Decorating help please

[belle&beast]

We are remodeling our bathroom and I need some suggestions. We have been color-phobic in the past (all walls are white or off-white except for the wallpaper in the kitchen) and now we are ready to slap color on the walls.

A little history- our house was built in 1952 and the bathroom is full of black tile. We broke the sink trying to get a clog, so we decided it was time to begin.

We have ordered a "sand" (taupe colored with speckles of gray)granite countertop with a white sink. The cabinets are being painted white as we speak and the black tile will be coming down soon. I am going to change all the hardware and hinges to brushed nickel and we will eventually put in a matching granite surround with a new white bath tub. The floors are white ceramic tile for the time being, but we will probably change them, too. Any suggestions for wall color? It is a rather large room and has quite a bit of wall space.
Thanks!

 

[CEDmom]

We haven't painted our bathroom yet (new house) but we'll be going for an ocean blue color. The tile, counter top and floor are all shades for tan. I got chocolate brown towels and rugs along with ocean blue tumblers, soap dish etc. I really love blue and brown/tan together. Plus I envision soaking in the jazucci tub with a margarita imagining I'm on a ship in the middle of the ocean . Can't a girl dream .

 

[Beca]

It sounds like you are doing some GREAT things to your bathroom. However, you didn't really give us any clues as to what style of decorations you prefer. So, here's what I would do. Log onto potterybarn.com and ballarddesigns.com (not sure if there is one d or two) and look at some of their pics. Then if you have time, go look thru all the books at Home Depot or Lowes.

Me...I LOVE beadboard. So, since the sand color goes with pretty much everything, I would pick a nices soft blue, sage, or warm neutral peachy color to paint. But, before I painted, I would install white beadboard around the bottom of the room. It is such a relaxing, classic, clean style that works well with most decor. But, that may not be to your liking.

Oh...if you get HGTV, they have a series called "Save my bath", and another one called "Bad, bad, Baths"....they always have some great decorating ideas in there as well.

Have fun!!!

 

[poohluvrs]

One of our baths is very similar, we have a beige color, Manchester Tan, benjamin moore has a lot of colors in that spectrum...good luck!

 

[belle&beast]

I am really flexible- the only thing I do NOT want is tile! I do like blues and browns which would work well with what we have started. I'm not into wallpaper- I have it in the kitchen because the wall was so messed up it was our only option. And I am not into country style, so I guess more clean and simple styles.

 

[Disney-For-Life]

Its hard to offer any advice since I don't know what your decorating tastes are. If it were me, I would want to create a spa like atmosphere. Based on the colour palette you have described, I would think about relaxing hues of soft blue, sage green or warm taupe - keeping it light and airy.

I would recommend going a search on other websites for decorating colour shemes or buying a few copies of the lastest home and garden style magazines. If you like the "spa" idea, try going to a few spa websites to sheck out their colour shemes. It is always easier to picture things the way you like when you have examples to work from.

Have fun!!

 

[Liberty Belle]

I think a fern color would be pretty. Or you could do tan/taupe and then add color with towels, etc.

 

[belle&beast]

Thanks to everyone, great ideas so far. I am leaning toward a medium blue, but I have always wanted green tones in my bathroom.

I'll get more specific: We have 7 feet of cabinets with the taupe colored granite countertop and white sink. The mirrors are original and HUGE, so I think we are going to keep them and DH is going to frame them in white. Our style is pretty traditional and not country, but we are open to new ideas.

It has been over 7 years since we did a big project in our house. We had to gut it to move in and redid all flooring and sealed the walls and then they were painted white or off white. We have never really decorated too much because once the babies came, that was no longer a priority.

I should add that this is the main bathroom in the house- where we all bathe and shower, so nothing too fancy with little kids. I think my goal is to look fresh and clean. Taking off the 50 something black tile is quite a change in itself!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I love color and have it all over my house.

I recently remodeled a hall bathroom and have travertine floors, with black granite accents, a rubbed-black vanity, with a black granite top and I have a dark taupe on the walls.

I went with a Parisian theme and used black, red (the rubbed black of the vanity, shows red underneath), and taupe as my colors. I have lots of moss green elsewhere in the house.

(The vanity originally had antique brass hardware and I removed it and resurfaced it with liquid pewter and aged it with black paint.)

I tend to gravitate to warm colors. Here's a photo:

 

[Freyja]

How about a green-grey-brownish? Maybe not very specific but kind of hard to describe? A kind of olive green...

 

[belle&beast]

I love color and have it all over my house.

I recently remodeled a hall bathroom and have travertine floors, with black granite accents, a rubbed-black vanity, with a black granite top and I have a dark taupe on the walls.

I went with a Parisian theme and used black, red (the rubbed black of the vanity, shows red underneath), and taupe as my colors. I have lots of moss green elsewhere in the house.

(The vanity originally had antique brass hardware and I removed it and resurfaced it with liquid pewter and aged it with black paint.)

