Caps and Fixtures and Closets : The Cottage Bathroom Post 3

We’ve had a whirling dervish of a few weeks at The Cottage, and couldn’t have done any of it without some of our friends lending a helping hand (THANK YOU, Edgar and Veronica! Again!). We’ve done enough to fit into 3 or 4 blog posts, so I’ll try to get everything update in the next week. And after this next weekend, we should – SHOULD – be DONE! Hip Hooray!

For this post, I am going to continue to focus on the bathroom, which really has been the priority, as it has the most to be done. The painting of the walls and ceiling is complete, and looks great. It’s also a color (Platinum Band by Dutch Boy) that looks very different depending on the light. Usually, it’s gray. Sometimes, it feels blue, and sometimes, there’s a bit of lavender in it.

Three COttage Bath BLog01 Three COttage Bath BLog02 Three COttage Bath BLog03Whatever color it is, I like it.

The bathroom window needed to go in (I frosted it myself a couple of years ago), and I decided to paint it black (not just a great Rolling Stones song).

Three COttage Bath BLog04

The hardware had rusted in the flood, so I cleaned those, and dusted them with some silver spray paint to both freshen them up, and prevent more rust, since it’ll be in a bathroom with high humidity.

Three COttage Bath BLog05

Since the baseboards were black, I thought this would be a nice contrast – almost making the window more of a feature with the black window inside white trim.

Three COttage Bath BLog06

The end result feels a bit too Art Deco for a Victorian Cottage, but I like it all the same. I can always switch it to white between tenants if I need to – we’re already starting a list of things we want to do whenever we switch tenants, which hopefully won’t be for a while!

Three COttage Bath BLog07 Three COttage Bath BLog08 Three COttage Bath BLog10

And then, it was time to clean the brushes and let them rest for a bit. If you don’t use a vent to dry your brushes, it’s a great tip!

Three COttage Bath BLog09

This is the top of the small bathtub wall. And if I could stand on a ladder and see it, this is also what the top of the tall wall looks like. Pretty, right? So, we needed to build something that would look good from the bottom and from the top.

Three COttage Bath BLog11

Instead of re-inventing the wheel, I just asked Doug to build caps similar to what he did in the Laundry Room Renovation for the tops of the upper cabinets.

Laundry Room Final32

He did a dry-fit. Our plan is to paint them with oil-based paint, and then coats of Marine Varnish. This should really make it water repellent, but down the road if we need to, we can always replace the caps again with wood, since these are easy to build, or switch out to a granite, quartz, or marble.

Three COttage Bath BLog12

Just like the Laundry Room build, Doug did a great job! Seriously – the guy should have his Doctorate in Wood Clamps by now.

Three COttage Bath BLog13 Three COttage Bath BLog14 Three COttage Bath BLog15 Three COttage Bath BLog16 Three COttage Bath BLog17 Three COttage Bath BLog18 Three COttage Bath BLog19

While those were finishing, another exciting thing happened : FIXTURES! Yay! I chose chrome, and tried to get as Victorian as I could with the styling. Nothing here was expensive – maybe one step above the cheapest line of fixtures at the store. This proves my point, that you don’t have to spend a lot to make a room look period appropriate if you want. It might take some time and patience, but you can TOTALLY do it.

The Sinks :

Three COttage Bath BLog20

Three COttage Bath BLog22

There is about a 15 minute window of the day when the light coming in form the bath window creates this reflection from the faucet onto the wall. It’s so fantastic.

Three COttage Bath BLog23

The shower and tub fixtures look great, as well. Goodness, I love a rain showerhead.

Three COttage Bath BLog24 Three COttage Bath BLog21 Three COttage Bath BLog25 Three COttage Bath BLog26

Next, we installed the stuff in the walk-in closet. The wood work is finished and waiting for me to paint the caulk (we used leftover scraps to case the inside of the closet door, because I forgot about it, so it’s black, which makes it fun).

Three COttage Bath BLog27

And then we added shelves and bars. Not the most exciting of jobs, but I WISH I had this closet at my house. Nothing fancy, but all in one room. Seriously – there is so much storage in this rental. It’s seriously such a bonus.

Three COttage Bath BLog28 Three COttage Bath BLog29

My. $.02 : When you are doing a project that’s big like this, watch the sales, and keep a list of everything you want to buy. These closet shelves had a rebate, making them 99 cents EACH when the day was done. If you have the time, use it to find deals. And don’t forget to send the rebates in!

Three COttage Bath BLog30 Three COttage Bath BLog31

And done! What a great closet for a 2-Bedroom, 1-Bath!

Three COttage Bath BLog32

More Cottage Bath Posts coming up! If you missed the first two, you can find them here :

The Cottage Bath : Post One

The Cottage Bathroom Becomes a Room : Post Two

7 comments

  1. Ha, my dad was just saying that the can of Dutch Boy raw linseed oil is dated because Dutch Boy hasn’t been around in ages. Interesting that it’s still available in your area. The linseed oil is still dated by the National Lead Company name at the bottom of the back side.

    And you already know that I’m fine with a Deco / Victorian mashup.

      1. I just do touch ups. I do everything off the walls if I can. Here, since the painter from Martin place is going to be the renter, he is helping with some of the work. I would’ve used black caulk to keep from having to do so much touch up, but he used white. A little more work, but it’ll still look great.

  2. Great job, Amy! I really dig what you have done! The deco overtone contrasting looks nothing short of absolutely elegant!
    Keep those posts coming! We have been soooo incredibly busy but are always looking out for your updates…especially as the holidays get closer 🙂

    1. Thanks! It’s so close! Speaking of Holidays, you’ve reminded me I need to actually pay attention and blog the Holiday decor this year, which seems only fair, since I did all the Halloween ones! Good reminder.

  3. Hi Amy, I have to admit…. my wife and I were doing some “virtual” holiday decorating while visiting your home during the Historic Home Tour, and pretty much had your home looking like it belongs on a Hallmark Christmas Card 🙂 Looking forward to seeing what you do (no pressure though haha)!

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: