{At the end of this post you will find paint colors to update your almond fixtures, and notes about sources. The Amazon links are affiliate links.}
I have come to that point where either I show you some pictures of my bathroom makeover in its not-quite-complete form or I give up altogether, because in real life, the “done” things very quickly get to be decidedly worn out, even as you are trying to finish up the details.
And that would not be good, would it, for me to wait so long that the new things got old. So that's what I'm doing — showing you the way it is in real life, namely, not quite done (or ever likely to be!).
I have one million things to tell you.
We redid two bathrooms at once, simply because they are right next to each other and it seemed to make sense in terms of economy of scale. I'm not sure if that turns out to be correct. It certainly makes sense in terms of one's willingness to return to chaos after one stage has been dealt with. It also makes sense when the second one is completely unusable, as opposed to the first which is just crumbling.
Here is a diagram/plan of our second floor. Those of you who know me well, know my little attempts to give you an overview of things… which may or may not be helpful.
What this is conveying to you, in my own wacky way, is that in an old house, choices have to be made, usually according to things known as “stacks” — places where plumbing gets put in and it's just simpler to go up with it to the next floor than to, you know, actually put it where it's needed.
Thus, yes, I go a far piece to get to the bathroom. (The Chief also does, but, you know.) And those bathrooms are next to each other. Because, plumbing.
I will show you the other one at some point. We are putting shelving up and then I hope to!
Here are some befores. Please remember that befores are usually taken at the very last minute, after the leaks have gotten bad and pretty much when the demo has begun and suddenly you're like, “Let me stop the hating for a minute, just for the sake of the blog.” So don't judge me too harshly; it wasn't quiiiittte this bad. Well, not till the very end.
BEFORE:
The leaks had sprung, and that's what the towels are all about. In my dreams, I would have had an upscale construction company come in here and gut everything, and I would have put in black and white tile and white porcelain fixtures. There would be a freestanding tub with a shower; I don't see what's wrong with that! I like it, and it's old-fashioned and timeless. Plus, way easier to bathe a baby in, versus a dumb jacuzzi and too-small shower.
However, that was not to be.
It's just too expensive to rip out these built ins. Let this be a warning to you! Try not to build things in. That tub — not going anywhere. Likewise the vanity. It would just cost so much to replace it with its built-in sinks.
That meant that we had to work with the almond. I know. But because of that, I'm here to tell you the best way to do that in terms of decorating!
BEFORE:
Somewhere along the way, when I was still nursing that black-and-white dream of mine, we replaced the old almond (terrible and malfunctioning) toilet with this nice white one.
My reasoning — what would be the point of putting in new almond one if we were on track to gut this bathroom and make it all NOT ALMOND?
Yeah. After crunching the numbers (and recovering consciousness, and paying the tuition bill), we did end up getting one to match, and this beautiful white number is in the new laundry room.
Now, I want you further to note the golden oak trim. Baseboards, windows (sorry, no befores of that), and the radiator cover. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to incorporate almond fixtures and golden oak trim, and then I came to my senses.
The trim was getting painted.
AFTER:
I took the radiator cover down to the garage and spray-painted it. It's at times like this that spray-paint earns its keep. Painting all that metal screen with a brush would have been a nightmare of drips and surfaces!
I also spray-painted the radiator underneath. It had been white and the white showed through the mesh and contrasted with the black. However, I would not do that again — spray painting inside is not a good idea!
We got a bigger shower. The space above the new wall is open on the theory that air circulation is a good thing.
The trick with the almond is to go a bit darker on the walls, and a white-leaning-towards-gray-taupe (taupe is beige with black in it, or brown/black with white in it, however you want to look at it) for the trim.
Black accents lift everything up out of the 70s-90s. I painted the light fixtures black and got new glasses for the sconces.
I do really love the flooring. It's vinyl plank (not laminate sheets). It's completely waterproof and floats on the subfloor — in this case, partial tile and partial plywood. Just covers it all up and provides a warm, easy to clean surface. I love the color of it.
I call it “Escape from Golden Oak.”
