Happy Monday, sweets! How was your weekend? We had a dark and rainy one, which was perfect for laying low, but not so great for my potential Pinterest Challenge project! Paper mache, plaster and clay require a particular environment, you know! (Have I piqued your interest? Fingers crossed it works out.)
Six months Further back than I care to admit, we started an unplanned renovation on our Pool Bathroom (named such since it has a door leading to the backyard pool). Today I’m thrilled to finally have it put back together and ready for the big reveal!
To give you a full perspective of how far this room has come, here’s how it looked with the previous home owners. The plaid is actually kind of bearable fun, but we wanted to put our own stamp on it minus the hunter green.
This bathroom is in the back of the house, so it isn’t seen much by guests. Which made it easy to turn a blind-eye to the cosmetic problems. Who knows how long we would have lived with the homely light fixture and sad grout, if the shower hadn’t sprung a leak and rotted through the wall! (The builder skipped the shower pan and liner, go figure.)
We weren’t planning on making this bathroom over any time soon, so the leak was probably a good thing. I felt a fair amount of creative freedom since it’s a spare bathroom, utilized mostly during the Summer. We used the inspiration and treasures brought back from our trip to San Miguel de Allende to create a truly unique space. Warning: I’m fairly obsessed with this room, so prepare for picture overload!
The room is so small that I have to stand in the backyard to take some of the pictures, hence the fluctuation in lighting. I’ll admit, even I was a bit wary after painting the doors dark pink and the ceiling turquoise. But now that all the decor is up, I think they are one of the best parts of the makeover!
My amazing aunt (who helped paint these stripes with an eyeliner brush, and was vital to the assembly of this room), came to my rescue again when it came time to decorating the bathroom. (“Here or here? Oh, how about this here! Cuuuuuute”) I went through a cross-collecting phase a few years ago, so in addition to the mirrors and trinkets from our trips, we had plenty to choose from. Instead of just one or two objects on the wall, we opted for big impact by hanging 21! I think we captured the Mexican culture we’re so smitten by!
The mirror is from Ballard, and was a wedding gift to Mr. Sugarplum and me (from my aunts, coincidentally enough!). It’s lived in the Den for years, but I think it’s made for this room…and a definite improvement over the previous builder-grade mirror.
The World Market hand towel and religious store candle are the only decor purchases I made (besides the reno materials), and I shopped the house for everything else. Having all the Mexican folk art in one place makes a much cooler impact than scattered about the house.
The super high-gloss paint is subtle, but I love how it shines on the cabinets! I couldn’t put regular ol’ pulls in a room like this, so these bright ceramic knobs are perfect for the Colonial Mexican style.
Painting the trim and cabinets the same as the wall color keeps the eye moving and allows the decor to be the focus. White trim and baseboards would have changed this look completely.
Even though the walls are a deep navy, the shiny tin and multiple mirrors keep it from feeling like a cave. It does have a dramatic moody feel, and the dark walls are a relief on the eyes when coming inside from a sunny afternoon by the pool.
No, we aren’t Catholic, but I’ve always loved the religious icons associated with it. It might be wrong odd, but I even love how the wall over the potty feels like an altar or shrine.
We’re also the proud new owners of a shower pan tray and liner, so the pretty subway tiles are safe!
The pebble tile floor feels so great underfoot that all of us have taken to using this shower. Having the frame less door makes the whole space feel larger and more open, too. I scooped the John Robshaw rug off One Kings Lane last year.
Another perk of this renovation, was the added storage. Once the shower was ripped out, we discovered an open area behind the wall, which is now 9-feet of floor to ceiling cabinets. I left the door off the middle cabinet to create an alcove, and it became the perfect spot for pool and beach towels.
The Overstock light fixture got a little Rub ‘n Buff so it would mesh better with all the other metals. The sleeves and shades need something too, but I haven’t decided what yet.
I never would have gone this all-out in the Master Bath, or even the Kid’s Bath that doubles as a Powder Room. I realize this probably isn’t everyone’s cup of cerveza tea, but we’re crazy about it! Not only is it totally fun, creative and unique, but it reminds us of a country we have really fond memories of. And if you can’t have fun in a spare bathroom dedicated to pool guests, then where can you?!
