Isn’t it funny how when you move out of a house (whether selling or renting it), you finish up house projects you’d been dilly dallying finishing the whole time you’ve lived there?! Well, we had quite a few to wrap up before we moved to Mississippi:
- Periwinkle explosion guest bathroom
- Car-sized antenna on the room replacement
- Never-ending basement re-do finishing touches
Let’s start with the guest bathroom. If you’ve been reading for awhile, you might remember the guest bathroom wallpaper saga.
First I decided the periwinkle walls painted by the previous owners finally had to go (three years later), so I was on the hunt for a wallpaper…. I decided on an awesome floral-y print via Knack Studios that would totally “hide” the 1960s yellow shower tile and gray and yellow floor tile.
That was last July… Then I found out it was discontinued. Ugh. (But honestly in retrospect I’m very glad I didn’t pick it…it’s a little frumpy or something.) Then I found the PERFECT wallpaper replacement (way better than my original choice!) via Cole & Son, but debated whether the shipping charge (as much as the paper itself) was worth it. Totally indecisive.
I hemmed and hawed, and the walls remained periwinkle. Ick.
Fast forward, oh, 6 months or so…
When we found out we were moving and we’d be getting renters, I knew I had to change it, the last vestige of bad paint color choices of the previous renters. So, paint swatch in hand, I picked Benjamin Moore’s Sterling and it turned out PERFECTLY.
That picture doesn’t do the hideousness of the periwinkle justice. It was so bright. And so periwinkle. And so wrong! Thank goodness for paint! The gray I chose was a really really wonderful gray – definitely warm but not yellow.
And it goes so well with the gray and yellow tile on the floor. Why didn’t I do this before?!
But painting wasn’t all I had to do.
Since the bathroom didn’t get used much (other than me doing hair and makeup), we never worried about the cracked grout and bad caulk job.
But with renters moving in, we didn’t want to have to worry about leaks.
And then there were the major gaps around the faucet:
But just a few hours of scraping and squeezing and wiping later, and it was alllll done. And looked so fresh and so clean (clean). 🙂 We used a pre-sanded grout in a tube for the cracks and a paintable bathroom caulk in pure white for the caulk work.
I really wish I would have just painted the darn bathroom when we moved in…instead of hating the color every morning when I blow dried my hair!
But it sure felt good to be rid of the periwinkle! Good choice?!
February 19, 2010 at 1:31 pm
Wow is that gray ever perfect… I am seriously drooling. This is one of my most favorite color combos and has no place in our home so I’m glad at least someone else is getting to enjoy it.
Thanks for the name of the gray paint, too – I just might “borrow” that sometime in the future.
February 19, 2010 at 4:12 pm
While yellow tile screams makeover- with some paint and new grout you made the yellow tile look totally done on purpose! It looks hip and fresh now, like you are on the brink of a new design trend.
Now if only I could get my landlord to do something with the pink and black tile in my bathroom- uggg, still hate that nasty pink color and there is no saving it or making it look hip and cool like your fun yellow tile 🙂
February 20, 2010 at 10:55 am
Love it! You made the perfect color choice.
February 21, 2010 at 7:18 pm
Hmmm, did you happen to mention who your able-bodied assistant was????
love you,
mum