Before & After: The Powder Room

What better way to start a new year than with a fabulous Before & After? 

I decided I wanted a new look in our downstairs powder room (that’s what my grandma always called these little half-bathrooms) so I set about trying to figure out what that might be. I really, really wanted pattern ~ wallpaper ~ on the walls, but my husband wasn’t so sure. And then the more I thought about it, the more I thought wallpapering this little space around all the fixtures might be beyond me. So I decided I would stencil.

I have stenciled a couple times, once in our old house and once in our new house. (Click here to see how the stenciling turned out in our dining room.) The trick is always finding the right pattern. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for but knew I would know it when I saw it. I came across this fan pattern and instantly knew this was it. It just felt right with the art I wanted to hang in here. 

The first thing I did was get the holes in the walls filled in, then I had the room re-painted from a cool gray to a warmer beige/gray. You can see the before pictures below:

I then spent 21 hours over several days stenciling all the walls. Halfway through, I did wonder what on Earth had possessed me to think this was a good idea. But I kept going and the results were fantastic. 

I pulled together several prints from Janet Hill, a wonderful Canadian artist, and hung them. I then decided it was time for me to finally frame a calendar of Janet Hill’s that I had been holding onto ~ Twelve Days at the Penny Fontaine Hotel. I found these fab green frames on Amazon, used one of my wallpapers from The Pink Home as a backdrop to provide some texture, and went to work. The result is below:

I found a few more accessories ~ a little greenery, the right towels, a small lamp, etc., and viola, it was done. I am absolutely in love with this little bathroom now. 

What do you think?

Photos by The Art of Living Beautifully