Friday, January 14, 2011

Bathroom Facelift Phase 1: The $5 Paint Job

The most-used bathroom in our house is probably the one on the main level. There are two nice bathrooms upstairs and one in the basement, but the convenient little half-bath is surely the most popular. And...it's the one any guests use.
Not exactly a recipe for success.

Several years ago I put up a nice textured wallpaper and a lighthouse border that I found at Lowe's. It wasn't expensive, and it was better than those plain white walls.



Like the way the kitchen dishtowel gets pressed into service as a hand towel? This is real life, folks!


Here's the big problem: every little kid who has sat on this toilet has been inexplicably drawn to the seam in the wallpaper.

Pick...Pick...Pick...

That section of the wallpaper has been put back together (like a jigsaw puzzle) on multiple occasions! (Thank you, Elmer's Glue.) After years of this, may I just say...

I am so over wallpaper.

So last weekend...I was bored.
What to do...what to do... I know!
Let's rip all the wallpaper out of the bathroom!

So I did.


The top vinyl-y layer comes off in big sheets, leaving behind the paper backing and the adhesive. If you're planning on removing wallpaper, your next two best friends are these:


A squirt bottle and a plastic scraper (I use the kind kitchen stores like to give away).

Once all the paper was gone, I washed down the walls with TSP to remove any glue residue. I've never done that before, but it seemed like a good idea at the time!

Now...the paint! I bought a $5 gallon of "oops" paint from Lowes, and base-coated the whole bathroom in a nice creamy white.

But it needed a little pizzazz! So after much measuring and leveling, I marked out the wall for STRIPES!!

I measured the wall from the ceiling to the top of the baseboards, and divided it into 7 stripes, each 11.5 inches wide.


I placed the tape on the outside of the stripes I would be painting. Then, using a trick I have learned from Blogland, I quickly ran a roller with my base color over the inside edge of the tape (the edge that was going to be the new color). This seals the edge of the tape, and any bleeding that happens isn't noticeable, because it's the same color as the base coat!

Genius, I tell you; sheer genius!

The color for my stripes was a mix. I tried using the same tan color I have in the rest of my house (Martha Stewart Woven Flax--love it), but it seemed too dark. So I mixed some of the Woven Flax with my $5 paint and came up with a softer tan. Perfect.

So, without further ado, here is my newly striped bathroom!

See? No more jigsaw puzzle next to the toilet!


Love the super-clean stripes. I had to do very little touching-up.


Not bad for a $5 paint job, don't you think?

Still to come: a frame for the mirror, new light fixture, painting the vanity (I think), and the frou-frou!


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22 comments:

Keetha Broyles said...

That little bathroom is EXACTLY the same as the bathroom on the ground floor of our former home in Indiana! Well - - - different border and paint, but otherwise the same!

Unknown said...

That looks great! And you can't beat $5 paint. I love that little tip to stop the paint from bleeding through. I have no idea how many times that's saved me.

Have a great weekend!

Anonymous said...

Awesome paint job! I love the stripes. It looks so crips and clean. Can't beat that for 5 bucks!

Funky Junk Interiors said...

Fabulous! Love your painting tape trick too! Can't wait to have an opportunity to try it sometime.

Donna
http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Looks great!!! I can never figure out how to do stripes right! My mind just does not work right like that

Pamma said...

Absolutely fabulous....really love how this turned out!

Ali @ Honey and Maple Syrup said...

Those colors are great!

OurForeverHouse said...

This is great and I think the best tip in there is the $5 oops paint at Lowes. We recently bought a new house and painted EVERY wall including the garages. Several rooms (laundry, powder room, guest room and the garages) used oops paint.

Michele said...

New follower from I love naptime. Hope youj can visit soon. www.musings-by-michele.com

Thanks for the great post. I love the oops paints, always checking for them at walmart & lowes.

wisp said...

Wow! I love it! That's pretty funny about the wallpaper picking, I must say. xD You completely made over that bathroom; it's gorgeous! =)

Sarah said...

Wow, you can't beat $5 paint!! LOVE the stripes!

Sarah at Classroom Chic

Rae Ann said...

Fabulous! I am planning something very similar for the den at my house.

The Inspired Nest said...

It looks wonderful! I did the same treatment in my hallway and I love, love, love it!
Lacy

Connie said...

Absolute genius! Can't wait to see the finish.

Unknown said...

This updated the bathroom beautifully, I'm gonna need to try stripes somewhere! Can't wait to see the rest!

Heather @ REOlisticRenovation said...

Love those stripes! Looks amazing!

Kim @ Savvy Southern Style said...

Fantastic new look. I have not tackled stripes before. I hate prep work like that, but what great results. Thanks so much for sharing this.

oops! said...

Wow! Talented! I also loved your thoughts, I can tell your an amazing person! xoxo
Melanie

Jennifer Interiors said...

Korrie, Love the paint...great improvement. Hey, I want you to know I have not forgotten about your vinyl lettering. This has been a crazy week. I hope to get it to you by the end of next wk. Jen @ easypeasychic.com :)

Rachel said...

That turned out SO CUTE! You're going to have to explain the tape and how to get your paint not to bleed on my level though. I'm drying to figure out what exactly you meant. You know, I have to have things drawn out for me.....

Kristie @ All for Giggles said...

Hi! I just came over from the CSI project and I love this bathroom makeover! It's amazing what a paint job (and removing wallpaper) can do to a room!

I'm your newest follower! Thanks for sharing.
Making life a Bliss

Andrea . Charcoal and Crayons said...

So awesome... and what a difference paint can make! Thank you for the tape tip too!