My Notting Hill Revealed - Before & After on Pure Style Home

First, a huge thank you to Lauren of Pure Style Home for including my pepto-pink "master" bath redo in her guest blogger Before & After series. Why the word revealed in this post title? Well, I still can't believe I actually showed just how bad the condition of this bathroom was before doing something about it.(I promise the peeling paint thing happened mostly all at once...) Go here to see the full post on Lauren's blog - including a cost breakdown. Thank you Lauren!

L's Stylish Powder Room

Here's a bit more from L's house - a stylish powder room. I think it's a case-in-point of how a simple room can be elevated with color and great accents. There are no windows in the room so all the large framed photos substitute - providing gorgeous views of beautiful places in Italy.
The green wall color extends to the accents chosen for the sink - a footed bowl, napkins and the Molton Brown soap.
A little wooden side table is practical and pretty.
Even though this picture is blurry, couldn't resist posting it. Love the attention to detail. To see more of L's special home, go here.

A Fireplace in the Bathroom

I'll blame it on Snowmageddon 2010, but wouldn't a fireplace in the bathroom be the best?
(Designer Barry Dixon, Elway Hall, photographer not known)
Image via Country Living, photography Robin Stubbert

image via House Beautiful, designer Peter Dunham, photography by Victoria Pearson

image from House & Garden, via Belle Vivir
If a fireplace in the bathroom isn't in your future (like me), then you can always enjoy Patricia van Essche's beautiful illustration of this charming blue bath. Patricia, thank you for sharing this! (for more wonderful illustrations, go to PVE Design)

A Rough Powder Room in Hico

A few weeks ago, while heading back to Dallas, we stumbled upon Hico, TX. (pronounced High-Co. I only mention that because I called it Hic-O for a long time). What a great destination town, full of very interesting shops including Blue Star Trading Co., a surprisingly large store offering furniture, home accents, saddles and tack, and the works of local artists. You know it's a great store when it has such a well designed powder room!

Taking a cue from the stone walls of this 1895 building, the counter adds to the texture and interest.

Upstairs, on the third floor, you'll find a pictorial exhibit of the history of Hico. Included in the exhibit are old post offices boxes.
You can actually look at, or in my case, photograph old correspondence. This is from 1926!

The following are some more pics from Fredericksburg. Loving this TX limestone.

I could definitely imagine visiting the Hill Country of TX again. In the meantime, you can visit Ann at Hill Country House for a vicarious visit to this part of TX (and for great design too!)

Wood Sinks

I've been in Texas - business & pleasure. The fun part was a recent visit to Fredericksburg and of course, design stores in Dallas. I thought I'd be able to blog while on travel but it hasn't worked out! So here's a very old post when about 22 people read my blog - hope you haven't seen it. Or if you have seen it, thanks for reading my blog all this time!


Aura walnut sink. I absolutely love this dark wood sink.

Aura wood sink

Aura walnut integrated basin

Aura butternut sink

Aura sink

William Garvey teak sink

William Garvey integrated sink

William Garvey sink

Aura, a Canadian firm, was the first company I came across that crafts custom wood sinks. As noted on Aura's site, "AURA custom wood sinks are made from solid wood and can be crafted in virtually any size, shape or design, from a wide range of wood species. All the sinks are sealed in a clear protective finish to preserve the wood's natural beauty. This hard protective finish creates an impenetrable barrier which prevents water and moisture from penetrating the sink."
The English bespoke furniture maker, William Garvey, also makes wood sinks. As noted on their web site, "The Garvey company made their first sink in 1978, for a local client who wanted to transform the chore of washing up into a pleasure. In the early days the sinks and baths were made from natural teak with no additional finishing. Teak is chosen because of its natural waterproofing properties – it has been used for hundreds of years in the marine industry for this reason – teak also has natural antiseptic properties, which is a bonus for its use in baths and sinks. Now their sinks are virtually maintenance-free as their TeakSeal™ finish is incorporated into the teak itself providing a tough, easy-to-clean product that will stand the test of time. Their first sink is still in use to this day, and the owners love it so much that they took it with them when they moved."

Back to regular posting July 23rd. Hope you're having a great summer!


Also - if you happen to be in the Washington DC area, The Kellogg Collection is having a huge sale from July 16 - 26th, click here for locations.

Design in Unexpected Places

You never know when you'll be surprised by unexpected design. In this case it was, in all places, the unisex bathroom at Taco Boy in Folly Beach! The two side by side cement sinks look hand made & well done. I like how they painted the sink interior white and the black stones lining the bottom worked as they were clean and fresh looking. Love the industrial lighting fixture against the light blue walls.
Whose the face in the background? -- my husband, with his sunglasses pushed up after he's just asked me, "Can we please leave now?" I should also mention that this was not an icky unisex bathroom but rather well designed. Each bathroom had a completely closed in door (not a stall)and there were two entrance doors into the bathroom, on either side of the sinks, that were half glass.

