While Kate has been hard at work on the epic task of gut renovating her 1960s bathroom, I tackled the much less ambitious — but amazingly gratifying — task of re-wallpapering my master bathroom. I know. I know. You like the “before” picture. Maybe better than the after. But the “before” wallpaper was falling off the wall after about 10 years of my using the bathroom like a sauna. So it had to come down. I found the replacement vintage wallpaper at an estate sale. One of the key things that I want to point out in this story: You can totally change the look and feel of a bathroom — just by swapping out the wallpaper. HUGE transformation. Oh, I changed the lights, too — using vintage fixtures I found for a steal. I ADORE my glowy new / old bathroom.
Above: I used DIF to remove the old wallpaper. There was also liner underneath. The wallpaper was falling down from behind the liner paper. So I think the issue may have been with how the wall was prepped for the liner paper. Or, as I said, it could be that I use the room like a steam bath that no manner of exhaust fan can process fast enough. This latter hypothesis is most likely, I believe, since the falling down / peeling was happening most dramatically at the shower-edge.
That last photo above is my decollage moment.
Above: I swapped out the Rejuvenation Selma’s that I originally had installed in the bathroom for these vintage lights that have a way more vintage-modern feel. I found these sconces at the Great Adams Estate Sale Be Still My Heart HERE and here and here and here and here and here. As you can see, before I blogged fulltime (when I had a “real” day job) I used to write shorter stories!
Another background factoid: When I first renovated the bathroom, around 2003, I still had in my heart’s desire that I wanted a Victorian farmhouse. Hence, the porcelain sconces. However, as my journey into the mid century design world progressed, I understood that my house had a much more mid modern feel. Those porcelain sconces were too ’40s for my space. I knew that someday I needed to replace them. When I switched the wallpaper, I remembered these gorgeous bow-tie sconces and dug them out of my attic lighting hoard. (Which is quite impressive, at this point.) I ADORE THEM.
Like I said, this bathroom — with its beige tile and beige wallpaper … with just a dash of yellow and grey … and dreamy frilly frosted glass sconces — is just GLOWY. I went looking for a shower curtain, and found an ivory cloth number at Homegoods for $7.95. It has small, swiss dot woven texture.
Seriously, I almost didn’t wallpaper. I almost just left the walls white. I have been super duper busy with all kinds of other things, and really, was not in the mood to dedicate the time for this project. I did it in stages over the course of several weeks (chaos all over adjacent spaces). Once the white size was up in two coats and as I procrastinated finishing the job, I almost decided to just paint over with white and hang some art and to heck with decorating complexity. But Kate — with her epic project — was shaming me. So I wallpapered. Finishing up this last piece — wallpapering — took about four hours a day for two days over a weekend. (It’s tricky in a small space with lots of cut outs.)
In the end, I am super happy I did it. The wallpaper makes me immensely overwhelmingly happy. Don’t ever try to talk me out of wallpaper again. Now, I think I really need to do the mud room.
WHO would have thought you could put yellow and grey with beige? I am on the lookout for yellow towels to match. But this may be a hard one. The yellow has no acid tones. It’s kind of … butterscotchy. And YES: The leaves on the yellow flowers are gold metallic.
For this project, I just used the plain old DIF brand wallpaper adhesive — powder you mix with water. We’ll see how it holds up to my “steam room.”
Read this original story of mine about How to Wallpaper a Room in Vintage Wallpaper.
Now for my love letter to these bow tie sconces:
Oh how I love you, you gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous vintage bow tie sconces. Certain ebay sellers want to sell you these days for $900 a pair. But I found you, forgotten and forlorn, in an old apple box in the garage of an estate sale house. All my greedy grubby dirty handed digging paid off. I found you. You found me. I don’t know who made you. But I know you are of wonderful stock. You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I look forward to our many hours together. I love you.
P.S. Now I need a Stylebuilt trash can.
And, an update: Lots of folks asking about my sink. When we renovated the bathroom, I put a “wanted” ad on craigslist (or was it in the local newspaper? Maybe it was the newspaper, the internets weren’t so super popular yet). I quickly got a hit. Got the sink from a woman in Dalton who had it in her basement from a previous remodel. I paid $65. It included the legs and towel bars. I had to have the faucet rebuilt. The faucet is now gunking up again, and I really need to replace it. Now I know where to find retro-style centersets.
