Progress is being made on my little powder bath makeover. ( If you missed it, catch the first part at this post. ) I fell in love with the Edie wallpaper from Fabricut — it’s a small scale print which that room needed. The bathroom is only 6’x4′ total, and I wanted the wallpaper to act like a background texture more than anything.   Blue was a no-brainer as it’s the dominant color throughout our house – to me, it’s almost like a neutral at this point! But the real showstopper was this happy fixture from Hudson Valley Lighting’s new Mitzi line. I saw it at High Point when I was there last spring and fell instantly in love – Mitzi is designed to be the cool, younger sister of the Hudson Valley line, and it’s got such a fun vibe. The price point is super reasonable as well.

I went with the Leigh lantern — it has such a happy classic look, but the colors make it unexpected. Yellow and blue are feeling so fresh to me right now —

PROJECT PUNCH LIST

• Gather measurements
• Pull inspiration and color scheme ideas
• Get wallpaper estimate & labor quote
• Remove existing vanity & broken toilet
• Install new vanity, toilet & hardware
• Have wallpaper hung
• Electrician for light installation

HOW TO MEASURE FOR WALLPAPER: A CAUTIONARY TALE

Full disclosure: I am TERRIBLE at estimating how much wallpaper I’m going to need. I’m always – ALWAYS! – off. Which is why I require my clients to get an official measurement from my fave wallpaper installer because I know I’m going to be wrong.  You’re always going to need more than you think you will — it has to do with the way the pattern repeats, what different elements are in the space (windows, doors, etc), how the stars align, and if Mercury is in retrograde.

I’m halfway kidding, but really – call a pro. Because I, in my infinitessimal knowledge (har har), still managed to underestimate how much I’d need for this teeny tiny room. I got cocky and didn’t take my own advice, and it ended up being a really tight fit for my installer.  It all worked out, but he would’ve felt better had I had more to work with.

Which leads me to the next thing about wallpaper. It’s almost always priced by the single roll, but it will always be packaged by the double roll. Which means that no matter what, you will be buying what amounts to at least 2 rolls. I do not know why the wallpaper industry operates like this, but there you have it. It’s infinitely confusing. Again – call a wallpaper installer when in doubt because they are a wealth of information.

In our powder bath, we had wallpaper already in there from the previous home owners. And the installer agreed – it was on there pretty tight. It’d involve gouging the drywall probably to try to pull it down. So he did some prep work and smoothed over the existing seams. We let it sit for 48 hours to make sure it wouldn’t bubble once the new wallpaper was placed over it.

VANITY SHOPPING

It’s a small little space at approximately 24 square feet total, and I needed everything to be precise, especially when it came to the vanity fitting in and out of the room. The existing demi-lune vanity is 36″ wide, but only 21″ deep and was juuuust able to squeeze out the tiny door. Originally I considered painting that vanity, but Simon worried that it would end up looking crappy, so we decided to bite the bullet and buy a new one (along with a new toilet, because #BOYS).

We went to a local cabinet company to see if they happened to have anything in stock, and unfortunately it was going to be around $1700 (!) to get what we wanted. Seriously? NOPE. On a whim, I hopped on Craigslist to see if there were any cool vanities, and stumbled on a listing for  Jameson’s Discount Home Improvement Warehouse in Yukon, about a 20 minute drive from us. The photos looked dubious, frankly, but we hopped in the car and made our way.  And when we got there, it was like a treasure trove of every possible thing you can imagine. Light fixtures, appliances, hardware, tools — and a veritable sea of vanities. Most appeared to be the Home Decorator’s Collection from Home Depot but there were a few exceptions. Honestly? I had low expectations, but was pleasantly surprised at the quality. Most had sinks and countertops but others were topless (quelle scandale!).

Prices overall were good — they had the current listing price shown for almost all items, and then their reduced price. We snapped a few photos of ones we liked and a few days later, I ended up driving back out there to pick up the one that we wanted. Their guys gladly loaded it in the back of the truck for me. Heads up — they weren’t willing to haggle on the price at all since they said they tend to have no issue selling vanities quickly. But nonetheless, it was definitely worth a trip out there to see what’s available and to get a significantly better price than retail.

SPECIAL THANKS TO

HUDSON VALLEY LIGHTING // FABRICUT // MINTED //

I’m participating as part of the color-loving Choose Your Own Adventure Refresh, a quickie makeover series with several of my blogger buddies. I promise you won’t lack for colorful inspiration before it’s all said and done. Hop over and check out all the fun makeovers in progress!

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