The paint and a bunch of the black we had already decided on in the last go-round (the real before featured blue wallpaper, which, who puts wallpaper in a bathroom I ask you, and blue is not a good way to uplift almond). The vanity had been golden oak; I hadn't thought to take a before picture (there is a similar one on this blog), but I was very pleased with how the hardware went from blah to fab, just with the color change.
We did update the faucets. Surely you can see why…
BEFORE:
AFTER:
I will say that the surround of the tub and the countertop and backsplashes are all Corian. I like that surface. I would have liked it not to be almond, but oh well.
One little note you might not think of: The nice-looking black and chrome toothbrush holder from Target (as seen in the before pic just above)?
No good.
No matter how much you rinse the toothbrushes, the dried residue is white! Making your holder look gross. I spray painted mine white.
There are nice touches in old houses…
Before:
After:
Things I would do at some point:
Touch up the black of the vanity and the frames of the mirrors
Spray paint the towel ring between the two mirrors black
Replace the window over the tub so that it opens (which, among other things, would allow for it to be cleaned on the outside; it's over the roof of the garage, so a cleaning isn't happening otherwise!)
Replace or paint the faucet of the tub
Line the curtain to make it look a bit more substantial — this requires coming across a good length of muslin at some point
Paint and sources:
Walls: Olympic, Sienna Sand (which may be the Benjamin Moore name which we originally used, but they can make it at Lowe's)
Trim: Valspar Cliveden Mist (first we primed the oak well)
The black is just some random black in the case of the vanity (I don't remember, but just don't get a blue-black) or black spray paint
Ceiling paint: Take a tip from me and use glossy paint for your bathroom ceilings, preferably one that is mold-resistant — this was a huge upgrade from the regular ceiling paint that had been on there before
Flooring: Shaw's Matrix Regency Vinyl Plank Flooring in Gunstock, from Lowe's (I bought this after buying a similar product from Home Depot; I was actually hoping for a lighter color (which I think doesn't show as much dirt). I was checking out with enough flooring for both bathrooms and caught sight of a sample laid out. My, it was ugly! So I turned right around and returned it all! After much texting of photos to Rosie and a considerable amount of agonizing over the fact that some colors are in stock and some are decidedly not and anyway how are you supposed to tell, I found this one at Lowe's. I love it.)
Toilet: Gerber
Shower: Got it from the plumbing supply store — it is 5′ wide and has a built-in seat! The door is from Lowe's and is suspended from the top, making it easier to clean
Faucets: Ufaucet from Amazon. These are very nice and the pop-up drain is metal, not plastic, and the price was right These actually turned out to be not that good; replaced them with Moen faucets from Home Depot in virtually the same finish
Towel racks/hooks: Spray painted regular hooks black; Phil made the peg board; carved wooden hook from Marshall's
Paris map: Available at art stores that sell wrapping paper, for under $4, or here on Amazon for more. I decoupaged it onto a spray-painted piece of particleboard that we had, so the whole thing cost me $5
Curtain fabric: JoAnn's
Other art: Thrifted, or decoupaged greeting cards — the “abstract art” is actually a picture of a Gee's Bend quilt, and however much a source of contention it is in my family, I love it for the sweet thriftiness it represents
Shout-out to Bridget who helped me choose the fabric and who did a lot of painting!
Ingrid says
I have the same Carl Larsson picture on a bedroom wall, also in thin red frame 🙂 Found it in a thrift shop. It`s a small world.
Polly says
I think it looks great! I read this with interest because we are also cursed, blessed, cursed (can’t decide) with almond fixtures in one of our bathrooms. We had them in our “master” bathroom (a term that makes me laugh b/c it’s just as small as all the others), but we ripped out the toilet and vanity/sink and replaced it all with pretty white stuff, but my husband nearly had a heart attack at the price for tiling the shower, so I think ALMOND STAYS in there (good old almond fiberglass…sigh). But I bought a frilly Anthropologie shower curtain to hide that, so no big deal.