Getting these vintage wall-hung sinks is pretty easy, I think. The legs: Much more difficult to find, although I do see them vintage now and then. (I think they just got tossed in remodels.) If you want to buy chrome sink legs new, best source I know, for selection, is deabath.com. Note, the legs do not support the sink in any meaningful way, as far as I know. The sinks hang on wall brackets — you can also get these from deabath.com. If you are buying a sink vintage, be sure to get the wall brackets if you can, you will save some expense.
Janet in CT says
Pam, what is a Stylebuilt trash can?
Janet in CT says
Ah, just googled it and see alot of interesting things that I never knew much about. Neat items and I can totally see one of those wastebaskets in your bathroom!
Jay says
Wow! Pam, a great understated bit of elegance! Those new (old) light fixtures are sexy. I must admit I was stumped when I saw the first photo with the porcelain light fixtures and wondered what was up with that. The wallpaper compliments the tile. What other lighting goodies are stashed in your attic?
Janet in CT says
I too wanna know, Pam! What other goodies, period, are stashed in your attic? If you are like me, you have “stuff” in your bedroom closets, under your beds, in your basement, in your linen closets, on your porch…… I can never have too much “stuff”. I love the story of my cousin coming home from a yard sale. She had so much stuff in her car, she couldn’t shut the back doors so she tied them as close to closed as she could, across the car inside and over the roof with a rope! We are two of a kind! You just KNOW when you have a find you cannot pass up! You should do a weekend uploader of our favorite finds, but it might turn into hundreds and hundreds of photos!
gsciencechick says
I really like the new wallpaper! My parents had wallpaper in the bathroom, but we also had a window that was opened after every bath or shower, even in the winter. In Buffalo.
DH also uses our bathroom like a steambath, so I can relate. We will eventually need to gut our bathroom, but I have TONS of inspiration photos from here.
BTW, I also have fantasies of Victorian farmhouse. Funny how I like the extremes of Victorian and MCM. Both have character in their own way.
Nancy B says
Pam- It looks beautiful! It is really funny how you can enjoy a bathroom? My daughter gave me a piece of artwork that I put in my bathroom & it really makes me happy & I enjoy being in that room! Lets face it-we spend a lot of time in our bathrooms-why not make it a place that makes us feel good!
The wallpaper & sconces complement each other beautifully!
Enjoy!
Jenny A. says
Those sconces are perfect! I love the new wallpaper, too. It all ties together so well.
Kelly Wittenauer says
Love the sconces – what a find! Never been a fan of wallpaper myself, but that room just doesn’t look right in the photo without any. And your new paper goes better with the tile color.
Sarah says
The new paper is a perfect complement to the tile. Lovely!
Janet in CT says
Pam, very very pretty! When I saw the first photo, I immediately thought it was your update! I like that one too, but I agree the sconces were not quite right for the period. Your new sconces are fantastic and I can see why you are so happy with them! I also like vintage towels and linens. I have a bathroom with tiled floors, walls and ceiling in the little one inch squares in white so I can choose my colors but I have always done it in pink. My sister was coming to visit and I decided I had better remove my worn out hand towel. As I was rummaging in my linen closet, I found a beautiful and definitely old pink towel with sculptured swans on it! I am sure it was here in the house when we moved in but got buried in the linen closet. Something as simple as that little towel just thrills me! Great job on your bathroom – it is just lovely!
Mary Elizabeth says
Very nice job, Pam! I love the look of the room now–kind of like woods in the late day light. I’d forgotten how much fun wallpaper is–when it’s done. Not so much fun fussing with it and getting it up and squeezing out the air bubbles. It seems to go faster, though, when you have two good-size strips up and begin to see how it is going to look.
I have to say, however, that if I were you I would invest in a more powerful fan. Also, check to be sure it is actually venting to the outside. We had a stove exhaust hood that was going nowhere because the roofers had covered over the vent before we bought the house. DH had to replace it with a not-so-vintage one that just circulates the air. Another friend had a bathroom fan that exhausted into the attic she never went up into (poor building inspection), and she discovered it when the ceiling became wet and moldy.
Then put a timer on the fan so no one forgets to turn it off after the room is clear of steam.
Sarah g (roundhouse) says
Love it, love it, love it! Oh so very dreamy and glowy! And the sconces are perfect for the space. Just a little change makes a huge difference sometimes!
P.s. check your mail from me!