed, I had time to hunt for a new rug and shower curtain to match all this bathroom newness and found something perfect at Target. A shower curtain with subtle clean stripes and a fluffly, taupe rug rounded out the makeover.


I'm in love with the new shower curtain.


One last finishing touch: notice the panes in the window?

I adore the unique octagon shape of the bathroom window, but I wasn't in love with the cutesy panes. Lucky for me they're an insert that is simply set in the window. Removing the insert couldn't be easier, and it updated the look for free.

New tile is still on the agenda but not too high on our priority list. Dave and I don't dislike the white tile as much as we used to, and we're willing to live with it for now.

One last before and after:

Notice the fluffy new rug?



I'm so happy that Restoration Hardware catalog came in the mail. The bathroom went from "EEK!" to "Chic!". Have you stopped to think about changes you could make to love where you live lately?

Paint Reveal

Last time I told you all about the process of choosing new paint colors for our upstairs. We decided to incorporate three colors by Benjamin Moore into our entryway, living room, kitchen, hallway, and bathroom - basically the whole upstairs with the exception of the kids' rooms. After lots of thought, we took the plunge with Grant Beige, Berkshire Beige, and Texas Leather.


Grant Beige by Benjamin Moore



Berkshire Beige by Benjamin Moore

Texas Leather by Benjamin Moore

 
So how did we decide to lay the colors out? Our entryway got a total makeover {more on that later}, starting with the medium brown shade of Berkshire Beige. One special spot in our entryway was reserved for the rich brown Texas Leather, and the outcome was so awesome that I love coming in the front door! The largest space, the living room and hallway, was treated to the light and neutral Grant Beige. It's a perfect pairing for our sage green couches and white trim. We painted the partition wall between the living room and kitchen with Berkshire Beige to make it a bit more of a focal point to the eye as you walk up the stairs. The kitchen received an update with Texas Leather, and we painted the bathroom Berkshire Beige to set it slightly apart from the Grant Beige in the hallway. Here are the results:

Living Room Before:

 Living Room After:

The partition in Berkshire Beige.
I'm still accessorizing the bookcase; ignore this look!

Berkshire Beige on the partition wall reads
slightly darker than the Grant Beige on the rest of the walls.

Kitchen Before:

 

 

Kitchen After:

Grant Beige is on the walls above the cupboards, and Texas Leather rests on the
walls below. The dark gray-brown of Texas Leather is a perfect companion to the counters.

Louisa will turn one on St. Patrick's Day,
so we're in full party mode around here!


The new colors are so much more soothing and fit the bill for the more sophisticated and neutral look we want for our home.

Dave and I have made lots of changes to every room during Project Paint the Upstairs, including major changes to the bathroom. More of those changes coming your way soon! Have you found the perfect colors for your own home yet?

Bathroom Redo: One Step Closer

A big hurray! The doors are back on the bathroom cabinets, and this room redo is officially on its way. The counter, fixtures, paint, and tile will be changed out, and the wall where the "ugliest tile ever" used to live is in need of repair. Lots of work to be done, but it sure feels good to be off to a great start!



Stay tuned!

Bathroom Redo - Part One

You know by now how I love white trim, white cabinets, white pretty much anything. Soon after we moved into our home, we painted every last bit of trim, every cabinet, and all of the wainscoting white, including all of the wood in the main bathroom upstairs. Though the white was a billion times better than the old, outdated stained oak, the bathroom still didn't make me swoon.

To start, the bathroom has white tile, and white cabinets on white trim on white tile is a lot of white. Then there was the strange little counter that extended from the vanity and over the toilet. Not my style.

Besides that, the bathroom possessed the ugliest tile backsplash I'd ever seen. The grayish-cream topped with dark orange just didn't do it for me.

So much white!

A new look for the bathroom had been on my mind for awhile, and I had thought about repainting the cabinets but had never been struck with the perfect inspiration....until now.

Enter the new Restoration Hardware Annual Bath Event catalog. Pages 22-23 depict the most delicious vanity ever: the French Empire Vanity Sink in antiqued black finish.

Image taken from here.


I loved everything about it except for the sale price of $1359; that's just a wee bit over my budget. Okay Restoration Hardware, I may not be able to purchase your fancy shmancy vanity, but I can give my own a makeover.

Want to see my bathroom's current state? It's not quite as pretty as Restoration Hardware's - yet.

No more strange counter over the toilet!

White cabinets transformed to black with a couple {so far} coats of dark, dark, brownish-black.

Ugliest tile ever? It's gone!

I painted the cabinets before we removed every last bit of tile.
You can see the color the cabinets used to be before they were white.



A new counter is in the works as is new tile and paint. A lot of work in exchange for a bathroom we'll love? I'll take that. I'm so excited to be on the path to a better bathroom. No Restoration Hardware vanity here, but I'm determined to love what I have and make it work for us.

What have you been inspired to update lately?