Remember a while back…maybe a month or so ago I posted an article about the unappreciated powder room?  How overlooked it often is even though it’s often one of the most used spaces in the house.  Well check THIS out!  Sue wrote in and shared her “new” powder room.  And I just HAD to share with you!! 

Hi Tawn –
After reading your article about the “unappreciated powder room” I just had to write in to share my recent project.

I’ve enclosed a picture of the “before” wall of the harvest gold tile.  The cabinet had a Formica counter with standard builder sink.  Boring boring boring!

So I started by ripping all the tile out.  Had to get rid of it.  Next I installed beadboard about 62 inches up from the floor.  Then I added a 1” x 3” flat piece of wood along the top of the beadboard  to cover the raw edges and then another piece of wood 1” x 2” horizontally on the top to provide a narrow shelf.

<— Before

I pulled out the old sink and replaced it with a brand new marble sink/countertop (wrong color to the buyer) that I bought at a Habitat for Humanity ReStore for just $35.00.  It’s a great place to get good deals AND support a good cause!

After —>

BUT…it was 1½ inches too wide so I sawed off 3/4 inch on each side of the drain so I wouldn’t have to make any plumbing changes and the drain would be centered.

The mirror was a thrift store picture frame that I painted white and then filled in one of the spaces with green, added some corner pieces behind it to accommodate the width of the 1” x 2” on top of the beadboard so the mirror would hang straight and to have a solid surface on which to glue shells and sea glass.

I painted the walls above the beadboard blue and sponged in some clouds.  Then I hung some craft store fish net (left over from a beach wedding reception I did for my son) in the ceiling corner and placed some shells inside.

For the corner shelves I bought a 24 inch wood circle from Home Depot and cut it into fourths. I glued rope on the curved edges and painted the whole thing white and screwed it into the 1” x 2” trim board I had put in along the top of the beadboard.

The cabinet door knobs were just plain wood knobs from the craft store. I wound and glued twine around them. There is a starfish decal behind each knob to tie it in to the shells on the mirror & in the fishing net.

The toilet paper holder I created with twine and shells. The 6 inch cylinder inside the paper roll is made from a wooden dowel and also covered with twine glued down and I screwed eye screws into each end.  Next I used fender washers under the eye screws to cover the holes I drilled.  Check the pictures to see the hooks I used to attach the cylinder—all purchased from Wal-Mart.

The towel holder was a decorative piece of beach theme stuff (supposed to be net floats) which was supposed to hang vertically which I purchased with a coupon at Hobby Lobby and hung horizontally with screw hooks.

After all that was finished I installed a new toilet and flooring.  It is my crown jewel of all of my projects in my home.

<– Mirror details & clouds

Corner shelf & netting details –>

Wow, Sue!!!  What a fantastic job you did!!  And so creative!  Love the toilet paper holder and the towel holder.  Amazing stuff.  Thanks so much for sharing.  I think you’ve inspired me to actually fix the wall in my powder room where the dog ate the wall!!  Lol!! 

Image by rssmith via Flickr

While the “powder room” is one of the most used rooms in the house, it’s often overlooked when it comes to “freshening”.  Our first thought is usually our bedrooms (and the kids’ rooms cuz their fun!), then living spaces like the family or living room.  After that it’s the kitchen because we spend a LOT of time in there, too.

But the lowly bathroom that everyone uses…guests & family…often gets overlooked or put off.  It’s fine like it is, right?  It’s tiny and no one spends a lot of time there anyway, right?  Just get some new hand-towels or fancy soap things and it’s good to go.  C’mon!!!  Time to go BIG!!!

We had a client with powder room right off her “family/play room”.  They would be entertaining a LOT here and the bathroom was bound to get plenty of use.  It was a cool house with a pool table, built in bar, poker table and big screen TV all sharing space with a great kitchen with plenty of counter space for setting out oodles of food.

The owner wanted the bathroom to be different.  Instead of hanging wallpaper or just rolling some paint on and stenciling some border we had to think OUTSIDE the box.  She wanted something floral but with the room right outside little flowers just didn’t seem right.  Felt way tooooo feminine for the area.  But she reallly wanted flowers.  So..we went BIG.

First step was doing a color wash faux finish on the walls in a nice brown.  Suited the rest of the house.  We used a color very similar to the center of a 3 Musketeers bar.  Then it was time to GO BIG.  We drew GIANT flowers on the walls — we used watercolor pencils.  That way if we changed our mind on a sketch we could just wash it off and we didn’t have any pencil marks left on the walls.

