It took a little bit longer than expected, but our pretty little tropical powder room is done, and I can’t wait to share all about it!
Our main level powder room was very unfinished. We left the builder trim, fixtures and even the original colour the builder painted it for years. We sat down and decided we had to do something with this space, and it needed to be fun. It all started with this pretty wallpaper I spied on the the Home Depot Canada website! I’ll get to that in a moment, but it’s time to show you the “before” photos.
When I show our “before” photos for a project we completed, usually I take this time to reflect on the fact that I can’t believe what this bathroom looked like before and how I was able to live with this room looking so bleak!
It was quite boring, wasn’t it?
Now back to that wallpaper! After seeing this amazing RoomMates Palm Leaf Peel & Stick Wallpaper on the Home Depot website, we were ready to get started!
First off, a few things about this wallpaper I want to mention. It was peel and stick wallpaper, which was something we had never worked with before. It was surprisingly easy – it was like a giant sticker! It was easy to work bubbles out of, and it looked great once it was on the wall. It apparently can be easily removed, but we covered it with new trim so it’s not going anywhere!
Another tip – make sure when you buy your wallpaper to account for the “extra” you will need for the project as you are pattern matching. This means as you match the pattern around the room with each strip, there will be a large portion of paper that goes to waste. I love this paper so much that I will actually be using the remnants as a drawer liner in my home! This paper was an online exclusive, so we ordered it into the store and it took about a week to arrive.
Another note – when using peel and stick wallpaper, if you are going to paint the walls first they need 4 weeks to dry before applying the wallpaper so the adhesive works properly.
Next up – paint! With such a bold pattern, I wanted to tone things down on the walls. We debated about doing the whole room with the wallpaper, but decided it might be too much. Adding in the trim painted the same colour as the wall was a great contrast to this amazing wallpaper! We used CIL Premium Interior White Base.
Here’s another tip on something we didn’t see coming! My husband has redone our trim in many of the rooms in our home, and in the past has used painters tape on the walls to keep the paint on the trim and off the walls. This time he did the same as usual – he installed the trim and painted it with painters tape protecting the wallpaper this time. Well guess what – when he peeled off the painters tape it bled through to the wallpaper! He was shocked. I was shocked. We were both shocked! Lesson learned – wallpaper takes that extra bit of care!
We ended up adding a smaller piece of trim around the room to cover the bleeding (paint thinner can be used to remove paint on wallpaper very carefully, but it’s not only time consuming but we felt that it didn’t look “perfect”), and when my husband had to paint THAT piece of trim he removed the painters tape immediately after painting and there was no issue!
The non-negotiable in this room for my husband really made me laugh, but I have to admit I appreciated it later. He wanted to choose the toilet. This part was interesting to me because I didn’t think we needed a new toilet at all! He wanted to choose a toilet that saved on water, and he had a style in mind.
When it comes to toilets I have to admit my knowledge was limited. I thought the one we had was fine, but admittedly later when this was was installed I understood – not all toilets are created equally! I can’t believe I’m saying this, but isn’t it a pretty toilet? He chose the American Standard Optum Vormax 2-Piece Single-Flush Elongated Bowl Toilet from Home Depot.
It’s much better than the builder original! It creates less water waste with a single-flush system.
It’s a much sleeker design, and I love how the toilet seat slowly goes up and down. When you live with two boys, you know that sound of the “clunk” of the toilet seat when they put it down! This new one softly closes which I didn’t realize I would appreciate so much.
Our fixtures are brushed gold and we wanted the toilet handle to match, so my husband bought this gold spray from Home Depot, and it was the perfect match!
About those fixtures – silver was pretty, but gold was SO much better! We bought this whole Glacier Bay Bathroom Faucet Set from Home Depot, and it had everything we needed! Palm leaves look so good with gold I almost can’t stand it! It was the perfect way to finish off the room!
We found our matching light fixture at Home Depot as well (it was rather affordable!), and I’ve always wanted the Edison bulbs – this was my perfect chance. I think they look great in the room and give it a Palm Beach vibe! The light is called the Canarm Parish 3-Light Gold Vanity light, and we chose these bulbs.
A few things to mention – we kept the original sink and just changed the fixtures not only for cost savings, but because we thought it was a great match with the vibe of the room. The sink looked so different with the new fixtures that we couldn’t imagine another one.
We also used the original mirror because we thought the black frame was a great contrast.
What do you think of our makeover? Everything mentioned was from the Home Depot who we teamed up with to complete this little makeover, and I think it was rather successful!
Let me know in the comments what you think of our bathroom makeover, and if you have any questions about our project!
Items in this post may have been provided to me for review, but all opinions are fabulously my own.
