Bathroom Blues- Part Deux

The paint is done. I love the color. It's time to actually decorate. We gave it about 2 weeks, not because that's a time frame that you should use, but because we were crazy busy and having people over that night so I really wanted it done. It could have gone another 2 weeks if we'd been left to our own devices.

Our devices are lazy. They don't necessarily want to do the work that needs to be done. But if properly motivated, they can get quite a bit accomplished. Proper motivation usually involves dinner out, or ice cream, or time with friends.

So we started with the shelves. These shelves were in my apartment when I was living by myself. They made the move into the apartment we shared and then into the house. Although they were originally a set of three. Loki ate the corner off the third. Not chewed. Ate.

But it worked out better in this space to just have the two. Apparently that's how he expresses his design vision. He eats what he doesn't want us to use. Opinionated little thing isn't he?

I used a giant piece of graph paper to trace the shelves. It's the same graph paper that I used to hang our picture headboard in the third bedroom and our martini girls pictures in the family room. This stuff comes in handy. I actually traced and cut out the exact shape of the shelves. In hidnsight, I could have just extended the template to the nearest square and not cut out the curves. But I guess I don't think that way.

Then it was just a matter of poking through the back of the shelves to get exactly where the slots for the screws would be and taping them to the wall. I used painter's tape to hold the templates so that we wouldn't damage our awesome paint job. We leveled the templates as we hung them, which meant that the real shelves would be level as well.

Once the drywall mollies and the screws were in place, it was time to replace the paper shelves with the real deal. Again, thanks to the big guy for making this happen. I'm happy to say that by using the paper templates it took us all of 5 minutes to get both shelves up. Much better than the 25 or 30 it took in the apartment when we were guessing and checking. Not that I'm opposed to guessing and checking for some things, but those things probably shouldn't involve drilling holes into walls. I'm glad we learned that in the apartment and not in our house.

Please note that in the following pictures, the shelves are level. Again, we see evidence that I'm not the best photographer. Neither the shelves nor the house are actually tilted, just my camera.

Once the shelves were up on the wall, it was time to accessorize. Always my favorite part. :-) And usually the part where the big guy leaves the room. Apparently he doesn't enjoy me muttering to myself about smidges and scootching while I rearrange things about a thousnad times only to end up with the first arrangement I tried. Can't imagine why he doesn't want to be a part of that. ;-)

The picture against the sink will eventually get hung on the wall next to the light switch. But for now, I'm happy with it where it is. It's one of three pictures I bought at the base of the Eiffel Tower when I was in Paris. I'll have to find the other two in our storage unit and bring them into this room.

I also love the idea that somewhere in Paris, this is actually a view in someone's home. Imagine drinking you morning coffee and reading the newspaper and looking at the Eiffel Tower every morning. Not that I drink coffee or read the newspaper now, but maybe that would change if my windows looked out on something other than a cornfield.

Probably not, though. I'm a hot chocolate and fashion magazine girl all the way.

Here's a look at the full wall, with the accessories.

I've used this color palette before, in our apartment. Even most of these exact accessories. I love the depth of the blue agains the crisp white and the drama of the black. It's simple, it's elegant (in my opinion) and it's definitely a risk.

Risks can be fun. Especially when they pay off the way this one did.