Bathroom Redo - Part Deux

Hola darlings!

As with every redo, there are some things I would like to change, if I had the budget and/or the time to do the work myself and buy the necessary elements.  Sigh.

My original inspirations for redoing the bath were several rooms I saw at BHG online in black/white/tan and also toile (black/white or black/cream).  I was looking for "toile" bathrooms, because of the toile that I wanted to introduce into my bedroom and the guest bedroom.

The traditional way to get the toile look is by wallpaper.  But I was hesitant to do that in the small space of my bathroom.  Sometimes I'm just too damn conservative!  I should have gone with toile wallpaper.  But -- see my comments below...

While I'm very happy with the look of my bathroom now, it's still missing something that I wanted, and did not quite get.  For instance, check out this inspiration pic:

It's from Just Grand blog - don't have the specific link readily available.  It's not a full bath - it's a powder room, but the look, oh that look!  That is what I wanted.  Unfoartunately, I found this image a couple of years after I set out with my "vision" for the bath redo.  LOL!  Isn't that always the way it goes.

Dealing with reality, such as a white countertop and existing accessories (no beautifully-carved gold colored picture frames, no antique mirrors, no perfect electric light fixtures on either side of the mirror, no gorgeous faucet, and no toile wallpaper), accumulated over time and NO budget to speak of, well, my results speak for themselves.

Realistically, since I was undertaking the bathroom redo just before I listed the house to sell back in November, 2009 (a long horror story), I decided to stick with plain paint rather than toile wallpaper, which a lot of potential buyers might find too overwhelming and not to their taste.  So, I settled for a toile shower curtain which gives me a large swatch of portable toile.  Since I did not sell this house, I am pining away for the toile bathroom.  Now I'm thinking about redoing the powder room (3/4 bath) downstairs in toile...

Wiring light fixtures on either side of a mirror was beyond my budget; I settled for replacing the boxy original (cheap) light fixture above the mirror with a new, elegant profile.  I'm very happy with the new light fixture, which provides plenty of light in this bathroom used daily to put on my make-up and get ready for work in the morning and scrub up in the evening.'

But I really really want to try and duplicate the look of THOSE sconces (photo above) in my own bathroom.  So, I've been looking for candle sconces.  For months.  I found some close - and did not save the link!  Arrrgggghhhhh!  I thought at the time I did not want to spend that much money on them.  But afer shopping around further and not finding anything else like, I decided I wanted them after all.  When will I learn, when will I learn?

So - here are some alternative wall candle sconces that I considered -- and also did not buy (can I get a double ARRRGGHHH?):

I found these at e-bay from an Etsy shop.  They were sold.  Picture these with my black metal candle-shades on either side of the mirror - wouldn't they be splendid?  They are, believe it or not, just painted shabby-chic style plastic Syroco-style candle holders from the 1960s.  Does anyone know where I can get something similar???

I found these at Ruby Lane and thought they also might work, if treated with some white paint.  Picture the thick pillar candles with black shades I have sitting on the vanity countertop in these candle holders, instead, on either side of the mirror.

I have also thought about a different style of shower curtain.  Something "Frenchy style" perhaps (like popular prints I've seen recently all over the blogosphere of French script, cancelled postage stamps and period pictures) or in black and cream or black and white damask print?  But that's assuming I keep the wall color the same rather than going diva dramatic and papering part or all of the room in black and white or black and cream toile.

Oy!  Decisions, decisions.  Right now, I'm suffering design paralysis.  It's only a week or so ago that I added the "finishing touches", as it were, to the room, so that I was happy enough with it to take photos of the room and post them here.  You can see from where I came, to where I am now.  It's been a long slow journey for moi.  Now I want to go at warp speed :)  Not sure I should...

What would you do?  That's a rhetorical question, but I would be interested in receiving your comments, please!

Just because I took tons of them, here are some more photos of my bathroom at present:

This is a close-up of the print hanging underneath the "cubby" to the
linen closet, on the wall opposite the tub/shower enclosure.  When I'm in
the tub soaking in a candle-lit bath, this is the print I see across the rooom.
This pic also gives a pretty good image of the actual wall color -- see --
it's kind of like wet sand or peanut butter (see PRIOR post). 
 

Vanity vignette.

"New" light fixture, installed in October 2009.  OHMYGODDESS!
Three years ago.  Geez, Jan.  Talk about being a slow-poke getting a room done!

Wall opposite vanity wall.  The entry door is on this wall, to the right.
This photo provides another indication of the true wall color vis a vis
the cream and white tones in accessories and the creamy shower/tub surround.
 

Vanity vignette . Okay,  I'm not a good photographer.
You can see my hands in the mirror holding the camera, LOL!
Spots on mirror, too.  Not such a good housekeeper.  Oy!
However, the soap in the hand pump is rich and creamy,
smells sweet and a little goes a LONG way!  Guests who
use this room who aren't familiar with this soap end up in suds...

