my lavender bathroom - pictures!

I did it - I painted my bathroom last week. And though I said I would wait on pictures until I was finished, I love the result so much that I just couldn't help myself. It's a little weird to have done my northern-facing bathroom in sunset colors, but I do love the warmth it gives the room at night. Once afternoon rolls around, the whole room & hallway just glow. And then the lavender is really lovely in the icy morning sun - and helps bring out the green in my eyes. This color just makes me happy.

The shower curtain's packaging was made out of the same peach as the top row with ruffles of the the middle pink and lighter purple, which made picking out a paint color so easy. I was able to do it right in the middle of Home Depot - no coming home to check colors, second-guessing myself and putting off the whole project for another two years.

And see? The shade is perfect. If the curtain had another row of purple, it would be Behr's Sweet Petal.

The icy northern light IS beautiful, but it's only so-so for getting detail pictures with my point-and-shoot camera. But you get it, right?

I also painted all of the trim in Ralph Lauren Picket Fence, leftover from painting my living room. One day all of the trim and all of the doors in my house will be this shade of white. It's perfect. Crisp and clean but still with a bit of life to it. And can I just say how much I ADORE Ralph Lauren paint? It was a bit thick after sitting in my shed for two years, but still went on smoothly (after much mixing) and was so much easier to apply than drippy, thin Behr. Really wish Home Depot still carried it, but I'd drive an hour (or order online) to get some more Picket Fence.

I've never really taken pictures of my bathroom before so even though my cabinet set-up isn't new to me, it is new to you. It really makes me happy to use decorative items to hold my everyday supplies - and makes this open shelf a lot more attractive. Plus the stained glass pieces were presents, which makes them extra pretty in my eyes.

Obvs the mini galvanized bucket (found online for 99 cents!) holds my cotton swabs and then the Liberty for Target canister hold cotton balls and the votive holder captures hair elastics, barrettes and tweezers.

And what a fun coincidence that the canister matches my new walls! You know what else matches? Everything in my shower. Yup - my shampoo, conditioner, body wash, body puff, shave gel AND razor are all shades of pink and purple. I swear this was not planned - but I do wonder if I was unconsciously influenced?

I love the way my bathroom turned out. I don't even mind the wrinkles in the shower curtain - and anyway, they are slowly falling out with each shower. Overall, it is just a happy, fun and spirited room. Just what I needed.

If I...bought this fab townhouse in Manhattan

I found this townhouse in one of my visits to Brown Harris Stevens. I just love their site and all the floorplans.

This house was recently renovated and the floorplan rocks. Garage (!) and kitchen on the first floor leading to the garden. Dining and living rooms on the second floor. A home gym (and I'm assuming the floor has been extra supported). Lots of really large bedrooms. Master bedroom on the top floor that has a balcony with Central Park views. And no worries if you're tired after a long day and don't feel like climbing 5 flights of stairs - there's an elevator.

I actually really like the way the house is decorated and would take it fully furnished. Well, I'd replace the table in the dining room - but wouldn't have to immediately. Here are some shots from the website

 
The main thing I would change is the kitchen. It just screams early 2000s. The color of the cabinets and of the granite counters. The ginormous pot rack in the middle of the room. The layout is fine - I probably wouldn't change that - and I'm sure the appliances are still great, but everything else is getting ripped out.

 
* I'd make the back and side cabinets white - possibly ever so slightly off white - and have the majority of them with glass fronts to add some light to this space.
* Then I'd have an island made out of reclaimed wood - nice and rustic.

* I'll have a hood hanging down - I think it's a mistake to remove it when you have a professional-grade stove (which I will, natch) - but mine will be brass or maybe aged copper to go with the lights.

* Because I"m replacing the lights with these Hicks egg-shaped pendants from Circa Lighting. Love them! I'll have two gigantic ones on either side of the hood and then two (not sure big or little) above the kitchen table. And all four will be evenly spaced as though they were on the same axis.

* Then I'll have a couple of porthole-style flush mounts on the far edges of the room. No recessed lighting for me! But I also don't want 50 bajillion eggs hanging from the ceiling.

* Finally, I'll paint the walls and ceiling Ralph Lauren Impressionist - a lovely and bright greyish blue. The ceilings on this floor ar 8'6" - nothing to sniff at, but the ceilings in the rest of the house are 10-12' high. So I'll try some tricks to make this floor seem as high as the others, including painting the ceiling the same as the walls.

I also like that they have a real couch as seating for the kitchen table - definitely recreating that. I'll also have a TV somewhere in here that I can view from the table or the stove. Because while this room will look like all kitchen, it really will be half family room.
Anyone have an extra $26 million lying around? Plus a bit more for the renovations...
 
 
Side note: this is part of a new series, related to What Would Debbie Do, but I'm liking the If I... title better.  This whole blog is just me playing around so WWDD could make a comeback someday.