Wednesday, February 21, 2007

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!

11 comments:

Mom of twins said...

Okay, so your house is gorgeous! Have you ever thought of doing a book or tv show? Well Brandon's family is coming into town today so I hit your blog for some impressive & yummy recipes. Tonight I am making the chicken casserole & your famous bread pudding. I am making your chicken salad for lunch tomorrow. I will let you know how it all turns out. Lovin this blog, seriously!

Vickie said...

Thanks Abbe. I hope it all turns out well! Please do let me know.

Anonymous said...

I did not know this wall was pavers!In my new house I am thinking about doing pavers on my bathroom floor. What do you think? Are these concrete?

Vickie said...

Hi Miss Smartie,
They are pavers, and Gil said they are actually intended for a floor instead of a wall. I think they would look very cool as a bathroom floor. That's a great idea. You might want to put a few coats of glaze on them to make them easier to clean. Gil did that to my bathroom floor.

Anonymous said...

How much do you charge? :-) Come decorate my house :-)

Princess and I are looking forward to making your beef and cheese won ton wraps tonight.

Anonymous said...

What is your bathroom floor?

Vickie said...

It's a tile that looks like slate. It was pretty porous and needed to be smoother, so the glaze really helped. It brought out the color more, too. Come by and see it if you want to. I will include a picture of it when I post painting my cabinet. We also used some of it around our fireplace.

Vickie said...

To Ceejay: I hope you like them. I want to try won ton soup. Have you ever made it?

Anonymous said...

Never made won ton soup sorry.

So we made the won ton wraps for dinner, well sort of, made them and they were gobbled up straight from the pan while wandering around the kitchen. Hmph, whatever it is Friday night and Hubby is coming home late. I guess every now and then I will just be the laid back slacker mommy.

Anonymous said...

I just stumbled onto your site today! Boy, I am loving your creative thinking outside the box. I will definitely bookmark your site.

Vickie said...

Thank you, Pippi!
I'm very glad you found me. Please come back and visit often.