I haven’t shared much in the way of finish material plans yet, but that’s because we’re kinda winging it. I’ve been hemming and hawing, big time because I have trouble choosing finish materials when I can’t “see” the space. Once the walls and subfloor are in I’ll have a much easier time pulling the trigger.
We know we want white hex tiles with gray grout (to hide dirt) for the floor, and white beadboard 3-4 feet up the wall. We’ll have our newly refinished clawfoot tub any day now. That was about it as far as concrete decisions went… it was all in my head, a vague design cloud I knew we were moving toward. But in the past few days, we finally put a stake in the ground and made some important purchases.
First, we bought this lovely dresser thing from the Rescue Mission for – wait for it – $25. Score! It’s going to serve as our bathroom vanity. I was searching high and low for a fitting furniture piece at antique stores and online, but hadn’t found the perfect thing. Then I saw this gem and bought it immediately. The drawers are what really sold me – the ones in the middle will become non-functional and house the plumbing for the sink, leaving me with LOTS of storage on either side. Yay to that. It needs to be painted or sanded down and stained….. I’m not sure which yet. Probably painted, but what color? I’m not ready to decide that yet.
We also bought a vessel sink off of Ebay, which I’m hoping will arrive in one piece and be just as pictured. If so, it’s lovely. It’ll sit atop the vanity. The next challenge is to find a faucet that’ll work with this combo we’ve locked ourselves into. We’re leaning toward a wall-mount set……… thoughts? Is that too weird for a bathroom?
As far as colors go, we’re leaning toward a mossy green or beige-y color. Here’s a little “mood board” I threw together with our sink, the hex tiles we’re planning on using, and a bathroom that has beadboard and green walls. It has the general feel I’m going for, minus the cow painting and the naked lady sculpture…
Any suggestions, comments, ideas – send them my way!! You just may change the future of the Fixer-Upper bathroom ;)
Comments, Thoughts, and Feedback
I think the dresser is great. I love the size of it.
Hey Mindy… nice dresser find!
Well its finally time that I post on here and tell you that my husband and I are sort of your twins out here by Boston… Between our Victorian fixerupper, our crazy project addictions every weekend, me being the detail-loving, list-building, website-creating girl and my husbands nothing is too difficult construction abilities…. It’s almost creepy sometimes : )
So since we seem to be on the same page so often, I was wondering if you know about milk paints?I think a milk paint finish would be great on that new dresser-vanity-to-be….. They are my very favorite… Non toxic, NO fumes, mix with water, you can completely customize them by layering different colors over each other …. then you just finish with poly…. I just did some floors with milk paint recently and they came out amazing.
You don’t have to lose the center drawers. You can modify them by cutting out a piece to go around the plumbing, rebuilding the sides and putting in some partitions for small things like hair clips or jewelery. That is what I did to our drawer. It was a bigger drawer though.
I’m no expert but my immediate reaction to your gorgeous chest was that the color is PERFECT although I understand it probably needs some freshening. It looks French (?) and perhaps 17th/18th century in design. Even the gold trim fits right in. The biggest problem might be a white bowl. Any experts out there to date this thing, stylewise?
I have a very similar dresser in my bedroom closet (yeah…IN my closet *insert eyeroll* I have a huge closet that daydreams of being really tricked out someday!) Anyway…the storage space you’ll have is great! Gary presents a great idea for maintaining those center drawers. I’m sure Teague could finagle a way to modify the drawers so you can use them for small items. Great idea!
I love the color scheme shown above, the green with the cream/beige is very restful looking. Would you be going in the green/white or beige/white direction, leaving out a third color?
Eagerly anticipating following along as you do up the bathroom!
I love the dresser — but I would strip it instead of painting it. I think the contrast between the warm, natural wood and the smooth, cold vessel sink would be really attractive.
That dresser is a great find, and $25? Perfect! I love that you’ll still get to have functional drawers on the side.
I adore your green color and the vessel sink. When we were planning on a vessel sink, we wanted a wall-mount faucet. I don’t think it would look weird in a bathroom at all. Of course, our bathroom wall used to be an exterior wall, and a giant beam is underneath it, so none of the plumbing can go inside the wall.
ooh i love the idea of wall-mount taps! i generally think of that as being really modern but your linked examples shows that to be a misperception…and score on the dresser!
Thanks for the input, everyone!
Erin – Hello, twin! Do you have a website? If so, definitely send me the link! I’ve been meaning to test out milk paints, I’ve seen the finish on furniture but never tried them myself. This might be the perfect time! I do love the look and feel of it.
Gary – Thanks for the tip! I’m not overly girly – my morning routine only takes 10 minutes – yet still have in my possession about 8 hair styling tools and drawers full of makeup, hair products, etc. I’m a total packrat about that stuff. So any space we don’t have to give up is a plus.
Seth – I have daydreams about stripping it, and then I remember what a total pain it’ll be……. still, it’d be beautiful, wouldn’t it? I might find the energy in me somewhere :)
Patricia, Joyce, Poppy and Kristin – thanks for the comments, you guys all have great taste so I appreciate it! I think the green with whites and off-whites is what we’ll stick to, since I love strong color. I see pictures of white-on-white bathrooms and really love them. They look so relaxing. But I don’t know if it’s really ME, you know? I’m such a color freak!
Anyway, thanks all – I’m off to look for a good wall-mount faucet to match the shower plumbing we have sitting in the basement awaiting installation!
Hey mindy
so…milk paint is the best project when you just cant imagine yourself breathing in anymore chemicals…. There are no fumes (it just smells like mud) and it mixes with water… Check out milkpaint.com for all the details…And google it for even more. I just did a floor with them… (they’re on our site under TRASK.)
As far as brand, I use the brand that comes in small brown bags with a
green label and a cow on it… “The Genuine Home Made Milk Paint”… Thats the real kind. (there are imposters out there)
Anyway, Thanks for inspiring us with your site… It always feels like we are the only crazy kids doing this kind of thing… Its good to know we arent alone : )
Hey Mindy
I have the same exact dresser! I bought a house 2 yrs ago and it had already been set up for a bathroom vanity my problem is that the top of it is chipping and peeling. It was kept the original color and I am trying to figure out what to do please help me.
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