Ta Da! The Powder Room

I'm so excited - this is officially the first "finished" room in our house! (note the quotations.. because when is a room really finished in a decorator's home?)

In December, I made the decision to do grass cloth in our powder room. Then I found those gorgeous lucite chairs, which I then sold to fund the bathroom reno. This is the design board I created for the room:



Here is the "before" shot:



What a nightmare! Original 90's wallpaper and gold fixtures. You can't tell, but that toilet paper holder was hanging on for dear life.

My husband and I decided to peel the wallpaper ourselves:





It was such a hassle, but saved us money.. so we carried on. (please note the light fixture and the faucet!)

After all the wallpaper was stripped, I re-finished the vanity by sanding and re-painting. It looks a thousand times better with a fresh coat of paint. I also repainted all of the trim.

And... here are the AFTERS!















I love how it turned out. In fact, looking back at the "before" I don't know how I lived with that for so long!

As always, I was on a budget. Here is the breakdown for those curious:

Mirror - Wistera.com - $209.50 (it was on sale and now appears to be out of stock).
Grasscloth Wallpaper - designyourwall.com - $230 (it looks like this is also out of stock. The style I ordered was Po145b)
Labor to hang grasscloth - $220
Light Fixture - potterybarn.com - $99
Faucet - Overstock.com - $70
Glass Knobs - myknobs.com - $25
Toilet Handle - Lowe's in store - $17
Towel Ring - Lowe's in store - $13
Toilet Paper Holder - Home Goods in store - $14
Art - free (as seen here)

Grand Total: $897.50

And because I created my own art, I came in under budget! Eventually we'd love to put on a granite top (we have plans to put granite in the kitchen someday.. so we'll put the same granite in this powder room).

Next up, the laundry room!

I couldn't resist...

The wallpaper hanger just left and I just couldn't resist sharing some pics! I LOVE IT!





Still to do:

- hang mirror
- install faucet
- finish painting vanity doors
- new hardware
- art

But those are easy & fast fixes.. hope to be done very soon!

Powder Room Plan

I know I haven't yet finished the Master Bedroom, but I've "started" another new project in my home. Don't worry the bedroom is ALMOST done. I just need to get the settee reupholstered and the dresser painted.. and then I will be able to put it all together. Yayyy!

Remember the lucite chairs (how could you forget??) Well, even though it pained me so, I did sell them. Before you disown me, let me explain. We are in DIRE need of updating our powder room. It's embarrassing guys. If you need a refresher, here is what it currently looks like:



1990's-era hunter green wallpaper with a floral border is bad enough.. but then add popcorn ceiling dust and ceiling paint and it goes from bad to terrible.

Selling the lucite chairs was a blessing.. now I can finally update this bathroom and stop apologizing for it when guests need to use the restroom.

I've written about the powder room before here. I've known for a while I've wanted to paper the room in grasscloth. I decided on this grasscloth sample I ordered:



I recently saw that this mirror from Wisteria is majorly on sale. (Good news - it still is!!).




I placed the order and it's been sitting my in my dining room waiting to be hung. It's so pretty with the grasscloth.. love it.



And here is the board I created for the room:



I do have good news for you guys though - I sold the chairs to a friend of mine! She is going to have them recovered in a fun laminated fabric and promised me I could share the before and afters on the blog. Yay!

Answering Some Questions about Grasscloth

I had some questions about grasscloth so I thought I'd answer here!



Love it! Grasscloth walls are just gorgeous- so natural, and warm and neutral! Does it come like wallpaper? or panels? or what?

Yup! It comes in rolls like wallpaper. For example - 36 inches wide x 8 yards long per double roll


I was warned, as a just out of school interior designer, not to use grass cloth in bathrooms or kitchens because the natural material can hold on to smells. This might be something you want to ask your wallpaper person about.

This wasn't a question but I thought I'd address it. I have used grasscloth in powder rooms before and I have never had that issue. I have never used grasscloth in a kitchen, though, so I'm not sure about that.

Also, what do you know about its durability? Will it start to peel after a while in the high humidity of the bathroom?

I have heard to not use grasscloth in any bathrooms with a shower/bath.Ours is a powder room only (toilet + sink) and there will be no shower-induced humidity. I don't recommend grasscloth in a full bath unless you find something specifically made for bathrooms.

I have an archway between the livingroom and stairwell area that is not trimmed out in wood (just drywall) so I feel like the transition from grasscloth to drywall with the cut edges around the archway would look BAD! What do you think? Do you have any experience with "ending" the glasscloth somewhere other than against wood trim?

