Young House Love

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Painting A Bathroom Vanity

Let’s talk about vanity, shall we? Specifically the sink vanity that we last left off as primed in this post.

Bathpainted12

This is one of those real-life stories where we painstakingly stared at about fifty swatches before carefully choosing a pretty kelly green tone that we thought would be awesome. A fun pop of color in a white room (sort of like this). So off to the store we went and grabbed a quart of Baby Fern by Benjamin Moore in their semi-gloss Natura paint. And after one coat – even though we gave it two in the hope that the second one would work a miracle – we knew…

Vanity Painting4

Baaaaaaad call.

Seriously, at one point Clara said it was the same color as Kermit The Frog. How did this happen?

So we did what any self respecting DIYer would do and we whined a little and then we laughed for a while and then we went out to the garage and stared at all of the paint cans that we have sitting around and finally found the one we were looking for: Silhouette. It’s an awesome moody brown/gray tone with the slightest plum undertones. Really, photos of it hardly do it justice but we first used it for a bunch of book projects and fell in love, so it’s no surprise it was our “rebound guy.” We didn’t want our hearts broken again, and we thought it would be really sophisticated with the slate too. And happily, it was:

Vanity Painting5

Now instead of the white bathroom with the colorful vanity, it’s shaping up to be the chic little black and white bathroom (ok, it’s not really black, but it’s close enough to give it that vibe). We especially love how it looks with the dark doorknob and hinges.

Vanity Painting11

And although we did have some need-to-repaint bad luck, when it came to the knobs the universe threw us a bone. We went to Anthropologie just to look around (sometimes we fall in love with $14 a knob items, which are a little too steep for us) and these cool faceted knobs were marked down to $2.95!

Vanity Painting7

One of my favorite things about their octagonal shape is that they mimic the angles of the mirror, which also has the same tone in it.

Vanity Painting9

How lucky is that?

Vanity Painting10

And we also grabbed this toilet paper holder from Lowe’s on clearance to replace the old wood one we had there before.

Vanity Painting8

Remember this guy?

Bathpainted4

Definitely an upgrade.

Vanity Painting12

You’ve come a long way, half bathroom.

Half Bath Before

So that’s the story of gaining a little vanity va-va-voom, with one of those surprise DIY speedbumps along the way. I think the lesson is that you win some and you lose some, but as long as you keep on trucking – and course correcting as you go – things usually work out OK.

Next up I have to scrub or replace the grout, and switch out this leaky faucet.

Faucet

And we can’t forget our upside down light (remember I turned it around here to allow for a bigger mirror?). Doesn’t it look like two beady little eyes and the mirror is the mouth? Like the bathroom’s making the same face I’m making in this super flattering picture?

Crazy Light Fixture

The light is a smidge off-centered from the mirror. The issue is that the faucet and the light don’t line up, so if we centered the mirror on the light it would be really off compared to the faucet, so we sort of split the difference so it’s less noticeable for now.

So yeah, there are a few more things that we’d love to do in here for this Phase 1 update – mainly some grout fixing, light updating, and a new faucet. I’m weirdly excited about light shopping (and completely avoiding the grout project – so we’ll see how long I can go). Even though we have plans for a more major bathroom upgrade down the line (grasscloth wallpaper? tiled accent wall? pedestal sink?), it definitely feels nice to make some cheap tweaks to make it more welcoming in the meantime. Anyone else working on a half bathroom update? How goes it?

Comments

  1. Marissa C says

    Curious–have you ever used a grout stain & sealer in one? My mom did it on the tile in her house–it looks great. She still had to scrub it clean, but it made everything look great and you can choose the color. She used whatever brand they have at home depot, but it is something like this:

    http://groutshields.com/

    Reply

  2. KarenH. says

    Hey, I have that green paint! Only it was Rustoleum and called Green Apple, and I repainted an old 70s-era metal garage storage cabinet that the former owner left in the basement. And really, it’s perfect for my metal cabinet and completely WRONG for your half bathroom (I love your second choice of paint).

    Here’s a before of my cabinet:

    http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c290/jzygail/Basement%20Project/75ec2f2b-24b4-4e9a-acab-b068ebdcf8a0_zpse0dcdaeb.jpg

    And the after–I’m using it to store my fabric stash in the sewing room I’ve made in my basement.

    http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c290/jzygail/Basement%20Project/ea274448-3cf4-44ee-9f59-66f4fc249897_zpsb125e616.jpg

    I really like your second choice paint much better.

