The crash project to create a vintage style black-and-white bathroom is: Done! And oh my gosh, did we have fun. One of the highlights, for sure, was at the very end, when Aunt Mary Anne and I were decorating. I remembered that I had just seen a bag of vintage costume jewelry in another bedroom, which Mom had picked up at an estate sale. We used it to bling-ify the bathroom, giving it a sparkly girly-girl lift. Aunt Mary Anne thought to put the vintage earrings right onto the shower hooks. We created: Shower Curtain Rod Ring Bedazzlers! LOVE!
Aunt Mary Anne rocks! She is the the most AMAZING decorator in the world. I learned SO MUCH from her. Note the shower curtain. It — and the pink sculpted towels — are both from the Target Shabby Chic collection. As part of my “get this bathroom done in 7 days” constraints, Target and one nearby antique mall are the only places I shopped for decor. I went right for those sculpted Shabby Chic towels. She also guided me to buy the deeper pink towel (“Home” collection, I recall) and to layer them. She then draped a costume pearl necklace over — clipping the earring at the bottom.
Target Shabby Chic sculpted pink hand towel with costume jewelry. Aunt Mary Anne sees this photo and says, “What happened to the earring?” At left: A peek at the $98 white vanity countertop from Lowes. Cultured marble = plastic, but I like it!
We initially thought that we would use a sliding shower door. I actually have it, and am stuck with it — Lowe’s will not take it back because it was a “special order” (even though it was very simple and was in a stockroom waiting somewhere. This annoys me to no end. Shame on you, Lowes, you lose mega points off your otherwise near-perfect score for overall wonderfulness for this ridiculousness.) We changed our mind to go with a shower curtain, rather than a sliding glass door, to give my mom more space to maneuver in the relatively narrow shower area.
Above: The Lowe’s vanity that I painted black using Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations — the whole project turned out great. I want to paint everything using the Rustoleum kit process! New pulls and knobs from Home Depot. Kohler Fairfax lav faucet from FaucetDirect.com. Soap dish: Vintage, from a rapid-fire shopping trip to Peddlar’s Mall in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Wastebasket: Old popcorn tin that Mom had saved. Aunt Mary Anne is mortified that we did not have “real” wastebasket liners, available from Bed Bath & Beyond, and that we had to use an old Target bag instead. She is a totally convincing role model about “do it right.” Vintage bracelet around the hand towel. Paint colors: Regular Gray (wall) and Alabaster (trim), both from Sherwin Williams. The gray has a bit of pink in it – when the sun comes through in late afternoon, it even looks a bit lavendar.
Jeremy laid the tile. The grout is Delorean Gray, from Tec — a wonderful grout color. The threshold of the shower is Carrera marble. Yum yum yum.
We even styled the top of the toilet. I found the big, heavy round vintage shaving mirror at Peddlar’s. Mary Anne and I are both super detail-oriented. She totally approved of the fact that I replaced the stock toilet flushing lever with a satin-nickel one from Moen. Toilet is American Standard, comfort height — the complete kits from Lowe’s. We actually replaced the toilet in the hall bath, too. However, they IMMEDIATELY started exhibiting problems. BOTH of them. IMMEDIATELY. They run after you flush and you have to jiggle the handle to get the tank to fill. This is also Ridiculous and will have to be remedied. Shame on you, American Standard and Lowe’s, for selling piece- of-crap crappers.
Rug also is Target Shabby Chic. Mom had the infuser around. She loved the bathoom. She said it was “just what I dreamed of.” 🙂
Janice says
Stunning job! You and Aunt Mary Ann are decorating genuises! Love all the finishing touches which without them is like getting dressed and forgetting to put on your jewelry. It’s what makes a room. It’s been a fun journey!
Martha says
Beautiful job on everything. The floor is fantastic, all the little details are amazing!
Ann-Marie Meyers says
It was worth all the hard work! You and Aunt Mary Ann did a fabulous job.
As for the problems with Lowe’s and the American Standard toilets. You need my three magic words that every woman should know, “This is unacceptable.” Works every time.
Jenny says
It’s beautiful. I love it. I bet your mom is really proud of you and so happy with her new bathroom 😉 Sorry to hear of your toilet woes, though. We have similar issues with our toilet, which was in our house when we bought it. I wonder if some of the issues are in the design of these newer low-flow toilets. Not to sound like my dad, but it seems like the older models had less problems and were easier to fix, although they used more water.
Pam says
What can I say? Beautiful! You did a great job! I’m amazed!
Elaine says
Oh, and thanks for the tip about Target’s shabby chic collection. I need all new linens for my time capsule and those look perfect. I hope they come in other colors, we’re aqua and gray speckle tile here.
Elaine says
That turned out grand. I love my bathtub turned walk in shower, and yours looks wonderful, so safe and useful and pretty. I have a custom clear glass door which I thought was the Bomb, but looking at how your Mom’s looks with the shower curtain, I am rethinking my design for my new shower in my new time capsule house. I love that look with the shower curtain, and as Merry Maids pointed out, all you do is take them down and pop them in the washer once a month or so, no tedious glass polishing.
bent says
Looks great! One thing I suggest if you’ve got $10 more is to replace the old ivory outlet over the sink. If you can change a light bulb you can change an outlet or a switch. And the look of a new white outlet on a fresh painted wall makes it seem like you had new drywall and electric run too.
Andrea says
It looks wonderful…and like everyone, I adore that floor, the black and white tile, and love the gray marble sill on the shower curb. So much attention to detail. The way you did the shower will help a lot when I embark on a similar job next month!
I really love Aunt Mary Jane’s glasses, though!!…any chance she knows what style they are??? 🙂
Congratulations all around for a job superbly done—bet your Mom is tickled pink!
Just another Pam says
You and your Aunt are dynamos! Very pretty bathroom but more importantly, how often can anyone make their Mum’s dreams come true much less in 7 days? Well done!
I’ve had friends that worked at Sears and big box stores that said the Moen story applies to appliances too. Tragic, ain’t it?
pam kueber says
I want to be clear (confusing typo in original story): The problem is with the American Standard toilets.
Just another Pam says
Whooops, I’m the one who should have been clearer as the Moen story I was referring to was the one Jennifer’s plumber shared with her.
“My plumber tells me that the Moen faucets I bought at Home Depot are not really Moen quality but a lower grade/price made just for those stores. Still, shame on them for putting their name on something so lousy.”