Bathroom Inspiration: What to do with the walls?

At this point, we've pretty much picked out everything for the bathroom, but we have yet to decide on the walls. Originally we were going to tile halfway up, then we talked about just painting the walls, then we talked about grass cloth wallpaper, or some combo between these.

We' both really love grass cloth wallpaper. I really love variations of gray or greige. Now that we are going more neutral and simple in our bathroom reno, I like the idea of adding subtle details like the texture of a grass cloth wallpaper.  I originally wanted to do a patterned wallpaper and Jim wanted to do a  darker charcoal paint, but I think this will have a greater impact while allowing the room to stay light and airy.

I really love what was done in this space:

Traditional Powder Room by Chicago Design-Build Firms Orren Pickell Building Group

We're on the fence though because there is a lot of moisture in the room since it's so small. We also don't know if it's worth it to higher someone to wallpaper such a small area. We thought about doing it ourselves, but if we're paying for everything else in the reno, we don't want to mess it up with this one last piece if we make a mistake with something we aren't familiar with. 

 

Would you go tile, paint, wallpaper (grass cloth), or some combo of these if you were us?

 

Neutral Nautical - Bathroom Accessories

one Serena & Lily AHOY Bath Mat 

two Serena & LilY Fouta Bath Towels -Dove Grey 

three Wayfair.com Zodax Anchors Away Wall Hook 

four Serena & Lily Beacon Sconce - White 

five West Elm Stripe Shower Curtain - Feather Gray 

six Anthropologie Shoreline Mirror 

 Now that we've decided to go with more classic styles and less details in the main design of the bathroom, I've been looking for fun accents to add some personality to the space.

No matter how many times I tell myself we don't live near the ocean, I still can't seem to stop myself from falling for nautical details. I can already see Jim saying no, but I'm really wishing we could add some of these touches like the AHOY bath mat. We really just need to move closer to the water. A girl can dream?

Are you drawn to any specific style? Do you notice certain themes popping up throughout your home?

Small Bathroom Tip: Large Tile Goes a Long Way!

Our biggest home project in 2014 is a bathroom reno. We don't have the time or skills to do it ourselves, so the biggest thing we'll have to do is make some decisions. We have wanted a bathroom reno from the moment we first saw our home. It's been well over three years and we're just about ready to  get things started!
I have been pinning away bathroom inspiration along the way and really thought I had definite ideas in mind. I've been really drawn to black and white spaces, marble anything, detailed tile work and bold patterned walls. I pretty much like bathrooms that have classic touches, but a couple of bold elements.
Once we started shopping for materials, I learned that what I love in other people's bathrooms probably won't work best for ours. We have a very small bathroom. We don't want to highlight that it's so small, so the sales person we've been working with has been great at giving us tips throughout the process and one tip was a great way on how to make the space appear larger. I mentioned I'm drawn to detail tile work, when we were looking at tile, I immediately went for a black and white basket weave tile design. When we started discussing the size of the space, the sales person explained that going with a smaller or more intricate pattern would immediately draw eyes down when looking at the bathroom. It would make the space appear much smaller. She recommended going for larger tile on the floor in a more neutral tone. So while I absolutely love it and it works well in a gorgeous space like the bathroom below from Houzz.com, As I started looking though many of my pinterest inspiration pics , I realized that my eyes did in fact go right to the floor when looking at the rooms.

Contemporary Bathroom by Richmond Tile, Stone & Countertops Charles Luck Stone Center

Going with a larger tile like the one below, also from Houzz.com, makes a narrow space appear wider than a smaller design. I never would have thought of this on our own, so I'm really enjoying the tips we've been receiving from professionals.

Modern Bathroom by San Francisco Architects & Designers Martinkovic Milford Architects

Our sales person recommended adding more detail or a fun pattern on the shower curtain. I think this advice will really impact our design in a positive way and as a bonus, the larger tile will save us money!

what's the best tip you learned while renovating a room? Any other tips for a small bathroom?

ForDummies to the Rescue

We quickly became close with our plumber the first year in our house. He helped us with our first big project and quite a few other little and big issues

He was the one person who worked on our home that we would recommend to anyone without hesitation. How often do you find someone who tells you ways to save on their services? He was completely rare and we're pretty disappointed because the last time we had an issue he was completely MIA. I think he left the company. They won't tell us what the deal is and pretty much  ignore our calls. So, the  last time we had an issue we went with someone else. He was not like our previous find and we got a ridiculously overpriced bill for a small and quick repair.

Recently we had yet another plumbing issue and Jim decided to take things into his own hands. We had a leak at the base of the toilet. We have absolutely no experience with things like this, but Jim figured he'd google it and he ended up finding a helpful youtube video from ForDummies.


This video saved us money and my sanity. The typical plumber calls have all cost us over $100, this cost us about  $12.00. While I'll miss our  plummer (and we still have to find a good one for big issues), I think we've found a new go-to in youtube. Yay Jim!

Have you used youtube for any diy project tutorials? Which ones have you found the most useful?

The Home Tour (in the beginning)

Before I get further into all of the home projects we have going on (and already completed), I thought I'd share what we started with when we first purchased our home. When you walk into the entry way there is a coat closet and there was some ceramic tile flooring.

The entryway is actually part of our living room, which was wall to wall indoor/outdoor carpet.Actually pretty much the whole house was when we moved in. 

Our house has an open floor plan, so the living room goes right into a dining area, which I forgot to take a photo of, but it looked pretty similar to every other room you see here- white walls, blue carpet. To the right of the dining area is the door to the garage. This is probably J's favorite place in the house. It was his #1 must have when we were looking.

To the left of the dining area is the kitchen. It was renovated recently before we bought it. Apparently it was pink when they first put it on the market. I appreciate the upgrade. 

Right past the kitchen is the bathroom. We only have one, which was a definite no for me, until we found this place in our dream neighborhood.

It's pink. The previous owner really liked pink. Before they put it on the market, the realtor told us everything was pink.

Down the hall are the three bedrooms, they are really hard to differentiate in these pictures, since there is nothing in them and they all have that lovely carpet.

Bedroom 1:

Bedroom 2:

Bedroom 3/Master Bedroom:

The two smaller bedrooms had these storage units in place.

It's funny to go back and go through these photos. When people ask us how things are going with the house, I tell them we are slowly getting there. I feel like we haven't gotten a lot done yet, but when I look at these photos compared to the house now, I hardly recognize this place.

The two things that have made the biggest difference have been the change in flooring and painting the walls. Everything looks drastically different, just with those two changes.

What changes have you made to your home that made a big impact?