    Reply

  3. Kate says

    A warning about those knobs! I bought them for my kitchen – and they’re beautiful! I used them happily for a week or two, then one morning I was opening a drawer (and I did not use super-human levels of force), and the knob ripped in half. It’s glass inside. Tiny shards on the floor. My hand was cut open and bleeding! It was an unfortunate and hopefully fluke mishap but reason enough for me to exchange all knobs for something more sturdy. Anthropologie was very responsive and honored the fantastic price on my replacement (usually $8) knobs. Anyway, I hope they stand up for you, but I wanted to mention it so you know not to let Clara do any vanity gymnastics!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh no! So sorry to hear that! Hope non of ours break like that! I wonder if there was a bubble inside of that knob to make it oddly brittle or something?! Thanks again for the heads up!

      xo
      s

  5. hillary says

    We are doing our master bath right now and I’ll tell you, faucet shopping is almost as fun as light fixture shopping! Great score on the knobs, they look perfect with that mirror.

    Reply

  7. Mia says

    Love the vanity color! My husband and I are working on fixing up our master bathroom in our new house and did a similiar color. The vanity was horrible before. The previous owner slapped a pink pepto bismol looking color all over. And it was not pretty nor done well at all! Here is the link to the before and after pictures to see the awful before and hopefully, much better after pics :-)http://fmdweaver.wordpress.com/

    Reply

  9. Jake's a Girl says

    Haha! Smart girl is Miss Clara.

    I think the green might have worked but for the color of the top. The creamy top just threw the green for a loop.
    And I really liked the green but the black is so much better.

    A friend of mine just cleaned up her grout with a mixture of baking soda and vinegar with a heavy dose of elbow grease. The stuff looks brand new.
    Or you could try one of the grout stains on the market if cleaning doesn’t work. I’m about to try one of the technique’s on my kitchen grout because I cringe at the thought of changing it. OUCH!

    Jake’s a Girl

    Reply

  10. Crystal says

    Did you prime or sand the vanity? what type of paint, gloss, satin? Sorry I have been wanting to paint our vanity in our master bath and want to do it right.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Our vanity was chalky and matte so we used Zinsser Smart Prime (a low-VOC stainblock and odor blocking primer) followed by latex semi-gloss paint. If yours is glossy I would sand it and then use a liquid deglosser to wipe it down and then go to the primer and latex paint step in the previous sentence.

      xo
      s

  11. Kate says

    I love where you ended up! It’s looking very classic and sophisticated!

    I’m SURE someone has already recommended this to you (though I didn’t see it in the comments for this post), but just in case, I can’t recommend poly blends grout renew enough! I tried tons of stuff on my bathroom grout (commercial grade grout cleaners, oxy clean, paste of borax and lemon juice, and on and on), but some stains just aren’t removeable. So I bought the grout renew ($11!), put on some podcasts, and got down to business with an old tooth brush and this product. Well worth the time and effort. Plus, it has a sealer built in to deter future staining.

    Reply

  12. Marcy says

    We’re finally finishing the third (and final) bathroom remodel and grout is the biggest thing left on our list as well.

    Unless I can convince my husband of the ‘need’ for a heated towel bar in the master. We only have room for one towel bar so I want to install a double and then I worry about quick drying. I swear it’s practical, lol.

    Reply

  13. JillM says

    For a good kelly green, look up alexandrite from sherwin williams sw 0060! It is amazing! It is not in their deck of swatches but if you look online or in their historical collection, you can find it. I painted an old antique dresser that looks very much like clara’s in this and it is beautiful!

    Reply

  14. Gwen, The Makerista says

    Don’t you hate when something you think is going to be really great isn’t so great? All that time and money and energy…I know that feeling all too well! But I think it looks really great with the “rebound” color. I look forward to seeing what you do with the rest of the space to give it some personality!

    Reply

  15. Dana says

    I definitely tried out a very similar green on some bedside tables (against my navy wall) and it also turned out way wrong. Maybe green is just a hard color to get right? Plan B looks great though!

    Reply

  16. carrie h says

    I was wondering what specific primer you used to cover the wood.

    we have lots of natural wood trim in our house and id love to paint some of it, but im hung up on whether I need oil based primer like Zinsser coverstain, or if there is some less noxious stuff I can use that will still grip and block well.

    any advice?

    Reply

  17. carrie h says

    hi,

    I was wondering what specific primer you used to cover the wood.

    we have lots of natural wood trim in our house, and I am looking to paint it, but I do not know if I need an oil based primer like zinnser coverstain, or if there is something less noxious that I can use that it will still grip and block.

    Reply

  18. Marissa says

    That color green is so tricky! We had a similar experience in our dining room. We ripped down old wall paper, textured and primed, and then painted on Cain’t Miss Lime by Valspar. Apparently, you can miss..and big time. The color was so offensively bright it sort of made you ache to go in there. We then proceeded to paint over it with what we thought was a more subdued seafoam green. That one was wrong too, so back to Lowe’s we went. This time we ventured over to the blueish/green section and picked out Dancing Mist by Valspar. It was a far cry from our original lime intentions, but it looks fabulous on the walls, and some kelly and lime accents work well with it. All this to say, don’t worry! Y’all aren’t the first people to do battle with kelly green!

