When we moved into our house 2.5 years ago, I had no plans of making the upstairs bathroom themed or even kid-oriented. My mind was only changed when I saw Pottery Barn Kids’ Very Hungry Caterpillar shower curtain and accessories on [steep] sale. Add to cart, checkout, and boom…I had the beginnings of a kid-friendly bathroom.
Every bathroom in this house was painted this rusty brownish red color 🙁
I decided to take a risk and paint the bathroom red. A very bright and primary red. I wasn’t very good at painting and I wasn’t one for prep work so after 2 coats, many ceiling mistakes, and red splatters all over, I packed up the paint gear and said “good enough”. It was so awful. I would look at the sloppy work every night during Noah’s bath and regret my decision. I had been told painting over red was a task and I kept hoping I could find the energy to take it on. 2.5 years later, I finally did.
I blew it so big…I dreamt I took before photos of the bathroom this summer (the first time I thought I would take on the painting task), but I can’t find them anywhere so these will have to do!
I splurged on Behr’s newest paint, “Marquee”. The only problem…it’s only guaranteed as a “one coat job”if you choose one of their Behr Marquee colors. My heart was set on Benjamin Moore’s Revere Pewter. I took a chance and left Home Depot with my $41 paint gallon in Revere Pewter and a 3/8inch nap roller in tow. When I got home, I decided to right all my wrongs first. I used ceiling paint to cover all the red “oopsies”, took spackle to holes and marks left by the previous owner, and cleaned the walls. As instructed by the paint counter attendant (someone who I have been seeing on a weekly basis and wonder if she remembers me and thinks I’m crazy?), I coated my roller brush heavily, held my breath, and said good bye to my biggest painting mistake yet.
Sometimes the Marquee had great coverage and sometimes it needed a little extra love…
First rolled on coat…not too bad considering the crazy red!
Paint job: Almost complete. Edging needs another coat
Since I was high on motivation (and paint fumes), I asked Taylor if he would make me a hook rack in place of the builder grade towel bar…
The new towel rack: spackling the sunken drill holes before coating it with High Gloss white paint
Mounted to the wall…waiting for its hooks (that I bought from China on eBay and were drying after being spray painted Satin Nickel!)
Oh and while he was at it, how about framing that builder-grade mirror…
Measure twice, cut once! Or in my case: measure, cut, cuss, measure, cross fingers, hooray!
We bought moulding from Home Depot and painted it with High Gloss white. Taylor mitered the corners to fit flush, attached it to the mirror with (water-resistant) silicone then caulked where the corners met. He used tape and weights and even a shower rod to hold the framing in place for 24 hours.
[That shower rod fell at 4 am and it scared the bejeezus out of our bodies, down the road and we still haven’t quite recovered]
And one last little thing: 2 floating-type shelves to go over the toilet?
I’m going to keep it real with you…we tried a few “cheap” and “easy” floating shelf methods…
Attempt #1: Drill pocket holes into a piece of sanded plywood and then screw into the wall. [Fail…fail miserably].
Attempt #2: Support White Laminate Melamine Shelves on little L shaped brackets screwed into the wall. [Fail, but on the right track]
Attempt #3: Support White Laminate Melamine Shelves on a larger L shaped brackets, then paint bottom of bracket the same color as the wall so it will blend. [Success! Celebratory drink!].
And at last…the big reveal……….will be posted tomorrow!
Leave a Reply