a beige box becomes an extension of the master bedroom

“Whoa, an explosion of dark blue! Oh, hey! a garden tub that we’ll never use.” Most likely my first thoughts when we toured the house. Immediately, I knew I’d be painting this bathroom. It clashes with the countertop and tile, both of which we wouldn’t be replacing any time soon. Changing the paint was our only (least expensive) option. Also, I have to point this out about the color of the countertop: look at the difference between the two pictures below. A prime example of the power of paint! The dark blue color bringing out the yellow undertones in the countertop - no, thank you!

Fast forward to fall 2020 (yes, all. of. the. quarantining), I gave our master bedroom a refresh, which meant the bathroom had to follow. Because the bedroom turned out so well, that meant the en-suite bathroom needed to complement it. It’d been about a year with the boring beige, and now was the time to bring it up a notch. However, if you haven’t checked out my master bedroom refresh blog post, I recommend reading about it first - for the vision and color inspiration.

The color scheme is similar to the master bedroom with the green and black, but I decided to find two warmer gray colors to coordinate with the tile and countertop. It’s a subtle difference but definitely helped brighten up the room compared to the darker beige color I tried the first time.

hgtv by sherwin williams | icy avalanchehgtv by sherwin williams | modernist grayvalspar | garden of paradisehgtv by sherwin williams | black magic — **hgtv by sherwin williams** | icy avalanche
**hgtv by sherwin williams** | modernist gray
**valspar** | garden of paradise
**hgtv by sherwin williams** | black magic

I continued the mural design concept, keeping it simple with a circle (which are hard to draw in a corner by the way) and added the rectangle behind the mirror later. Once I finished painting the circle and black line, I realized the mirror wall was missing something. It needed a shape to help add interest and ground the mirror. I decided on a rectangle moving across multiple walls, which also helped to balance the green circle and not make it look displaced. Of course, I wasn’t tired of building floating shelves for the bedroom, so I built one to install over the tub (which we really never use) - it adds some depth and warmth to the space considering most of the finishes are cool colors and hard.

Ideally, we’d love to renovate the bathroom and master closet (if you can really call it that) located right next to it, but that will definitely need to wait because, money. Changing the paint and purchasing some new accessories can completely transform a space, especially when you don’t have the budget or time for anything more.

As I lived in the space for a week or so, I realized again that something was off. The abundance of white: with the vanity, medicine cabinet, toilet, and mirror, it was too much. It made sense to break that up and help introduce more black into the room: staying consistent with the black line. I also might’ve been influenced to spray-paint it black because at the time, I was on a spray-painting kick (see the black clock? it used to be teal). But, I think it made a huge difference! You might’ve noticed the white floating shelf under the mirror; I built that in March just to get things off of the countertop. Perhaps, one day, the shelf might also be painted black…

As the “icing on the cake”, I found the amber colored glass soap dispenser and toothbrush holders, which work perfectly with the colors throughout both rooms. Then, add in a woven canister and tobacco baskets for more softness and texture. Top it off with new cabinet knobs, and you’re done! Now, when I go into the bathroom, it’s bright, warm, and inviting; I don’t want to leave it as quickly as I did before. :)

After installing the wood shelf, I knew a little more wood would help soften it even more. One of the awesome DIY ladies I follow on Instagram, Liz @withinthegrove, built these types of hooks for her bathroom, and I had to try it! They turned out beautifully and weren’t that difficult to make. Much more sleek and contemporary compared to the boring, typical towel bar you always see in bathrooms.

Overall, I’m extremely happy with how the master bath turned out with just a few minor changes. Sometimes, for me anyways, projects are always a work-in-progress as you continue living in a space, use it, and determine what works and what doesn’t. Most of the artwork on the shelf over the tub has been switched around, and I’ll eventually hang a couple of them on the wall. I’m actually still waiting for a couple of prints to arrive in the mail from other small biz artists, and hopefully, soon I’ll be able to complete the bathroom.