I tend to gravitate to warm colors. Here's a photo:

This is beautiful! We are really trying to stay away from the black since it is so dark in there now. But I like the idea of a theme. We kind of took on this project because we had to- since the sink broke and I haven't had time to really think about how I want to decorate.

How about a green-grey-brownish? Maybe not very specific but kind of hard to describe? A kind of olive green...

I know what you mean, and it is definitely a color I have been considering.

Thanks for the advice- any more photos and ideas are appreciated! I promise when we finish I will learn how to post the pictures!

 

[1Prince2Princesses]

I think a medium blue would be great with the colors you've been describing. Maybe something with more of a brownish or grayish undertone to it, like a cobalt blue. Of course, I'm a big fan of blue. Green would also be a good compliment to your countertops, but I love the contrast of a darker blue with white trim.

Good luck!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

This is beautiful! We are really trying to stay away from the black since it is so dark in there now. But I like the idea of a theme. We kind of took on this project because we had to- since the sink broke and I haven't had time to really think about how I want to decorate.

We were forced to redecorate too. In our case, we had tile that had come loose on the shower wall, and we had a mold problem.

That was loads of fun!

What started out as a small remodel, ended up being a huge ordeal. Everything went, and the bathroom was down to the studs. The only thing that remained was the tub. I think that saved us a whopping $350.

We were able to get away with the black, because the bathroom gets a lot of natural light. Thanks in part to the stupid window that the builder put on the shower wall. Ironically it was due to that window, that we had our leak.

 

[belle&beast]

We were forced to redecorate too. In our case, we had tile that had come loose on the shower wall, and we had a mold problem.

That was loads of fun!

What started out as a small remodel, ended up being a huge ordeal. Everything went, and the bathroom was down to the studs. The only thing that remained was the tub. I think that saved us a whopping $350.

We were able to get away with the black, because the bathroom gets a lot of natural light. Thanks in part to the stupid window that the builder put on the shower wall. Ironically it was due to that window, that we had our leak.

When we get to the tub, we will go down to the studs, too. As much as I want it to be finished, I am dreading what it means to be without a shower! This part will probably have to wait until summer when I don't have to get to work! We were not planning on remodeling until we add a master suite and main floor laundry room in about 2 years, but you do what you have to do! I am really having fun with it, we just weren't planning on this financially. Luckily things have been pretty affordable so far and DH is able to do everything himself.

 

[RNMOM]

We are just finishing up our bathroom redo. I had replaced the counter with a speckled formica and white sink years ago and had painted the walls a mocha color. I had removed the blue tile and put in new tub with white tile. I also had a vinyl floor with slate appearance to it. We have had to do all redos on budget and also are on a slab and didn't want tile as we would probably need to put in a conductive heating element to keep it warm enough.

I picked out a slate blue grain in the counter top and found a blue paint we liked. It is beautiful. All other items are white but for the floor and we put up a dark brown framed mirror instead of the huge plate mirror. It is really an improvment. We also took out the florescent fixture and put in recessed lights. Big difference and actually looks elegant in there.

BYW we got the mirror at JoAnn Fabrics on sale...it was a scratch and dent that you can't even see and we paid $25 for it. The other mirror we were looking at was nearly $200. The whole redo cost us about $150.

Some day I want to add a new master bedroom and bath...that is where the money will be spent.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

When we get to the tub, we will go down to the studs, too. As much as I want it to be finished, I am dreading what it means to be without a shower! This part will probably have to wait until summer when I don't have to get to work! We were not planning on remodeling until we add a master suite and main floor laundry room in about 2 years, but you do what you have to do! I am really having fun with it, we just weren't planning on this financially. Luckily things have been pretty affordable so far and DH is able to do everything himself.

I still have my master bathroom to do. At least we have two, so it won't be too bad, but I'm still dreading it.

That bathroom, I'm going to keep it more neutral, since it's such an important part of the house.

 

[golfgal]

Try Benjamin Moore's Dry Sage, it would be lovely in there, it is a nice medium sage green and very relaxing color.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Since you are new to "color" stay in the earth tones. Tans, browns, greens, etc....You can never go wrong and they always match everything.

If it is too DARK with regards to natural light....I would not go sage. I did sage in my Master bath at the old house and it was BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!

I did the same color in the kid's bath and it was ugly, because of the lighting. There was no window.

They really looked like 2 different colors.

Good Luck....my next room to paint is 10yodd's....We are FINALLY starting on this house after almost 1yr & 1/2.

 

[lulu71]

I think color is so hard because there are just so many out there! We stuck to one palette (Arts and Crafts palette from Sherwin Williams) and if the color wasn't on there, we did not use it. One very popular light olive green that is used in a lot of bungalows is Ruskin Room Green. You can google it and see some pictures of it. I am so happy with this color and get tons of compliments on it. Good luck!

 

[belle&beast]

We do have a window in the bathroom, so we so get some natural light. The thing is that we usually have the blinds closed because it is right by the toilet and next to the neighbors' house. I know that I want more color than neutrals because our house is so neutral overall. Plus I have always wanted color, but DH was not up for it. So, now that I have the opportunity, I am going to take it!