The children’s bathroom is the one with the almond. I’m learning to work with it, b/c we are *not* gutting that one and replacing everything–at least not until my small people are out of college.
I think this post is the perfect blend of improving the aesthetics of something in a reasonable way. Most people really cannot afford to gut an entire bathroom, yet that stuff is all over blogland. Your radiator-cover spray-painting and working with what you’ve got show that total replacement is *not* necessary to vastly improve appearances!
Anel says
It turned out fantastic, Leila!
Mrs. B. says
Beautiful, all beautiful! Good job! Perhaps it’s the time of day when you took the pictures, but the almond really goes well with the soft light – you must have picked the perfect wall paint color! And also the perfect floor: can’t stand a bathroom (or a kitchen) where the floor shows every single speck of dust on it… My favorite detail is the curtain fabric.
It feels a very welcoming room to me, very warm: thinking of your long winters, it is perhaps not a bad thing you had to let go of you black-and-white dream and go with warmer colors: getting up early on a February morning, I’d love to wake up to a bathroom like this. You open the door and go, “Ahhh, yes, perhaps I can face the day!”
We had a bathroom with wallpaper as well! That went out of the window first thing after we bought the house. We discovered two more layers of different wallpapers underneath… It doesn’t make sense to me (though the prize for absurdity goes to a kitchen with carpet on the floor we saw in a rental house once… Needless to say, we didn’t choose that house!) We’re still living with two brownish, “marble-effect” sink tops, but two new white ones are already sitting in the garage, waiting for my husband to muster the courage to replace them 🙂
Claire says
WOW, it looks amazing!! Love the floor, the artwork (did wonder just a little about the quilt one, but get it now, ha) love love love the curtains! It all looks so chic and updated, and the color in the curtains really makes it come alive. Ingenious, the whole thing.
Thanks for telling us about it. I’m inspired!
And — go Bridget!!
Shannon says
So so lovely!!! Love your taste!
Dia says
Beautiful. Sometimes our best results come from being forced to work with what we have. When I moved into our house the kitchen had robins egg blue countertops. (It still does, but I’m finally planning a remodel 13 years later). I thought they absolutely had to go. But they had to stay until we got the kids through high school. Once I changed the walls from yellow and blue to taupe, the counters became the accent color–and yes, that is a LOT of accent–but it did work okay.
I’ll be glad to leave them behind, but they are good solid countertops and served me well. When they do go, I will salute them.
Woman of the House says
It looks great! I love the black accents and vanity and the curtain fabric. What a neat, quirky window! Carl Larsson is one of my very most favoritest artists. Love that print!
Ona says
Looks beautiful! And I love how you share your tips & tricks to work with what we have. And yay for spray paint!
Tyna Begley says
That floor! It’s wonderful! Sigh…I’m in love…
NY Mom says
Wow wow wow…that curtain fabric makes the whole room come alive! Love it! (yes…totally agree about lining them -without them it won’t take long for them to fade, which will happen imperceptively).
We have a few dream updating projects here as well, in which we want to upgrade from the low-budget solutions we did 25 years ago, then backburnered things b/c we had no $$$ due to kids/college tuition/life, but now we’re back to low-budget again and frankly thinking we can endure the questionable aesthetics for now until a structural or plumbing catastrophe forces our wallets open.
Side note: I notice it doesn’t look like you have a little reading library in there. My mom parked our entire set of World Books (plus the Childcraft series) right outside our bathroom door which is why, 50+ years later, I can recite all sorts of random trivia now. Some people discourage bathroom reading material to ensure that the sittees don’t “fall in” (as in, “What’s taking you so long? Did you fall in??”) but I find it delightful to see how people stock their bathroom libraries.
Weird but true.
Leila says
Good point about the fading, NY Mom. I will try to line them soon!
And fear not — that radiator cover is always piled with reading material! It’s just for the photo shoot that I decluttered, haha! I am a huge proponent of bathroom reading, and I myself have worked my way through many a classic in 10-minute intervals LOL — who reads Tocqueville on the sofa, am I right?
