One of the projects I wanted to tackle when we moved in two years ago, was the powder room off of the kitchen. It had been 85% updated prior to us buying the house, but it still needed some cosmetic finishing. The toilet and pedestal sink were perfect for the space, but the walls... well that was a challenge for me. I kept contemplating tearing off the old melamine wall boards and replacing them with bead board, wainscoting or white subway tiles. I really want to go with the white subway tiles, but the pocket book isn't quite up for that expense, so the powder room just stayed the same. I finally decided that it needed a face lift in the interim.
Before:
Challenge #1: The layers and layers of paint on the woodwork. I considered replacing the woodwork, but opted instead for repainting the existing. There were some areas where the paint was chipping so I removed the loose pieces. Easy peasy.
Challenge #2: The wallboard. My biggest concern was that the paint actually stuck to the plastic-like surface. I lightly sanded the wall with a Scotch-Brite Ultra Fine pad in a circular motion along the entire wall. I am not usually very patient with the sanding steps so I did it twice for good measure.
The next thing I did was apply a primer. I had read about Glidden Gripper on Pinterest and I am completely converted. This stuff is aaaaaaamazing. After the primer had dried, I did two coats of Behr Marquee Semi-Gloss on the tile board and all the trim work. You can also see in the before photo that the iron radiator was also in desperate need of refinishing. We actually have a lovely 4 coil refinished radiator in the basement that we intend to swap this 2 coil out for at some point, but until then - paint!
For the top portion of the wall, I chose a Behr color called "Graphite".. It's almost black, but a little warmer. I did the base in a matte finish. Two coats. Well, one and a half if I am completely honest. I have always really loved the bold look of wallpaper but due to my mercurial decorating nature, I just know that in 5 years I will want to change it. Flash forward to me holding a wallpaper steamer and kicking back a bottle of wine while sobbing about the tediousness of removal. So to get that look of a high end wallpaper, I stenciled on a damask pattern using the same color but in a gloss finish. Voila! The look I love without the worry of removal.
After:
Once all the painting was done, it was just a matter of the finishing touches. I replaced the old medicine cabinet with a frame-less oval mirror. The artwork is from HidenSeek on etsy (whom I adore). And of course there was the window. I just used a simple bamboo roman shade from Lowe's and a vinyl frosted window film for the lower half so we could have both privacy and natural light.
