We moved into our home in May 1998. Shelby was 2 ½, so our décor still consisted
of Winnie the Pooh, fish and lots of Fisher Price toys. The first room in the house we painted and
decorated was the hall bath. I am not
sure how it came up in conversation, but my friend, Vicky Cole, came and worked
her great painting skills. I wanted the
walls to look like water and she made it happen. I added a tropical fish border around the top
and lots of fish decorations. The
bathroom was wonderful, beautiful and so us.
But time marches on, the kids grew and the bathroom became
tiresome. You all have been there,
right?
I got the urge to change it two years ago, but something
came up and it did not happen.
Then I planned to do it last year and again, something happen. By now I am really tired of the décor and so
was Shelby. So I made it a priority to
get it accomplished while she was away.
This was the only time to do it as we would be down a bathroom for
several days.
I started taking the border off the wall a month before she
left. It came off easily and within an
hour and ½ the job was done. I then
removed all fish decorations, wall switch plates and towels. We were down to the walls. It stayed this was for a few weeks until she
left for camp. In the meantime, we went
shopping for a shower curtain. She
selected this one at Bed, Bath & Beyond.
It was her but would be appropriate for our guest, which also use this
bathroom.
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| This pattern is called Candy Shoppe |
From there we choose a wall color. Our top two favorites was a teal blue and a
celery green. Since I wanted different
from what we had for 15 years, we went with the green. Official color name is Celery Bunch by Behr. However, I had the color put in Glidden
Eggshell with built in primer. It covered
the water walls like a dream!
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| Before |
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| After |
I decided to paint the ceiling, but I did not want to buy
three different gallons of paint. So I
used the white semi-gloss – can you tell from this picture? And to think that all these years I thought
this ceiling was white. It made a big
difference. I only did one coat - it was
all that was needed. Painted the cabinet,
doors and trim with a fresh coat of white semi-gloss and replaced all the
hardware. Now – I want new hardware in
my bathroom and kitchen! It is amazing
how the little things really freshen up a space. New shower curtain rod and hooks were also
added. New light fixture will be
installed soon.
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| Ceiling |
Now look really close at this photo. This is the small wall space behind the
door. Do you see the name ‘cole’? It was not intentional, but this appeared
after Vicky painted the walls. It was
her signature. And every time I entered
the hall bath I could not help but think of her, especially when I saw her name
each time. This was the saddest thing to
paint over! (I did not write my name in the new paint color, by the way.)
The new décor is more understated; but we took a bit of inspiration from the
tropical fish and the newly purchased curtain hooks. The hooks looked like anchors – ta da! Got a cute anchor scent holder at Bath
& Body Works. We have also found a
piece of artwork with an anchor and scripture verse (Heb. 6:19) that we are
contemplating purchasing. Still looking around to make sure it is the one. Need to buy some towels and then it will all
be finished.
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| Before |
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| After |
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| We converted her room into a staging area for cabinets, doors, part of the toilet and all my supplies. |
Shopping for the little things will be fun. I am cherishing this time. Giving the bathroom a much needed makeover
was great but a bit emotional. It was
the last “little kid” related thing in our home. The realization that one is practically grown
and the other about to become a teenager is upon me, big time.
Change is good. Hard,
but good.
