Quick Bathroom Spruce Up
Daednu
Today's project ws improving the bathroom. I spend a lot of time in
there since I have long baths, so I wanted to make it a little more
personal.
The counter top needed help. It was covered with nasty adhesive paper
that looked like bleeding water-colour. So I stripped that off and found
even nastier greyish "marbled" adhesive paper. I stripped that one and
found the original yellow formica. Yikes.
I covered it over with a vibrant sky blue adhesive paper. It took a
while to do because I'm picky about corners and flattening out air
bubbles. But with the aid of a putty knife and an exacto knife, it
turned out beautifully. I added four little angels over top of the
backsplash.
The new paper looks lovely in the otherwise white bathroom. It was quite
inexpensive (about $10 including both knives) for such a noticeable
change. The angels cost 50 cents each when I got them on sale at a local
store.
I added in a few gargoyles and my bat tea light lamp from Jo-Ann's. I'll
get some pictures up some point in the future.
I'm thinking of doing some before and after shots of this place as it's
progressing quite nicely. I'm really happy with how well the house is
coming together, and at such an affordable price. So I was figuring
fellow thrifty goths would be interested.
~Daednu
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands -e.e. cummings ~
~ They are love's last gifts; bring flowers, pale flowers. ~
~ http://www.velvet.net/~daednu/ ~
~ http://www.altgothic.com/c7newyork/index.html ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Filigree00
>Today's project ws improving the bathroom.
<snip>
Sounds pretty, especially with the added
decorations. Something else I've done that
was fairly cheap was to buy a small wood shelf
(from Walmart, I think, in the crafts section),
paint it in blues and greens, and decoupage
stuff on it. You know that older painting of the
mermaid woman being held by a man on some
rocks? I put the main pic of the couple on the
underside part of the shelf that is flat against the
wall, and cut out parts of the ocean and put those
on top of the shelf. It has a single candle sitting
on it, but I once had hooks screwed in underneath
for hanging necklaces.
filigree
KAR5058
<snip>
>The counter top needed help.
>I covered it over with a vibrant sky blue adhesive paper.
>it turned out beautifully.
How strange, as I also worked in my new bathroom today! I'm needing to put up a
wallpaper border on what is currently a very lumpy and crooked wall- I went
through an entire tube of caulk and 4 sheets of sanding paper, and it still
looks gross. What irks me most about this room is that the ceiling appears to
be crooked!
Though the ceilings here are quite high, having to stare at that from the tub
will drive me nuts, so here's what I plan to do:
1. Paint entire bathroom (pussy willow grey)
2. Put up wallpaper border, using a level to make sure it is truly straight. Me
anal?
3. Tack soft, billowy fabric up above to hide scary ceiling.
4. Install my mood lighting; a hanging wroughtiron candelabra (takes 4 glass
jar candles)- I wonder how far away does it need to be from the ceiling to not
scorch the fabric?
5. String a few grape ivy vines and climbing rose vines around ceiling, and
possibly over the window too (Mikey man could interpose here- if he feels I'm
becoming too fussy with the decorating!)
[the K+D artificials are really unique in design, and are made mostly from
paper, which I think is kind of cool.]
Kar
eating Haribo Horror Mix gummy bats from the $1 swap-
frighteningly good!
iphigenia
> I'm a clever pants. :>
>
> there since I have long baths, so I wanted to make it a little more
> personal.
> The counter top needed help. It was covered with nasty adhesive paper
> that looked like bleeding water-colour. So I stripped that off and found
> even nastier greyish "marbled" adhesive paper. I stripped that one and
> found the original yellow formica. Yikes.
> I covered it over with a vibrant sky blue adhesive paper. It took a
> while to do because I'm picky about corners and flattening out air
> bubbles. But with the aid of a putty knife and an exacto knife, it
> turned out beautifully. I added four little angels over top of the
> backsplash.
>
Hey! I too have been working on my bathroom! It must be a collective
unconscious thing. First, I *really* want to know more about the adhesive
paper. Because I, too, have a hideous Formica countertop. What exactly is
this adhesive paper and where do you get it? The only thing that's coming to
my mind is contact paper (you know, the shelf liner stuff), or wallpaper.
