Room Design: Bathroom Facelift

To say the bathrooms in our new home are horrific would be a huge understatement. While they are functional and clean (after hours of some serious elbow grease) they are dated and plain. The only bathroom that has been update in the past decade (yes, I said decade as in 10 years) is the very cozy (chic word for small) upstairs bathroom. This bathroom will always be the kid’s bathroom, but will be used by guests and is right next to our rec room.

Immediately I envisioned pink in the decor but I husband put the kibosh on that one. He doesn't object very often to my decorating ventures, so when he speaks up I listen. Sigh...men. Remodeling this bathroom is not an option in the near future since the two downstairs bathrooms are in far worse condition and need to be gutted down to the studs. So by the famous words of Tim Gunn, I had to "Make It Work".   Click on the photo to enlarge.

The entire bathroom is covered in a very boring brown/beige tile you can find at Lowes or Home Depot (why couldn't it be white subway?). So to get the creative juices flowing I created an inspiration board to help guide me.

I started with a celadon green and gold damask wallpaper from Ralph Lauren's Lancaster Damask Collection. Decorating side note, this tiny swatch does not do this paper justice. That was my starting point and everything else just kind of fell into place. I want the design to be sophisticated and classic since I won't be addressing this room again anytime soon. I plan to skirt the pedestal sink with the celadon Asian toile fabric and use it for banding on the shower curtain. The swatch arrived today and it's a perfect match. Don't you just love it when you get lucky? The mirror is just inspiration since this one is too heavy to mount to the face of a medicine cabinet, but I am heading to Round Top this weekend so maybe I’ll get lucky. Notice how I still managed to sneak some pink in? Wallpaper goes up next week. I’ll update you soon.

Shopping Guide:
Vanity Light - Shadesoflight.com
Bath Rug - Potterybarnkids.com
Fabric - BuyFabrics.com
Wallpaper - DecoratorsBest.com
Sink Faucet - Overstock.com
Soap Dish, Vanity Seat and Train Rack - Restorationhardware.com
Mirror - BallardDesigns.com
Peonies - Diane James Design