ORC Week 8: The Final Reveal

Guys we have finally made it to week 8 of the One Room Challenge and I am so happy with the way everything has come together. I have to be honest in saying this little bathroom has to be one of my most difficult projects and rooms that I have ever done! I have never had so many things go wrong but I prevailed; even though some things were left undone. There will be a few minor tweaks that will happen in the coming days/weeks that are dependent on supply chain schedules but I have to say all in all I am so happy with the final design. But lets start with a look at where we started.

Lets start with my design intentions for this space and what I was thinking and had to consider when designing this bathroom. First starting off I knew that I would not be changing the shower or floor tile, the vanity cabinet, or the countertop. With those things in mind I had to really think about how I wanted this hall bathroom to feel. This would be the space that guests would use when they visited as well as my husband's primary bathroom, being that the true primary bathroom is the size of an airplane bathroom. He hates to use that space so he then claimed this hall bath as his own. I wanted this bathroom to give a calm and relaxing vibe, a bit of a serene oasis. The existing tile had a pretty harsh juxtaposition of hard and soft textures and immediately I thought of spas. You always see a beautiful mix of hard and soft lines, textures, and materials when visiting spas. Wood, marble, cement, stone, linen, and cozy textures are the things that always stand out to me; so that was my starting point. I decided on a paint color and it was the only one I sampled which turned out to be a perfect shade, Behr paint in the color Eon. This color was perfect because it complemented all 3 tile options in the bathroom. I knew I wanted to add some type of pizazz to the walls but an accent wall felt forced in this small space, so I went with a double floor to ceiling board and batten. This was the best option for this room because it really gives the illusion of much higher ceilings. This is always a HUGE plus when working in spaces with lower ceiling heights; ours are the standard 9ft ceilings.

Next I knew that storage in this small space was a problem and even though I'm not a huge fan of cabinets over the bathroom it seemed like the most functional option for this space. I tried to make it blend in more by painting it the same color as the walls and wrapping the board and batten trim on the cabinet. I think it makes the cabinet less offensive and blends much better into the space.

The vanity light is one thing that caused a huge hold up with time because it as on backorder and then when it came in I was pretty underwhelmed with the design. It felt puny for a lack of better words, and it wasn't giving the same vibe as the photo online. Not to mention that the original hookup for the light was very off center. I took a few days to look for an alternate option but a friend came through and saved the day by offering to move the light. So while I waited for him to help out I moved into the hallway so that I didn't waste time.

In my head I thought that 8 weeks was more than enough time to complete a tiny bathroom so I took on the hallway leading to the bathroom too. Man did I over commit, which is very much my speed if I may add. I knew that I would be using a two tone paint option on 70% of the hallway with an accent wall outside of the bathroom. For the paint I used Behr paint in the color Melting Icicles for the top and Behr paint in the color Dove for the lower part, to include the baseboards and trim around the door. I then decided this was the time to replace all the door hinges and handles to a beautiful matte black to really pop against the neutral paint and compliment the wallpaper. This was not part of my original scope of work or my budget but I had some cash back points to purchase the hardware.

Once we moved onto the wallpaper I decided to use a new adhesive method that was shared on Instagram. This method consisted of using liquid cornstarch for pasted wallpaper opposed to the traditional wallpaper paste; this makes the wallpaper more of a temporary option opposed to the traditional pasted wallpaper. Ya'll this method was GOLDEN, it went on so easily and if I ever change my mind I can remove the wallpaper easily. Apparently this method was the old school way of applying fabric onto wall; think decoupage circa 1920.

Once I moved back into the bathroom the vanity got a major facelift with some pole wrap and a moody zen paint which is Behr paint in the color Coastal Storm. I am still waiting for the handles to bring the vanity together 100% but I really love how to grey, green, and black tones work together with the wall color to solidify the zen vibe.

The last big TO DO was removing the glass tub surround which was such an easy project and gave the space such an upgraded look and feel in both function and design.

The final touches to this space always bring the whole project together. When looking for those touches I always shop my home first before bringing something new home. I had these vintage 1961 Picasso prints that were in the home I grew up in and love the linear illustrations for this bathroom. I had theses organic feeling vases with the rounded edges that that also gave off that zen resort feel as well as a little bit of greenery which is a must in every room. The tooth brush holder was an old thrifted find and the soap pump is from Crate and Barrel. I didn't find much else to add to this space at home so a Homegoods run was in order! I scored this stone catch-all and wooden wall hanging that I had to have.

All in all I think this room really invokes the vibe and feeling I was going for and even though I over committed I am so happy with the outcome.

Well that's all for now, until next time tribe! P.S. check out the previous posts to see the process 1 week at a time!

- Leslie

Week 1 l Week 2 l Week 3-4 l Week 5 l Week 6 l Week 7 l Week 8