I love what you other folks have been doing with your bathrooms. So far I've
just been painting like a madwoman...my goal is clean and bright, so I've
just gone with very white on the walls, and have painted the light-blue trim
dark greyish purple, looks very cool, and i've done my kitchen the same. I'd
love to add some of the decor ideas you all have mentioned, but I have the
Dampest Bathroom In Upstate New York, and fabric on the ceiling would last
about a month before turning icky...alas...
iphigenia
'you've built your refuge, turns you captive all the same'
http://www.crosswinds.net/~preternatural
KAR5058
>What exactly is
>this adhesive paper and where do you get it? The only thing that's >coming to
>my mind is contact paper (you know, the shelf liner stuff),
I'm pretty sure this is what Daednu meant by 'adhesive paper'... It can be used
in all sorts of ways! I papered a bathroom with it once and it looked
lovely(what a b*tch, though); it is scrubbable, therefore excellent for
bath/kitchen use. :)
>I love what you other folks have been doing with your bathrooms. So >far I've
>just been painting like a madwoman...my goal is clean and bright, so >I've
>just gone with very white on the walls,
Clean and bright = White white white... It's miraculous what a simple things
like a fresh coat of paint and a higher wattage light bulb will do for a gloomy
area! (and I don't mean the -good- sort of 'gloomy'! ;))
I like the bathrooms they show in the IKEA catalogs, but I'd be fooling myself
to believe I could reproduce that here... they use fake windows with halogen
lights behind to achieve that sun-strewn happy look.
>but I have the
>Dampest Bathroom In Upstate New York, and fabric on the ceiling >would last
>about a month before turning icky...alas...
I'm not certain this will work for us either... but I'm experimenting!
Cheapy fabrics like gauze can be replaced every couple months, need be.
Kar
"A smile is your personal welcome mat."
-what last night's fortune cookie read. :}
DamselflyAuction
>Last time, on This Old Gothic House; dae...@olywa.net wrote:
I went
>through an entire tube of caulk and 4 sheets of sanding paper, and it still
>looks gross. What irks me most about this room is that the ceiling appears to
>be crooked!
>Though the ceilings here are quite high, having to stare at that from the tub
>will drive me nuts, so here's what I plan to do:
>
>1. Paint entire bathroom (pussy willow grey)
>2. Put up wallpaper border, using a level to make sure it is truly straight.
>Me
>anal?
>3. Tack soft, billowy fabric up above to hide scary ceiling.
I have a suggestion for this. I'm not sure exactly what wall surface you are
working on, but a lumpy (textured???) wall might be easier to smooth out with
spackle and a large spackle blade than with caulk? Also, if your ceiling
looks/is uneven a really cool eye trick would be to:
1. Paint the walls pussy willow grey but stop about 6 inches from the ceiling.
2. Paint the ceilling 1 - 2 shades darker grey (I would go 2 shades darker)
and continue the color down the top 6 inches of the walls.
3. Hang the wallpaper border so the top of the border with a level approx 6"
below ceiling level. This technique will help "hide" the crooked ceiling lines
and it will look very cool!
Just my $.02.
Daednu
> Daednu did mention putty knives,
> which makes me wonder what she did there. (if only i could think of
> something to do with the hideous blue sink...)
The sink is white, the new paper is blue. I used the putty knife to
smooth out bubbles. Laying down that paper is annoying because it
bubbles a lot. I also used the knife to get crisp edges before cutting
the paper with the exacto knife.
> Painting the walls and ceiling white has made SUCH a huge difference.
I really should do that too. There are just so many annoying nooks to
get into, I keep deciding painting the bathroom isn't such a great idea.
foxtrotski
"Daednu" <dae...@olywa.net> wrote in message
news:39A1F8B2...@olywa.net...
> I'm a clever pants. :>
>
> Today's project ws improving the bathroom. I spend a lot of time in
> there since I have long baths, so I wanted to make it a little more
> personal.
> The counter top needed help. It was covered with nasty adhesive paper
> that looked like bleeding water-colour. So I stripped that off and found
> even nastier greyish "marbled" adhesive paper. I stripped that one and
> found the original yellow formica. Yikes.
> I covered it over with a vibrant sky blue adhesive paper. It took a
> while to do because I'm picky about corners and flattening out air
> bubbles. But with the aid of a putty knife and an exacto knife, it
> turned out beautifully. I added four little angels over top of the
> backsplash.
*sigh* sounds stunning.
I can't do anything with mine - not because of renting or anything, but
there's a houseproud mother about three metres down the hall :)
I'd love to dress it up and make it a little more me - its a standard new
apartment bathroom, ie: really tiny, white marble bench, white walls and
tiles with a border decoration of aqua and pale blue chipped tiles.
