Powder Room Refresh
This project was actually done in 2018. I had originally done this bath shortly after we remodeled the den, in the early 90’s. It was fun for the time, but had become dated and it was rather dark. I have been lightening and refreshing the house, room by room and it didn’t fit into the flow. It is situated behind the den, on the north side of the house and doesn’t get great light.
befores
Everything done was cosmetic, because we had installed the a new vanity, the new floor, new toilet, custom shutters and the horizontal paneled wainscoting in the 90’s. At that time, my brother built us a heart pine vanity and installed a pine floor. I did not want to change that floor and really did not want to hide the beautiful vanity pine with paint. So I decided to paint the trim and put a wash on the vanity to work with it.
I painted the trim Benjamin Moore Linen White, which runs throughout the house.
The vanity wash was Annie Sloan White chalk paint, thinned with water. Then I used their White Wax to buff and finish it. (You will see how much I love Annie Sloan Chalk Paint!)
We hung Schumacher wallpaper, a houndstooth raffia (again - houndstooth - I love it), and painted the ceiling Benjamin Moore Grey Wisp. (Grey Wisp is also used on my husband’s office ceiling, and backing cabinets in the living room.)
I got a new Dash & Albert rug, hung art work and some brackets over the toilet. The plates were a gift to me from my from my friend, when she went to France. The puppy silhouette is one I did myself of Mr. Friday! They hang in front of the toilet to the right of the shutters. To the right of the shutters behind the door, is a heron print, a gift of significance, from another friend, and a silhouette of Whitten when he was four.
It’s done except for one thing - I want to do a piece of artwork, for the empty wall you see as you walk in. I know what I want to do, I just have to sit and do it. It’s a water color sample worksheet, inspired by a Caspari napkin and a John Derian puzzle.
One last thing, I love whimsical, meaningful vignettes. When the bathroom was first done, I painted two little groups of stars on the ceiling in the corners. So when I painted over them, I thought, hmmm, what could I do that would be meaningful and “sing a little song”? I decided to put three little paper butterflies in the corner on the ceiling. One for my brother Wally, one for Whitten and one for Chip’s sister Jane. The butterflies will swarm as we get older, and we lose people and gain angels. Because that’s the way of life.