Master Bathroom Makeover

I always love seeing the difference paint can make! A fresh coat of paint and quick color change in the bathroom has made such an impact.

Our master bathroom has been a work in progress for several years because I just hadn’t quite wrapped it up.   Many years ago, soon after we first moved in, we made some big changes to the room.

• We removed the carpeting and installed 20 x 20 travertine tile floors.
• We removed the fiberglass shower and installed 4×4 tiles floor to ceiling for the shower instead
• Removed builder’s vanity and mirror and replaced with a DIY dresser-turned-vanity
• Faux finished the walls and painted

Here’s the before.

When we installed the new bidet toilet seat, I got inspired to spruce things up. The room was just too brown and I wanted to change the color but that turned into a bigger project than just repainting.  The faux finished walls were created with drywall mud compound and it was quite a task to remove it.  At first, I sprayed with water and scraped with a knife, but that was a very slow and tedious process.   So, I then used a high grit sandpaper  (40) with my electric sander and sanded all of the walls. I ended up sanding twice, once with 40 grit and then with 120 grit to smooth the surface.  What a mess!!!  There were layers and layers of debris everywhere.  Several wall areas had serious problems so I ended up calling a drywall finisher to re-mud those areas for a smooth finish.

After all of that wall preparation, I was finally able to paint!  The new color is the same one I used in the kitchen, Benjamin Moore Gray Wisp (at 50% tint).   It is a gray with blue undertones.

Most of the lighting in the room had issues too (broken, pieces missing) so I finally replaced the fixtures. In addition to can lights over the shower and bath tub, there are three other fixtures in the room:  over the toilet,  over the vanity, and there’s a ceiling fan in the center.   I ordered lights from Lowes, CB2, and Overstock and installed them myself. But while shopping, I found some really great lighting options at Shades of Light, School House Electric, and Rejuvination.

In the tub area,  I hung a photo from our trip to Ireland.  This is the North Irish coast.   I had the photo printed in a 40 x 30 size to match a canvas I found long ago at Goodwill.  I used Poster Brain and loved how fast it shipped.  I affixed the poster sized photo to the canvas using Mod Podge.  I first covered the canvas in Mod Podge, layered the photo on top, and then put another layer of Mod Podge on top of the photo. It dries clear with a textured, brush stroke effect so it resembles a painting.

The feel in the room is clean and much more up to date and I’m so happy to have it done!
-J