Anyone have any birght ideas on how I can make it a little less 'day by the
seaside' without attacking it with paint and a clawhammer?
fox
iphigenia
> >What exactly is
> >this adhesive paper and where do you get it? The only thing that's
>coming to
> >my mind is contact paper (you know, the shelf liner stuff),
>
> I'm pretty sure this is what Daednu meant by 'adhesive paper'... It can be
used
> in all sorts of ways! I papered a bathroom with it once and it looked
> lovely(what a b*tch, though); it is scrubbable, therefore excellent for
> bath/kitchen use. :)
>
You did the whole bathroom? That would look cool, but sounds like much work!
But how do you make it really stick? Whenever I've used it, it's never
seemed very sticky. Maybe it's just me. Daednu did mention putty knives,
which makes me wonder what she did there. (if only i could think of
something to do with the hideous blue sink...)
> >I love what you other folks have been doing with your bathrooms. So >far
I've
> >just been painting like a madwoman...my goal is clean and bright, so
>I've
> >just gone with very white on the walls,
>
> Clean and bright = White white white... It's miraculous what a simple
things
> like a fresh coat of paint and a higher wattage light bulb will do for a
gloomy
> area! (and I don't mean the -good- sort of 'gloomy'! ;))
>
Painting the walls and ceiling white has made SUCH a huge difference. I
actually don't mind being in there so much now! : ) Unfortunately the light
fixture is fluorescent, which is cheaper than incandescent, but not so
bright. Hence part of my drive to make the room bright as possible via other
means.
> I like the bathrooms they show in the IKEA catalogs, but I'd be fooling
myself
> to believe I could reproduce that here... they use fake windows with
halogen
> lights behind to achieve that sun-strewn happy look.
>
You know, I'd say I'm disappointed, but after the thread about makeup in
magazine pics never being what they say it's supposed to be, I'm cynical
enough to not be surprised.
--
iphigenia
creeped out by strange noises at night...
http://www.crosswinds.net/~preternatural
KAR5058
>Also, if your ceiling
>looks/is uneven a really cool eye trick would be to:
>1. Paint the walls pussy willow grey but stop about 6 inches from the
>ceiling.
>2. Paint the ceilling 1 - 2 shades darker grey (I would go 2 shades >darker)
>and continue the color down the top 6 inches of the walls.
>3. Hang the wallpaper border so the top of the border with a level >approx 6"
>below ceiling level. This technique will help "hide" the crooked ceiling
>lines
>and it will look very cool!
That's a really great idea- thanks!
I'll post about it when the renovation's over....
Kar
7:30am. waaaant...coffeeee.
Marrionette
>magazine pics never being what they say it's supposed to be, I'm cynical
>enough to not be surprised.
Well the bathrooms they use Im sure arent really real in the first place.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
***ERROR 666 - HARD DRIVE POSESSED. LOAD EXOR.SYS (Y/N)***
iphigenia
"Daednu" <dae...@olywa.net> wrote
>
> The sink is white, the new paper is blue. I used the putty knife to
> smooth out bubbles. Laying down that paper is annoying because it
> bubbles a lot. I also used the knife to get crisp edges before cutting
> the paper with the exacto knife.
No, I was referring to *my* sink, which is such a hideous shade of blue. I
wonder if there's a waterproof paint I could use to pain clouds in with.
Thanks for the input tho, I am most definitely going to try this. I am
excited! Cheap fix for the counter!
>
> > Painting the walls and ceiling white has made SUCH a huge difference.
>
> I really should do that too. There are just so many annoying nooks to
> get into, I keep deciding painting the bathroom isn't such a great idea.
>
It took me forever to get around to the kitchen because I didn't want to
deal with unscrewing all the hinges and knobs from the cupboard doors, and
now that I'm finally in the middle of it, it's taking even longer than I'd
expected. But it's worth it, I must say. The problem with painting is, it's
really fun to put the first coat on and see how amazing the difference is,
then the thrill's over and doing the additional coats and all the little
hard-to-get-to spots are just drudgery...
--
iphigenia
contributing way too much to this thread...
http://www.crosswinds.net/~preternatural
kelly
>
> No, I was referring to *my* sink, which is such a hideous shade of
> blue. I wonder if there's a waterproof paint I could use to pain
> clouds in with.
