Bathroom redo

[packrat]

ARGH! The shower curtain is sold out online and in stores. I found an ended auction and emailed the seller to see if she'll have another one to list later. (she's a reseller or whatever they're called) Dangit, I had my heart set on that one so I hope something turns up.

This bathroom is kicking my rear. I showed JD the tub when we were at Menards yesterday-and the color looks different than I remember. It does look more beige-y than off white/gray..I'm hoping it's just the lighting in the store, but now I'm worried.

We got a ton of paint chips yesterday from Home Depot and Menards, and I ordered a bunch from BM too. We narrowed the flooring down to two very similar ones. http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?jspStoreDir=hdus&catalogId=10053&productId=202191085&navFlow=3&keyword=lf000145&langId=-1&searchRedirect=lf000145&storeId=10051&endecaDataBean=com.homedepot.sa.el.wc.integration.endeca.EndecaDataBean%4052160bca&ddkey=Search and one from Menards http://www.customsurface.com/fod/rapid.html,, the vintage hickory. It does have the "beat up" marks on it like the Home Depot kind, but doesn't show in the sample. I like the HD better, JD likes the Rapid Loc better, and that one is over $1/sq ft cheaper. Not a big deal if it was just the bathroom, but whatever we do in the bathroom we're doing throughout the entire house, and the house is just over 1000 sq ft. I'm going to check online at Lumber Liquidators just in case too..there's one in Omaha.

So, that color of flooring is a lot lighter than we'd originally thought we'd like..will the wine on the walls be ok w/that color flooring? Or does it matter? Rather than putting up beadboard, which JD says we'll still have problems w/in the bathroom b/c of the moisture, would it look ok to put up a chair rail and paint the bottom part of the walls the ivory instead of having beadboard? Also, the vanity I'm thinking of painting the same ivory as the walls, or staining it the White Wash Pickling or Honeydew down towards the bottom here: http://www.minwax.com/products/color-guide/ Thoughts??

We're hoping to put in a new medicine cabinet as well-one w/out the bulbs across the top, so we looked at sconces. Since the sink and tub faucet are polished chrome, do I have to have polished chrome sconces too?

 

[pennquaker09]

I wouldn't put wood or laminate in a bathroom. If you want the look of wood, then you need wood-look tile.

 

[elrohwen]

I wouldn't put wood or laminate in a bathroom. If you want the look of wood, then you need wood-look tile.

Yeah, I have to agree with Penn on this one - laminate will get very damaged if it gets wet at all, and in a bathroom that's inevitable.

 

[packrat]

Damn. Even the kind that says it's waterproof? Maybe we're back to linoleum then! JD doesn't like the tile I like ugh!

The tub etc came in yesterday and dad picked it up for us. It's the color I'd hoped it would be rather than the more beigy color I was worried about, so that part at least is ok. We looked at the paint chips we'd gotten at the stores and the colors we like in the bathroom light are leaning more away from eggplant/berry to more wine/brownish burgundy.

ETA: lighting in the bathroom-do you guys use certain bulbs? Like the reveal ones? Or just regular incandescent?

 

[Rae~]

We recently changed our bathroom ceiling light to an energy-saving flourescent in "daylight" tone. For the first 72hrs or so, every time I walked into the bathroom all I could think was, "Wow, this light feels like it has a definite blue tinge".

Then, on about day four, I realised I had completely adjusted and was no longer noticing the light; in fact it felt more like a skylight than a bulb, so we kept inadvertantly leaving the light on! Now, I MUCH prefer the daylight flouro to the old incandescent.

 

[packrat]

Thanks Rae! Did it do anything to the paint color in the room? Does it look different?

 

[Rae~]

Well, to be honest, the paint & tile colour were already just awful, so it might not have made it any better... but I'm also not sure if it could be much worse!?! The tiles are a white-ish colour with a pink fleck ( ) and the rest of the bathroom walls are.... light pink. Yuck!! I guess if anything, the incandescent light made the pink look more peachy... so the daylight flouro just makes all the colours look more as they really are.

We are renting while we save for an upgrade on the "home"... so I am happy to say none of these colour choices are within our realm of control.

PS - We did recently (finally!) finish a reno of an investment unit; I will double check what bulb we put in the bathroom there and what the result was. The redone bathroom had shower tiles in plain white, vanity etc were white, wall colour was Dulux Whisper White, and the floor was a subtly marbled neutral camel-y colour. Whatever bulb we put in there also looks great, IMHO.