I'd have to see pictures on this one. If you'd like, shoot me an email!

ohhhh...I want to do that for my den...I guess I need to remove the wallpaper that's there first?

Yes, you will have to remove the previous wallpaper. (it'd look great in your den though!!! hi mom!)

Will you strip down the current wallpaper or just paper over it?

Yes, I will strip our wallpaper off.

Do you have any tips for hanging it? Do you suggest to drop the DIY spirit and hire someone? I've always heard it is a beast to hang.

I HIGHLY suggest having a professional hang wallpaper. I will be using a professional for my bathroom.

A Grasscloth Bathroom

I LOVE Grasscloth. I've decided (which is a big step) to put grasscloth in our powder room.

Our powder room is another room I cannot stand one more minute. Here is what it currently looks like:



I know! Can you believe it?!

Natural grasscloth is actually relatively inexpensive. I've used this website for a number of clients and I highly recommend it. I've already received round one of sample but none of them worked, so I'm on to round two.

I've decided to go natural. I have a lot of cool colors downstairs, so I would like the powder room to be warm. Here are some samples I'm about to order:







Here are some inspiration pictures with natural colored grasscloth. Yummm

[ Nate Berkus ]

Next step... pick a grasscloth and build a design board!

In Flight WIFI

Isn't it the best? Too bad I didn't think to bring my car charger for the laptop. The computer is about to die, but I did manage to squeeze in some work and find a pretty cool grasscloth:


I like the subtle stripes. Found here. $29.37 per roll. Sweet deal.

Catch ya on the ground!

Don't have much for you...

I have some meetings to run to this morning, so I don't have much for you. But I do have this wallpaper, which I love and so does my client :)

"Palmette" by Casadeco

Reminds me of the 1920's.

Wallpaper on the Ceiling

Lately I've emailed this picture from Lonny Mag to two different people to show them how great wallpaper on the ceiling is:



Here is another, more subtle, example from Canadian House & Home:



This guest room is one of my all time favorites bedrooms. Particularly because of the other side of the room:



On the ceiling is a great way to add wallpaper without overdoing it. Perhaps it's the new accent wall?

And a side note, if you love the bedding in the first Lonny picture, then you'll love this deal I found on Overstock yesterday:



420 thread count duvet set. $36. Really great reviews. I purchased the White/Willow for our master bedroom. Can't wait to get it!

wallpaper part deux

These are currently saved in my folder* and are examples of wallpaper done exceptionally right.













*I had a commenter tell me I need to credit my images. If I find an image that has credits for the designer and/or publication I always publish it. However, most of the images I find are from blogs and google images and are never credited. I do my best to credit when I can, but I don't always have the source. If you know the source, please do leave a comment and I will add the credit to the image with a link back to the source.

wallpaper

It's true - I love wallpaper. I always ask a client "are you willing to wallpaper?" I smile when they say yes.

Currently admiring red + floral...

[click on image to direct to source]

LOVE this colorway... dreaming of it for a [our?] powder room.

I love this idea!

What a great idea, using wallpaper to make a boring staircase/sitting room into something spectacular:

{image via myhomeideas.com}

If you look closely, this home looks like it once was cookie-cutter and builder basic.

And after a quick (less than 1 minute) search on realtor.com for homes in Charlotte, I found a very similar set up:



I think you could go either way: wallpaper the entire sitting room or just the one accent wall (also depends on the size, layout and ceiling height of the room). Either way, it's great inspiration.

ps - Anyone in Charlotte want help achieving this look? I just had to ask! ;)

Wallpaper Crush

I'm crushing hard on this wallpaper:



Here is the description:
Giant black dahlia blooms in a raised soft texture on an opal white gloss diamond trellis background.

Is that not perfection or what? I tried to persuade a client to use it on an accent wall in their master bedroom... she loved it but said it's too much like polka dots from a far.




Perhaps she's right... but polka-dotty (made up that word) or not, I'm in love.

I'm definitely filing this one away for personal use someday.

right now I'm loving..

Right now I'm loving..... wallpaper! I've never been able to add it in any homes I've lived in (we're renters), but I'm so excited that a client agreed to let me add it to her home!

[Anyone know which one this is??]

If you are a renter like me, you could always do a wall of patterned or striped curtains to mimic a wallpaper wall:

{almost all images found here}