There's paint you can buy for decorating plain dishes and it's still OK
to use them for food after, so maybe something like that would work for
a sink since it would have to be waterproof.
--
...kelly
-ruined for life-
http://www.wnygoth.com
http://www.velvet.net/~kelly
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/ke...@wnygoth.com
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
syko...@my-deja.com
What irks me most about this room is that the ceiling appears to
> be crooked!
> Though the ceilings here are quite high
I just moved to a new apartment where the ceilings are, I think,
fourteen feet high! At first I totally loved the apartment because of
the 'cathedral ceilings' (which I think is what they are considered),
but now I am encountering decorating problems.
It seems like no matter how I Look at the walls, I can't figure out
what to put on them without the picture being dwarfed. I am trying to
move away from plastering my walls with poster. Not saying anything
WRONG with posters, but.. I am just tired of that look.
Endless walls of renter's white! HELP!
(And I don't want to paint anything/border anything, because they are
VERY strict in the building and I don't want to lose any of my deposit.)
syk0sp4rk
Daednu
> It seems like no matter how I Look at the walls, I can't figure out
> what to put on them without the picture being dwarfed. I am trying to
> move away from plastering my walls with poster. Not saying anything
> WRONG with posters, but.. I am just tired of that look.
You might want to "pull down" the walls visually. The idea of draping
fabric on the ceiling in a Moroccan way would look beautiful with those
high ceilings. I'm going to tout this website again, and give you a
link. Go here
http://diynet.com/DIY/siteFrameset/0,1007,DIYD_episode_101,FF.html and
look at the Moroccan Bedroom. You could use that ceiling trick in
different rooms. With a more interesting ceiling, pictures won't look
lost. Also, group your pictures, it adds a lot.
Oh, and the above posted URL can also be followed to find directions on
how to do fabric covered walls.
tara gibbs
> Endless walls of renter's white! HELP!
> (And I don't want to paint anything/border anything, because they are
> VERY strict in the building and I don't want to lose any of my deposit.)
I've had much luck with banners. Pick up a curtain rod and one of those
long wrap skirts without ties (I like the celtic patterns), and attach the
banner to the curtain rod. Voila! Instant wall hanging that's *much*
bigger than the average print and costs *much* less.
...or...
Get thee to a fabric store and buy yards a yards of tulle/fabric of choice
(if you can afford it) and make "valences" along the tops of all of the
walls. If you've got lots of fabric, you could even have some of it trail
down each corner to the floor.
You can buy these twirly metal hooks that make poofies out of fabric in
the corners.
-t, wishing she could afford that much blood red velvet...*sigh*
_/=T==T=\_ "You realize your lover doesn't know just how
_/=I====I=\_ beautiful he really is on the inside...
_/=I====I=\_
_/=I==I=\_ ...get scissors and show him." -The Onion horoscopes
(::)
'' http://bombshelter.ca/~aijin
Yosa
>It seems like no matter how I Look at the walls, I can't figure out
>what to put on them without the picture being dwarfed. I am trying to
>move away from plastering my walls with poster. Not saying anything
>WRONG with posters, but.. I am just tired of that look.
Well, my roommate and I ( I will let her post her decorating tricks if
she is reading the group) live in a renovated church, white walls, tan
carpet. Tall angled ceilings. So tall that in some rooms even the
extending dusters are not long enough.
I find that decorating with things a bit bigger helps, as well as
using original art. I have a theme of decorating with art made by
members of my family, I have paintings by my mother and father, and my
own work all displayed. I border a large painting with two quatrefoil
shaped iron mirrors, which opens and fills the space better than just
one big thing on the wall. I also place the things higher on the wall
by about a foot or so than I would normally.
I also have a couple of posters, regular size, which I have then
placed 8x10 photos of movie stars around, again, spreading out the
space, rather than needing to find one big thing.
The apartment sounds wonderful! Happy decorating!
--Yosa
------
Silks and Velvets- Custom sized Corsets and Fantasy Gowns
http://www.yosa.com
Ebay Offerings- http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/yosa/
KAR5058
>I wonder if there's a waterproof paint I could use to pain clouds in >with.
Now that's a really cute idea!
There is a paint called 'Kyonize' (not sure of spelling, sorry) that sticks to
formica, maybe that will work...
Kar
Probably not helping?
ps. putting contact paper on walls is really slow and involved- I wouldn't
recommend it to anyone that wants 'instant' results! <g>
I only did it because I loved the pattern so much. (it was similar to <JOB>
rolling paper ads, women with long flowing art nouveau-ish hair)-K.
