Having shared our newly installed wallpaper the other day, I thought it would be good to share the plan for our powder bathroom and laundry room, beginning with our tiny, weird powder bathroom.
This room is a pass-through, which is weird for a bathroom, I know, but most of our rooms are pass-through because of the long skinny nature of our house. Ultimately, a pass-through space keeps the room itself larger, whereas a hallway would take up a ton of real estate.
So, while the functionality is always going to be slightly awkward, it’s not going to change. But just because it’s awkward, doesn’t mean it can’t be beautiful (just look at me, lol!). In fact, a powder room is a good place to make some fun design choices, which is what we wanted to do in here.
Ready? Let’s start by looking back at where we started.
Powder Bathroom Phase 1
This isn’t the first time we’ve dealt with the powder bathroom, because when we moved in, it was…orange:
OOOF. I know, I also cannot believe that this is a paint color that someone purchased on purpose. It was such an assault on the eyes, I swear. (And it was also in the laundry room!) This is not the type of bold choice in the powder room that we would encourage, but to each their own.
I’m not sure what the previous owners were going for with this choice, especially with that more traditional-style beadboard…this does not read as a traditional color, even in person. I promise.
Everything else in here was *fine*, if a little generic. But just for paint purposes, we at least needed to do a Phase 1.
Going Dark in a Small Space
With our Phase 1 makeover, we decided to test design ideas in two ways: (1) try out a green we were considering for the exterior of our house, and (2) test a darker color in this space, to decide if we wanted to choose a darker wallpaper.
While we started off considering a lighter wallpaper for the powder bathroom, I saw a lot of great darker inspiration and started leaning toward that instead. But, like many people, I wasn’t sure how a dark color would work in a small space.
Well, it turned out amazing! Sometimes, I think people get so fixated on trying to make rooms seem bigger (or like they have higher ceilings, or whatever it may be), and in reality, the room is the size it is. It isn’t getting any bigger, and in fact, painting a lighter color can sometimes emphasize the small or dark quality of a room by looking a bit dingy.
One thing that we also did in this Phase 1 project was paint everything the same color: the bead board, the walls, the ceiling, and the crown we installed. That actually is a technique for making a space feel larger, since your eye doesn’t stop on the places where the color changes. While I loved the look, though, I don’t really think it made the space feel larger at all—it’s always going to feel small, because it is.
So, if you’re considering going dark in a small space, I say go for it! It felt glamorous and rich and beautiful and we were actually a little bummed that we didn’t get to keep it as long as we thought we would.
That’s right, because of the massive flooring project, we ended up moving forward with the full reno in the powder bath. Finally, we arrive at the mood board!
Powder Bathroom Mood Board
Sources: Art Print | Wallpaper | Blue Paint Color: SW Moody Blue | Black Marble Tile, Grey Marble Tile, White Marble Tile | Towel Shelf | Black and White Art Print | Dried Florals | Mirror | Faucet | Grey Paint Color: SW Dovetail
Here she is! How good is this mix of blues color scheme? It all started with the wallpaper choice, which I knew the second I saw it in the catalog was going in our home.
We also decided to take down the bead board—it added a certain historical feel that didn’t really feel authentic to the house. There isn’t any actual historic woodwork or anything in our house (which is part of why we feel comfortable making some pretty modern choices), and this bead board was those cheap panels, not real bead board. Ultimately, it didn’t fit with the design of our house or what we were going for in this room, so we pulled it down.
You’ll see a lot of the other elements are sticking around from our Phase 1 refresh—the new faucet, the mirror, the towel shelf. But, after seeing a lot of really inspiring larger-scale art in Palm Springs during Modernism Week, I was inspired to do one larger piece in here instead of the petite gallery wall I’d previously had. And, instead of getting a new vanity, I’m going to paint our existing one grey.
Of course, we have that fun tile floor, and I feel like all together, it starts to feel very Hollywood Regency, which I love!
Here is the progress shot! We actually ended up using leftover Benjamin Moore Aegean Teal after realizing it was so similar to the blue I had chosen. But otherwise, we’re pretty much proceeding with the plan!
Plans for the Powder Bathroom
I know it’s a tiny space and might seem inconsequential, but I’ve given a lot of thought to our powder bathroom, and I think it’s going to come together beautifully! Tell me in the comments what you think and if you’d go dark in a small space!
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