Uncommon Powder Room

We moved into our house in September of 2003, after approximately eight months of remodeling. We had some work left to do after we moved in, and our last project was the powder room off the kitchen. We wanted it to be unusual and funky, and at the same time, maintain the warmth we had achieved throughout the rest of the house. I wanted brick on two walls to look like exterior walls, and it took me a while to talk Gil into it (maybe since he was the one who would have to put it up), but thank goodness, he changed his mind. He found this cool brick at Lowe's. It looked like it was old, which was what we wanted. Gil put the pavers up like he would have tile, attaching a lathe to the wall, and applying the grout with a mortar bag. This is how it looked:




This is how it looks now:

The bathroom had wallpaper on the walls that we didn't want, and I never peel wallpaper off, I cover it. So, on top of the wallpaper, I applied sheetrock mud with a trowel on the two remaining walls, as well as on the ceiling. I have done this several times, and it is fun, easy, and inexpensive. After the mud dried, I painted the walls a taupe color, then glazed them with a sienna brown. (The glaze consisted of one part paint to three parts glazing liquid). We don't like bright ceiling lights, so Gil found these lights with shades at Lowe's. I found this circa 1940 mirror at an antique store and Gil hung it from an antique glass doorknob.

As you can see in one of the previous pictures, the existing cabinet was stained. It was also very dated and pretty boring. I added a decorative wood scrollwork piece to the middle panel. Then I painted the cabinet black and oversanded it. I used vintage-looking mismatched knobs for the pulls. Gil made the top out of old heart pine he had retrieved from a chicken coop he'd torn down a few years back. I wanted a vessel sink but we didn't want to pay $600+ for it. So he found a laquered spun bamboo bowl at Southeastern Salvage for $19.99 and drilled it to make our sink. Isn't that amazing?

Gil built a shelf over the window and put an outlet on the wall beside it. We placed an antique fan up there that can be turned on with a switch by the door. He also put up crown moulding.

As a finishing touch, I found a rusted switchplate cover, outlet covers, and a towel rack at At Home in Homewood.

This project required alot of work, which we brought on ourselves, of course, but we enjoy the actual process as much as we do the result. There are great advantages to tackling home projects yourself. I hope this will inspire you to try it!