A Bathroom Update: The Wonders of Paint

We’re sharing an update on our master bathroom budget makeover, and showing how a little paint can completely transform a room.

I am extra appreciative of the bathroom makeover… specifically, the mindless activity of painting a room. Not only does paint do wonders for a space, but after the spending a majority of our June and July hauling sheetrock for the garage and 60lb block for the retaining wall, the mindless activity of painting a room was a welcome change. I would say it was even relaxing. Because, sometimes, it’s just nice to do a project that doesn’t involve breaking a sweat.

The other positive of this bathroom makeover? With more than three years of renovations under our belt, we have a small army of paint samples and gallons in storage. I.e., I knew we could find something without having to make a purchase.

Before I even started slopping samples onto the wall, I knew the guest bathroom vanity color was going to be incorporated somehow. This led to the decision of snagging a green vintage rug during Target’s 60% off sale that complements the green paint so wonderfully. Don’t you just love those quick wins?

For the walls, I ended up going with Dutch Boy Scalloped Gray – the only reason being that the gallon was the most full. My first choice was Burnished Clay – the color we used in our guest bedroom – but the gallon wasn’t full, making me a little too nervous about it running out. And since this is a budget remodel, buying some more paint didn’t sound too appealing.

For the window, I knew I wanted to test out the black window frames. I mentioned this idea for our entryway after painting the interior side of the front door black. Although Brett isn’t a huge fan (he’d rather stick with natural wood) I immediately knew it was the right choice.

I started out by painting the inside of the frame black and the trim white.

Then, I moved onto painting all the walls and decided on making the vanity wall an accent in the green color – Sherwin Williams Acacia Haze.

I loved it, with the exception of the white window trim. To me, it just didn’t look right. So, I took the leap and decided to paint the trim black. I was a little nervous but I love it!

With the white baseboards and trim around the doors, I don’t feel like it is too dark. Plus, I want to paint the hardware and mirror frame black, so I think it’ll all tie together really well.

I ended up painting two coats on the walls and two and a half coats on the white trim.

There is some debate in our house about the main wall color having a pink hue, but I think the green offsets it enough that it isn’t too noticeable.

In hindsight, I think that’s why the entire gallon was full – I faintly remember painting a wall with this color in our living room and absolutely hating it because it looked too purple. Since the bathroom is temporary, we’ll have to live with the pink tinge for a bit 🙂

Last but not least, where do we land with our budget after the painting project?

• Wall paint: already on hand
• Paint supplies: already on hand
• Trim paint: already on hand
• Window paint: already on hand
• Rug runner: $51.53
• Tile stencil: $12.98

Total cost: $64.51

Up next, I’m tackling the vanity – if all goes well, that baby will be sanded and refinished in no time!

All our best,