done in a weekend(ish): boys' bathroom refresh

The boys' bathroom is the final frontier of our house as far as redecoration goes. Not that there aren't a million and one things we (I) still want to change, but it is the only room that's gone completely untouched since we moved in. I mean completely. Same gross green walls. Same nail holes from the old homeowners. Same 80's towel bars. You get the picture.

I shared my design plan with you guys about a year ago. A year. By anyone's standard that's a freakishly long time between planning and execution. But here's the thing...it didn't feel right. There was nothing wrong with my plan per se, but I just wasn't feeling it. So I stalled. And I don't think that's a terrible thing. Better to sit on it and come up with a better plan (or, rather, wait a year for a new plan to magically materialize in your mind while you're supposed to be working on something else) rather than force it and spend money on something you ultimately won't like.

Or at least that's what I'm choosing to tell myself.

Last week I woke up after a late night Pinteresting session (I should not be allowed to Pinterest after 9 PM) and decided it was THE DAY to do something about that bathroom. So I grabbed a can of paint from the garage and got busy. It was kind of fortunate that I had the exact color that I wanted leftover from another project and ready to go. It was meant to be.

I call this a weekend-ish refresh because it totally could be accomplished in a weekend, I just chose to stretch it out over about 5 days. Painted day 1, nothing day 2. hung stuff day 3, plumbing nightmare days 4-5. But more on that in a moment.

Here's the room before. Ugh, it's so ugly it hurts my eyes. So embarrassing. Do you like how I didn't even bother to take the potty seat off the throne before the photo? Keeping it real.

The only things this space really had going for it were the white tile which is in good shape, and a skylight that brings in mucho natural daylight. This is most certainly not the tile I would pick out today if I were doing a total remodel, but since we aren't going to drop the money right now for an overhaul, it's totally non-offensive, and that's good enough for me.

Here's the old design plan. It just went too themey for me. Themes work for kids and all, but I didn't want to feel like we were living inside a fisherman's wharf, and we were definitely one faux lobster away from crossing that line.

What I did keep in the final design were the things we had already purchased: the shower curtain (because I spent like $65 on it, which is absurd), the faucet, the submarine bath toy caddy, the towels, and the octopus hook. And we only didn't use the whale tub because Max outgrew it like 8 months ago. Oh, and I did use paint color number 5 there, but omitted number 4. And I would totally add that light fixture in now if I hadn't decided that I didn't want to spend any more money. You can find the sources for all of these in my old post.

OK, so I actually kept a lot, but the spirit of the space is totally different from that mood board. See....?!

I found myself pinning image after image after image of dark navy and black bathrooms, with lots of gallery wall style artwork, and a pretty distinct old person vibe, but in a cool way. It is still somewhat nautical, so I suppose this is the bathroom that the captain of the ship would have in his house. And he'd probably be smoking a cigar in here, which is cool with me. Except not really because smoking in the house is gross.

You know how sometimes you paint a wall a color and IMMEDIATELY regret that decision? Not this time. I loved this navy (Benjamin Moore - Hale Navy) from the first brush stroke. The vanity, floor, and wall tile are all bright white, and we have the benefit of a skylight over the white tub, there's actually a fair amount of light in this room. It can totally handle the drama.

I may be a designer, but I HAAAAATE spending money on doo-dads. Don't get me wrong, I love the doo-dads, but I cannot stand to part with my hard earned money for them. The only new things I bought for the room - you know, other than the things listed above that I purchased last year - were the little shelf from Target and the oval cross stitch lady and gentleman from an online garage sale. A steal at $5 total I might add. So, a total of $30. Everything else was just pilfered from somewhere else in the house.

Also, I love that black and white framed photo. That's my dad in the 70's. I love that I'm taking a photo of him taking a photo. Like he's shooting a photo of me through time, even though I didn't exist yet. Whoa, that's deep.

Thankfully since the boys are still pretty young (4 and 1) they don't have much in the way of bathroom junk. It's just the basics: toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, brush, and a balm that somehow actually tames their crazy fluffy hair. Even still I want to keep things corralled as much as possible. The hair products live on a tray that I stole from the guest room (and at one point bought from Target). The toothbrushes live in a ceramic and wood cup, also from Target. The toothpaste and spray bottle of water are in an old Fossil tin from a watch that I got many moons ago. I love those tins. NEVER THROW AWAY A FOSSIL TIN. They are good for storing all kinds of things. And this one is mint, mustard, and white, so obviously I can never get rid of it.

The plant is fake because I can't keep real indoor plants alive. It's from PotteryBarn a million years ago when I worked there.

To continue the penny-pinching trend, I spray painted the cabinet hardware, towel bar, towel hook/loop thing, and a picture frame in an antique gold. Another thing I just had lying around the house. I may eventually replace the hardware when I stumble upon the perfect thing, but this totally works for now and gives me that antique brass look that I'm gaga for.

Then there was the plumbing. We had a leftover brand new faucet from our master bathroom remodel (long story) that was sitting in storage waiting to be used. Faucet installation is supposed to be one of those fairly easy DIYs that can be accomplished in a couple of hours. 

Let's just say that our DIY projects never go like the experts say they will. All the things that can go wrong...do go wrong. Twelve hours over 2 days, three trips to Home Depot, one emergency water shut off at the street and a dozen beach towels on the floor later, and we have our new faucet. Voila.

I need everyone to take like 2 minutes and appreciate this gorgeous waterfall faucet. Because it was a friggin nightmare. Not the faucet itself, mind you. Just the installation process. 

Aaaaaaaah. You're daily dose of zen. Henry thinks it's a water fountain. He is now obsessively washing his hands every chance he gets and is excited to brush his teeth. Wonder how long I can ride that train.

The mood of this room is different from every other in our house. All of the other rooms are fairly light and airy with a strong mid-century vibe. This room has elements of that (because it was furnished with wares from the rest of the house) but it's definitely more dramatic and a bit of traditional flair. I like the eclectic mix; it feels a bit more grown up. I am in my 30's now, so moving in a grown up direction is probably a not a bad thing.

The patterned shower curtain, the fun stripey towels, and the octopus are a few youthful touches that keep this space from feeling too old. Not to mention the pirate ship and submarine in the tub. It's still primarily a kid's space, after all, but it's also the bathroom that all of our grown up guests use as well. I hope/think/pray everyone will feel included in here.

That picture gives me all the feels.

And last, here's a panoramic shot of the space. It's a pretty small bathroom (5' x 8') so it's difficult to photograph without a fancy wide angle lens. Which I clearly do not have.

Anybody else insane for navy + brass right now? Any takers want to come sip brandy in my grown up kid's bathroom?

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