Wednesday, August 25, 2010

I'm So Shamed.

Today's post could be called Tacky & (Not-At-All) Fabulous.

Or My Secret Shame.

Or I Might Be Able to Dress Myself but I Obviously Can't Decorate Worth Crap.

So. I moved. Into a house that had never seen a lick of paint in 14ish years. Or a mop. Shudder.

But now that the obvious stuff is out of the way... and the bedrooms and main rooms are well on their way to being complete... I have hit a major roadblock.

My Bathroom.

Dun dun dun. (That was that scary "danger is coming" music.)
Yeah. 1995 done this bathroom good.

First off... the vanity. Oh lord the vanity.

When I told my dad I wanted him to buy this house (geesh, pampered life I live. I'm sure he would tell this story a different way), I didn't remember seeing the bathroom.

I was happy-ish.

Then we went back and I saw the sink.

I mean... come on. There are brown swirly turds all over the damn sink! Would white have been SUCH a bad decision? No. It would have been liveable.

Ok, fine, this is livable. Especially since it appears this bathroom was used approximately 25 time in the 14 years before I moved in. Damn it for being in perfect condition!

The current "soft" decor is a holdover from my old big childhood house.
I had a big turqouise bathroom and when I switched it from a "kids" bathroom to a big girl bathroom... I got brown and white stuff. Riveting, am I right? (Snore.)

I took down the mirror to paint the bathroom... and chipped it. Ooops.
But I think I can still salvage this mirror if I frame it out with trim and make it a framed mirror... right? Cause mirrors get pricey if you think that the only way to have a nice bathroom is to throw money at it. (Down the toilet.) Not that I have that view or anything. Noo.

And last but not to be forgotten... the lighting.
You can't see it from this shot, but it is shiny, shiny brass.

I want to rip it out but I'm afraid there is a big long rectangular chunk missing from my wall that would be a big issue towards a new light fixture.

I kinda think it's cool in an old-Hollywood-Art-Deco way... but not with the shiny brass-ness of it. No. Over it. 1994 wants its brass back.

So far, I have replaced the towel bars. Very classic and neutral, I hope.

(Like I said... I can dress myself but my home is a whole 'nother story.)


I also bought a set of towels from Macys that I thought were cute.

As opposed to the three sets of white towels I have been using since I moved... I think these might hide my makeup smudges little better. Just sayin!

It's the same towel, just front and back. The reverse side, if you will.

So here's why I need you, internets. Have I mentioned you look pretty today?

What color do I paint the bathroom?

My brain says "Yellow yellow yellow cause gray and yellow are so hot right now."

And by right now I mean... last summer? This summer?

Or do I go with some kind of blue shade? Cause in my mind, bathrooms are almost always blue. Maybe because bathroom=water=blue=blue bathroom? (Decorating algebra is HARD!)

Tell me, wise and style-ish decorators. I am tacky and clueless.

Wow me with your color picks.

(And do I have to buy a new shower curtain? For real I shopped for a curtain for 3 months and can't find one I like under $80. Which means I should keep the quilted white one, right?)

Ready set give me your opinions.

(Cause if you don't... I will never defeat The Tacky.)

24 Classy Comments:

Karah said...

Love the idea of painting the bathroom yellow because I also love yellow and grey. I love the restoration hardware color silver sage. It's a great silvery blue color. Check it out!

Anonymous said...

Go with yellow! (Ok, so I have a yellow bathroom..) Have you checked out Target for shower curatins?

Classy Fab Sarah said...

Stacy, I have spent HOURS looking at Target shower curtains. None of them grab me! But I suppose it's worth one more look.. right?

pinkriss said...

my aunt and uncle painted their guest bathroom navy blue and i LOVE it. i thought it would be waaaay too dark and depressing but paired with silver towel bars and black and white photos with silver frames and a few "beachy" items (large seashells, etc.) it actually is beautiful! just a suggestion since you want to keep the white shower curtain!

Unknown said...

Believe it or not, Walmart has some really pretty shower curtains for $16. Better Homes & Gardens brand, I believe.

We're redoing our hall bathroom right now. Our home was built in 1989. Eeek. We painted the vanity so it's white, but I am thinking about painting it again. I'd love to replace it and the bathtub/shower, but I don't have that kind of loot.

I love the towels you picked out. And, why not a shade of blue? A gray-blue? I am thinking of taking our currently orange (yes, orange) bathroom to a pale turquoise. It's time to make the kids' bathroom grow up just a bit.

You & I are going to need to swap pictures, share stories & just work on this together. ;)

THE Stephanie said...

Ok, here's my 2 cents :)

I think yellow would be great with the towels! It would be bea-U-tiful!