Back to the flowers…not a bunch…we didn’t want them to be overwhelming but enough to give her a floral look she really wanted but without being too feminine.  Not everyone using this bathroom would be female, after all!

So we drew some big ol’ carnation like dahlia type flowers with some little babys breath (about the size of our fist) peeking out, some daisy type flowers, some vinca like flowers and a couple of BIG ol’ tulips.

We used colors from nature but also ones that would tie in with the room just outside the powder room.  Colors in the couch and bar stools.  That way things fit well together.  It creates a sense of symmetry and keeps things flowing.  We didn’t want it all matchy-matchy but we did want them to feel good next to each other.

In the end the flowers turned out WONDERFUL! The homeowner LOVED them and even better than that…so did her husband!  He was happy his wife got the “floral” design she wanted but it wasn’t all toooo “girlie”.  After all this was a “common” bathroom that would be used by friends and family.  No one wanted it toooo overwhelmingly feminine.  And it wasn’t.

Going big goes well with lots of things.  Vines, leaves, clocks, shoes, sports equipment…really…it goes on an on!   In a family/play room you could paint big giant billiard balls.  Use your imagination and just go for it!

Get out there and splash some paint around!

P.S.  Found this book I thought you might like, too!

It’s a great book to have on hand if you decide you want to paint some GIANT flowers, too!    Think Georgia O’Keefe!  This book has It has 50 step by step examples of painting different types of flowers. And while it’s taught using oils you can easily adapt the steps to using acrylics (or other mediums) from the examples in this book.

Or this one is a great guide to faux finishes –>

You can brush up on all the basics with this book. There are 225 how-to photos illustrate the most sought after techniques, from exotic-sounding faux bois and shar-pei to extremely subtle but dramatic effects. The best part is they show you how without any fancy equipment, either.  Alternative applicators include cheesecloth, crumpled bags, sponges, and easily modified brushes. Special attention is devoted to large wall spaces to create a finish that’s magically ‘seamless’ even when painted in sections. A great beginner’s guide for masterpiece-quality results.

Image via Wikipedia

We all have budgets to consider when starting a project. Especially these days!  It’s a lot less expensive to “spruce up” your space rather than do a complete remodel and right now that’s a pretty good choice if you need a change.  A newsletter subscriber recently wrote in to share her bathroom makeover with us and it was so good we thought it was be great to share with everyone.  Read on:

I recently gave my bathroom a complete makeover and it was much easier than I expected (mostly thanks to you!), and only took a couple days to do.   For way less than a remodel (under $250) I gave my bathroom a completely new look that I just love.

First I had to choose some paint. I wanted to start with bare white walls so I chose KILZ2 brand primer paint.  I did what you told me to and just painted right over the wallpaper that was in there.  Small flowers were just not my thing any more.

Then I also did what you suggested and painted my wall color on some foam core boards and put them in the bathroom for a couple of days to make sure I’d be happy with the color.   Glad I did because the first color was not quite right.  The paint color we ended up with is a cheerful spring green/blue.  Kind of like a soft faded sea glass color. One gallon was plenty to paint the entire bathroom and cost less than $30.

I almost stopped there because just painting the bathroom gave it whole new look!

Because our bathroom is not very well lit, we decided to change the light fixture.  We shopped around and took pictures and took them home.  Then for only $40 (including bulbs) at Home Depot we found the one we wanted.  We installed the light fixture over the mirror behind the sink.  It only took a few minutes to install, and it looks great.  The bathroom is so much brighter now than it was before and we are even keeping it “green” by using the compact curly bulbs!

Because the bathroom is small we wanted a little more storage space.  For two people one medicine cabinet just wasn’t cutting it so we purchased a white cabinet that stands over the toilet.  It has a shelf (two if you count the top) and a cupboard and cost about $100 at Home Depot.  I recently saw that Wal-Mart had some that were sorta like mine…but not exactly and they were a little cheaper – between $50 and $75.

For the last touch I thought some plants would brighten the room and do well with the steam (showers).  We bought some pretty vibrant solid color flower pots from Wal-Mart for a couple of dollars and some small ferns (less than $2 each). I set the pots on top of the new cabinet.

