ORC Week 8: The Reveal

I am sliding into home base on this one, but we are finally done with the bathroom refresh we did as a part of the One Room Challenge!

I am so, so, happy with how things came out, but we changed things a lot from where we started. When we started this room, we were working off of the mood board below.

I loved the color scheme, the tile pattern, the warm wood countertop, and the green on green, but it always felt a little too boho/modern for what really wanted. I planned to forge ahead anyway, as the plan was based on some materials that we already had on hand and elements that already existed in the room. We also wanted to keep the budget really tight on this one.

Things really started to shift when we started to shop for countertops. I happened to find a new marble countertop, with undermount sinks on FB marketplace. The cost was roughly the same as what we had budgeted for the butcher block countertop with new overmount sinks. I still hesitated, since it required us to buy new faucets, and that wasn’t in the plan. After we talked it over, it just seemed like too good of an opportunity to pass up. Marble in the bathroom would definitely be preferable to wood, and the under-mount sinks would be much cleaner.

The countertop was a good find, but when I put it into the mood board, I really didn’t love it. The marble with the black vanity, modern tile and tone on tone green just didn’t fit. I worked up a new mood board, and I loved it so much more than the first!

It felt more layered, more soft and traditional, but still had some of the modern elements and color that I was hoping for. I ended up layering in a few other elements too, to keep it from becoming too “coastal”, like a darker print shade and amber glass.

Here’s what the room looks like now:

So much better, right? I feel like it’s so hard to convey how a room feels through a photo, they always end up looking a bit colder than reality. This room feels fresh but warm, clean but cozy, and overall leveled up a few notches.

We removed the carpeting, laid peel and stick tile, and then painted the new and old tile in a diamond pattern. We added wood knobs to the vanity and painted it in a medium gray-blue color. The marble countertop is such an upgrade from the previous laminate and the new chrome faucets are really beautiful.

Our original plan was to remove the large mirror and replace it with two walnut-framed mirrors. When we tried to take the mirror down though, we realized it had been glued to the wall. I just didn’t have the fight in me to tear that down and deal with the wall repair, so we left it in place and framed it with walnut-stained trim. While I would have preferred two smaller mirrors, I think this is a good compromise for now. It still adds warmth with the wood trim but required much less wall repair.

We painted the walls, trim, and ceiling Warm Putty by Valspar. The closet looks so much cleaner and fresher with the new paint. It was previously baby blue in there! My husband has a vintage walnut and brass tie rack on his side that I love so much. One thing I wasn’t able to cross off my list was to get the closet doors back on. I think we might be missing some hardware and without the carpet, the doors are a little short. I know we will figure something out. Right now I’m just enjoying seeing the fresh walls and patterned floor in there.

In the theme of making use of what we had, I gave my wall mounted makeup mirror a fresh coat of paint. I covered the mirror in painters tape and then gave it a few quick coats of paint. This helped it match the other fixtures and covered some rust that was starting in some areas.

I used cassmakeshome‘s tutorial to DIY a roman shade, and my gosh, I love it so much. We chose a dark floral pattern to bring a little bit of color and pattern into the room and to stay away from anything too coastal. I’m so happy with how it turned out. It blocks out the sun in the morning, keeping the room cooler, provides privacy, and brings color to the room.

The painted peel and stick tile looks good in the main part of the bathroom and is certainly and upgrade from the carpet. In the water closet though on the original tile it looks so beautiful. We used a matte sealer and it looks just like patterned concrete tile.

The upgrades in this part of the room were simple but made such a difference. We removed the old glass shower doors and replaced them with a clean white shower curtain. The old ceramic towel bars were replaced with new hooks that are so much more functional. The walls and ceiling got fresh paint to match the rest of the room and we replaced the toilet with one that is new and efficient. This little walnut stool looks great with a plant and candle and provides a little spot for extra wash clothes or toiletries.

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Overall we are so, so happy with it! I’m also so glad to be done! I loved the challenge of following along with the ORC, but it was definitely different than how I usually work. I tend to feel out my choices as I go on a project and trying to decide on materials and order everything at the beginning was a stretch for me. I’m already thinking of what to do for the fall ORC!