One last view of the "completed" bath from the door.
I think it's pretty - and it's practically arranged, with stuff strategically
placed inside drawers that I use every morning and every night.
Handy but not much clutter in sight.

Thanks to all of you out there in the blogosphere with organized baths, beautifully appointed, for all the inspiration you've given me.  I'm learning, darlings, I'm learning from all of you.  I really like this final photo I posted above because it shows a reflection of one of the prints on the other side of the rom as well as my print of Leonardo's "Vitruvian Man" that hangs in the hallway outside the bath.  And I managed not to photograph myself or my hands holding camera in it :)

Bathroom Finished!

Hola darlings!

Well, it's as finished as it is going to be unless I find just the right wall candle sconces to go on either side of the mirror. "Before" pics are interpersed.

After.  New items are the mirror and light fixture, and a rearranging of accessories
and "cleaning off clutter" from vanity top.

For the time being, I'm using glass candlesticks with solid black metal shades, silver-colored candle-followers (to tie into my still chrome vanity sink fixtures) and cream-colored candles, which is about as close as I can come to duplicating on the countertop the look I would like on the walls flanking the mirror. 

As I mentioned, this revamp/updating was started in October, 2009.  The room was in dire need!  It had the same tired looking "ANTIQUE WHITE" it had been painted in 1990 when I first moved in.  The paint had held up well but I was sick of it after 19 years. I decided I wanted something deep, dark, dramatic!  Something totally different.

So what did I choose?  A color not too far off from the original Sears Easy Living ANTIQUE WHITE.  LOL!

I call the new color "wet sand" or "peanut butter," but in reality, it is neither - it is too light!  Oh well.  It's a dramatic enough change for me.  I like how the creamy shower surround and the creamy white shower curtain  and the vanity top "pop" against the somewhat darker tone of the walls.  I don't remember what the color is -- I had to take off the paint labels and mail them in for a $5 per can rebate.  It wasn't a stock color, it was mixed from one of those little cards I picked out.

After - interim.  New wall color, new light fixture, new mirror, everything else pretty much the same
except for the addition of some black towels - a new dramatic change for moi!  Old prints/artwork had been
stripped fromj the walls and nothing was installed in its place.  It was a very bare-bones bath, and felt "cold."
This photo was taken in December, 2009!  The photo above was taken a few weeks ago, after I
FINALLY got off my duff and finished accessoring and adding finishing touches.

Before - redo in progress.  New light fixture (a good photo of it, actually), had been installed.  You can see the
vague outlines of the old paint line where the original "box" light fixture had been removed.  Old pics and blah beige
 towels in place, you can see the remains of where the wallpaper border removed, and the old builder's plate glass mirror,
the old wall color, with old accessories, all in place.  B-O-R-I-N-G!
 

CHANGES:

(1)  New vinyl flooring.  The old flooring had, over the years, shrunk away from the walls, revealing the underlayment!  I finally got sick of looking at it!

After. New vinyl flooring, seamless and waterproof.  New movable towel stand - no more
wall mount towel holder on this wall.

(2)  New light fixture (see top and second photos).  The old "box" fixture I had originally purchased was not only cheap, but also dated, a major dust collector, and just plain ugly!  It also used small "hollywood" style light bulbs that are going to be phased out. One of the three lamps had developed a short, too, and no longer lit.  It was time to say adios! 

I purchased the new light fixture on sale at Menards.  It is "oiled bronze" with white glass shades,  It has a smaller profile than the original "box" fixture and provides good light. It's transitional styling fits with many different decorating schemes.  I am very happy with it. 

(3)  Tore off so-1980's colored wallpaper border and scrubbed away all the residue paper backing and glue!  Major work-out for upper body and arms!

Before.  You can see the remains of the old wallpaper border and the blah wall color.  I still really like the shower
curtain, though! (Of course I saved it - never know when you might need another shower curtain...)
 Maybe in its next incarnation, the bathroom will go a dramatic reddish-burgundy wall color and
everything else will be shades of green, with this shower curtain anchoring the whole...

(4) New paint color. (See above).

(5)  New mirror (see photo 3 above).  The builder's standard plate glass mirror.  It would have cost a small fortune to "frame" buying "to-order" glue-one framing online.  I am not equipped nor adequately skilled to attempt such a project by myself as custom-framing myself.  I ended up giving away the plate glass mirror (you cannot SELL them on Craig's List, no takers!) and replaced it with a much smaller, framed, beveled-edge mirror I liked that I bought on clearance at Menard's.  Way less expensive and way less hassle!

After. New mirror, rescued from the "clearance" aisle at Menards.  It's not real wood and not
the most expensive but it serves its purpose and I love the "tortoise shell" finish and
small details like the beading on the inside frame and the beveled edge on the mirror.
The outer trim around the "tortoise shell" is black, so it coordinates beautifully with the
other colors and accessories in the bath.  Oops - smudges on the mirror - me bad.