Lisa G. says
So your books don’t get damp or whatever in the room where showers take place? How interesting.
NY Mom says
Magazine and catalogs will curl a bit but books stay ok.
Also…in the winter months the potted ferns get parked in there under the window and are fairly happy until spring.
Leila says
Lisa, it’s a radiator 🙂
During the summer things get more cleared out.
Lisa G. says
Ah, yes. We don’t have one of those. 😀
DonnaL says
Auntie Leila~ Way to go! This looks so amazing and is *such* a transformation from the “befores”.
I am going to be inspired by this post to re-do our little powder room downstairs–New flooring? check. Paint? Check. New wax ring for commode? Check. New-to-us pedestal sink? Check. Now, I just need to encourage my Honey to help me get it done before we leap back into school!
Thank you for encouraging us the way you do!
Cami says
I’m so impressed with how you truly updated almond! Not an easy task! I wouldn’t know where to begin! Our 90s house has a lot of almond… Tubs, toilets, etc. I suppose someday when we have the means to update, I’ll revisit this post for ideas. Great job on this project! You pulled it off. Who knew black fixtures and white trim could do so much?
Leila says
Thanks, Cami! I know! My only comment would be — not quite *white* trim — you really want a gray. You want as little white as possible near that almond!
Margo, Thrift at Home says
I love this post – your frankness, style, and all the details. It’s so inspiring because I too live in the real world and projects never seem to be completely (magazine-perfect) DONE. But I can be happy with it, as you have so kindly demonstrated. I think I need to go photograph my new bathroom curtain which I avoided doing because of the windowsill 🙂
Your bathroom is really lovely. I love that it’s neutrals with little splashes of personality.
Joy says
What a stunning change! So beautiful. It’s fascinating how the almond just fades to an almost antique ivory type white in the pictures with the changes on the wall and trim. And the pop of red! And the artwork. And the little chair. Just lovely. (I laughed at your drawing and needing to pee- we live in an old house too and it always drives me nuts in the morning, having to go such a long (bleary) way to get to the bathroom in the wee smas!)
Katie says
So pretty. I like the flowy curtains as they are, letting a little light through the fabric, but I get that up close in person they might seem better with a lining.
Truth on the glossy, mold-resistant ceiling paint. I didn’t know such a thing existed until my husband surprised me by cleaning and painting our bathroom ceiling with such, when our first was a baby. Now that is the kind of thing that makes a new mama happy!
Slowly trying to clean up our two bathrooms around here too. I finally managed to paint the (tiny) master’s walls, which helped a ton to put gloss over the existing flat. Next up is re-caulking the children’s tub and tile (so yucky, did no previous owner ever take care of it???) but it’s hard to find enough time between bathtub uses to scrape it out, get everything sufficiently bleached and dry, have time for the caulk then to set, AND for me to have two free hands to actually do it if the opportunity presents itself! Oh, babies, always getting dirty and needing to be taken care of. =) But the caulk is purchased, and I’m ready to pounce . . . Bathrooms are small spaces but having them sealed, tidy, and fresh-looking makes such a difference. Thanks for sharing your updates.
Leila says
Good for you, Katie! Maybe summer is the time — the kids can always just be hosed down for a few days, right?
Your husband is truly the best — what a perfect gift. Just clean something for good and all, I say! It’s our handyman of old, Brian, who painted the ceiling with the glossy paint. What a revelation.
Make SURE you are using SILICONE caulk for the tub areas. It sets up quickly and is the ONLY kind you should use, or in 3 months you will be crying.
Katie says
Hmm, just checked the tubes and no mention of silicone. “Premium, bathroom, sink, tub, microban, yadda yadda yadda” but presumably it would have the word “silicone” prominent if it were. Also, I realized that we picked up clear when we meant to get white, so either way, thanks for the save, because now I know to make a return before we do the work! Granted it will now be going back for an exchange based on color if nothing else, but I’m curious as to the downside of non-silicone in this case. Lesson learned the hard way?
Leila says
Katie, if it is latex caulk you will have issues with mold and leaking and peeling. Latex means “water soluble”!!