I love my new bathroom. It’s colorful and bright and it looks like a completely different room. Just a few simple changes made all the difference!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Have you done a quick and easy “rejuvenation” at your house?  A little paint…a new light fixture and a couple of small touches can make a HUGE difference when you want to change your space but just don’t have the budget for a remodel.

So get out there and splash around some paint!

P.S.  I thought if you’re like me maybe looking through a book is how you get some inspiration.  I do that A LOT!  So…I found a couple I thought might be helpful if you want to change up your bathroom, too!  Here – check ‘em out:

<— Here’s a good one from Better Homes and Gardens.  This book is just full of really great ideas and includes great before-and-after photos, too!  It has really helpful information and ideas from professional designers and will help anyone get a great new look in their bathroom!

<— Here’s another good one from Sunset!  Again, this book is jammed full of good ideas for changing your bathroom and has those oh so helpful before-and-after photos!

Do you have “old” cabinets you’d like to refresh? Everyone still wants to make changes in their homes but in this economy who can afford to rip out and put in new?  It isn’t hard to change up your old dark cabinets at all.  A little paint…some new hardware and ShaZAM!  Gorgeous new cabinets!  Well…new looking, right?

Here’s an email from a newsletter subscriber:

Hi Tawn,

I have dark wood cabinets in my bathroom.  I would like to lighten them up or even paint them white.  Would it be too much work to paint them white since they are so dark?  Or do you have a different idea to lighten them up & bring them up to present time?

Thanks for your help!   Nella

I completely understand about wanting to update dark cabinets.  I’ve had my share of “cave” bathrooms because the cabinets were soooo dark!!    It doesn’t really matter how many cabinets you have to paint they’ll all need to be “processed”.  It isn’t hard…its the standard “prep work” that makes your project turn out FABULOUS!

Here are the steps you will need to follow:

1.  Remove all the hardware from cabinet doors – yes, the hinges, too!

2.  Clean the cabinets and doors thoroughly with soap and water or a non-abrasive cleaner.  Make sure whatever you use to clean the cabinets with does not leave behind any sort of oily residue.  Scrub them good, rinse them twice and then let them dry.

3.  Now you need to lightly sand the doors and the cabinet with a fine grit sanding pad or with some steel wool.  If your cabinets have a clear coat of varnish or polyurethane on them, you’ll have to sand them a bit more in order to get the surface ready for your paint. 

4.  Time to wipe them clean again.  Take a damp cloth and wipe the cabinets and doors clean of any dust from the sanding.  Let ‘em dry again. 

5.  Time to PRIME!  Use a good quality primer/sealer like Kilz, Bin or Zinsser.  Let your primer dry for at least an hour before the next step.

6.  Paint away with whatever color you choose.  Its best to use a semi-gloss paint finish for the cabinets.  It has a slight shine, will look gorgeous, AND it makes it easy to clean finger prints and “stuff” off the surface if it gets on there.  Whatever you do – DON’T USE FLAT PAINT!

7  You may want to seal it with a clear coat, but if you use a semi-gloss it may not be necessary.  If you want this extra layer of protection you’ll want to lightly sand the surface of your fresh paint (after it’s dried for a day), wipe it clean and then brush on a coat of MinWax Polycrylic.  Or whatever product you prefer.  I just like Polycrylic!    It comes in different sheens so you can pick the one you want.

8.  Now it’s time for some new hardware!  Or you can just put back the ones you removed.  Depending on the look you want and the hardware you have in your bathroom there are LOTS of options for you to update your look now.  Want hammered metal?  Shiney chrome?  What about a brushed nickel?  Or even glass?  My son likes the oil rubbed bronze ones.  The options are limitless.  You can find new knobs and hinges at a hardware store or even at Target, Wal-Mart or Sears!

Have fun with your project.  It’s easy to update your look any time you want and as often as you want. It just takes a little scrubbing and some paint!

Now get out there and splash some paint around!

P.S.  Found this cool book on painting furniture I thought you might like to look at, too!

This book is more for the home decorating or home improvement person rather than a crafter.  It takes the approach of creating cool decorative furniture for your home rather than creating art work on a piece of furniture.  It doesn’t require any artistic skill or weird materials or tools.  AND it has COMPLETE step-by-step PHOTOGRAPHY for all 50 painting techniques, surface embellishments and faux finishes for your furniture!