 

[packrat]

Got some of the BM colors in the mail today, waiting on the rest, hopefully tomorrow or Saturday. The curtain was back in stock last night so I ordered it quick, so I feel better about that. I'm kind of rethinking the chrome faucets now..it would look fine I think, but I wonder if something more brownish, like that oil rubbed bronze would look nicer in there, w/the colors I'm leaning towards. If I do that whitewash stain or paint, they're kind of an ivory-ish color, so maybe the more browny color faucets/knobs etc would look better. I went w/chrome b/c it was cheaper and I figured it would be easier to clean. The finish on the sink faucet we have now has come off, b/c of whatever I clean with I assume. Is there a special type of cleanser to use w/other finishes?

 

[packrat]

Bathroom is finally getting gutted Sunday. The room is small but if everything else in the room is light, can I do a dark color on the walls? There are only 3 walls that get painted b/c one wall is the tub. Only one of those walls would be floor to ceiling paint (minus trim of course). One wall is broken up by the door, part of the vanity and a little door that goes to the hall closet. The last wall is broken up by the toilet/cabinet above, vanity/medicine cabinet. The appliances are biscuit and the cabinets would probably be an off white pale ivory type color. Floor a light ceramic tile. All the knobs and pulls I want to do in a wine/eggplanty color. The shower curtain is the one that I got from Target w/the orange poppies on the bottom.

This is the dark color I was thinking for the walls. And actually, the one wall w/the most color will have a few hooks for towels, clothes etc so they aren't on the floor, and probably some pictures, so won't be all gray really.

Too dark?

 

[junebug17]

Ok, initially I thought the color might be just a tad too dark. but then I thought it about it a little more, and I think the contrast with the light cabinets/fixtures/floor will look nice. I like it!

 

[packrat]

Thanks Junebug! I guess if it's too dark I'll repaint-at least that's easy enough!

 

[dani13]

I really like grey. Its a bit dark if its a small room, but I think it would look great againtst the white. Maybe you can go a shade or 2 lighter? I also adore Restoration Hardware's "Silver Sage". I think the BM match to that is "Gray Wisp". Its the perfect neutral, calming color.
Come back with pics!!!!

 

[packrat]

Thanks Dani! I'm going to try the darker gray since everything else will be light..after it's done if it's too dark I'll repaint w/a lighter gray.

Got started today so I'm really excited. The walls and floor are down to studs. Didn't think to shut the bedroom doors so my house is a total dust bomb. Ah well. At least this is started finally.

 

[packrat]

Thanks SDL-that red would be pretty with the gray too!

 

[partgypsy]

Packrat you sound like me, with your questions about chrome versus polished bronze fixtures, what kind of light to use, dark cabinetry and light walls or light cabinetry with dark walls, etc for our big bath remodel.
I like the idea of the cabinetry/floor and wall color contrasting (in your case light cabinets/floors with darker walls). My opinion only I think the gray you picked is, at least for me, too dark and too - gray. Personally for a small bathroom I either go soothing, with colors that are in the backdrop and might make the place feel more open, or go bolder. Our small bathroom is in a tiffany blue.

For the shower curtains you are looking at I know you'll think I'm crazy, but a purple would be great. At the least get a gray that has some purple in it. Personally I think of gray as being a tricky color.

We are finishing up our bathroom remodel, and the hardest part has been picking a paint color, I have about 5 samples painted on the wall right now. I think we are 90% sure we are going to go with SW shagreen (a medium-light sagey green).

We actually put a wood laminate in our new bathroom, it's strand woven bamboo. According to where we bought it, it is the only wood or wood based flooring they would recommend for the bathroom. It's a bit of a gamble, but we'll keep our fingers crossed it will keep looking as good as it does right now.

 

[packrat]

Thanks Part Gypsy! The paint chip I have, when I was messing w/it, holding it up against stuff and comparing different grays, looked like it had purple in it. I'd originally planned on doing something like Chambourd on the walls but then thought I'd be able to coordinate shower curtains to gray easier. Hopefully it works..it's not like I couldn't change it to the Chambourd or Caponata if the gray is too much..however w/the floor tile we got (Snapstone Mist) I don't know if it would work to do purple on the walls. Only one way to find out tho!

 

[partgypsy]

Good luck! The only way to know if it works, is just do it! The paint color is the most easily changed factor.
Both our baths we have all white fixtures. Kinda boring, but one less thing to "match" if we want to change the look of the bath.