Bath Remodel (Part 4 of 4)

Finally the last bits of stuff are in place in the first floor bathroom redo.

See previous entries: Part 1; Part 2; and Part 3

The upper part of the walls was covered in a textured wall covering that needs to be painted. I tried a wash technique to emphasize the texture but it just looked dirty. I ended up painting it a tint of the lower wall color. The lighting in the room is strong enough to let the texture show clearly.

The first floor bath primarily is used by guests so we gave it a slightly more formal, and age-appropriate, style. To that end, I found a great ebonized hanging cabinet to repeat the other ebonized furniture in the house. All it needed was a good waxing and it looks great. Now to find some goodies to show off on the shelves and in the glass cabinet. 

The antique cast iron oil lamp sconces on either side of the medicine cabinet/mirror were wired for electric. They originally burned oil/kerosene. The milk glass shades are antique, too. 

We weren't able to afford a new floor (rip out the old tile, put in new) so we kept the not too threatening white and maroon tile floor we inherited. I'm not a fan of the particular shade of maroon—very 1980s, so to decrease its appearance I added a good bit of dark walnut wood items and am using only deep amber (brown) glass for storing toiletries (soap, mouthwash, cough drops, etc.). This has a net affect of making the maroon of the floor appear to be purposeful, more of a dark brown and less offensive/dated.

The huge walnut mirror was hung to add some dark walnut coloring as well as some formality—the gilt Liberty head at the top really is pretty grand and helps to carry around some of the gold and brass that shows up here and there in the room (new plumbing fixtures are all brushed nickel). There's also a walnut toilet seat to carry around that dark walnut color.

The medicine cabinet is still to be completed. When the wainscot was added it shortened the hole in the wall that was sized for a standard, off the shelf, medicine cabinet. I couldn't just buy one from Lowes in a correct size. There is also electric in the wall that I want to maintain access to so I built my own medicine cabinet to suit the space available. It's smaller in height and width than others, but its more than twice as deep as usual. The rear panel can removes to access the electrical connections. Finally, I'll add a door/mirror made up from one of my (many) antique walnut frames (more walnut, of course).  

All in all were pretty pleased, even if it was a LONG and sometimes rough road. Obviously, I still have work to do to get it completed, but some things just take a whole lot of time.