Another good option?  Debra’s FABULOUS Wood Graining Video!  Get rid of those dark cabinets and turn ‘em in to golden oak or maybe you want a rich mahogany!  You can do it with Debra’s Beginner Guides To Professional Finishes – Faux Wood Grain.  Eassssyyyy Breezzzyy!! 

Image by E. Aja via Flickr

Did you read Part One?  If you missed it you can click here–> Painting Ceramic Tile with Semi-Gloss Paint – Part One – to get the prep steps. Remember, the key to any GREAT finish is GREAT prep work.  So don’t skip part one.  And now?  Time to get out that paint!

Paint – Latex, Oil or Epoxy?

To paint ceramic tile you proceed just like you would if you were painting a wall.  Well…mostly.  You need to be a little more careful that each coat is applied evenly and thin.  Yes -THIN.  You can spray it on, brush it on or roll it on – just like painting a wall.  I’d use a brush for cutting in and then I’d roll it on – very gently with a light touch.  If you decide to roll it on make sure you use a mini roller with a very short nap.  Like 1/8th of an inch.

I recommend using oil based paints to paint ceramic tile. Anything latex will likely peel sooner rather than later.  Latex tends to dry softer and will scratch and scar a lot easier than oil based paint that dries harder.  Sure, the oil based paint smells up the place, but in the end you’ll be happier with the results.  The other choice is epoxy paint.

It really boils down to two things.  Cheap and easy or costly and hard.    To be honest the toughest and best finish for painting tile is an epoxy.  But it’s very costly and smelllllyyy.  A good acrylic interior semi-gloss paint can work and is easier to work with.  Oil based paints are a happy medium.

The oil paint dries harder and tougher and won’t peel like latex might.  BUT it takes 2 to 3 weeks to fully cure and remember to get the semi-gloss sheen.

Tape it off and Cover it up!

Just like painting your walls you need to make sure the areas around it don’t get painted, too!  Use drop cloths or old towels or old sheets to protect your floors and furniture.  Remember if you tape your wall to seal those little gaps in the tape so your paint doesn’t leak on to your wall.  You can check out how to do that here –> “Stop Paint From Bleeding Through Painters Tape”.

Oh…and remove that tape within 24 hours.  The longer it stays on the harder it bonds and it’ll often damage what’s underneath.  When you’re done, take it off!

Time to Paint

When painting walls, I like to use tinted primer to avoid having a base of bright white.  This is a great time to do that!  You’ll want to start with two coats of primer allowing it to dry for at least a few hours between coats.  I’d even say to let that final coat of primer dry over night.  Let it cure.

Remember to apply thin coats of the primer (both coats) and thin coats of your paint.  Nice and even and thin.  Roll the paint in all directions using the slightest of pressure necessary in order to leave the paint on the surface.

Nice and even and all over the place.  Think thin.  Suck it in!  Lol!  Light pressure not heavy handed.  Your primer coats and finish coats should all have a nice even roller stipple finish and no pressure marks.  No brush marks either (left over from your cutting in).  And don’t think you can get away with one “finish” coat.  Because we want things nice and even you need to plan on a minimum of two coats of paint AFTER two coats of primer.

Your top coat – the finish coat will remain soft for a couple of days so be careful you don’t touch it or dink it or damage it.  Stay far away from it for a couple of weeks while the whole thing cures.

Clean UP

Remember, you’re using oil based products so they aren’t going clean up with a little water.  You’ll need to have paint thinner ready to clean up your primer and paint.  Don’t clean your brushes and rollers in the house unless you have excellent ventilation.  Me?  I just toss the rollers and brushes so I don’t have to mess with it. 

Adding pizzazz!

You can stencil on a design if you want to & you dont have to wait the two weeks for the paint to cure.  Do it the next day.  Be sure to use oil based stencil creams and HOLD the stencil up without taping it on.  Your surface hasn’t cured and you don’t want to risk the tape pulling the paint off.

I’d use a small stencil and add it to the corners of just some of the tiles.  Or if your tiles are smaller (3″ by 3″) you could add something to the middle of random tiles, here and there.  Be careful putting designs on tooooo many tiles.  If you don’t like it when you’re done…you have to start ALLLLLL over.

Here’s a little bonus for you – a video showing the steps on painting tile!  Just click here –>Best Tips for Painting Tile and the video is at the bottom.

Have fun…get out there and paint it up!!

Want to read more about painting tile or the prep process?  Check out this article:

Preparation Ideas for Painting Floors