(6)  New shower curtain.  To tie into the black/white/tan theme I decided to go with in revamping my bedroom and the guest bedroom (I wanted the upstairs to appear "en suite"), and wanting to tie into the black and cream toile curtains and other red/black/white/cream/tan items I had purchased for my bedroom and the guest room, I selected an inexpensive shower curtain in a toile pattern, black on cream.

Before.  Old shower curtain, old chrome tension shower rod, you can see a part of the wallpaper border that
had not yet been removed, and the old blah wall color, along with a much loved butterly print that
I purchased and had framed in the 1970's.  I will find a new place for it, somewhere.  Right now it's stashed in a closet.
There is a distinct contrast now between the color of the walls vis a vis the shower/tub surround and the color
of the shower curtain (see photo below).

(7)  New shower curtain rod.  I had used the utilitarian chrome colored tension shower rod provided by the builder for 19 years!  My new rod was purchased at Penney's online.  It is an "oiled bronze" finish tension rod, so it was very easy to install -- I just balanced it over the old impressions left by the prior rod and turned one end until the rod was tight against the walls.

After. New toile shower curtain and rod.  The pattern is called "Antoinette" and I bought it on
the internet, but I forget from where!  It was under $30.  See how well the color
matches the color of the tub/shower surround.  And this photo also shows the
nice contrast between the wall color and the creamy color of the curtain and surround.
The curtain clips are from TJ Maxx, cost about $3 on clearance.  Tension shower curtain rod
was purchased online at Penney's - oiled bronze finish, it was around $30. 

(8)  New towel holder - floor stand model (see photo above under flooring). After I took down the standard large and old but still in good shape bright brass rod when the room was repainted, I tried to put it back up afterward, miserably failed, and determined to find a different alternative.  I also had to patch over and repaint large holes I left in the wall after my unsuccessful attempts to re-install that towel rod!  I had no problems putting up the old but still in good shape shiny brass towel holders above the toilet or on the wall along the side wall above the vanity in their former places. Doh!

(9)   A few "new" accessories added -- I shopped the house.  Glass candlesticks with candle shades and candle followers were already owned, so were the cream-colored pillar candles. They were added to the room, as was the black marble "pyramid/obelisk" and the glass "oak leaf" votive candle holder from other rooms and my cabinet stash.

(10)  Framed prints.  I purchased the black frames from Walgreens for $5 each over the years as I saw them.  I really like them because of the cream-colored mats and the 5x7 framed inset where the picture sits.  The overall look is smooth, modern and elegant.  The images were printed on photo paper from the internet -- they are black and white prints of both vintage and current scenes from around Paris, France. 

After. Black and white print of the Louvre Museum, from the internet.  In this photo you can see
one of the retained shiny brass towel rods.  Still in good shape, and I was able to reinstall this
one easily after the bathroom was painted.  Did not have any luck re-installing the towel
rod on the opposite rod, that's why I went the route of movable floor towel stand! 
 

After. Black and white print of the Seine, with Notre Dame Cathedral in the distance.  This is
the wall opposite the wall that holds the tub/shower.  The cubby opens to the linen closet
(main door in hallway outside), very convenient for stashing soaps, etc. and reaching in for
an extra towel if needed!  You can also see another of my old shiny brass towel holders.
In too good a condition to replace, and I like it's sparkle.  Marble "obelisk" was purchased
years ago to use as a book-end.  It's waterproof and adds a splash of black.



After. Old black and white photos from internet of the Eifel Tower.  This is the door wall, opposite
the vanity wall. Tub/shower is on the end wall to the left (not seen in photo).   

NOT CHANGED:

(1)  Most towel rods or toilet-paper holder -- still the original shiny brass I installed in 1990.  They are in good shape and everything doesn't have to be matchy-matchy (so I read all the time :))

(2)  Sink faucet fixture (still chrome) or bath/shower fixtures (ditto).  I thought about painting them like some adventurous bloggers have done, but I'm chicken.  Sink fixture will be replaced, coin jar money has been targeted for this purchase, so probably when I cash the money in this December.

(3)  Cabinetry and rich dark cherry finish stayed the same.  I've had the same cabinetry 21 years now and I still love it as much as the day I picked it out. 

(4)  Rugs stayed the same.

(5)  Many accessories stayed the same, including the tissue holder and"shabby chic" metal catch-all (holds an assortment of items I regularly use). Added some new decorative accessories, got rid of clutter, stashing things in the vanity drawers that were reorganized to make more sense to how I actually use things. Other items are stashed in the cabinet beneath the sink, pulled out as needed.  I admit, it takes discipline to put them away again after use instead of just tossing them aside as I run out the door for the bus to work, but the overall clean look is worth the effort!