Friday, September 23, 2011

Your opinion is sought

You might recall that I said re-doing our basement 3/4 bath was next on my project list.

Well, Bernie flew out of town on Tuesday and  so I dug in.

Above: The "Before".
(The room was rarely used and had become a catch all for other projects needing water access the day this picture was taken).
The "Before" paint.  The previous owners had attempted to stipple/sponge the walls to match the heavy floor tiles.
Personally I don't like being a room where the floors and walls match.  It makes me feel trapped.
They had apparently had various interest levels in the painting project as well.  Some of the walls were quite carefully blended while others looked like they had finally said "What the heck..." and slapped on just enough paint to sort of finish the job.

Using masking tape was apparently against their religion or something.  The tile and all the metals like the towel bars etc were merrily brushed around willy nilly and if some paint got where it shouldn't be...so what.

Big sigh.

Before Bernie left we made a decision to paint the walls a semi-gloss color just a couple of shades lighter than the tiles.
(After I took down the towel bar, I did discover the original paint choice back in 1954 was an apricot peach color.  It must have looked quite Florida-ish and with the right linoleum it probably was quite a fun look).

Since I have been quite happy with our black cabinetry in the upstairs bath, I decided to go with a bittersweet chocolate gloss on the basement bathroom cabinetry.  Painting the cabinets has been on going, coat by coat, for about a week now.

Wednesday I got into painting the walls.  Yesterday I finished that up, and went shopping for some bathroom "bling".


Fun hand towels that combined the dark chocolate colors with the turquoise.

The wall facing the sink will have the chrome towel bar and full sized chocolate brown bath towels. 
Colorful cabinet and drawer knobs that would tie the turquoise, chocolate and floor beige together.

Can't wait to put those knobs on the cabinet.
The current screw hole size is too small and I don't trust myself to drill new holes, especially since I know Bernie could do that job quickly and correctly in no time. 
He knows he is facing a few other tasks in the room:
The exterior wall had a raised planter place against it on the outside, sans waterproofing the wall.
Water had leaked through over the years and horrible patch jobs had been attempted from time to time.
Bernie waterproofed the exterior wall two years ago; re-doing the interior wall has been on hold while we figured out what we wanted to do with the bathroom.

The overhead light needs to be changed out as well.  Slopped paint on the uninteresting fixture calls for something different up there.  Switching out a light fixture is a "he can do with his eyes closed" task for my personal electrician.
Former owners also swiped various shade of white on the ceiling..in various place.  
So the ceiling needs painting too...drat.
I am not sure who will tackle that unpleasant task. 
Maybe we will flip a coin or something to decide.

Today I will finish up painting the sides of the original medicine cabinet mirror brown.  It had rust spots and so needed painting; painting the sides brown connects it with the cabinet color below.

It does have really cute flowers etched in the top of the mirror...
Here's where I need some help from my friends in bloggie land.
Since this is a basement bathroom, the plumbing goes through the ceiling.
I am no fan of the chunky pipe, but it is necessary and therefore must stay.

My question/puzzle:

Do I paint it:

1. Ceiling white

2. Wall turquoise

3. Cabinetry chocolate brown

The chrome towel holder can't be re-installed until that bit of painting is done.
I would love to strip/power wire brush the surface smooth before I paint it; I am going to wait to get Bernie's input on that.
Is the surface irregular because of multiple paint layers over the years or is the pipe itself bumpy?

I suppose I could get "cutsie" and paint it to match the hand towels or knobs or something...

If anyone wants to argue that option I am listening.

And if you just love weighing in on interior decoration option...

I am also ponder the area facing the shower door.

Our tropical plants will be placed in that area during the winter.
They used to just sit on a small narrow book case.  Now I am thinking they would be better served with shelving higher up by the window.

I am considering additional chrome towel racks, or chocolate brown shelves.

Maybe with a mirror behind the plants.

What say you?

White, turquoise or brown pipe paint?

Chrome or chocolate plant shelving?

Help!!!!


5 comments:

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

It's looking good, Jill.

1. Match the pipe to the ceiling.
2. I'm not a big fan of chrome, but that's just me. Chocolate brown shelving would be nice, if not too overwhelming for that area, and with mirror behind would be fantastic for the light. I'm not good at visualizing...and it might be that chrome would look better there since you already have the other chrome toweling rack.

LOVE the chocolate brown and turquoise combo....AND those adorable knobs.

Vee said...

Oh it's looking much better, Jill. You really must stop doing all these wonderful things while Bernie is away. You're training him to take off whenever he wants something to be done. ;>

This is what I would've done, and I'm only saying it because you asked and because I know you won't do it...something about feeling trapped...I would have painted the ceiling in the same color as the walls hence the pipe would be that lovely shade of aqua. I love rooms that surround; you feel trapped.

ellen b. said...

I'm wondering if you could build out a cabinet that would cover that pipe? Drop down facade with open shelving under it.

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

PS: upon more thought....glass shelves with chrome brackets.

Lovella ♥ said...

Well ..you've already all decided. The favorite thing about this house is the retro tiles. I love them.