If you’ve been following this blog for a while, then you might have read a myriad of times about how much I like white; white walls, white kitchen, white furniture, white bed linens, white for almost everything. But even for a person who’s always had a love affair with white, this bathroom was way too sterile.
This is a Jack and Jill bathroom shared between the boy’s room and the guest room, with only a bathtub and the toilet. The vanities are private on each bedroom side, meaning that access is first through the vanity area(s), and then through door(s) to this shared space.
Because the first owners of this house chose a classic white tile and a basic white bathtub 30 years ago, this bathroom is still totally acceptable. In fact, if I had to design a bathroom on a budget today, I would probably make similar choices.
In addition, it has a very high vaulted ceiling, a decent size cabinet perfect for storing the essentials and it gets lots of natural light throughout the day. There’s plenty going for it, but still something was missing.
This past weekend I worked only on the shared area (bathtub and toilet) ~ the two vanity areas are in need of a more professional upgrade.
What I really wanted to achieve for this space was to add a little bit of interest without too much work and without committing to lots of color. So, instead of painting the walls (or just one) I decided to do only one large band of color that would go around the lower part of the bathroom walls and…
…would continue along the shower curtain.
To make things a little more interesting, I ended the color band about 12 inches above the baseboard trim ~ exactly where the shower curtain ends.
And to make the color separation more distinct, I used the same pattern to paint a bar stool (this one) that we had in our kitchen three houses ago and which was forgotten in garages move after move.
Apart from the color visual effect, the stool was actually needed as it’s the only flat surface in this space that allows you to display a couple of decorative pieces along with some bathroom supplies.
For the wall art, I wanted to avoid a nautical theme ~ so I went with abstract art (details further down).
I committed to completing everything within a single weekend. I didn’t want to stress too much, but I definitely wanted to have the supplies put away by Sunday night. The only item I had purchased prior to starting working on this bathroom was a piece of light blue fabric. Here’s a rough schedule of how things evolved:
Saturday morning:
I took out my sewing machine and a ruffle bottom shower curtain, purchased on clearance for about $3.50 from Pottery Barn Kids in Palo Alto, CA, about 3 years ago, that I’d never used {note: I had actually purchased two of the same, the second one is currently in my daughter’s bathroom – back then, I didn’t even need them as all tubs had glass doors, but I knew there would be a way to use them someday}.
I cut off the bottom ruffle part, and some more, and I replaced it with a light blue cotton fabric, keeping the same curtain dimensions.
Since the seam would be visible while showering, I wanted to do the best possible job in hiding the rough edges connecting the two pieces of fabric. For the first time, I sewed a french seam (I followed these instructions) and I ended up with an impeccable result. This is the back side of the shower curtain:
Saturday afternoon:
After lunch, I ironed and hung the shower curtain, and started the painting prep. The curtain’s blue part determined where exactly to position the painter’s tape and the process did require a little attention and patience since I had to measure carefully and make sure I was getting it straight. But the area that needed to be taped was rather small so it was not too time consuming ~ I had only two walls to cover as the third wall of this bathroom is the tiled bathtub and the fourth side has the two doors and a tall floor cabinet in between.
Saturday evening:
With the blue fabric sample on hand, I headed to the home improvement store and chose a light blue paint to match the shower curtain. I did some more shopping:
** two white cotton bath mats from Target ** 3 white frames from Michael’s ** two sets of white towels from Kohl’s ** a shower liner, heavyweight paper and a small fern plant from the grocery store. (thankfully, all these stores are located within a 0.5 mile range!)
Saturday night:
As soon as I returned home, I started painting the walls. It took me literally 20 minutes to paint the two small wall areas with a roller brush and they only needed two coats of paint with a one-hour drying in between. I also painted the top part of the stool.
Before going to bed, I loaded up the washing machine with the new towels.
Sunday morning:
I jumped out of bed to examine the blue color under day light and – thank God – it was perfect! I also finished painting the bottom part of the stool; the blue paint was too fresh to use painter’s tape so I used removable tape instead which doesn’t damage sensitive surfaces.
Sunday afternoon:
I relaxed the rest of the morning and started working on the three wall art pieces after lunch. Unlike a true artist, I had no vision. For the bigger one, I just made a few strokes of blue craft paint using a thick paint brush on some good quality white paper and I was quite pleased with the result!
This is pretty much how I started and I got more creative, as you can see from the photos showing this finished art piece.
The two smaller wall arts were even easier to make – one is made with paint splashes (Jackson Pollock style) around a jar lid, and the second one has V shapes painted with a small brush, craft paint and some of the light blue wall paint. Overall, I spent about 30 minutes for the wall art.
Sunday evening:
I did a quick cleaning, shopped my home for some decorative pieces that would look nice in this space and arranged everything in place…
The Big One towels from Kohl’s have mixed reviews ~ I bought them in white and they work well for me. I like them because they’re thin ~ in a humid climate like Houston, TX, you want your towels to dry fast.
Reusing only the top part of an old shower curtain is a great way to make a new, customized one, without having to go through the process of adding on grommets and without too much sewing.
White bath mats are the best solution for me – they work in every bathroom, and if I accidentally spill bleach while cleaning, like I often do, they don’t end up with discolored spots. These are 100% cotton and that’s another reason I chose them.
Shopping my home is something I often do, and it’s a great way to refresh a space without spending a dime. The ceramic footed bowl is from Greece and it has been in my possession for over 30 years. The soup bowl is from Anthropologie. Both have had various uses over the years in different rooms of the home.
I took all the above pictures on Monday, before the owner of this bathroom left his traces … but today, as I walked in, I couldn’t help it but smile … so much for styling!
Everything I did over this past weekend is what I like doing most: painting, sewing, art making, shopping, re-arranging and re-using older stuff for styling. And because everything was small scale, it was fun and not a bit tiring.
Materials:
- Paint: Behr Premium Plus – Boot Cut, matte finish / 1 quart / $14
- Belmont White Frames – Michael’s / about $24 for all 3
- Bath mats / Target (2 for $30)
- Towels / Kohl’s / about $12 with coupon
- Blue fabric for the shower curtain / $12
- Fern plant / local grocery store / $ 5
- Paper / local grocery store / $ 2
- Shower curtain liner / local grocery store / $2
- Basic painting & craft supplies I already had on hand