Silicone caulk is hard to clean off your hands, and you have to be a tad more careful as you are applying it, but by the same token it won’t mold or leak.
This is what I do: Remove the old caulk completely. The surface you are putting caulk on needs to be clean and smooth — use a putty knife and scrape it all out, then wipe down with whatever it takes to clean it out. Make a good, clean angled cut in the tube, not too big. You can make it bigger if you need to, but you can’t make it smaller! I use my dog’s nail clippers… but anything sharp will do.
Insert the tube into a caulking gun and start pressing it out. If it doesn’t come out in a nice smooth little bead like a spaghetti noodle (but not much bigger!), make your cut bigger.
Apply the bead of caulk and then use your finger to smooth it. Have a couple of paper towels near by and fold them over, using one to wipe off the excess on the edge of the surface near your bead and another to wipe your fingers.
Press the caulk in with your finger and just wipe along. That makes the best, cleanest, smoothest bead in the corner you are caulking. I don’t tape and I don’t use any implement.
I found that tea tree oil worked the best to clean my fingers (after wiping well with paper towel) — it’s basically turpentine, so mineral spirits or turpentine would work too. Basically you just have to wipe and wipe and after a while it goes away. It’s really not a big deal — especially when you realize what a good caulking job you can do with that little implement, your finger!
Cap the tube well.
When the caulk is dry, you can peel little stray bits away with your putty knife or a straight razor.
This will last a long time!
Melissa D says
Thank you so much for this. Why does caulk freak me out so much? I’ve been putting off dealing with mine. And I think I saw on Pinterest if you use an ice cube to smooth the caulk, you don’t get much mess!
Katie says
Belated thanks for this practical advice! I’ve done plenty of caulking before, but I guess I’ve never been the one procuring the materials, so I never paid that close of attention to the options and aspects thereof. Good tip on tea tree oil, too.
Katie says
I returned to this post/comment for motivation, and yesterday my “want-to” project was finally tackling the scraping and re-caulking in the children’s bathroom. Woohoo! It looks so good and clean and of course now I wish I’d done it far sooner. I’m particularly excited to have done the baseboards, too, so hopefully our local varieties of cockroach and spider will be sealed out (in?) and no longer scurry out from under the walls. Ugh. I’m pretty sure that at bath time tonight, the kiddos will be verifiably cleaner for having bathed in such a spic and span environment. And my new favorite cleaning tool is the $2.50 plastic razor-blade holder that I picked up at the hardware store, almost as an afterthought . . . soooo satisfying and effective that I didn’t even mind the grunt work. =)
Mrs. B. says
Yes, Katie, only 100% silicone caulk in the bathroom and around kitchen sinks – I second our hostess’ advice!
Catie H says
It’s just beautiful!!!! I like it so much.
Heidi says
Love the Paris map! My hubby and I lived in Germany when we met and had our first date in Paris. I think lying in the tub looking at that map sounds like a dream!
BK says
Your shower is 5″ wide? How can you justify such excess? 😉
Leila says
BK, we know how to do things up right!!
(I fixed it — even before I saw this 😉
Barbaral says
BK, we know how to do things up right!!
(I fixed it — even before I saw this 😉
Heather says
I love it! As a non-homeowner, I thought this post might be a little dull to me. Wrong!
Leila says
Haha! Thanks, Heather!
Laura S. says
Amazing! What a beautiful transformation; I am in awe of your “eye” to see what needed to be done. I love it more than “brand new everything”! Anyone can fling money at a redo; it takes talent to work with constraints! 🙂
Sonja Maierhauser says
Leila, I’m inspired by your work. Our 80s ranch is over run with almond fixtures and golden oak. Not being a very confident home decorator, I appreciated the thought put into your colors, additions and revisions. Lovely!
Katherine says
Charming! I often salivate over “This Old House” bathroom remodels and then I come back to reality. Yours is reality.
