Half Bath Update

So the place we live in is one of those standard contractor "golden oak" and brass fixtured kind of places.  Which is fine, if you're someone else, but I need some color and style in my life.

I've been working on slowly upgrading/updating things through the house, and my most recent project is the downstairs 1/2 bath.

We've already gotten the dining room, living room, and entrance hallway painted and new fixtures are up there (I do want to change out the hinges on the doors and stuff, but that'll just take time, and I might wait for new flooring, because I'll probably have to plane the bottoms of the doors anyway).

So here's my most recent project.  I'm unhappy with the not-so-great pictures, but it's hard to pull off something with the glare of the lighting overexposing what I'm trying to take a picture of - oh well.

What hasn't been done?  New hardware and new faucets. It's on the list, I'm just super proud of the painting/stenciling.

The 9 foot ceilings in such a small space was a serious challenge and involved moves and equipment use that would have made EH&S personnel unhappy.  Good thing I was on my own time at home.  Hah.

I started with this idea after reading a blog post about staining some already-stained cabinets with general finishes java gel stain.   I want to re-do the cabinets in the kitchen, but I thought this would be a good test case, so I bought the stain off of Amazon and set to work. Hopefully the before/after pics work OK.


Here's the before and after shots of the vanity area.  I took down the chrome towel rod and will put up an oil rubbed bronze towel ring, and of course, change out the faucet soon.
The jackalope head has been a running gag, so I couldn't bring myself to remove it from the bathroom.  He just watches from on high now.

This is the money-shot.   The old golden oak and the new "java" stain (forgive the picture that hasn't been hung yet).  I do really like the way it came out, and it looks sharp with the white counter tops I didn't want to have to replace.  I like the wall paint (Benny Moore's Thunder, which is throughout the house) a lot.  It shifts color in the light, and I like the way it makes the 1/2 bath seem warmer and cozier (cozy toilets... there's something to think about!).

   

This is a really long and narrow room, so I was trying to get a shot of most of it, so I'm aiming into the mirror (obviously) so you can see more of the room.   There will be two prints along that long, blank wall, and I adore the stenciling.
You can see where the gag-jackalope was before the painting (the print on the wall now as the one that was on there before, I just put the jackalope there because I was hosting a game day and it seemed like a fun thing to do).

The back wall with the print.
The stencil is a "negative space" stencil - the darker areas are obviously the areas between the trees.  for the trees, I did a sponge painting with a bunch of different colors (including thunder), so they have a nice mottled look.  Stenciling around the toilet was a bear.

That ceiling is way, way too high, but damn if it doesn't look good with that stencil!

The jackalope, lord of his domain - hah

I'm not thrilled the light hangs down in front of the mirror, but I'll get over it.   I still like it better than the strip light.

And here are two of the dragonfly prints on the wall.  They've been languishing in the laundry room (which I really should take pictures of, I'm rather proud of that room).

So that's the latest status of home wrecking.  I'll want to complete this bathroom soon, and then move on to the master bath or kitchen (whichever!  or both!).