I have always loved decorating “powder rooms”.   Against almost everybody’s better judgement, I like to do something WOW in small spaces.  In a previous house, I used red wallpaper that sported vintage bunches of posies; it was beautiful.  Most of these teeny bathrooms are windowless, so it is important to give the people who use them something interesting to look at, right?

The mountain house sported a particularly nasty half-bath:

Not only were the dirty walls painted Gulden’s mustard gold, but the vent in the ceiling (that vented to nowhere, it turns out), automatically turned on with the light switch, (so there was escaping it!); it sounded like a car with no muffler.  Needless to say, this room was not a pleasant  place to frequent.  Greg started the fix rolling by tearing out the wood ceiling planks, replacing the vent (properly!), and re-installing  a new ceiling.

I really wanted to put up wallpaper in the space, but my limited mobility didn’t lend itself to hanging paper. (I had visions of more product stuck to me than on the walls!)  But the WOW factor being a necessity, the rebirth of that sad little room began with paint.  Greg agreed to using an unconventional color on the walls; we ended up choosing Sherwin Williams’ Kumquat.  I purchased a very large wall stencil with a vine-y motif from Royal Stencils.  For the stenciling, I used the creamy color from the living room walls.  Then, to soften the overall effect of the kumquat orange, I dry-brushed the stencil color over everything.  The result is a very soft, subtle peachy-cream finish. (NOTE:  The color is not nearly as bold as this…the result of using artificial light!)

Greg then did his woodworking magic by adding wainscoting, which I dry-brushed with the stencil color and sealed with polyurethane.  The toilet was replaced (thank goodness…the original potty looked like it had crime tape strapped over it, for a very good reason!) and the pedestal sink was in good shape. We replaced the chrome fixtures with oiled bronze.  I already had a mirror that started out as Pottery Barn blackboard (consignment, of course!), that I had beveled glass installed in.  Since there is no vanity storage, a little shelving unit was a necessity.  I found the perfect little corner etagere at a local antiques store.  Dad spray painted it and it fits like a glove.

So far, so good, but something was lacking. The room needed a focal point, which was provided by a 36×26” picture  titled “Blue Moon”, by Melissa Graves-Brown, from art.com. I had it mounted on wood backing, and love the effect. (I know some say that your art and its framing shouldn’t have to match anything else in a room, but I totally disagree.  I think the colors, [ including the picture frames] in your accessories should be in harmony with everything else, or it will cause others to twitch!)  At any rate, in the future, all my art purchases will be mounted/frameless.  This picture, as you can see spans almost the entire width of the wall behind the commode.  I had my WOW!

The rest of the accessories in the room are star-themed.  A favorite is hanging from the ceiling. It fortuitously was left out of the storage box during the Christmas decoration stow-away, and on second thought, I decided it might be nice to enjoy it all year!

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And now, (for grins) I leave you with a very important reminder.  This pearl of wisdom was found on a coaster from one of our favorite restaurants, Ted’s Montana Grill.  (When in Atlanta, there’s no escaping the Turner brand!)