I’m calling summer 2015 the Summer of the Bathroom because we’re redoing both upstairs bathrooms. I don’t know that Seth is totally on board with also redoing the master bath in the next couple of months because it’s the WAY more complicated of the two, but I say we just rip the bandaid off and get those suckers off our to do list! But first, the boys’ and guest bathroom.
Nothing to change with the layout, which makes this a fairly easy update. The cabinets were the same 1980 builder grade version that we had in the kitchen. Really dark with a nasty 80s orange tinge to them. The counters were also original off-white, marbled laminate. It looked like one of the previous owners had replaced the sinks and faucets at some point. The mirror is huge, and it will be kept. It does have some deterioration at the bottom, so I’m planning to make a frame for it, like here.
The walls were painted a yellow-ish tan color. The floor tile is pretty good as is the bath surround tile. The tan tile color is much less yellow than the wall paint, so we’re thinking it could look good with our paint color (I’m keeping my fingers crossed.)
The actual tub really grossed me out when we first moved in. It seems like it’s the original, and it’s a dingy off-white color. It looked like it was permenantly dirty at first, but has cleaned up a good amount after washing it a number of times in the past couple years. We won’t be replacing it immediately, but I’m hoping to get that accomplished when we do the master bath. At that point, I plan to do a full tub insert to keep things easy to clean.
The toilet is fine, but the seat is a fairly cheap plastic model. When we sit on it to bathe the boys, the lid always slips to the side. I’d like to replace the whole toilet, but might just stick to finding a new seat for it, although I’ve seen pretty good toilets for around $80…we shall see.
Main goals for this bathroom are to de-yellow everything (which is, as you shall see, a theme in this house…), update what needs to be updated, install better lighting, and make it fun for the boys while at the same time inviting for guests. I’m a firm believer that spaces can be kid friendly without being childish, and still have good design. So, no under the sea themes in here! However, my childhood bathroom had an underwater theme and I loved it – so maybe I’m depriving my children of some level of joy in their life, but I doubt it.
Here’s what I’ve found for inspiration: clean lines, a bit masculine, light wood tones, dark walls, some subtle pops of red, and fun, but not too childish artwork.
Now that I see all these inspiration pictures together, they seem pretty disparate. I couldn’t find pictures with light wood and dark walls in a bathroom, which is why there’s a kitchen picture in there. And, I’ve been planning to make my Ikea stool bright red since I saw this on HouseTweaking. So it works, trust me. Although that print is of sea animals…so maybe a subtle under the sea theme is making its way in there. Ha!
Here’s the to-do list for this update:
- Paint walls and ceiling
- Paint all wood trim white
- Update lighting
- Frame the mirror
- Replace vanity and sinks
- New toilet seat
- Decor: artwork, accessories, shower curtain, towel racks, etc…
Let’s hope we can get this baby done fairly quickly. We actually purchased kitchen cabinets to use as a vanity when we bought our kitchen from Ikea a year ago, so that’s one big check in the box!
*Inspiration sources – left to right, top to bottom: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8
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