As I mentioned recently, I was feeling less than thrilled about the color of my downstairs bathroom. Sure, brown is a great neutral, and you can jazz it up with accessories, but it was depressing me. And since it’s also the room where my laundry gets done, I wanted it to feel a little snazzier.
I saw a color I LOVED on Pinterest, and couldn’t decide where in the house I would paint…it was a dark teal jewel tone (I love jewel tones), and it finally came to me that it would be perfect for the downstairs bathroom!
I wasn’t sure when I’d get around to it though, since I’ve been rather tired lately, which makes me lazy on the weekends. But this weekend, I grabbed my brushes, picked up the paint, and went to work!
I forgot what a pain it is to paint in a bathroom though – I made short work of the preparations; I took all of the switchplates off, and took all of the accessories out to keep them paint free. I knew I’d have to move the washer/dryer, but I thought the rest of the bathroom would go quickly. The best laid plans, as they say…
It took me a good solid on and off ten hours to finish the whole thing – exhausting. Because the color was dark, even though I had a fairly dark brown on the walls already and it was a primer/paint combo, I still had to do three coats. Plus, I forget how much is fixed in a bathroom – it takes quite the acrobatic act to paint behind the toilet, and to climb over and behind the washer/dryer.
But I finally finished it, and it was worth all of the effort! Unfortunately, I’d already started painting by the time I realized that I should have done a full set of “before” pictures. So you’ll have to make do with some of the old ones I have (mostly from Christmas decorating shots!):
The Before.
The After!
What a difference, don’t you think?
Here are some other shots:
Another before
I just love the color.
Now, here are some tips I find make it easier:
- Don’t tape: Lots of people swear by taping before they paint, but I find that it takes up a TON of time, and it never seals up properly or completely, so it creates more of a mess than it saves. Instead, I’m just super careful when I cut in – and I start with a few brush strokes away from the edge, so I know my hand is steady and I don’t have too much paint on the edge of the brush.
- Get the bucket and tray liners: I have a bucket for the purpose of cutting in, which has a magnet on one side to hold the brush up. It is amazing and worth every penny. These buckets also have liners, so you can pour the paint in that you need for a project, and just throw the liner out when you’re finished – it makes the clean up SO. MUCH. EASIER. Same for the roller tray liners. I still wish I knew how to best clean the rollers and brushes, but the liners make my life much better!
- Use a small-handled brush: I found these when I first moved out on my own three years ago, and I find that they fit in my hand very nicely and make painting much easier.
- Use an old scrubber sponge for clean-up: This time, I was lazy and didn’t put any drop cloths down. I was working on tile, so that was part of the reason – if it had been carpet, I definitely would have put down drop cloths. No matter how careful you are, if you’re using a roller, you’ll get splotches of paint pretty much everywhere. So when I was ready to clean, I used the scrubber side of an old sponge to scrub the paint off of the floor and counters (I say old sponge because you’ll obviously want to throw the sponge away after using it to wipe up your floors!). It worked beautifully!
- Always, always remove switch plates and outlet covers: It takes so little time, but makes a huge difference. I didn’t remove all of them the first time I painted the house, which has been so noticeable as I have changed out some of the outlets. It shows that you care about the small details.
Tomorrow, I’ll share with you the before and after in the kitchen, which I painted today!
), so that adds to my difficulties!
