Lavender Fields For...now...

If you've been reading this blog you know I wasn't thrilled with the colour of my upstairs bathroom. From the beginning I'd been planning on re-painting it a deep plum colour. So why did I end up with a shade more closely resembling lavender? I have no idea. 

For the last month we've been living with paint chips taped to the bathroom wall (actually, there are chips in all the unpainted rooms now. It's not a look I'd recommend). The idea was to see how various hues looked in the room, and to help us decide which one we ultimately wanted to go with. On a whim I threw up a couple of neutral chips along with the plum ones. At some point I started realizing I didn't like any of the dark purple shades. Fine--we narrowed it down to two of the neutrals, and then finally to one: a mid-tone taupe-ish colour with subtle purple undertones ("Painted Rocks").  

 

 

Paint was picked up on Thursday, room was painted yesterday. But somehow the purple undertones seem to have morphed into overtones, and taupe-ish seems to have translated as grey-ish. Checking the chip against the wall it's definitely not the same colour (but as the small print says, results may vary). 

It's not horrible but it's not right, either. I don't love the way it looks with the lighter tiles and towels (although it looks okay with the dark tiles and great with the fixtures/trim). Had it not been a holiday yesterday, I would probably have gone back to the store for plum paint. As it is, it's staying this way at least until we get the rest of the house painted (in other words, since painting stops during gardening season, it'll be this colour for another year if not longer). 

In the meantime I guess I'll just have to console myself with new glass lamp shades (notice the bare bulb) and accessories! To see what the bathroom looked like before, click here

(Edited for clarity and to update link. Follow me on my official site: AspasiaSBissas.com)

Mirror in the Bathroom

Given the sheer number of things that can go on in and around one's house, it's funny what can cause you to break out the exclamation marks. 

We got a bathroom mirror! 

Or, more precisely, we finally hung the bathroom mirror. When we moved in, the main bathroom was lacking a mirror. For over a year we've been making do with a tiny hand mirror, albeit a magnifying one (look at all those pores...) Although the bathroom was mirror-less, the foyer came equipped with a lovely large mirror by the front door. I surmised that it would be perfect in the bathroom. I was right. 

Meanwhile, we entertained ourselves with endless deja vu as we spent the year repeating the same conversation with various people: "Oh, you need a mirror? I know a place where you can get a great deal." "No, we have the mirror--we just need to hang it." "Oh..." Followed by a perplexed silence as the other person ponders just how lazy and/or incompetent we are. Granted, although it turned out to be fairly easy in the end, it seemed like a big deal--big enough to put us off taking care of it. When you're not particularly handy, century-old plaster walls seem an insurmountable challenge (especially when you're used to modern drywall). Never mind that so-called hardware stores have screws and sinks for every type of surface but plaster. But that's another rant. 

(FYI--metal screw sinks, the kind that look like ginormous screws themselves but have a hole in them in which, once they're embedded in the wall, the actual screw gets placed, work just fine. Use a drill and work carefully to avoid crumbling the plaster. They, of course, can be found in the "drywall" section of the nails, screws, and fasteners aisle.) 

The "new" bathroom mirror looks awesome. It's got odd rivets on its sides, which makes me think it used to belong to a dresser. The frame is dark wood. The glass is scratched and a little cloudy, with a few of those black spots that mean the silvering is wearing off. It's exactly what the otherwise all-new bathroom needs to keep it from looking too sterile. It completes the space. 

And now I can fix my hair in the bathroom! 

Better still, I ended up solving the bathroom waste bin quandary. If you'll recall this post: Trashy, I was in need of nice-looking bins that didn't require a second mortgage. I decided to go ahead and buy the marble one I'd found, only to go back (repeatedly) and find the store never again had it in stock (just the matching accessories and a mocking space on the bottom shelf where the bins had once been). It was clearly not meant to be (also, I ended up using my gift card on clothes). So yesterday, I happened across square, solid bamboo waste bins...for a reasonable price...and the store happened to have exactly two of them. No photos, but they look great, and if we should want to upgrade later on, they'll work in the downstairs washroom as well. 

Our next consideration now is what colour to go with when we eventually repaint. Much as I like dark hues, I don't think dark brown (see photo above) is exactly the ideal shade for a bathroom. Here's what we're working with: Shower and surround tiles Floor tiles I'm thinking a deep, rich plum would work well. Suggestions?

(Edited for clarity and to update link. Follow me on my official site: AspasiaSBissas.com) 

Trashy

Okay, I'm the first to admit that my tastes are a little high end. It's a running joke in our household that given the option between similar items (and without knowing the prices) I'll always choose the most expensive. But even I have to question why some things are so pricy. Trash cans, for example. They're utilitarian items that are generally simply made with basic materials. So why do they cost an arm and a leg?We're still in the process of acquiring accessories for the new house. Among other things we need are waste bins for the bathrooms. Last week I found one at the Bay that would be perfect for the upstairs bathroom. It was a simple, square container made of marble, similar to the one in the picture (only with much plainer marble). It was $80! (I probably shouldn't complain--the one in the photo is over a thousand dollars.) For what probably amounts to less than $20 worth of stone and not much labour, why is the price so high? Not that any of the other ones I've seen have been more reasonably priced, even those made of plastic.

In the past I've used flower pots, which are generally less expensive, as waste bins. I haven't found any that'll work in the current bathrooms, though. The sad thing is, I'll probably end up getting the overpriced one because it really is perfect. Worse, I'll probably get two (one for trash, one for organics). I guess that's why stores can get away with charging so much.