Basement 1/2 Bath: The Reveal

Despite how crazy frustrating it was to paint the stripes in our basement bathroom (check out that saga here), I am totally thrilled with the results. We managed to turn a boring, basic bathroom into a chic and sophisticated powder room without spending a ton of cash.

Because this is the basement bathroom with no windows I wanted it to be bright and warm (not dark and dank). Orange and yellow seemed to be a naturally cheerful combination and the gray added a touch of style.

Just because this is a bathroom doesn't mean it has to have typical bathroom art (florals or seashells).We went with a couple unique and quirky pieces for visual interest.

Before + After

There you have it, classy style on a budget!

Cost Breakdown:

• white paint - free! (old owner left it behind)
• Chinchilla White (gray) paint - $5 tester pot
• orange hand towel and facecloth - $10 (on clearance from HomeSense)
• large painting - $40 (on sale from local decor store)
• lightbulb print - $11 (from Etsy shop Rococco Co)
• frame - $8 (from Value Village)
• toilet paper dispenser and garbage can - $30 (from Home Outfitters)
• soap and lotion - free! (christmas gift from the in-laws)
• TOTAL: $104 (for a completely new look!)

Why I'll Never Paint Stripes Again...

I suppose this post could also be called "How I spent All Weekend Crying into a Bucket of Paint".

It was no secret to us that the dude who lived in the house before us was no Mr Fix-It, he's probably closer to Mr Cover-It-Up-So-No One-Will-See-The-Mess-I-Made (but that's too long to say). The small basement 1/2 bath was begging for a little personality so we decided to go stripey, which wouldn't have been a problem if any of the walls in this place were true. And I'm not talking just a little bit off, these walls and ceiling and floors are insanely crooked. It's like the guys who finished the basement just eyeballed everything. Sigh.

Here's a quick recap of what we saw when we toured the house for the first time...

I used plain old white paint that the old owner had left behind and a tester pot from another room (more on that to come). The white was the lighter colour (duh) so I roughed in where I wanted the lighter stripes. At this point everything was going smoothly and I was pretty confident this would be a quick job. I was wrong.

The crookedness of the walls isn't immediately obvious when everything is the same frickin beige colour, but once I started taping it all became apparent.

I first started measuring from the floor, when I got to the ceiling I realized that something was 'off'. So I started using a level, but that didn't help either because when I got to the floor or ceiling it was super obvious how ridiculous the lines were. Then I started sweating and just decided to 'eyeball' it. Yep, I gave in. I decided to initially use my measurements from the ground, then when it started to get obvious that the slope was off I manually corrected it to be 'straighter' (which I guess in this case is a relative term). I got to perfect my 'eyeball' technique on the other 3 walls.

I'm probably just being a perfectionist when it comes to these lines but in the end I am totally happy with the result and will be back shortly to share the complete room. Until then, enjoy these crisp semi-straight, tear-inducing stripes.

 Oops...ran out of painter's tape (my bestfriend and worse enemy in this process)