About the light, I have the same "builder-grade" lights in our bathroom and my hubs just replaced the one in the guest bath. There's no rectangular hole, only one square hole for the electrical box. As long as that is centered over the mirror (ours was not, but hubs did a great job moving it and patching the hole)it shouldn't be difficult to replace the fixture. OR, if you don't want to replace it, you could take it down and spray paint it to match your new fixtures (yes, you can spray paint it!! Crazy, huh? But I've seen so many people do this Blogland!)

Also, I saw on a blog just the other day how someone PAINTED their bathroom counter! I actually turned out really nice. I was AMAZED! (Not sure I would tackle that, but it's a thought?)

And framing the mirror? Absolutely!! Just did it in both our bathrooms and it's amazing the difference it makes!

Good luck with your redo!

Cheerful Homemaker said...

Our bathroom is a blue-gray color. Our shower curtain is a black/white damask pattern. We have silver and black accents [as well as my hot pink loofah!]. What about painting the trim white? You could also paint that fugly vanity and replace the brass hardware. Also, you can buy a new countertop and a not-so-ugly faucet.

The Shabby Princess said...

Yes, frame the mirror, it will look great--THE Stephanie just did it and it looks fabulous. (check out her blog) And you could totally do yellow in the bathroom. My guest bath is green--which, I realize isn't yellow, but, work with me here, K? And I love it. I think the yellow and gray would be so pretty! And, love those towels!

And, like a few people said, you could probably paint the vanity--or, even maybe find a cheap one at a surplus place or something.

Good luck!

ty said...

yellow or a sage-y lighter green. def.

DSS said...

What is it with bathrooms? When I bought my house the upstairs bathroom was done in yellow & black tiles. Seriously. It looked like a bumble bee exploded in there. And the sink was like the type coming out of the wall in a public bathroom. What in the world??

After a while I saved enough money to have it redone. No one would ever believe it had been black & yellow at one time :)

Anonymous said...

I have a love affair with yellow and gray, so that's what I would choose. Even if later you get rid of the gray, there is still a lot you can do with it.

Also, shower curtains? Look at Bed Bath and Beyond (and don't buy anything without a coupon because they mail them out constantly) or amazon or overstock.

Rachel said...

Decorating Algebra? LOL! That gave me a good laugh. I love blue and grey together. Yellow would look nice too!

Also, do you have a Homegoods? I was perusing their bathroom decor last week and it made me want to redo my bathroom. All kinds of cute and cheap stuff!!

katie lake said...

I have been dealing with a bathroom issue as well. It is COVERED IN PINK TILE from when the house was built in 1953. We're talking pink tile floors, over halfway up the walls and formerly pink cabinets that are now white. At one point I suggested M paint it gray only he went for a battleship gray not a nice soft fluffy gray. I ended up making a shower curtain bc I needed something neutral but fun. It is basically a white curtain with two rows of ruffles. I still want that nice soft pale pale gray though... At least the tile is kind of retro. Maybe? Sorta?

Unknown said...

We have the brass problem too so we painted our downstairs bathroom navy and LOVE it. It's a small space, but the color looks HOT. You can always accent with a little yellow and the gray towels would look great too.

Desiree Lynn said...

I love pairing purple with with gray. If you pick the right shade of purple is is classy and fabulous ;).

designHER Momma said...

love the cultured marble countertop. This room could use the DesignHER Momma touch.

But I've seen worse. Trust me.

Unknown said...

That is a pretty bad bathroom. I just bought a house back in November and it is still in progress. I would check out restoration hardware. They have end of season sales where you can score great deals on really nice stuff. I also got my painters to match there colors for the walls so it all flows together. Best of luck!

LindseyEveryday said...

Oh sweetheart I feel your pain. Our house was so gross when we moved in. My bathroom might actually be worse than yours haha. I haven't done it yet.. that's next. Well actually I started it, I pulled out the fish wall paper.. yuck!

lindseyl0ve.blogspot.com

Jane said...

Oh. My. Goodness. Have you seen the bronzish gold crap in my bathroom? It is a fail of epic proportions. And its not just a light fixture. Its massive. Seriously. http://moonflowersmojitosandme.blogspot.com/2010/08/i-officially-have-one-of-ugliest.html

Jessica said...

Yellow! Yellow! Yellow! ...or like a sage green would be great too! But I am all for the yellow!

Thomasina said...

I think yellow and gray are fabulous together. A celery green color would be nice too, and its a relaxing color. Good luck!

Full of Heart said...

That looks a LOT like my bathroom! Except instead of the awesome swirls I have awesome beige tile on the counters. OH, and like 70's colored faucets. It makes me want to vomit regularly but I'm too focused on the common areas right now to do anything about tearing it out...
I say the lighting has to go, paint it a light yellow, keep the shower curtain, and paint the vanity.

Sarahviz said...

Phillipsburg Blue by Benjamin Moore

Erin said...

butter yellow, and accent it with turquoise stuff!

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