Bathroom Redo.

We all know the saying while the cat is away, the mice will play. I live by that saying!  For work purposes my husband has to leave town once or twice a year,  this is the time I choose to play. Not that I cannot do projects while he is here, I just choose to do them while he is gone because I can take as long as I want, do it however I want, tape off or not..basically no super vision. No "your doing that wrong" etc. etc... ( *disclaimer..my husband is very helpful and a supportive DIY'er and in no way am I saying he does not help or support my endeavors...just sometimes I like to be left alone! lol)

OK y'all here is what I did while he was literally on the other side of the planet ( he was forced to go to Australia..boo hoo for him!) and had no idear of what was going on at home.

My "Master" bathroom. My house was built in the 60's so this bathroom is not really the "Master" , it just gets that name  by technicality because it is the closest to my room which I really cant call the "Master" either because the room my two daughters share is about the same size...But I digress..

OK master bathroom, remodeled roughly 7 or 8 years ago by yours truly.This bathroom was classic 60's with pink and brown tiles. I'm pretty sure at some point the shower was redone before we bought this house,  but the counters and pink toilet were left for me to enjoy.

This was a low budget remodel and the only cost here were new tiles, paint, sink, fixtures, and shelving that Mike made for me and staining the existing cabinet. We got the toilet for free because at the time my in laws were also remodeling their bathroom and they gave us their gently used toilet.

I chose a honey onyx tile, in a tumbled finish ( not really shinny) The tile has shades of  honey yellow, brown, grey and off white. At the time I was new to this whole home decorating thing. This is my first home and I think I got lucky that 8 yrs later it was only the paint color that I was dying to change. I have gotten a lot smarter about my color choices for long term items such as tiles etc. For the wall color I chose a nice neutral green shade called withered moss ( Valspar brand @ Lowes) . I used all middle shade of the swatch for the ceiling (fennel splash) and the lightest shade ( ginger sugar) for the trim. I actually used the trim color through out the whole house. Its a nice off white'ish color.

* disclaimer #2 ..I do try to stay away from trends, that is I have heard it is smart to stay away from trends because they are constantly changing, BUT I saw this in a magazine ( what I am about to reveal..my new bathroom..)  about a year ago and it has been eating away at me since then.. I HAVE BEEN DYING TO DO THIS... It has been sitting there, in my noggin tempting me, egging me on, saying HI every once in awhile when I have a free moment ... I tried to go online and find my inspiration picture from CB2 but of course it was no longer available. I always wait to long to catch the trend train,LOL! OK are you ready.. here it is, my new bathroom color

this is a really dark picture but I think you get this idea. Its grey!! I love it, let me tell you why. The inspiration room I saw on CB2 was actually yellow with grey accents. I thought to myself..self you have yellow tiles you can add grey to it and get kind of the same effect. That is why I chose grey. I know its pretty trendy right now, but it fits in with my existing color scheme of  blues, greens, and browns so I went for it. Here is a little better shot.

This color is called Elephant skin and is the Behr brand from Home Depot ( and I spent way to much time there during this project!) OH OH! My mirror, my love!! Mike and I went to L.A for a weekend getaway awhile back and the hotel we stayed in had one of these mirrors. You can guess the rest, I feel in love and had to have it and here it is! It is in the perfect spot for make-up application, and no more leaning over the counter to make sure things look right!

The wall color matched perfectly with they grey shades in the existing tiles...

 Wait I am forgetting to tell you the drama and low point of this simple redo.. OK, not sure if this happens to you, but never fails to happen to me. There aways has to be some sort of project drama that makes you regret the whole crazy idea.. Here is my drama cut short because I don't want to bore you.. 

 1. I choose 5 samples and paint on wall, had favorite but thought it might be to dark for small room

2. Went with second favorite, bought quart because small room and was buying the 1coat paint.

3. Ran out of one coat paint, not sure why, but did and had to go get more.

4. Finished painting and waited a day to dry and put room back together..

5. Paint dries and for some reason is giving off a purple tone?? asked son what he thought ( with out hinting that I though it looked purple) and he said what I didn't want to hear PURPLE..

6. Go to Home Depot and buy 1st choice of paint and repaint bathroom!!!

I have been collecting the milk glass, and they worked out splendidly in here

I started this guy awhile back with letter stencils from the dollar store,  I just had not finished filling in the letters with paint. I used water color to do this and it gave that perfect weathered/aged look I was going for. I see a kind of green tint in these pictures, it is so not the case in person!

Built in shelves, more milk glass, a painted wooden box cabinet thing from Ikea that I have had forever that contains my makeup and necessities.

And Voila there you have it! Did the Hubs notice, after a minute or two. I painted his office to ( pictures to come ) so that was the first thing he noticed. I might have mentioned other surprises which sent him on a scavenger hunt around the house looking for what I had done while he was gone. He noticed the new mirror first then realized the paint color. Boys are so funny about noticing the obvious some times!

So what do you think, I love it! So happy every time I go in there. Will post pictures soon of my other " while the cat is away" projects.

~ Bianca