OT_ PERCH!! need decorating advice!

[Arleen Black]

Hey Linda, since you seem to be our resident painting and decorating guru,
and I have no taste of talent in that area, I wanted your opinion. I am
redoing the hall bath, it is guest and kid bath all in one. We have had a
kid theme and I am tired of it. I am in the process of painting the room a
medium tan, it almost has a lavendar undertone to it though. The fixtures
and trim are white. Would lavendar work in here? I need a color to accent
with, towels, showercurtain, etc...What color do you like for a bath that is
basically tan and white? Thanks in advance for any input!
Arleen

[kandy bennett]

I know you didn't ask me, but I'm going to but in anyway.:) I think that
tan is almost as good as white. Meaning most colors will go. However,
deep colors seem to work best. Dark brown, forest green etc. You can
always have the bath towel a dark color and the hand towel a tan with
dark trim. That's if you are putting out a set to look pretty.Good luck.
And be sure to take pictures so we can see when you get finished.
Kandy,SC

[Pittsburgh Linda]

Hi Arleen - Thanks for asking ME!! Wow, I'm flattered!!
First of all - thank Goodness you have a neutral background color of white;
it leaves you free to do ANY COLOR you want.....so why tan??
What color do 'really' LOVE? If you love lavender, paint the walls
lavender!! Don't be afraid of painting color. Let's face it, if you really
hate it, you can paint over it!
I'd pick a color you really LOVED, so you will LOVE your bathroom.
I would FIRST go to the store (Target/Walmart are just the best in that
dept) and pick the accessories that give the inspiration to paint the room.
I'm in the process of doing it right now myself. What I have is Aqua tiles
(small guest bathroom) and a brown cabinet and white counter (YUCKY!!).
What I did was I went to Walmart and found the most beautiful aqua &
lavender bath accessories, which were a garbage can, soap dispenser &
towels. I bought them all. After bringing them home & putting them in the
bathroom, it inspired me to paint the walls in the same lavender color.
After the walls, I will pick up the carpet and PAINT THE FLOOR!! Yes, paint
the floor. After I paint it with the design matching the garbage can, I'll
polyurethane it about 10 times . I can't wait. But what I'm saying here is
that the Accessories can give you the inspiration to do the rest of the
room. I LOVED the mix of colors in the accessories, so that's what my
bathroom will look like too since my tiles were aqua; I really don't have
choice but to go with that as a base color and work around it. When I'm
done, it'll look like a designer did it because everything will match.
My advice to you is forget the tan, unless you really love it, but I really
think you would love color in there. Go to Target or Walmart and go to
their bath accessories dept and browse. Find something you really really
love and go from there. Go pick up a paint to match the accessories and
paint away. You can even buy one of those textured rollers and buy 2
similar colors of paint to faux finish the walls. Those rollers make it
very easy. Target/Walmart sells them too!!
I LOVE the Christopher Lowell show on the Discovery channel
http://dsc.discovery.com/dscdaytime/christopherlowell/christopherlowell.html
and get a LOT of my ideas from him. I even bought his fabulous new book.
He is fabulous!!
Good luck and pleeeease let me know what you do. I'd love to be right there
with you doing it. How fun and how pretty it'll look when you paint and
design the bathroom you'll love in the colors you love too!
Linda - Hope that wasn't more than what you wanted to hear!

"Arleen Black" <bill...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:pGR46.51$4Z....@news2.atl...

[Pittsburgh Linda]

http://www.christopherlowellpaint.com/
This is Christopher Lowell's new paint line site. It'll help you figure out
how much paint you need. You can buy his paint at Burlington Coat Factory
now too. I'm there!!
Linda

"Arleen Black" <bill...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:pGR46.51$4Z....@news2.atl...

[Hannah]

I'm with Kandy....you didn't ask, but I love decorating, and just
have to put in my two cents!!

What about a deep plum color??? Not really purple, but sort-of
a deep, dusty mauve-plum????? I love that color-combination, but
need more bright colors in my own home!!

I also love the unexpected....things in a bathroom that you don't
at all think of as bathroom-type stuff. For instance, I'm in the
middle of redo-ing my master bath. Actually, right now, I'm just
collecting the accessories and formulating ideas. I'm hoping to
buy paint in a week or so, then tackle it all when we have a
free weekend (and I have time to clean it first!!) Anyway, I'm
doing the walls in a very neutral off-white (almost white, but
not quite....have to match the bedroom a little!), then I'm going
to somehow hand-paint a wide border in a dark navy...probably do some
kind of a dry brushing or other faux-finish. I'm accenting with
gold and silver stars. I'm going for the elegant look, with a
little whimsy thrown in for good measure. I'm not sure yet how
I'm going to do the stars...I hope to add them mostly in the
border, but also thrown in around the mirror, doors, towel rack,
over the tub, etc. I'd love to do them in something sparkly...
maybe stamped or stenciled. Hand-painted if I can't find anything
else, but I'm hoping to find something easier. The unexpected:
first of all, stars floating on the walls in unexpected places.
And, I have found all kinds of neat star stuff while Christmas
shopping. Target had some great stuff...gold star napkin holders
that I bought to do something with for curtains. A white plate
with navy rim and gold stars, to hold a candle collection on
the edge of the tub. I also found cloth napkins there...off-white
with gold stars! And others were off-white with sparkly-gold plaid!
Not sure yet what I'll do, but I think I'll use them on my windows
as well....maybe the plaid gathered on the bottom half for privacy,
then the stars ones forming a pointed valance!

I'm so sorry this has gotten so long! I'm just so darned excited
about it!! My main point was to advise to look for decorating
items that you don't normally associate with the bathroom...you
never know what you might be able to do with it!

