Half Bath Redo (part 1)- Paint

For months I have been plotting revenge on our teeny tiny cave of a half bath. It is the only room in the house I haven’t painted (except the kitchen… more on that another day).

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I’ve been putting this project off for a few reasons. The first is time. I never have a span of time long enough to knock it all out. The second is that choosing a color proved to be a huge hurtle. Hubby pulled the “I don’t care. Surprise me.” card… I was torn over “Zen” green left over from the guest room or the soft “Glass Slipper” left over from the master bedroom. Anything but that brown paper bag color that haunts this entire place. Third issue: this tiny room is riddled with problems. Although it has all new fixtures as well as new tile and vanity, the walls are poorly mudded (result of s speedy/sloppy drywall job by previous owner… like most of his paint jobs around here. If I ever see him in Home Depot so help me…). And with the poorly treated walls comes gapped trim work. It is still only the store primer white- you can see the nails in it and they aren’t flush with the walls. Nobody took the time to paint it. I’ll likely be caulking around the entire baseboard trim, filling the nail holes and painting all the trim soon. Also, This bathroom sits under the ventilation soffit that divides the lower level of the house. The soffit is a foot deep and brings the ceiling to a whopping 7 feet above you. Now you see how tiny this thing is… from side to side AND top to bottom. The last problem and biggest challenge is that the vanity sits a convenient 3.5 inches from its adjoining wall. You can kind of see in the photo below. Just enough room for my hand… but not a roller.

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As for color, I went with the Glass Slipper by Benjamin Moore left over from the master bedroom. It really brightened up the dull walls and feels much fresher and cleaner. Bonus: this project had no cost. There is still quite a bit to do to accessorize but for now I’ve tossed the quote canvas on the main wall and added a basket on the toilet.

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The plant already lived on the top of the tank, but I placed it in a basket, added a box of tissues, some monogrammed hand towels and a roll of toilet paper. You know, just in case. This is the only accessible counter space in the bathroom therefore it is the only place for tissues etc to go. I’ve been playing with the idea of a wall shelf or two above the toilet but the basket is doing the job for now. The vanity and mirror both have minimal storage for soaps and such though.

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Everything feels lighter and brighter. Hubby and I were both pleasantly surprised. Interestingly enough, the lighter color in a satin finish actually disguises the imperfect walls. I think the white of the sink looks cleaner and newer too.

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Amazing what a coat of paint can do. Next: wall art (boy do I have a surprise up my sleeve on that one), potential storage and hospitality items.

Chocolate Covered Dreams

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Behold: our chocolate bedroom. When we bought the house this was the color on the walls. I remember looking at the house and both Hubby and I cringed when we saw this. Chocolate is a lovely color… but with only 2 windows limited space, it makes this room very cave like. Above is the view from the hall door.

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Here is the view from my side of the bed. The TV is a new addition. We are working on hiding the cords. The door in the middle of the wall goes to the bathroom. The dresser is an old yard sale find and is just a placeholder until we find a larger, nicer dresser.

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Oh yes, and the windows. Most of the windows in our house came with these upholstered window cornices. They were no doubt a suggestion from a stager to give the house a more polished look. But for us, they blocked the top 10 inched of the window and only added to the cave effect. Nothing a little pent up aggression can’t fix! I took this bad boy down in less than a minute.

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On one of our numerous trips to the hardware store, Hubby and I collected tons of blue swatches. We started off looking for a deep slate blue. We ended up bring home a bunch of denim blues. Once we taped them in the wall we realized that a deep blue would do the same thing as the chocolate brown. We went back to the drawing board and looked for lighter and more crisp colors. You’ll see our choice in a minute…

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I had a week off work so I saved the painting for then. I knew it would take multiple coats. I prepped the room by patching the walls, removing the cornices, sanding the patchwork, vacuuming the dust from the base boards and wiping them down. I don’t believe in taping when I paint so I skipped that step. I have a steady hand and plenty of patience.

We chose Benjamin Moore “Glass Slipper” paint and primer in one in eggshell finish. Its a super soft subtle blue. Sometimes it looks like cream, or gray depending on the lighting and time of day. I even see a slight green tint sometimes. Way more soothing to me than chocolate brown.

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Look at the contrast! The first coat when on beautifully! I did two coats because the brown was still coming through and the blue looks that more crisp with another coat.

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Mid paint mess. After painting the walls, I realized how dingy the trim was. I happened to have a little trim paint already so I did a quick coat on all the trim while Baby O napped.

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Look what a little elbow grease and paint can do! It feels so much bigger and fresh!

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Our new mattress arrived and its a good 6 inches taller than our old set. I think I may have to finagle a new or taller headboard. Next: White linens and bedding, choose an accent color, nightstand makeovers, new headboard or redo the old one, wall art and a secret wall treatment! This will all happen over the course of a few months as we have time, money and find exactly what we want.

Likey? What amazing transformations have you made with a simple coat of paint?