We have a rather plain Jane main bath. I will not show you a photo (sorry) until what exists becomes a "before" picture! The room is slightly outdated, as in not "new", but we think it was updated about 8 years ago, before we bought the house.
The counter top and sink are fine...they are a creamy/yellow marble (real marble) and so is the tub surround. The toilet is beige (will be replaced with white soon). Cabinets are (luckily) white with new glass knobs! Not terrible, but rather gloomy because of a dark green floor, like this:
And worse, there is no natural light. The medicine cabinets are a little outdated too, but they are huge and provide great storage. Walls are currently an evil chartreuse (lime).
But we've decided simply to "decorate" and not renovate. We know that we want to re-do the bathrooms (floors, cabinets) eventually, so we refuse to waste money now doing a partial job.
I do not use this bathroom. David gets ready here and I use the ensuite. So he is my client for this job and he demands colour!
I have been putting off painting this room forever, but the time has come. The room, to make it even uglier, is wrapped in about 20 feet of floral wallpaper border around the top. That will take hours to remove. But we shall do it. And we've decided that yellow is our colour! In fact, we're either choosing "Butter Cream" from Restoration Hardware (top container below):
Or we might try a slightly warmer yellow, with just a tinge more gold (I can't believe I am saying that...I always hated gold!). The colours look so flat with the lack of natural light, so a sun-kissed warmer colour definitely helps.
Once I settled on YELLOW (I never decorate with yellow, except flowers!), it was like the whole world opened up. Now I could consider all sorts of bright colours that might go with yellow. But I still had to consider that dreaded Christmas green floor.
So I went online at art.com and sought an inspiration print, to help me sort out what colours might work. Dear old Van Gogh really saved the day:
The cypress trees match our floor perfectly, and the warm yellow is just what the doctor ordered to spruce up the space and pop against the paler yellow walls. I also see a touch of a very soft green in the sky and blue mountains. So I have decided that I can use some blue-greens too.
Working from the print, I chose this shower curtain, a matelasse fabric by Restoration Hardware in Juniper:
They also have some lovely Silver Sage shower curtains that might work. I originally considered doing green or Silver Sage walls, but the greens all seemed to die in the dull light.
I also love this little print by my beloved Monet (below). I shall never stop loving the Impressionists, even if all the girls in my dorm at university had a Monet print! But they didn't have this beauty:
David wants to re-use all his towels - he has some rather fluffy nice towels in yellow and celadon green and white, so this will all work. We'll also get him some new accessories, something with a little historical apothecary look, perhaps. I like these silver items, also from Restoration Hardware, but I might look for glass instead:
I really think I will get the waste basket (below) (looks like a guy thing) and maybe the soap holder (above), which looks like a miniature cake stand!
Then I may look at antique stores for other odds and ends to make this man-bath complete! No, it won't be my style, but what can you do with a green floor and beige-yellow counters? At least it won't be totally embarassing any more!
Oh, and we'll install a nice glass shelf over the toilet for displaying some glass bottles or something pretty. I am so excited to start this project!
What do you think? This decor is out of my comfort zone and not my usual tranquil style, but David is tired of "beige and white" (as he oft laments my colours) and did not want neutral. I think the pale yellow is still classic and I do agree...an interior room needs a shot of colour to bring it to life!
Your thoughts?
