Thursday, December 28, 2006

WIP Wednesday, on Thursday

Did you ever hear the expression "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear?" Well, even if that's true, I still try to do it now and then. The house we live in is nearly as old as I am, and while it has some architectural charm (beautiful beam ceilings, stone fireplace, hardwood floors), the bathrooms leave much to be desired. Last year we made a brief excursion into the idea of bathroom remodeling, but we never got past the showroom.

This particular bathroom is the victim of an 80's remodel and it features that green that was so popular for a while and now you can't find anywhere. I spent yesterday scrubbing, arranging, sewing curtains, and even painting grout. Yes, you read that right. The previous owner had not properly sealed the grout in the tile on the floor, and it has badly discolored. No cleaner works to make it look other than dingy, so I hauled out my white acrylic paint and a small brush and painted the grout. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I made a new fabric liner for the cupboard, and will make a valance in the same fabric. I am thinking I will just make it reversible and see how it looks (check vs. multi). I want to paint the walls to tone down that green, but I won't have time to get it done before we entertain a group from Jerry's office next weekend. We will have to serve really great food and lots of drinks so they don't notice our ugly bathrooms.


9 comments:

Debra Dixon said...

If the wall paint is in good shape, you could use it as the background and paint stripes of other colors for the "striped wallpaper" effect. You could also warm up some of those white tiles with decals or stencils. Then, use the stencil on the stripes (like an overlay). If you use some gold for the stencils you could really dress up the paint!

(But, probably not before the weekend!)

Rian said...

I remember that green! I know it's too late because you've painted the grout, but you could steam-clean it and it would look like new.

Jane Ann said...

If I were your guest, what I would notice is how nicely your cabinet liner, curtain, and print on the wall all work together, AND that you made your curtain nice and full, not skimpy and stringy looking. Good job!

Anonymous said...

It is a charming bathroom. Clean works for me!! You should see the 50's colors we have in our bathrooms. The guest bathroom is pepto bismol pink and turquoise!!

DebbyMc said...

They won't notice...and it looks great anyway from here...=-)If it's something that bothers them, that's their problem and no reflection on you...you've done a very nice job of sprucing it up and it is so sparkly clean...it'll be fine...=-)

Karoda said...

painting the grout made me wonder if you could paint the green tiles? i bet there is a way to do it and make it permanent...search DIY website.

Vicky aka Stichr said...

I think the bathroom looks pretty cool. i love the painting the grout idea!

laura west kong said...

Painting the grout--what a clever idea! I just LOVE paint.
laura

Shelina said...

Your bathroom looks good from here! I've been doing bits here and there to try to spruce up my bathroom too.