My Inexpensive Bathroom Makeover - goodbye seafoam green

This is not my former seafoam green 1950's sink but it might as well have been. Unfortunately, I don't have photos of my hall bathroom as it looked 10 years ago - or of the unfortunate temporary cosmetic makeover I lived with for years. So, just imagine seafoam green ceramic floor tiles, sink, and tub combined with a 1970's avocado replacement toilet and you have the picture.

Since I didn't want to spend alot of money ripping out perfectly good tiles I decided to paint (more on that later) the seafoam green trim tiles Benjamin Moore Coventry Gray HC-169. Luckily the remaining tiles in the bathroom were white.

This is the view from the hallway, as you can see it's a small bathroom. I had high quality vinyl plantation shutters ($250) from Next Day Blinds installed. They've been there for 2 1/2 years and show no signs of adverse effects from the shower. I also had the green tub reglazed gray ($300) I went with gray, as opposed to white, because I didn't see anyway to match all the different whites - 50's white wall tiles, Toto Aquia dual-flush white toilet ($392) and the Home Depot white sink that we installed back in 1998. Plus the gray serves as a softer contrast to the gray/black mini-mosaic floor tile.

This sink was a quick replacement back in 1998. It originally was a Home Depot pedestal sink purchased for $38 (not kidding) However, after removing the pedestal for the floor installation we discovered it wasn't providing any support and liked how it opened up the bathroom not having it there. It's a small sink but there is a heating vent lower down in the wall that really limits options. The Delta faucet ($60) was also purchased back in '98 - eventually I'll replace it with something more stylish.

The door was painted white but I changed it to match the walls which are Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray, HC-170. It's a small room and I like how the gray door blends in.

Here you can see along the edges of the vent the green color I painted the bathroom when it was in its "temporary" stage. Below is the green tile color and an example of the original floor tile - only it was green.
Now, ABOUT PAINTING CERAMIC TILES...I painted these gray 5 years ago. Below is the damage that occurred when the new floors were installed. Prior to that, the painted trim tiles survived 5 years of use without any chipping. I didn't use ceramic paint. Instead I first applied 2 separate coats of Sherwin williams PrepRite 200 Interior Latex Primer and then regular Benjamin Moore semi-gloss Conventry Gray. The paint formulated for ceramic surfaces seemed to have more VOCs and I didn't want to use it. I think painting the trim tile worked because it is not subject to water the way a floor tile or wall tile in a shower would be. You can't clean these painted tiles by scrubbing them. Instead I use damp paper towels without any problem.


Here's my solution for covering my very 1950's looking mirror medicine cabinet. I found a lightweight 20"wide X 24" high mirror ($25) and attached it to the original mirror with eye screws and picture hanging wire. The cabinet still opens as widely as it did before because the mirror just clears the wall.
I painted the interior w/Sherwin Williams paint - Swimming Pool is the name. It's a bit aqua but my kids like and it was leftover from another project.
To make the trim appear more realistic, I painstakenly avoided painting the grout between each tile. Some people haven't realized they've been painted until I tell them.

Here I decide to bring the wall paint color right through to the ceiling. It adds height to the room and made the painting so much easier. The walls are in Pearl finish, Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray HC-170. Cost for all the paint was $90.

Up to this point, the total cost has been $1,155. Now time to fess up - the floor is where I splurged as compared to the rest of the bathroom. I chose the mini basketweave in St Regis Gray and Morgan Black from the Madison Collection - Renaissance Tile. The floor cost $1,100, bringing the total bathroom makeover to $2,255. Interestingly enough, almost every male guest who has visited our house remarks on this bathroom floor. They seem to really like it! However, I think with some careful shopping you could find a floor that makes a statement for less money than I paid.

The wreath is a leftover from Christmas. I need to find something else for this wall - round shapes seem to work the best and I"m thinking of something in a darker pink for some contrast to the gray. Also I think it's time to replace the yellowed rod cover w/either a white or gray one!

Here's a closer look at the Toto Aquia dual -flush toilet. I can HIGHLY recommend this toilet - it is like magic! I was quoted prices from $750 - 1,000 for it at local bath showrooms but purchased it from Cowan Supply in Atlanta for $392, free delivery. Besides working extremely well and offering a .9 GPF option, I love how the skirt extends to the floor. It covers the unattractive "tubing" of the toilet and makes for very easy cleaning. I plan to use this same toilet for the remaining 2 bathrooms - one of which has the distinction of being pink and black!