    Reply

  19. annie says

    LOVE the new color! did I miss where you mention the brand name? Silhouette, but by who? or is that whom? this is the color I’ve been searching for … {sigh}

    Reply

  20. Brittney Saffell says

    Too bad the green didn’t work out! I do love the color you went with, though. Grass cloth wallpaper would make my heart melt!!!!

    I am thinking about stenciling the walls in our half bath, but not sure if I want to torture myself with that kind of cruel and unusual punishment ;)

    Reply

  22. Bev says

    Is Benjamin Moore a YHL sponsor or something now? I think your exterior painters used Sherwin Williams, but it seems everything else is always BM lately? Didn’t you used to use Olympic a lot?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      No post or product that we ever use is sponsored (we like to keep it real by paying for everything that we use in our house with our own money). Over the course of 7 years we’ve tried lots of paint. We used to love Glidden, then Behr/Valspar, then Olympic, and then at the recommendation of a ton of readers we tried BM (they said we’d never go back, and we have to admit, it’s more money but the coverage and quality are awesome). So it’s our favorite of the moment.

      xo
      s

  23. Laura & the Shell says

    Ha! It looked like you wrapped the whole thing in Frog Tape! Very wise to count your losses and move on! And I L.O.V.E. the new knobs. Did I miss the wall color decision? Are you leaving it white?

    Reply

  24. Lili M says

    1. I actually winced and drew a breath with the green picture… I was like… are they actually leaving it like that??

    2. Then, I breathed a sigh of relief, and perked right back up when I saw the beautiful pain you chose instead!

    3. I ADORE the knobs!

    4. The shot with the finished product, with knobs in it, has a cool, artsy “face” looking deal going on with the lights… anyone else see that?? (4th picture down)

    Reply

  25. Caitlin Skoda says

    Loving the way this little bathroom is shaping up! (if you ever wanna experiment some more…come on over to my place. I have two dilapidated bathrooms that I am pretending not to notice while I deal with the rest of the house! :D )

    I do have a question though, I have noticed that all of your paints seem to have shifted to Benjamin Moore. I remember you used to use Olympic and I think there were a few Glidden in the mix as well but it seems as though in recent months you have become solid BM fans (that abbreviation seemed to go over differently in my head…) Was there a post on this that I missed? I know you have your color picks posted on your site, but I am wondering if there is another reason other than the colors for choosing them…

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Over the course of 7 years we’ve tried lots of paint. We used to love Glidden, then Behr/Valspar, then Olympic, and then at the recommendation of a ton of readers we tried BM (they said we’d never go back, and we have to admit, it’s more money but the coverage and quality are awesome). So it’s our favorite of the moment.

      xo
      s

  27. Kate says

    i didn’t read through all of the comments so if this was answered i apologize! i love the mirror…can you tell me where you got it? bathroom looks great…!

    Reply

  30. Jen says

    I’m very curious to see how you will work with that slate floor. We also have slate in our foyer/powder room only with different colors mixed it. It’s really hard to pick the right color for wall patint, etc!

    Reply

  32. Jessica says

    It’s a bummer when colors that we are excited about don’t turn out how we were hoping. On the plus side, you now have a quart of a super fun green color that will be great for accent pieces that need a touch of color!

    Oh and weird side note, I was actually singing that song in my head right before I clicked on your blog. It kind of creeped me out and made me feel awesome all at the same time!

    Reply

  33. Crystal says

    Wow it’s looking so amazing! This post is a perfect example of how color can really change the look of other things around it, I can’t believe how yellow the sink looked with the green vanity but after repainting it looks like you got a new sink….crazytown! Are you thinking about new flooring at all instead of regrouting? It doesn’t seem like much more work to replace the whole floor as opposed to regrouting the entire thing and while I do think it’s looking a ton better than when you started it’s just not pretty flooring in my totally unimportant opinion haha.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We like to work with what we have, so because that tile is also in the foyer at least for now we’d like to work with it. If we can’t repair the damaged areas we’ll replace it down the line (and carry that new tile into the kitchen as well).

      xo
      s

  34. Amanda says

    Sherry and John – I give you all heaps of credit for opening your lives and home(s!) to us. I’ve been a reader since before the blog name change and love you guys. It’s amazing to me that some people comment to tell you they think your tiles are dirty or that your knobs are crooked. I admire your perseverance. You do not have an easy job living in the public eye of the internet.

