Snake Bathroom Reveal
I’ll be honest, the last 2 months have been a blur of tile, grout, paint, and wallpaper. My hands don’t just feel like sand paper. They ARE now sandpaper.
We had our work cut out for us. Every single square inch of this room was addressed. Remember the grout-for-days in that shower from my moodboard post? Seriously. What is up with those grout lines??! Here it is again in case you missed it…
The tile, we were asked to leave by the homeowner. And since it was never really in my plan to get into demolition, I decided to work around it. We went over the old rust-colored grout with gray grout to match the tile, and now it blends in so much better. I wouldn’t say I like the Tuscan-inspired accent tiles, but now, I don’t haaaate them. I actually like how they tie in the ceiling. More on that in a moment!
Who can forget that medicine cabinet with umm… the dollar store pain relievers I purchased more than 10 years ago? Yeah, it had to go. And it was time to deal with everything behind those doors. It turns out, I don’t need a medicine cabinet after all.
Warning: I left everything in this photo as-is for realness and effect.
This antique mirror served as so much of the inspiration for this room. I love the juxtaposition with the modern sconce by DLight Store. When I saw the snake-esque shape of this vanity light, I knew it was meant to be. Speaking of snakes, let’s talk about this amazing wallpaper from Hygge and West. They have some of the best patterns on the market and the quality of the paper makes it a breeze to install. I selected the Serpentine in Juniper from the Patch NYC collection.
Rather than removing the popcorn on the ceiling, I decided to cover it in sheets of beadboard. It’s my FAVORITE part of the room. No, it’s not perfect and there are seams and screws showing, but it adds so much warmth and character. Am I in a cabin? I don’t know, but I wanna be. I think I’ll hang out here for a while.
Now, on to the cabinet which I spilled hair dye on one too many times. Whoops.
I actually really did adore the detail on the doors, and had this been a different room, I would have kept them.
Since they were hardwood, I couldn’t toss them, so I turned them around, and voila! Sleek, flat panel cabinets. I left the faux drawer panel for cuteness. I love the vintage feel of it. A fresh coat of paint in the perfect shade of “Is that brown? - Is that black? - Is that gray?” makes the unit feel much more modern.
Especially with a new sink top! And to provide a little more surface space for toothbrushes and other necessities, this glass wall shelf is just what we needed. It isn’t visually distracting, and gets the job done.
I was so thrilled to collaborate with InsidEast and their stunning, solid brass faucets. You guys, the quality cannot be beat. These are heirloom quality pieces and it feels so special - almost like jewelry.
So luxe!
Why are good candles so hard to find? Well, search no more. I hunted down the perfect shop for organic beeswax candles. I can actually smell the candle when walking past the room (even when it isn’t lit). And not in an overpowering, headachey way (I am super sensitive to smells). The wood wick crackles so softly, it’s like having a many fireplace in my bathroom!
The scent Mellow from Lavender Skye is a keeper and I will be buying more. The shop owner, Megan hand pours each one and they are wrapped and packaged for gifting. So lovely!
My original plans for this room included a lot of fun accent colors and pattern play, but once I saw the wallpaper in person, and decided it would cover the entire length of the wall, I knew it needed to be the star of the show. I decided to color match the gray in the wallpaper and paint all of the trim the same shade. It is that PERFECT shade of warm gray so I know I will be using this for client projects in the future.
I also matched the shower curtain and penny round floor tile to this gray, so there is less visual competition in the room. Believe it or not, it’s actually a very calming room, and I never thought I would say that about a room covered in this much pattern. It can be done!
But that didn’t stop pink from creeping in somewhere ;)
Collecting accessories for this room was super fun and involved a mix of old and new, which is where the magic happens.
My daughter can’t read yet, but “flush” is a word she will learn first LOL
When does a girl get excited about toilet paper? When it’s on a glamorous brass holder like this one from DLight store. I also got the matching wall-mount holder which I installed vertically.
We have always used terry towels but I was frustrated with storing them since they were so bulky. AND, they never seemed to dry fully (gross), so I took the plunge for these fair-trade, Turkish cotton towels from Saltsetter on etsy. They are lightweight, so I can hang them on this antique victorian coat rack and they dry quickly. LOVE them.
How ironic is it that I took all of the old medicine out and brought the old medicine sign in? HA!
The wall sconce played off the snakes, so the ceiling light had to give a nod to the flowers. Clever, huh? See what I did there?
This is a fact: I will be hanging out in here. Reading. Singing. Thinking. Listening to music. Bathrooms are where it’s at. Totally worth the investment and its a great room to be a little more adventurous when it comes to style.
I hear it time and time again; “ I want something that will appeal to most people in case we ever sell our home.” I hear this from people who have no plans of moving, maybe ever! And my question to them is always this: Are you living for yourself, or the potential homebuyers down the road who may or may not appreciate your safe choices? If you want to have snakes on the your wall, because they remind you of your favorite cabin-vacation spot (true story), do it! If you want a teal blue ceiling because it reminds you of that snorkeling adventure you took on your honeymoon, do it! If a funky retro ceiling light reminds you of childhood nostalia, go for it! Whatever it is, do it because you love it!
A big thank you to the following companies for collaborating with me on this project:
Brass vanity light and toilet paper holders: DLight Store on Etsy
Wallpaper: Hygge and West
Brass Faucet: InsidEast on Etsy
Turkish Bath Towels: SaltSetter
Candle: LavenderSkye