Hello, and thank you for stopping in to spend a few moments with me here in my little corner of the world!
Have you ever had something happen to you that you may have initially viewed as disastrous, but you decided to make the best of it and, as the age-old adage goes, 'when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.' ?
Recently, we unfortunately had a pipe burst behind one of our bathroom walls. Fortunately, we caught it fairly early...and conversely (so, not fortunate AT ALL), we had to replumb the entire house!! A replumb of the house also meant that throughout the house, there would be lots of unsightly holes in drywall.
I decided to lick my wounds and take this as an opportunity to redecorate the powder room, which was the site of the crime, and where the repair had to be initiated.
After much consideration, I picked out a wallpaper I adored! I wanted a paper that included elements of a damask pattern, and one that incorporated the colors reflected in the décor of my home, which are dark blue, teal, grey, and a smattering of white.
I decided on this pattern from Wayfair. It is called Parrots with Floral Bouquets and is manufactured by York Wallcoverings. I loved the muted grey and the sweet birds! If you would like to see this on the Wayfair site, you may click here.
After the holes in the drywall were patched, plastered, and sanded, the first step I took was to remove any remaining wallpaper that was not destroyed in the repair, and give the walls a good cleansing. After the prep work was done, I was excited to get papering! However, there were a few snags.
I have worked with wallpaper before, and although this is an absolutely gorgeous paper, it was a bit problematic comparatively speaking.
First off, there is NO GRID on the reverse side of this paper! Having no grid on the paper made the task of cutting and lining up the paper extremely arduous. The pattern does not repeat the way I thought it would, so lining up pattern for a cohesive design was really difficult.
Also, the adhesive on the paper really did not stick. As mentioned, I have used self-adhesive wallpaper before and had no issue, but for some reason, this paper's adhesive did not take. I had completed one wall, only to find in the morning that it had unpeeled! Yikes!! It was a good thing that I had only papered a small area initially, and I was able to go back and add additional wallpaper paste to the back of the paper and on the wall without wanting to throw in the proverbial towel.
As I meticulously papered around the lighting, it became blaringly obvious that the electric plugs were an eyesore. I had already decided to add new decorative switchplate and wallplate covers, but the new bronze faceplates looked unsightly with the old switches and sockets!!
I decided to change them out as well. I am glad I did, because when I opened the old outlets it became immediately apparent that these were well past due/desperately in need of an upgrade.
The worst of them all were the switchplates for the lighting. 
BLECH!! You just never know what is hiding behind walls, especially in an older house, lol!
I decided to change the outlet plugs to this brown model. I felt this color would most compliment the switchplate, which was an oil rubbed bronze.
I chose this model in brown for the light switches.
I turned off the power supply to the house before changing these. It took a bit of adjusting
until I got them in flush and just right.
So. Much. Better.
Next, I decided to paint the wainscoting to match. I was initially going to leave it the grey color it already was, because there were grey aspects in the paper, but I reconsidered. Instead, I wanted to choose a color that coincided more closely with the paper. This grey looked ok, but it wasn't giving me the jewelry-box feeling I wanted this powder room to emulate.
This was a long process and it took time and patience before I made my final decision.
I tried a lighter dove grey that matched the highlights of the details on the wallpaper. I did not like it. Next!
I took a piece of the wallpaper in with me to my local Lowe's, and I decided on the color Salty Dog by Valspar.
When I was in the store, the color looked SO close. Then, I got home and put it on the wall.
I thought perhaps it needed another coat and it would look better. Clearly not. The blue was just too bright. Next!
I decided to take my sliver of wallpaper to a professional and have it color matched. I went to a local True Value Hardware Store and chose a custom color by Benjamin Moore.
Again, I got it on the wall, and it was even lighter than the salty dog!!
I tried to paint two coats as well to see if it came any closer, but alas, no luck!
I began to lament that I would never find a matching color, because the paper, while beautiful, has a sort of aged, flecked quality with highs and lows, making extremely difficult to match.
I was intending to return to the store once again when I thought perhaps if I just added a bit of black to the Valspar paint, it would match. The Valspar paint was an acrylic paint, so I didn't think it would matter if I used the acrylic art paint I already had on hand.
I added and mixed, added and mixed, until I got to a color and thought, close enough!
It took a couple of coats as well
before I finally liked it. At long last!!
Again, it was not exact, but close enough.
After I painted the paneling, I added a chair rail as a finishing element. Testing how it would look.
Painted and caulked corner.
A look at one of the longer walls.
I decided to paint the baseboards the same color as well for a more cohesive look.
Before. I also caulked the corners here for a seamless finish.
After. All painted, chair rail complete. I also rehung this lovely French-style architectural piece I have had in this powder room for ages. It is very heavy and made of stone and metal.
Next, I primed the ceiling with a mold-blocking paint,
then painted it a light cornflower blue, also in a moisture-resistant formula indicated for bathrooms.
After painting the ceiling, I added some coordinating linens.
I used a simple rod. Perhaps later I'll invest in something more ornate...but for the time being, this will do.
The sheer blue plays quite nicely with the new wallpaper
and the small bronze rod compliments the fixtures, the new switchplates, and bronze rod on the shower. I also added a curtain for the shower in a soft dove grey with a blue vinyl liner.
After finally finishing the work, I added some decorative elements.
The ballerina art that has been a staple in this powder room for years was placed back where it belongs, along with its friend, the large, ornate mirror.
A fleur de lis paper towel holder, an ornate receptacle for toothbrushes, coordinating florals, and some pretty soaps complete the look.
The arrangement consisted of faux flowers in coordinating colors: navy, teal, and white.
Right in front of the arrangement, I placed some lovely scented soaps.
One is a set of very fine French lavender.
Paired with a darling English Earl Grey.
The final step was to take a slightly wet soft cloth and wipe the paper, removing any remaining wallpaper paste. I may opt later to add an additional chair rail along the ceiling rather than crown molding, but I have not decided yet. Have you ever had to turn lemons into lemonade?
Until we run into one another again,
--Y
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