Bathroom and Hallway Remodeling Update: Mirror Down and Outlets Replaced
We’re slowly starting to work on the bathroom again. Today we took the old builder’s-grade mirror down. In doing so, we uncovered all the previous color schemes used in the bathroom – all painted by us over the last 22 years with the exception of the flat builder yellow-beige that’s the base coat. Trust me, it looks much better in these photos than it does on the walls.
It’s funny, seeing all the colors took me right back to when I painted them. The pink was a chance to go bold, back in the mid-80′s when most houses were painted in a single color – beige or white. I’d found this floral wall border that I loved (we all did borders in the 80′s 
and I picked out the pink from the border because I was tired of beige and the only other color in the border was a deep burgundy. The burgundy was great on a border, but I wasn’t ready to go that bold on the wall. I had two kids under 5, husband that worked 2 jobs (one a 24-hr shift), and I worked full-time at a job that added an hour-1/2 because of the commute and daycare stop. But I was he*l bent on painting that room, even if it killed me.
I got the kids to bed and around 9pm I started painting. I remember opening the paint can and having a little panic attack about the color. But back then, the cost of a can of paint was a big thing, so I started painting knowing I didn’t really have a choice. When my husband came home the next morning and saw my handiwork, he complimented me because he’s a sweet man, but I hated it and later he admitted he did too. I tried to live with it but everyone who came over made fun of my bright pink bathroom. Being ever so resourceful and tired of the jabs, I mixed the trim pain, a antique white (we’d shunned stark white paint, now we won’t use anything but) and made the last of the strong pink paint a light shade of Pepto Bismol. At that point I didn’t have a choice, so we lived with that ridiculous pink room for much too long.
When Brian accidentally flooded the bathroom and the insurance replaced the floor, amongst other things, we put down a antique white and pink floor. Yes, we compounded the problem. So by the time we could afford new paint, we were stuck with the pink floors. So once again I went Wallpapers-To-Go, a now defunct wallpaper store, and picked out the only boyish border and wallpaper that went with the new floor….pink and green stripes and ducks. Somewhere I have the photo of the bathroom before we started the current remodel where you can see our lovely choice. We painted the walls tan above the border and left it until now. I think that was 1998-ish or so.
So, today not only did we take the mirror down and patch the wall behind it (I know, most people do that before they paint, but we decided to change the mirror out after we started), but we replaced all of the outlets and light switches. Not just because they were beige and we painted everything with chalk white, but also because all of the outlets were so old that cords no longer stayed in, they were constantly falling out and annoying the heck out of us.
Since changing them out involved electrical wiring, please Google it. I don’t want to demonstrate it and then get sued when someone gets shocked. Just remember to turn off the electricity. It’s super easy and the cost is about $6 per outlet. Next we’ll replace all of the switch-plates and outlet covers with white ones as well.
Tomorrow we go light fixture shopping. We have two lights in the bathroom and we’re not sure what we’ll be bringing home. Wish us luck!
New Paint:
- Bathroom:
- Walls: Martha Stewart Low-VOC Spring Melt in Satin Finish
- Bathroom Trim & Cabinet: Martha Stewart Low-VOC Chalk White in Semi-Gloss
- Hallway:
- Above Chair Rail: Martha Stewart Low-VOC Rice Paper Satin Finish
- Below Chair Rail: Martha Stewart Low-VOC Sunken Pool Satin Finish
- Chair Rail & Trim: Martha Stewart Low-VOC Chalk White in Semi-Gloss
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