Room Painting! The Upstairs Bathroom

Sunday, September 8, 2019

I took one look at this bathroom from BlytheHome via schoolhouseliving and was immediately off to makeover the upstairs bath. A bit of bold wallpaper can really tie a space together. And while the example image doesn't include yellow floors & counters, I determined some distracting wallpaper could make those permanent fixtures look intentional.

Everything in the upstairs bathroom was original to the house (much like everything else in the house...). Original, faded, peeling 70 year old wallpaper. Original vanity cabinet. Original vanity mirror. Original built-in shelves. The seller's realtor let us know that the commode was new, because the original broke an irreplaceable piece. C'est la vie. One fewer shade of grey in this room.

I was feeling lazy, and yet motivated to "fix" this room quickly. The thought of painting the built-ins and the vanity cabinet made me want to cry. So, I just didn't. Yes, the trim is beat to pieces and it's a shade of blue that clashes a pinch with the grey of the tub & sink, but I found a wallpaper to make it all play nicely together. Boråstapeter In Bloom Wallpaper - Green. First found on Wayfair, but with a little internet sleuthing, found it from a couple other [better] retailers.



The wall paint is Benjamin Moore Regal Select in Hawthorn Green (NOT Hawthorn Yellow) in a pearl finish, which is a lovely pale sesame color. A mix between yellow and beige. Not a cloying pastel here! Color-matched to some of the wallpaper flowers using a 'Color Muse' and app. Note the pearl finish, glossier is supposed to be better for high humidity areas, and the Regal Select Pearl is a tad bit shinier than the eggshell finish in the rest of the house, but not quite as shiny as all our semi-gloss trim. It works well. Wallpaper removal didn't reveal a great deal of mold/mildew, so I'm hopeful this won't be much of an issue anyways.



This Boråstapeter In Bloom Wallpaper - Green works like magic in this room, bringing together all the yellows and greys and making them look like considerate design decisions. Waaaaaaaay better than the faded, nearly invisible texture wallpaper with houses on it. Modern and fresh.


As always, we bring J in to swap out all the outlets and switchplates. We've got legitimate GFCIs in here now! AND, the bathroom fan has a snazzy new timer switch, so you can set it to only be on for a limited amount of time. Super fance.

My general approach to this room is fairly similar to that described in the post on the deep dive painting process:

• Prep: Removed wallpaper, built-in tissue dispenser, switchplates, towel bars, and toilet paper holder.
• Cleaning: Scrubbed walls with TSP. Rinsed. Let dry overnight.
• Protected: Painters taped off the trim. Painting in a small space and awkward corners showed me that I really need to use more tape when doing the bathroom. Plastic drop cloth loosely (if not doing ceilings, it's not quite as critical)
• Primed: Just the walls with Zinsser 123 (did not prime/paint the trim, built-ins, windows, or ceiling).
• Paint: 3 walls with Benjamin Moore Regal Select 'Hawthorn Green' in pearl finish.
• Wallpapered accent wall with Boråstapeter In Bloom Wallpaper - Green (although background is a close match to Benjamin Moore Grey Owl).
• A layer of clear acrylic on the wallpaper to protect the paper from the bathroom humidity.
• Reset: Replace outlets with GFCI, return tissue dispenser, towel bars, and toiler paper holder to original locations. Clean up tape & drop cloths.
• Finishing touches: New shower curtain, bathmat, hand towels, etc. etc. from HomeGoods. Artwork is Giant Robot Painting by etsy/DavePollot and stained glass bee from etsy/jacquiesummer.