Our downstairs half bath ( toilet and sink, for you brits) decor of stenciled flowers on the wall is really old.
I am going to repaint it , but I want something interesting and fun or themed.
I was thinking about a chalkboard for a variety of artworks done by my kids.
Originally I wanted to do an Easter Island Head statue theme, but that proved to be too expensive. and I didn’t want to put shelves on the walls to put the heads on that I found, if I ever found them.
I have a crank out window in there, too, so a curtain/window shade decoration will be a part of the whole clam bake.
Give me suggestions or links to things that you like. please
Shirley Ujest, if you want to use your children’s artwork, in the last Martha Stewart Living, there was an article about decorating china with ceramic paint. (Ya’ll be quiet; I’ll read MS if I please and with no pretensions.) You can do the same thing with ceramic bathroom tiles. Maybe you could have your kids paint some tiles in the theme of your choice?
Otherwise I’m a big fan of these toilet seats. Especially this one. (It’s educational.) Or perhaps something with a scenic view? This is also lovely. But this is tacky. Stay away from that.
Sea shells shite by the seashore…
I have to agree, that last one was ultra tacky.
why are toilet bowls white?
Oh, and I secretly read martha too. I love her stuff, but hate her.
I have no idea if this will fit what you end up doing with the bathroom, but I did this in a bathroom window when I lived in Colorado. It’s cheap and turns out looking pretty cool.
Instead of a standard shade or curtains, get a bunch of cloth ribbon from the craft store, and a bag of sea shells (I think you can find those at the craft store too). Drill a hole through each shell. I suggest making your husband do this, they like to use power tools and it makes them feel useful.
String the ribbon through each shell, and tie into a big loop over the curtain rod. Repeat until you have a whole window full of shells-on-ribbons.
Could probably use something besides shells, too. Easter island statues would be nifty. The main point is you needs something to weight down the ribbons so they don’t just hang there looking dumb.
That’s my crafty idea. Everyone who saw that window thought it was very cool. I’d do it again, but one of the main selling points of my current house was that there are no neighbors close enough to see in the windows, so I don’t have any curtains.
Note to self: When visiting Shirley Ujest’s house, ask to use the other bathroom. :eek: :eek: deep breath
Back to the chalkboard theme, you can buy chalkboard paint. It would be fun to paint one wall with chalkboard paint and add a little ledge for chalk. Let your visitors add their own artwork.
Paint the screen. Pop it out, find a stencil you like or that matches the ‘day-core’ and use plain old white paint. It doesn’t show during the daytime, but it does show up at night. Very cool.
I did it to my kitchen window, just down one side and across the bottom. People comment on it all the time.
I like the Japanese idea. You could really do it up, and it still wouldn’t look tacky or overdone, because it’s pretty much impossible to overdo Japanese simplicity.
You could paint the walls to resemble rice paper. You could add lines to make the walls look like rice paper screens, or you could just have them look like rice paper. You could probably acheive the look by using two shades of ivory paint and doing some subtle sponging.
Put a bamboo or other natural fiber woven rug on the floor. The curtains could be either very simple, or a very vivid pattern like you’d find on a kimono.
For something decorative, but inexpensive, you could put a “bouquet” of decorated chopsticks in a small vase. You could also display a pretty sake or tea set on a shelf.
The hand towels should be very simple, maybe in an espresso or green tea color. You could use a Japanese sushi plate for a soap dish.
Add a framed picture of Mount Fuji and a bunch of paper cranes, and walking into your bathroom will be like walking into Tokyo. Or at least like walking into a Japanese restaurant.
Two words. Design Toscano. There’s enough freaky stuff there to give you a few ideas.
Or, screw the chalkboard. They have paint now that is chalboard paint! At work we have a wall that is chalkboard paint and another that has magnetized paint, so you can put magnets on it. I’ve wondered if you can mix the two.
If you don’t mind totally copying someone else’s idea…
A friend of mine has a half bath that they painted white and red. White for the trim work and a bright solid red on the walls. They then hung up this framed painting in there. I love that bathroom.
Our neighbors painted their bathroom red, and hung a poster of Prince Albert…so they officially had Prince Albert in the can. Seriously - that is what they did.
We just did our bathroom…tile floor (reddish, called Carolina Clay) and then took a yellow paint and while painting, wiped off some of the paint on the walls with a towel. The walls now have that nice, faded Italian wall look. We have a narrow rack of shelves, five high, that we folded towels and stack in there, and we also have bamboo shoots in a small chinese pot that we put on the top of the towel rack. Bamboo grows very well in low, indirect light. New light fixtures, new faucet, ripped out the old mirror and hung an oval mirror, new towel holder and TP holder…looks quite nice now. Amazing, however, how long such a small room takes to do!
You might also think of scraping off the “cottage cheese” ceiling and either painting it in blue with hand-painted clouds or just getting some sky-and-clouds walpaper and putting it up there.
Would go with pretty much any theme and would make the half-bath feel much larger/open.
I like the idea of a Japanese theme as well. Here is a bathroom with Japanese decor. You could probably get that look less expensively as well. Here is a page with advice from Home and Garden Network as well. If there is room, how about using something like these for your overhead light fixture? (I’d like the cone lights from that site myself. sigh) This page has some prints, and lanterns and such that you might be able to use. They seem to be decently priced. This site has an orgami crane mobile on it, but they are rather colorful. Post pics when you are done, please?
