“It’s Like a 90s Taco Bell!”

It was AMAZING how the bathroom changed, just by taking off the upper wallpaper, and painting the ceiling. But WOW did it change even more when the walls were primed!

SO MUCH BETTER.

Before:

During:

But you know me – I’m not going to deal with white for long. Because this is a $0 makeover, I was limited to the colors I already had. Ideally, none of the woodwork in the house would be painted. I will NEVER paint woodwork that is stained. But if it’s already painted, I don’t have an issue keeping it painted. Stripping paint is a long and arduous process – and one that we may do when we do this bathroom for real – especially since we will be enlarging it, and will need more mouldings! And IF woodwork is painted, I generally like some color other that white. Black is great, cream is great. I went with this chalky teal. This was from a $5.00 mistint gallon that I’ve had for ages, and never used. It’s a really lovely color. But for woodwork?

I often doubt myself in the middle of a project. I see the end picture in my brain, I KNOW how to get there, but when I just have a couple of pieces in place, I start to think I’m a complete moron and WHAT HAVE I DONE. This is where Doug is amazing, because he’ll say, “It’s only paint. Keep going. If you hate it, we can change it later.”

Also during this time, I wanted to change the lighting. This is the most complex-non-cosmetic change happening in this room. Before, there was one sconce light above the mirror. I went through my lighting collection, and wanted to do two sconces, which would flank a mirror. We realized it would be pretty easy, so we went for it.

Adding the sconces at this stage was good, because it allowed me to paint the walls before they were installed. And they’re pretty curvaceous, so they would have been TERRIBLE to try and trim around.

Sconces in their pre-restoration phase:

What color on the walls? Purple. Why not? I had most of a gallon leftover from the living room at Jackson Street, where we just painted one section of the wall purple. I thought it would be too dark, so I added some yellow in to mellow it out. If you do this – stir for about 92 years. Also, don’t paint the room in stages. The color will ALWAYS be a little different when you open up the can, so do each coat in its entirety – don’t do the trim, and come back and do the walls later, or you’ll hate your life.

Coat One!

This was when I really started to go “this doesn’t work.” I loved both colors, but they didn’t work together to me. I texted my friend Stephen, who understands my crazy, and he texted back, “It looks like a 90s Taco Bell. I don’t hate it.”

I carried on.

Paint, and then hang. Can you imagine how hard this would be to paint around?

The more color I got on the walls, the less anxious I felt. And I kept reminding myself – it’s only paint. It’s only for a few years. It’ll be fine. Also, people like tacos.

Here are the sconces!

I love the ribbon detail on the bottom.

There are seven holes on each sconce for crystals. I went through my stash, and these were the crystals I had with at least 14. I actually put them on Instagram and told people to vote, because I couldn’t decide!

I hung these up, because I thought they were my favorite.

But these won the Instagram pole (like, not even close – by a LANDSLIDE) so I switched them out to see. I also liked the person on Instagram show suggested just using all of them and changing them every month, like a new outfit. BECAUSE THAT’S THE KIND OF INSANITY I AM HERE FOR.

Yeah, I like these.

I do love a little sparkle in the bathroom. And since a chandelier isn’t practical in here (yet), these will do!

90s Taco Bell. It’s all going to be fine. (Really. It will.)