We put vinyl plank flooring over a plywood subfloor in our large living room about eight years ago (I really wanted real wood, but we were sending too kids to college that year). I chose a dark color to compliment the knotty pine walls (I know). It has not worn well. It looked great for a couple of years and then became dull with many scratches and the edges are wearing away and showing white beneath. Our living room is heavily used since we don’t have a family room or dining room. It’s pretty bad looking (still better than the previous gross carpeting) and I’m thinking of painting over it with floor paint – you know, when we have the energy to move a piano, five bookcases and 2,000 books again.
Amelia says
Would you not choose vinyl plank again? We’re trying to save up to do vinyl plank in our entire house, because we currently have really ugly old carpet and linoleum, and I just love that vinyl plank is water*proof* because sometimes there will be spills that I don’t see right away. I’m leery of real wood because I expect we’d damage it; our kids are currently 3 and almost 1 and I’m young, so there is good hope of many more to come, plus two cats and I am not exactly the most diligent of housekeepers. We really want to “do it right” for the long haul and not have to upgrade things later. I can stomach the thought of repainting the floor every decade but if real wood or something else is worth it in the long run, I want to do that. (We’re in the south, so a nice, cool, wood-look tile is an option, but of course it’s extra hard and cleaning grout is lame.)
So…anyone who’s been there, in hindsight, what is your dream floor?
Amelia says
Oh, and what thickness is your vinyl plank? We’re looking at 4mm or 5mm. I’m not sure how that affects how the coloring wears, though.
Lisa G. says
It looks very, very nice! And I had NO IDEA Amazon sold faucets! I am glad to know this!!! I love your faucet.
Kelsey says
This is beautiful! I love the creativity that comes through in these “improve-what-you-have” projects.
When my husband and I redid our one teensy bathroom, we used the same paint on the ceiling that we had used on the walls. It was all the mold-resistant stuff, just colored. Since our bathroom is so small, it really helped unify the space, rather than having a colorful wall on one side and the whole shower-side white due to white tile and ceiling. Anyway, something to consider if you’re working in an itty-bitty space!
Rozy says
Wonderful remodel and redecorating job! I agree with everyone else that your use of black is great with the almond. It makes it looks like you designed it all together on purpose.
As for lining the curtains, have you thought of picking up a sheet at the thrift store? I’ve used sheets for both curtains and lining. As an alternative, may I offer you some of my surplus muslin? When my mother died I inherited her fabric stash and have plenty and enough to share. You have given so much to me through your blog, I would feel honored to return the favor.
Leila says
Aw, Rozy, you are so sweet!
Actually, I really didn’t consider sheets! Duh! I could do that!
Thank you!
Margie says
I love the transformation and you have given me hope as I keep trying to convince the powers that be in my house for a bathroom remodel. I however would kill for almond- I am working with the pink-brown-beige tub and sink- which according to my husband is “vintage” and people pay lots of money to have a “vintage” look in their bathroom. I will have to accept that it is not going anywhere and continue to tape paint samples around the bathroom. ( sigh)
Leila says
Margie, every time I would despair over my almond, I would conjure up *avocado* fixtures as I remember them from the 60s and count my blessings!
I will say a couple of things though: They still do sell almond toilets — do they still sell pink ones? An old toilet uses a lot of water. Is it really cost-effective to keep it?
And — if the tub is relatively free-standing, it’s not hard to replace it or have gone over by one of those services that refinishes tubs. You could probably find one on craigslist… Mine is huge and built in (like, sunk into the floor). The demo alone…
And as to sinks, a sink doesn’t cost much… and you can make a vanity out of anything — old desk, sideboard, dresser…
I had shower, tub, two sinks, and 2nd floor demo to consider, plus ancient plumbing — plus the other bathroom. Maybe, just maybe, you can figure out how to get rid of those fixtures? Or even sell them on craigslist?
If not, do search for “updating pink fixtures” on pinterest. You might find some good thoughts on how to make it work!
