the original toilet…
After spending the majority of the current budget on our fabulous kitchen (if I say so myself), I now struggle to look at our existing and outdated toilets and bathrooms on a daily basis. Eventually I’ll completely renovate them but for the meantime, my bank account articulates what I can and can’t do – so it’s non-structural, aesthetic renovations for me! The kids toilet had a similar style and feel to our original kitchen sporting mustard coloured walls, a mix of mustard and terracotta tiles and a Mexican-style tile splashback to complete the circa 1998 look. That said, the space also shares the beautiful features, like the 3 meter ceilings, detailed skirting and cornices and a solid cedar framed window. A great blank canvas!
first things first… paint!
As mentioned in one of my previous posts, the interior of our entire home was painted in 3/4 strength Dulux Lexicon before moving in, ensuring easier access and a faster job in general for the painters. This instantly brightened the space.
Using my absolute favourite product of all time in relation to cost effective, non-structural renovating – White Knight Paint, I transformed the toilet floor and wall tiles and small splashback above the sink. There are endless possibilities with this paint and if you’re looking to update a room quickly and cost effectively, it’s a great alternative to ripping out your cabinetry and/or tiles and starting again. I’m not going to list the step by step process because that’s an entire ‘How To’ Blog Post within itself, so feel free to contact me if you need some help.
painting continued…
What I will say, however is – it’s all about the preparation. I prepped both tiled areas of the toilet by sanding, sugar soaping and using White Knight Laminate and Tile Primer before even starting. I then finished the tiles with two coats of White Knight Tile Paint tinted with Bristish Paints colour Lighten Up, sanding the tiles with Wet N Dry Sandpaper in between each coat. It’s quite a process! If you want, you can go one step further and paint a couple of coats of polyurethane on top for durability.
Considering the natural grandness of our home, I felt the space was now sterile, almost hospital like with little charm and character. Inspired by the gorgeous blue and white striped feature wall in our Billiard Room, I thought I’d create something similar to restore the character and feel of the room (even if it is just a loo!)
it’s boring, so what next?…
Being a smaller room, I felt a thinner stripe would be more fitting in a colour not dissimilar to the existing wall colour to create a more classic look. Our wall paint (Dulux, Lexicon) is a blue/grey based white so I chose a British Paints colour, Lighten Up and used Taubmans Easy Coat Paint in a low sheen. Following the same procedure as our Poolroom I measured up, taped up, starting painting the stripe and forgot one very important step – I didn’t paint the first coat with the existing wall colour which ensures any bleed under the tape is the same colour as your wall. If you don’t know what I’m talking about and you’ve got a spare 5 minutes, check out my “How to: Wall Striped Post” as this will explain everything.
#failure, yet again…
So I’ve painted the stripes and peeled off the tape, only to find my gorgeous and subtle stripes look like some sort of cheap abstract art from the 90’s. Eeeek! Unlike the perfectly straight lines in my Poolroom, the paint had bled under the tape causing an abomination. At the end of my evitable tantrum, I called my Mother for advice on repairing something that may perhaps be too far gone, however Mum’s are great for this sort of thing – they hate seeing you in dismay and somehow fix stuff. Under her guidance, I followed Mums suggestion and bought 8 silver Sharpies and a large floppy ruler. Together we created a gorgeous “pinstripe” either side of the painted lines that not only covers the edges, its looks fabulous! See Exhibit A
the details…
Can you believe I found this beautiful antique mirror on Gumtree for $100? And, it’s somewhere between 60-70 years old? I bought it from a lovely old couple who were downsizing and from a house to a unit. The wife couldn’t remember where and when she bought it and all the husband knew was she already owned it before they met! So cute. Add some simple white shelves from Bunnings, grey and white bathroom accessories and basket from Pillow Talk, cute little homewares from Manawee Garden Centre and Early Settler and you’ve got a gorgeous aesthetic toilet renovation for under $500!
I hope you’ve enjoyed the read and please feel free to ask any questions! x
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