I promise I'll go now!!
Hannah in IN

[Arleen Black]

Wow, thanks to all of you for your advice. I am terrible at decorating! I
have lived in this house for 7 years, and we still have maybe 3 pictures on
the walls! My Dh and I have very different tastes as far as art and
decorating, and he wants to have a say in it. Why couldn't I get one that
just said, "Whatever you like dear"! Anyway, Linda, I am checking out that
paint site right now, I am thinking of combining Kandy and Hannah's ideas,
using a darker color for umph, and possibly that smoky plum type color, that
sounds like it might be really pretty! I also like the advice for looking at
non-bathroomy things to use in there, although the space is pretty small,
and 2 kids share it so whatever goes in there has to be durable and
functional. Anyway, you all have given me great advice, thanks so much!! I
will let you know what I decide to do, and now that I have a scanner :) I
can take pics and share too!!
Arleen

"Arleen Black" <bill...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:pGR46.51$4Z....@news2.atl...

[Julie D.]

Hi Arleen,
This sounds like such a fun project. Thought I'd chime in on the
non-traditional bathroom items. My mom used a tall slender wine rack that
she got at Cost Plus for a towel holder. It's about 4 feet tall and maybe
4" x 4" and looks like a tall square, open wire "cylinder" with openings for
wine bottles. The towels, washcloths, etc are tucked into the holes for the
bottles. It's very functional, fits into a very small space between toilet
and bath or next to the sink, and looks cool too! Placemats, like the
napkins Hannah mentioned, are great for making valences. I love the color
idea. Good Luck. Can't wait for you to post some pictures.
Hugs, Julie

"Arleen Black" <bill...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message

news:om156.4065$of7.1...@news1.atl...

[Hannah]

Ohh......I just thought of something very functional!!
I'm wanting to do something else with our other
bathroom. Something very different, incorporating
bright colors and stripes!!! Anyway, it, too, is
very small. (Our master bath is huge...we are so
blessed with it!) We live in company housing, so
could be moved at the drop of a hat. I try to do
lots of decorating with things that are mobile or
that don't cost much. I love wallpaper, but just
can't afford to do it when we might move soon. Painting
is so much more economical!

Anyway, I need function in this small bathroom, but
also want added color. I would love to have a peg-board
surrounding the room with a shelf above it, probably
custom-made (by dh of course!). That's not going to
happen, I'm sure, so I purchased four small peg-boards
from Michael's for under $3 each. I'm going to paint them
(probably white as trim-work on colored walls) and hang
them side-by-side (lengthwise), so they look like one
long peg-board. I figure, I can hang pretty things on
them to match the decor, and they can also serve to hang
towels when we have guests/kids using the bathroom.

They are unfinished, so they can be painted any color...
even a painting technique might work!!

Good luck...can't wait to see pictures!
Hannah in IN....who's now itching to paint!

[Elise]

Well..... I guess Im going to jump on this band wagon , too , even though you have already gotten some great ideas to get started .

 

I have painted every color in the rainbow at times and even did one bathroom over 5 times ( before the colorized computer age ) to get the color right . In my experience , and with  the push toward the Millenuim neutrals , this is the way to go .  Use color to accent with and this is less expensive , too . Taste change and its easier to change accessories than to rewallpaper or paint .

 

Im a trash to treasures type person so Im always finding new / old stuff and changing things around .  I come to Atlanta alot in the summer and I tell ya , Arleen , the estate sales are fantastic there . If you havent been bitten by that bug yet ... you should check it out .

My first flea market /trash find was 25 years ago by the side of the road in Pittsburgh .  Yes Linda ,,,,,, Pittsburgh .  Its a straight back solid oak chair that  I still have and along with that was a octagonal shaped 72 drawer ( 9 triangle drawers on each side ) solid oak carpenters cabinet . All this for free because it was on the road headed for the dump  !!

 

Well..... I could go on and on but neutral is my color scheme suggestion .

Elise

 

 

Arleen Black <bill...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message news:pGR46.51$4Z....@news2.atl...

[Janae]

Or. . .you could leave the tan and lightly "sponge" a couple other colors on top
of it, colors from your shower curtain or towels, etc. I love doing bathrooms.

Janae in IN

I love to use an interesting border around the middle of the bathroom walls. It
always gave my boys something to look at while they were standing there. Lol!

[Cindy]

Linda, I like C. Lowell, Too! He has great ideas that don't cost lots of
money and that most of us can do. I have that book on my wish list!

Cindy

Pittsburgh Linda <LOVESC...@prodigy.net> wrote in message
news:93218n$8828$1...@newssvr05-en0.news.prodigy.com...

[kandy bennett]

Ooh, Hannah, that sounds really terrific. Can't wait to see the
pictures. Don't forget to take the before pictures. That's something
that I tend to forget. I'm so excited about getting started that I don't
think of it until I'm at least half way through the project.
Kandy,SC

[Netcrafts OnLine]

Wow, what a neat site! I watch his program and love to see what's new in paint
colors. Did you see how he names the paints by fruits & veggies.
Love It!
Chris

[Cindy]

This is very cool! Love those names and his naming system really does
work!. The color comes up just like you'd imagine.

Cindy

Netcrafts OnLine <in...@netcrafts.com> wrote in message
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[Pittsburgh Linda]

Yes, Chris, LOVE his new paint line!! He's a riot too! I am going to
Burlington Coat Factory tomorrow to pick up a few cans; love the lilac
sorbet color! Also, I LOVE to paint and can't wait to get my hands on his
products. He's got a whole line of bed & bath items there too. I better
bring the credit card!! LOL!!
Linda :o)

"Netcrafts OnLine" <in...@netcrafts.com> wrote in message
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