From Bathroom Blah to Tropical Spa

A couple of months ago I found myself in a fabric store holding a groupon that needed to be spent, and not being able to figure out what to buy.  Now this is not a normal state of being for me—it was akin to a kid in a candy shop deciding that he just wasn’t in the mood for candy.

Russ was afraid I was ill.

The next week I went back with the picture messaging activated on my cell phone and took pictures of different pieces of fabric and sent them to Cindy Lynn, who was in the hospital.  She picked out a fun piece of fabric for a skirt and I found a piece of fabric that intrigued me. 

I wondered if I  could use it to make window shades for my bathroom.  Our master bathroom was one of the few places in our house that we hadn’t painted and fixed up.  Many years ago we stripped off the top layer of the wall border (because I hated it) but that was it. 

It had very nice shades (nice= expensive, insulating) that matched the old wall border, but they did nothing for me.

So I bought a piece and took it home.  I had this idea that hanging in a window as a shade the fabric would interact with the light in an interesting way.  I was not disappointed.  It was like the lush tropical colors glowed.

Well.  Such beautiful shades as this fabric was going to make needed a total bathroom makeover.  (Which in my fantasies includes a whole new shower…to bad those fantasies didn’t work out!)  I started by taking my fabric to Lowes and buying a couple of paint samples.  The next day I went back and bought a few more.  Russ thought the 4th sample was just right, so I went with it.  (Later realizing that he was just desperate for me to stop buying paint samples!)

 

After I’d painted the whole bathroom (great way to prepare a talk!) and let the paint dry, I decided it was just too green for me.  So I took a bit of the sample paints and added a little more blue and messed with it a while.  I ended up dry brushing the bluer paint over the green paint, and I was happy with the way it turned out.  Here’s a picture with the contrast increased dramatically so you can see the texture.

Once the painting was done (trim too) I decided that we needed new towels and a new rug to match the new paint.  After 40 million trips to Kohls and Bed, Bath, and Beyond to buy lots of different towels and rugs, I finally found a combination that I liked.  Russ picked out the rug and I just love it.

 

Finally it was time to make the shades.  I decided I wanted the fabric to hang straight and flat when the shades were down, but to have a soft curve to them when they were pulled up.  It took a little experimenting and I am very happy with the finished look.  Here’s closed:

and open.  (I stitched this picture so that’s why it has a funny bend in it.)

I just love love LOVE them!  And instead of dreading having them shut when it’s cold outside, now I can look forward to seeing that beautiful tropical fabric with the light shining through it.

The last thing I did was put back up my whale picture

and my beach pictures

and then painted the light switch faceplate to match the wall.  It actually turned out pretty well.

So that’s the end of the bathroom remodel.  I love it in there now—it’s so lovely and peaceful!