H Duffy
news:8o0tqc$qsh$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
> Kar Wrote:
>
> What irks me most about this room is that the ceiling appears to
> > be crooked!
>
> I just moved to a new apartment where the ceilings are, I think,
> fourteen feet high! At first I totally loved the apartment because of
> the 'cathedral ceilings' (which I think is what they are considered),
> but now I am encountering decorating problems.
>
> what to put on them without the picture being dwarfed. I am trying to
> move away from plastering my walls with poster. Not saying anything
> WRONG with posters, but.. I am just tired of that look.
>
> (And I don't want to paint anything/border anything, because they are
> VERY strict in the building and I don't want to lose any of my deposit.)
Some people have suggested hanging fabric of some sort; I'd suggest Saris!
On average, a sari-length will be about 15-18 foot (about 5 metres), and
the width is about 3 or 4 foot, I think.If you hang some saris along the
top of the walls, that should "hide" the top 3-4 foot, leaving you a more
normal 10 foot or so to play with. This is also a relatively cheap way of
doing things; I bought a plain indigo-blue, slightly transparent sari
length yesterday to £2.50, which is now doing service as curtains, along
with the purple slightly see-through sari I bought a few months ago for
£3! Even if you go for a more expensive sari, you should be able to get
something stunning for well under $50, which is pretty good for that
amount of fabric!
HTH
H
DamselflyAuction
>> what to put on them without the picture being dwarfed. I am trying to
>> move away from plastering my walls with poster. Not saying anything
>> WRONG with posters, but.. I am just tired of that look.
>>
The ceilings in my house aren't quite that high, they're about 10 feet so I can
kind of understand your problem. What I've done hung artwork/pictures that I
love in beautiful frames and grouped a few together with a shelf and stuff on
the shelf, etc. I hang these at eye level - exactly the height I would if I
had 8 ft ceilings. I also have lamps in every room and use them more than the
ceiling lights as they keep the lighting/attention at human level rather than
up in the heavens! Anyway, staw with slightly bigger hangings than you might
normally, group things and keep them at your eye level. My $.02.
DamselflyAuction
>>I wonder if there's a waterproof paint I could use to pain clouds in >with.
>
It is made to paint on glazed ceramic tile. After it dries, you paint on a
sealer and it is supposed to be permanent. I think this would be your best
bet!
Damselfly
Tracey
> I just moved to a new apartment where the ceilings are, I think,
> fourteen feet high! At first I totally loved the apartment because of
> the 'cathedral ceilings' (which I think is what they are considered),
> but now I am encountering decorating problems.
I think that would be a wonderful problem to have!
> It seems like no matter how I Look at the walls, I can't figure out
> what to put on them without the picture being dwarfed. I am trying to
> move away from plastering my walls with poster. Not saying anything
> WRONG with posters, but.. I am just tired of that look.
>
You might be able to use the idea of a picture
molding? I'm not sure if that is the technical word. I
think a lot of older houses, rather than putting a nail into
a wall, would have a long cord from a picture with a hook on
the end of the cord to hook over the picture molding. If
you can't actually add a picture molding yourself because of
the strictness of your building rules, perhaps you could
give the illusion of such a thing. This might fill more of
your space because the hanging hardware would become part of
the "decorativeness."
You could still actually hang things as you typically would
for sturdiness, but then have the decorative hardware for
effect and space filling. You could get pretty silk cords,
decorative ribbons, and large luxurious tassels. I once saw
a coffee house do this where the length of the cords was
much longer than the actual length of the painting itself.
Another thing that you could do with the suggestions of all
of the fabric draping advice is to add a "curtain rod" to
drape some fabric from the top of the wall to the
bottom. One of those pretty wrought iron ones from Joann's
would be nice. If you wanted a couple of tapestries in a
row, perhaps you could "split" the rod to fill in the middle
with a plain wooden dowel (I'm sure a very long wrought iron
rod would be very expensive).
If they still can be found, you could also string some of
those "dripping" christmas lights to take up the top portion
of your ceiling.
That's all I can think of right now. Let us know how it
turns out. It sounds like a fabulous apartment and I'd be
interested in hearing how you "conquer" your ceilings.
Tracey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
traceyb: keeper of the corsets and CheapSkates
http://speakeasy.org/~traceyb
soon at a Seattle cafe near you