Yesterday I spent another day working on the walls in the studio bathroom. I think I finally have them ready for wallpaper. This was definitely a longer and more time consuming project than I expected, but when you start with a crazy painted design that was painted with about two rolls of painter’s tape (creating a subtle texture), and then add a lot of damage caused by removing a glued-on mirror, tile, and trim, as well as a section that was outlined with a black Sharpie marker that can’t be covered with water-based primer This all took a lot more time than I originally expected. But I think the walls are finally finished, which means I can start wallpapering TODAY!
I also took some time yesterday to go to Home Depot and make the final decision on the color of the vanity. The crowd favorite color for the vanity was the eggplant color with the white paneling and white ceiling.
But many people voted for it, with the caveat that it should be slightly lighter with less blue and more purple, so that it actually matches (or is closer to) the darkest purple of the wallpaper.
So this is where my search began. But purple is one of those tricky colors for me. Although I love color and really love colorful spaces, there are certain colors that I am very picky about, especially when used in large quantities. And purple is one of those colors. I actually gravitate towards almost all shades of purple, with a few exceptions. I really like deep purples, like the eggplant on the doors and the bases of my work tables. But if I use a lighter purple, it needs to have quite a bit of gray in it. This means that there is basically no medium purple that I can even tolerate unless it adds really small highlights. I looked at every single purple Behr had and I gravitated towards all the really dark ones and the medium and light ones that were toned down enough with gray that I could tolerate and even like them and not a single one of them worked with the wallpaper.
In the end I chose green. I like all types of greens, so I knew I could find one that would work. The funny thing is that I chose a green that was a little darker than the walls of the back entrance to my studio, which were colored to match the green of the wallpaper. So I thought if I just made it a little darker the vanity would still match the wallpaper without exactly matching the back entry walls and wallpaper.
But when I got home and tried it on the vanity, it actually looked a little brighter than the back entry walls due to the different lighting in the two areas.
However, I will stick with this color. It’s a Behr color called Laurel Tree, and I was actually shocked at how close it was to the green on the walls.
If you were there when I painted these walls, you may remember that I matched the color from Home Depot to the green of the wallpaper twice, and both attempts were terrible. So I ended up buying a quart of one of the matching colors (that didn’t match at all) that I thought I could work with. And then, using that color as a starting point, I mixed my own paint for the walls using some paints I already had on hand. Here you can see their color matching attempts and see how I mixed my own paint color. Here is the color I used for the back entrance walls compared to the green of the wallpaper. You can see that they are almost identical.
Laurel Tree by Behr is fairly close to the walls, but is just slightly darker than the walls. Here is the laurel tree compared to the same green on the wallpaper.
If the vanity is completely painted, it may look a little darker. I kind of hope so because I really don’t want it to match the walls exactly and I definitely didn’t want it to be any lighter because I don’t want this room to look like a basket full of Easter eggs. But the fact that it looks brighter at the moment shows how much of an impact the lighting in a room has on how the colors in a room appear.
Be that as it may, it continues…
I also purchased a new sink faucet. I purchased this American Standard Highgrove faucet in brushed gold. I can’t wait to install it, but I’ll wait until all the trim is done because it’s difficult to work around a large faucet. I don’t want to risk it getting scratched.
I know it’s a little different having a sink and kitchen faucet in a half bathroom, but the reason I chose kitchen faucets for this bathroom is because it’s still my studio bathroom. I wanted a large sink and faucet with a pull-down spray in the studio and decided to go the kitchen sink and faucet route instead of using a large sink here.
I also ordered the mirror for the room. In the end I decided on the round wave design (affiliate link).
For me it came down to this wavy round mirror and the one with the large beaded frame. But in the end I found the large beaded framed mirror a bit overwhelming.
And finally, I want to replace this very simple ceiling light that is in the room. I remember when I installed this light, I got several comments from people saying, “I’m really surprised by your choice of ceiling light!” In retrospect, so am I. When have I ever used such a boring ceiling light other than in this room? That’s definitely not me.
I really wanted to choose something floral. (I know you’re shocked! ) But I didn’t want it to look busy or draw too much attention away from the wallpaper. I wanted something gold-white and texture. After looking at several flush mount lights that either had flowers on them or were inspired by flowers, I finally settled on this Possini White Flower flush mount light from Lamps Plus (affiliate link).
I like that it’s white so it doesn’t stand out too much from the ceiling and require too much attention. But it also adds a bit of interest and texture to the ceiling. It will be a further development of the simple utility light that currently exists. And with that, I think I have all the essential items I need to finish this bathroom.
