the big reveal!

I had hoped to post my bathroom makeover photos yesterday, but a nasty migraine sent me to bed for the afternoon. I can't wait to show you what we accomplished during Susan's and Fred's brief visit!

We decided to paint right over the existing wallpaper--not always the best idea, but two of the bathroom's walls had already been painted over by the previous homeowner, and time was also a consideration, so we forged ahead. Susan painted the room while I worked downstairs sewing the window treatment from the beautiful silk remnant she brought. Look at this fabulous silk ball fringe to be used as trim!

Susan recommends always painting the ceiling the same color as the wall, and I have never been disappointed when doing so. (It also makes cutting in much easier!)

Once the base color was on the wall, we marked it for tone-on-tone striping with an ingenious tool Fred devised for doing so. This photo doesn't really show the tool, but it's a wooden template of sorts that marks 10" stripes on the wall (with the assistance of a level).

After marking the lines in light pencil it's time for the blue painter's tape to go up. We masked off the lines that were going to be painted in a slightly darker (and flat finish) shade. The base coat of paint is an eggshell finish.

The fun part is taking off the blue tape to reveal the crisp, straight stripes. We laughed at this huge gob of tape amassed in the garbage can.

No more blue tape!

I almost forgot to mention that we decided to paint--yes, I said paint--the floor. We put a coat of primer over the linoleum, then a lighter base coat of color. Next, Susan used a plastic bag to do a "faux finish" on the floor. We chose the color from the floor rug she brought, which ties the wall color with the floor. (Note our ingenious use of Glad Press 'n Seal wrap to cap off the exposed sink pipe!)

Thankfully, the blizzard lasted only one day and we were able to get out on Friday for a trip to one of our favorite stores: TJMaxx/HomeGoods. Here we found several great accessories, including a really cute glass-front chest to hang above the toilet. We weren't really looking for one, but when we saw it we knew it was the perfect thing.

This one's for you, Jill. I actually remembered to snap this SP after our successful HomeGoods run.

And now--drum roll, please--Ta Dum!

Now for the fun part--accessorizing! Once the new sink and vanity was installed and the mirror, valance, and chest hung, Susan began her finishing touches. She has such an eye for and attention to detail. She brought some new things and scavenged around the house for a few existing items to use. Here's a good look at the HomeGoods chest, filled with rolled aqua towels we found on the clearance aisle of the same store (the bottom shelf has rolls of toilet paper--who knew they could be so cute!):

One of my favorite things is this collection of framed prints that Fred gave me. They are photographs of old pressed botanical samples. Some of them date back to the 1800's! He did a beautiful job of photographing them--they look almost dimensional in their pressed glass frames, and I like how the wall shows through like a "mat."

I would never have thought to put cute things on the back of my toilet! Look at these monogrammed soaps in two different shapes in this cute cute glass apothecary jar.

Here's a closer look at the detail above the wall chest. She brought the cute round mirror from her store and pilfered the books and fleur de lis from my dining room bookcase. I still don't know how she managed to get all of this stuff in her suitcases on the way here!

New light fixture, made even better because it was only $26.99 at Home Depot. It sure beats the Texaco bathroom look of the old one.

A little of the old (reframed) to mix in with the new: a photo of Emily and I when she was a baby. I had it hanging in here before, only in a different frame.

No detail was left unattended to. Susan bought new switch plates, faucet, a new towel bar, hook, and toilet paper holder. She even brought a fragrance diffuser (from her store) that's not only in a cute square bottle, but also in one of my favorite scents--grapefruit. We found a cute china casserole lid among my things (a gift from Susan in the past) to hang above the towel hook.

The project took a little longer than we had anticipated (we worked until about 9 p.m. on Saturday night and they were scheduled to leave Sunday morning) but it sure was satisfying. What a wonderous gift of love to me! Their generosity is overwhelming--not just the money spent on the project, but their time, as well. That is probably the best part of the gift--having the entire project finished in such a relatively short time. It's really fun to work hard with people you love, and even more fun when the project is something you've been wanting to do since well, FOREVER.

The best part? Now I'm no longer embarrassed to let people use my powder bath--in fact, I might even encourage them to do so! This project has been such a morale boost to me, now I know why all those people on Extreme Makeover, Home Edition cry when they see the finished result. Thank you, thank you, thank you dear Susan and Fred. You're wonderful and I love you both!