Bathroom Reveal

We have been working on our bathroom over the past few weeks - well actually just one wall in the bathroom - and I'm very excited to say that it is finally done!

Sprucing up the bathroom involved adding:

• some beaded panelling to the lower part of the wall
• some trim along the top of the panelling
• some photos of the cottage
• and a new towel rack.

In all honesty the towels won't be like that unless we have guests.  I chose the double towel rack so we could each hang our towels out flat and they would dry easily - I just put the hand towels there for show.  Speaking of towels, though, what colour would you suggest for our bathroom?  We could still use white, but I'm not against adding some colour or pattern.

And because everyone loves a good before-and-after, here's a few comparison shots:

 BEFORE

 AFTER

 

BEFORE

 AFTER

 

AFTER

This last photo also gives you a sneak peek as to what still needs to be done in the bathroom - new counters, faucet, lights, and possibly a mirror frame. 

Linked to:
Strut your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple
Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interior
Metamorphasis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
Make it for Monday at Cottage Instincts
DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land
Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design
Thrifty Thursday at Tales from Bloggeritaville 
Show and Share at Just a Girl 
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home 
Inspired Week at The Inspired Room 
We Can do it Cheaper at The Virginia House 
Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick
Bathroom Makeover at Centsational Girl

Bathroom Up-date (part 2)

Some progress was made on the bathroom wall this weekend.  I'm know you are all waiting in keen anticipation so here is what we got done:

We took the towel rack off the wall (and by 'we' I mean hubby) - it was only glued on and just popped right off.

I measured, hubby cut, and I glued and hammered the v-groove boards onto the wall.  I want you to admire the wonderful measuring job I did.   Why does it always end up like that? I really try to be accurate.  It won't matter in the end, though, as the top will be covered with trim.

We held up the trim so we could get an idea of what it will look like.  Looks much better with the uneven ends covered up, doesn't it.

Can't you just picture the towel rack there and the pictures going along the shelf.  Much work still to be done, though.

• put last board up along wall behind the door
• fill nail holes
• re-install baseboard and quarter-round
• put up shelf and trim
• paint
• hang up towel rack and pictures

More progress coming soon.

Bathroom Inspiration

This is the long wall in our en suite bathroom.   Do you see the problems? 

 1. BORING 

2. OVER-LAPPING TOWELS EVEN WHEN THEY ARE FOLDED

A few years ago I painted the walls a soft gray-blue colour, which I still love, but we had never got around to making any other improvements in the bathroom or even hanging art on the walls.  In short, this bathroom just does not zing!

I have been pondering what to do to fix the problems with the long wall.  And I think I may have some solutions.

Since it is a bathroom, I didn't want to hang any art that cost too much or would be damaged by moisture.   My solution was to frame six black-and-white photos, taken at the cottage last summer.  That way we would enjoy looking at them, but I could easily replace them if they got damaged by humidity.  See here they are in their white IKEA frames, just waiting to be hung up in the bathroom.

The builder's basic towel rack is one huge obstacle to any change in the bathroom. How to remove that treasure?  Anyone know?  There are no screws so I'm thinking it will be a demolition effort with a big hole in the wall.  

This got me to thinking about how to deal with the large hole in the wall I will be making, since I don't seem to be able to patch walls so they are perfect.  One idea would be to put raised panels on the wall.  That would have the advantage of adding some interest to the wall, while partially covering the badly-patched-previously-demolished wall area. 

 

Source: Style at Home magazine

Source: Chris at Just Beachy

While I love the look of raised panels - a lot - I was still worried about how smooth the patch on the wall would be when we take the towel rack off, and it would show between the raised panels.  So plan B would involve installing beadboard on the lower part of the wall.  This would have the advantage of fully covering any ghastly drywall patches, while still adding some interest to the wall.  A mini-ledge along the top would finish the top edge as well as giving a perfect spot to sit the photo frames (notice in the bottom inspiration photo they have done that). 

Source: Chris at Just Beachy

 

Source: Country Living

I'm definitely leaning toward the beadboard as I think it will cover more of the imperfections. What do you think?  Do you prefer raised panels or beadboard?

Just a reminder to join my first giveaway.  You can add your name here.

Linked to Inspired By at The Inspired Room