It has to look worse before it can get better
Powder Room Makeover – Champagne Taste on a Beer Budget
My husband ended up rebuilding the vanity cabinet because it wasn’t very sturdy, but he kept the doors for me so I could add a very special feature: some iridescent grey water glass.
We cut the centre panel out of each door, then spray painted the frames with a charcoal grey car paint. Car paint is great to use in the bathroom in case there’s any splashes!
After the paint was dry, I inserted the glass into the doors, hung them on the cabinet and added new hardware.
I wouldn’t recommend putting water glass in the lower part of any cabinet if you have children because this particular glass isn’t tempered. For us that wasn’t a problem because we don’t have young kids in the house (and I wanted the powder room to have a bit of sparkle!).
Water glass isn’t tempered so beware!
After the cabinet was done, we popped on the countertop. The counter was actually the inspiration for the colour scheme of the entire bathroom. It happened to be a left over piece from the renovation of a previous house I fixed up. I knew I’d have a use for it one day, so I held onto it – for a few years 🙂 It was the perfect size – and essentially free!
I installed a glass tile backsplash before we cut the hole for the sink. The counter gave me somewhere to work and rest my tools and adhesive/bucket of grout while I was installing the tile. Because it was such a tiny area (and we were trying to save money), I used a dollar store rubber kitchen spatula instead of a more expensive float to apply the grout! It worked great.
Once the tile was done, we were ready to install a new ceramic sink that we found on clearance. Before installing it we used putty to seal around the hole we cut for the sink. The putty adds an extra measure of water proofing that I think is better than caulking for sealing. It also provides a cushion to bed the sink into.
Here, you can see the dramatic charcoal grey on all the walls contrasts with the while trim, towels and flooring. We also installed a new matching toilet paper and towel holder in a chrome finish to add more sparkle.
We decided we needed extra storage because my husband was going to be using the powder room in the morning to shave and brush his teeth so he wouldn’t wake me up. We found an old wooden medicine cabinet door at the Habitat for Humanity Re Store – I think it cost a mere $2 – and built a box with shelves to fit it!
We measured the perimeter of the cabinet, then cut a hole in the drywall between the studs so we could recess it into the wall. We added some 2 x 4’s along the top and bottom in between the studs to reinforce the structure to accept the cabinet.
We spray painted the cabinet frame and door the same colour as the walls so it would blend in seamlessly.
Then I decided to do THIS to the centre of the door:
To see how we made the medicine cabinet and decoupaged the door, click here.
Once the cabinet was done, I needed a mirror that would counterbalance it and also reflect the burst of colour coming from the ‘artwork’. Here is what we found in the aforementioned junk pile in our basement:
It wasn’t a thing of beauty – yet, but it had potential! It clearly needed a cosmetic overhaul so, in keeping with the monochromatic colour theme, we stripped it down to bare wood and then primed and gave it a fresh coat of the same charcoal paint we used on our wall.
I absolutely love that the mirror used to belong to my husband’s great grandmother; it adds a vintage touch to the space. I also love the authentic antique quality of the mirror glass itself. It’s see-through in spots; to me, the fact that the silver backing isn’t perfect makes it so much more beautiful!
Here’s the reveal once the mirror was in place. Doesn’t the mirror balance and reflect the medicine cabinet beautifully?
You’d think we might have stopped there, but we really wanted to go all out with the glamour so we splurged a little and added some crown moulding at the ceiling.
First, we installed some wooden corner blocks to help us position the moulding and then we pin-nailed it in place. We caulked any gaps at the ceiling and walls with paintable caulk.
As you can see above, we still didn’t have a light fixture in place at this point. I was taking a stained glass fusing course at the time and decided to make my own light fixture. It’s subtle, but you can see that there are starfish in the glass that play off the ceramic ones I attached to the wall above the toilet. The white in the crown mouding, light fixture and star fish are a nice contrast against the deep colour of the walls.
Here’s how the light fixture looked before and after.
Here’s one more after (I added some light and airy artwork to the wall )…
…and a final after compilation:
The makeover was a big improvement; now we’re no longer embarrassed to have guests use the power room and my husband has a nice place to get ready in the morning. At first, he thought it was too nice and thought we should reserve it for guests only. However, I truly believe that the real secret to a long and a happy marriage is never having to share a bathroom, so I didn’t see any reason to start 🙂
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