    Reply

  35. Tanya says

    Looks great! Just wondering it is grout in between the tiles? If so, a little trick that I have used to spruce up grout joints is a sanding blocks. You just give the joint a few scuffs and it gets rid of the top dingy layer and allows you to reseal the grout without having to start from scratch.

    Reply

  37. Liz says

    Looks great! Sooooo much better! I don’t know how you go into Anthro and *just* buy a knob, though. Last week I went in for a $2.95 knob and came home with it AND a $100 dress-definitely NOT in the budget for my project! It’s just too tempting in there!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I can’t even look at the clothes. I’m the girl who walks in with my hand up over the side of her face to keep my eyes on the home side. Ha!

      xo
      s

  40. Brenna says

    When you said grasscloth wallpaper I thought OH NO! I just think of little boys and their “aim”. Our son has very good aim, but when his little friends are over…(I’ll leave this to your imagination) Maybe you are thinking of starting it up higher? As always you get to pick what ever you love, just trying to save you future problems. Maybe KB can give you her input on little boys!;)

    Reply

  41. TMF says

    Man, oh man, can I relate to that kermit green nightmare. We have been struggling for a year trying to decide what colors to paint our house exterior. It was originally a washed out peach color with turquoise doors and cream trim. We decided on a night light sage green with cream trim and orange doors. I don’t know if it is because the hubs didn’t prime the doors first and I could still see (practically HEAR, let’s face it) the turquoise screaming out from behind the orange, or if the orange was just THAT BAD. But we knew immediately it was The Wrong Color. We went back to our original idea of a sagey purple for the doors and that looks amazeballs. :) Also, LOVE YOUR BLOG.

    Reply

  42. maribeth says

    kinda feel like a dummy asking this, but i’ve had bad luck installing these anthro knobs. i’ve tried to find a tutorial online, but can’t seem to find anything. any pointers? gracias!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We already had holes from the previous knobs, so we just removed the old ones, stick the screws for the new knob through the hole and used the backings to tighten them into place.

      xo
      s

  43. Lauren says

    Thanks so much for showing us a DIY mishap! Clara really nailed it…truly a kermitesque green. Darn paint can be so tricky!! I think that you guys are absolutely amazing, and it’s nice to know that not even a couple of DIY pros such as yourself can get it perfect all of the time. It’s comforting to me to see and know that mishaps happen to everyone, that there is a way around them, and that all is well that ends well! :)

    Reply

  44. Brittney says

    What color is your sink? I have a vanity that I have been wanting to paint, but I am having trouble choosing a color. Our sink is a tan color, and I really wanted to go white, but I am not sure that I would love that combo.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      It’s a straw colored sink (sort of creamy/off-white). I think white or a dark black-ish color would go with anything (like tan) if that helps!

      xo
      s

  45. Melissa says

    Whew! That green was not the right fit for that vanity – the second color is very classy and looks great. Thanks for sharing your mistake with us – it’s reassuring to see that you guys are in fact mortals like us who make mistakes and can own up to them! ;)

    Reply

  47. ShellyP says

    Sherry: That flora stencil you did in the office in our second home would add color and “texture” to your half bath for the interim. That BM color on the vanity is so very beautiful; it has an appealing drama with the brown/black/gray/purple thing. Agree with others re: tile floor and grout. I’ve “painted” grout (they sell products just for that purpose) and it makes a big difference. May I suggest a bigger mirror? A chandelier/pendant light (instead of a sconce) would add drama. Love the updates. I’ve painted my half bath off the foyer 4 times (gray, green/yellow geometric stencil, green, brown and now brown with narrow green horizontal stripes (from the HGTV dream house).
    Thanks for sharing. I’ve gotten it wrong as many times as I’ve gotten it right. I love that you guys give us the good, bad and ugly — no censoring!

    Reply

  48. Annie says

    Not surprised that the pop of color didnt work. It works best with all light or all dark colors. And you already had a mix of the two. So it clashed. Your “like this” wasn’t. It featured some very bright white and some light gray. I’ve found that wen I find a Pinterest it needs to be a close match on those features or the effect I going for will be a miss. Playing off of what you already had. Both light and dark neutrals was a great way to go.

    Reply

  49. Jennifer says

    I’d like to hear from you why you think it didn’t work? It seems to me that the space was just too small for the pop of color to really do its magic, along with the fact that it is an interior bathroom with no windows to let the light flood in. Also the countertop you guys currently have in there didn’t really help with the color, the color ended up emphasizing the counter.

    Thats my thought…what do you think? Just so we don’t make the same mistake in our own homes – because that pinterest photo is gorgeous and what anyone would want to mimic.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Ultimately we think the lack of natural light made it read a lot more neon and the yellowed counter started reading as über yellow when we chose a color with yellow in it (green = half yellow and half blue). So yes, it emphasized the counter for sure!

      xo
      s

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