A Week Of Before and Afters - Day 1: A Bathroom

Today's Agenda:  Edit photos, write copy and finish teeing up a week's worth of "Before and Afters"! 

I get so excited looking back at all the before and after pictures to see how a room can really be transformed, no matter how much money you spend.

The first post this week is of my mom's house, specifically the bathroom in her house.  I had to do this one first since it's my mom {and I love her!} and I was proud of us for getting this done, plus my mom's scarlet macaw makes a cameo appearance, which is just fun {that's for you BW!}

My mom has a really sweet house.  It's the perfect size for her and she's been in the process of purging or repurposing "the old stuff" {you know, stuff I recognize from when I was 10!} and going streamlined and modern.

One of the rooms that needed attention {but was liveable so it took us awhile to get to it -- doesn't everyone have one of those rooms??} was the bathroom!  It just needed a cosmetic lift.  Namely because of this:

 

 Yep, that is a stenciled border in green on a lavender wall.  

{DISCLAIMER:  It was like this when my mom bought it.}

The house needed a ton of work when my mom bought it and she did such a great job -- knocking down a couple walls to make it flow better, painting the kitchen a beautiful aqua with smoky gray cabinets with green glass inserts {yes, way before the "year of aqua/turquoise"}, and hanging some classic, modern light fixtures.  But after that she was tired.  So the bathroom waited patiently for a few years to get it's facelift. 

Here are some other "before" pictures of the bathroom.  

  

 

 

  

  

  

 

The problem was really the lavender/green bordered walls and the need for a unifying theme {the bathroom is a "Hollywood bath" so has two sink/toilet/dressing areas and one shower area}.  

Here's a close-up glamour shot of our macaw.  

{He loves the shower...we think because it's the closest thing to a rainforest.}

After repainting the walls a light gray {a special mildew resistant high coverage paint}, touching up the white trim and mirror, raising the vanity {and my mom had already replaced the toilets with low profile toilets}, replacing the fixtures on the vanity cabinets and buying new towels, towel bars, curtains, curtain rods, rugs and adding some accessories...we had a new bathroom! With the plush rug and soothing colors it actually does feel like a Hollywood bath!

 

The shag rug feels very luxurious underfoot.  And no need to replace the flooring.

   

The towels are a deep, rich color but still neutral to maintain the sophisticated look of the bathroom.

We added some antique pieces to the room to offset the modern towel racks -- the painting of Paris and the mirror on the vanity along with a couple hints of color with the yellow vases (see photo above).

The fun thing about this bathroom is that your eye does pick up the different points of interest that all compliment each other.

We brought two more modern touches into the bathroom -- the graphic pattern of this shower curtain and the gray in the shower curtain.

And then used one of the towel bars we had left over for easy curtain rod installation over the window.  We also added another texture with the gray velvet curtain tucked in a modern curtain hook with a glass finial. 

Still trying to keep a clean, streamlined look but use the space wisely, we added another towel bar below the window in the other vanity area.  Here you can hang neutral towels for easy use and easy drying too.  And, using a white, covered trash can kept even the utility items streamlined.

 

A different view of the bathroom, still with the neutrals coordinating with each other in a purposeful way.

   

  We have had this mirror {with birds on it!} since I was in 8th grade and this is a great place for it.  Able to get a good side profile while getting ready and is in the same color tone as the Paris painting in the opposite vanity area to create continuity between the two sides of the bathroom.  

It's a huge improvement!  Easy to keep clean and looking sophisticated but still very functional.

Sources  

{Many of the items we used were one-of-a-kind sale items or things from other rooms/antique stores so I don't have links to items to buy.  I have, however, included the stores where we purchased some of the items since they would likely have something similar to what we used.}

Shower Curtain - Crate and Barrel Outlet

Towels - TJMaxx and Marshalls

Towel and Curtain Rods - Ikea

Shag Rugs - Target

Antique Mirror - Our own

Framed Art of Paris Scene - Our own

Window Curtains - West Elm

Thanks for reading!