Mrs. B. says
I grew up in a house very cheaply built in 1970. The materials were awful, and the style was even worse: ceramic tiles with absurd colors and patterns all over the house… Often the contractors put down tiles the wrong way, messing up the pattern, and never bothered lifting the tiles and correcting the mistake. It was great fun, growing up, to try to find all these wrong spots. One bathroom had (and still has, the house was never renovated) green fixtures (but not avocado, Leila, more like a happy spring green!), and the other was a dusty rose color. They are unredeemably ugly and totally absurd, and yet they are dear to me just as they are, simply because they are part of the house where the happiest part of my childhood happened.
So, Margie, cheer up: do what you can to update, but know that even quirky ugliness can leave good memories!
Anel says
Looking at this again, I must add that I think it adds to the warmth of the room that the walls aren’t tiled, but rather painted, with skirtings [what we call the strip at the bottom of the wall connecting the wall with the floor]. There is also a similar edging with respect to the bath.
Leila, have you mentioned what those are made of [at the bath – stuck against the wall as edging]? Painted wood? Did you also seal that with silicon? I’m a bit scared to do this, because here, we don’t have radiators in the bathroom. If the window is big enough, we scarcely have an extractor fan for all the humidity. Will the wooden edging keep??
And also ~ seriously ~ don’t know about other ladies here, but I need to see your spray painting “work station”. I keep putting off what I want to spray paint because I can’t put my head around it. For the sake of the collective memory, please. [I like that the black you used is matte and not gloss – or are my eyes playing parts with me..?]
Thank you and God Bless
Leila says
Thanks, Anel — it is a warm-feeling room, and now it *also* feels clean 🙂
So the moldings around the floor are actually PVC, not wood. Thus, I think they will stand up to the moisture. Previously, as mentioned, they were that blond oak and a different, very 80s, shape — rounded rather than square. They weren’t worth saving so we went with the PVC. It comes pre-primed, so all you do is paint it.
Around the shower the moldings are sealed with silicone caulk, yes.
The tub surround is Corian. There were pieces that we were able to rescue and cut to fit the new wall that now eliminates the STUPID space between the shower and the tub (and allows for a bigger shower, duh). So those are waterproof and are sealed.
The light next to the shower is also a fan. I highly recommend this kind of fixture, vented to the outside (or attic).
I will try to show you the “spray-painting station” — you will be most edified I am sure.
The black on the Paris map background is matte, yes. It isn’t as easy to find a non-glossy spray paint, but sometimes it’s nice! I think that I managed to do the radiator cover in matte also.
Mrs. B. says
Our bathrooms are not tiled, either, just painted, and have a wooden baseboard (what you call skirting). One bathroom has no windows, the other has a big one one, still it’s not sufficient to deal with the steam and humidity (we have very humid summers), so we have powerful fans in both rooms. The wooden baseboard has not suffered at all in either room, and it was just ordinary pre-primed stuff from Home Depot, painted with normal paint. Only in one bathroom it is caulked on top, where it touches the wall, but I’m not sure if silicone was used there, or normal caulk… Probably normal, though. You really want silicone if it’s a wet spot, but unless your ventilation is really poor, and the room is constantly humid, your baseboards should be fine. At least, ours are: even with the fan on, the walls can get damp after a really hot shower, but the baseboard has never had a problem.
Janet says
HI Leila,
Catching up on posts, o I hope you still read this far back. Love your re-do.
Just a comment on the LONG walk to the bathroom—once the children leave home, it is possible to switch bedrooms. If the one next to the bathroom is a tad tight, just big enough for a bed and reading lamps, the one next to that can become a dressing room with wardrobes and chests of drawers (Perhaps with a daybed for a visiting grandchild). Ah the luxury of space.You probably already know that, but it took me a few years to wake up to the realization that adult married children do not want their childhood rooms preserved as shrines.
Ginni says
This is just genius. I have almond. We are in no way able to replace it. But. I can paint. And paint is the best idea to make something work when nothing else does. I loved your idea about black accents and the taupe wall paint. And the toothbrush situation! That is my nemesis. This all looks wonderful. Even though I see that the post was created four years ago, it looks current. Well done! Bye, bye golden oak!
Leila says
Thank you, Ginni!