We finally updated the Mamie pink bathroom enough so that I can show you some of it without bowing my head in shame.� Yes, this is the same pink and acid green bathroom I had Sherry from Young House Love design around.� I wanted–no, demanded–happy pink and yellow.� Then I painted the bathroom and realized I love many things, but not pink and yellow together.� Just in case you don’t feel like link hopping, here is the before:
And here is the after:
Since the pink and yellow didn’t look how I imagined, I decided to make all the changes Sherry suggested, just using the Modern Estancia look I plan to use throughout the house [re: masculine, rustic, dark, with a touch of die-hard Catholic grandma]. We are about 50% done. We still have to caulk everything, lay down baseboards, buy a special L-shaped curtain rod, a shower curtain, and cabinet knobs and pulls. (I have yet to find some I love, so I followed Nicole’s excellent suggestion and kept in place the originals until the right ones come along.)� I was able to do everything for roughly $300.� When you add in everything we have left to do, the total cost will be around $500.
The floor is Home Depot’s peel and stick floor tiles in a faux wood parquet pattern. They are a perfect match to the oak floors in the hallway and tolerate a ridiculous amount of splashing from the boys nicely.� I painted the vanity a dark brown using my favorite Ralph Lauren paint.� I can’t remember the color and the can doesn’t have a label (?!) but I think it was Galvanized.� I would know it if I saw the chip, so if anyone wants the color, let me know.� The walls are Cameo Pink, also by Ralph Lauren.
The paint and flooring were the cheapest part of the makeover.� The most expensive items are boring things, like frames.� Ordinary, not at all special, frames!� What a bother.� I used these simple Target frames in wood to frame prints from the Museo de Prado my mom bought The Mister and I nine years ago when she was at a conference in Spain.� I didn’t like them at the time, but didn’t have the heart to get rid of them.� Of course, now they work perfectly with everything and are proof that mothers always know best.
Part of the reason I couldn’t part with them is because of the way the museum decided to print them.� They are a very thin canvas on top of a stiff burlap.� A little tag details the title and artist.
On the left is Paisaje Nevado by Pieter “el Joven” Brueghel.
On the right is Las Meninas by Diego Rodr�guez de Silva Vel�zquez.� Quick side story–my mom had the “de” in her last name, too, which is typically what you would add as a young bride in the 60s to signify you now belong to your husband’s family.� Like, you know, chattel or a pair of pillows from Pottery Barn.� When they arrived in the U.S., the first thing my mom did was drop the “de” because, her words, “I am not a lamp.”
My favorite print to date, Neapolitan Abe by Justin Richel on etsy. I adore everything in his shop. His Big Wigs series must be new.� I was just looking at his shop last month and had I seen these, I would own at least a few by now.
The pennant garland was a gift from Krista Knott in appreciation of the hard work Tristan and I put into The Bright Side Project.� Can you believe that?� Krista has never been featured on The BSP and only did it as a way to give back because she knows Tristan and I don’t make money on the project (yet–God?) and spend hours everyday trying to make it a positive and fun place to visit.� Anyway, I love my garland.� I’ve been looking for a place to put these up where I could admire them daily, and I think this is the perfect spot.
More of my mom.� The toothbrush and toothpaste holder is actually an aluminum beer stein my parents received as a gift (it’s part of a set) when they got married.� I used to fill those bad boys up with coke every summer as a kid.� The frame was another gift from my mom that I had no idea what to do with but works perfectly here.� Likewise, so is the chameleon silver vase from Mexico.� Clearly, my mother’s entire gift giving career has been in preparation for this bathroom.
And that’s it.� My Mamie pink bathroom, updated.� Eventually we will do the remodel, but for now I am happy.
Oh, and because weeks (more like months) from now my mom will read this post, I will save her the trouble of a phone call and say, yes, mom, that silver is completely tarnished.� Look! Here is a close up of my indignity:
Are you ready for this, Mom?� I have no plans to polish the vase anytime soon. Scandal.
I LOVE it! I, too have done a mostly paint and changing the fixtures remodel of our dated bathrooms. Makes one feel SO good to make such a BIG change with so little. P.S. Your remake reminds me of a Parisian apartment, which makes me feel a little jealous and makes me wish I had thought of it!
Well, hey! A Parisian apartment sounds mighty fine to me, considering they call Buenos Aires the Paris of the South. You just made my day. :)
What a difference! So inviting.
I’m laughing here because of the tarnished silver – so me. And my Mom would SO agree with your Mom. ;)
Seriously? I love it.
Please, let’s be best friends.
Love it-! I thought you’d replaced the cabinets until I read you PAINTED them. Lovely all around. And seriously the pink sinks are too cool…or rather you’d made them super cool.
Seriously love your embracing of the pink. You are a smart woman. The dark brown pulls it all together.
Is the set of antlers on the wall an ode to boys or another gift from mom : )
An ode to the boys. :)
oh me oh my. i got a little teary seeing the pennant in such a gorgeous setting. i wouldn’t have felt upset at all if it sat in a drawer. i just wanted to say ‘thank you’ and now i feel like i need to say it again. :-)
xo
I’m so jealous! I love that bathroom. You have inspired me to paint almost every room in my house. The living room was first. Now it’s the kitchen which is almost done and then I’m moving to the bedroom next. Because of you I feel the need to paint my tiny house in dark warm colors and I LOVE it. Thank you! I feel like I’m living in a little piece of heaven!
Thanks, Toi. :) I know that whites and pales are popular right now, and I did try to follow the trends, but it’s just not me. So, back to the dark side I went. I guess I just like things dark and cozy!
GASP! I love pink and brown … but who would have thought for a bathroom? Not me, obviously. I love it! Feeling some love for the lizard vase … and tarnished silver is totally cool. Gives the air of vintage quality. At least that’s what I tell myself when I look at my tarnished silver. Of course, I’m probably the last person you want to take advice from – I am the one who invited a friend over for lunch and when she got here there was a whole piece of bacon flung halfway across the room – and I’ve no idea how that happened. But I digress … don’t you just love it when you find the perfect place for that thing you’ve had lying around for ages? Sigh.
I, too, have tried to follow the “light and airy” trend but I just can’t fake it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s wonderful in all the right places, but my house just isn’t one of them.
Love this redesign! You did a wonderful job! The cabinets look great and I love the accessories!
Amy–Well, I can’t say I came up with a brilliant idea. The pink toilet, sink, and tub kind of told me what 50% of the color scheme would be. ;) I’m still chuckling over someone walking into your house to find a random piece of bacon on the floor.
Mandy–I agree. I love the light and airy look when I see it online or in stores. Obviously I do, or I wouldn’t have tried to imitate it in my home. Holly @ Decor8 often features items that are light, airy, and happy. I always want to buy half of them, and I think her apartment in Germany is lovely with all that white. When I tried to do something similar here, it just didn’t look right.
Love what you’ve done with it. I have to say, painting the vanity that gorgeous color turned that bathroom around.
it looks awesome! i love the mix of items- it makes it so much more personal and interesting. have you looked at anthropologie for knobs? seems like some of the old cool glass kind would look awesome in there….
Rose–I have turned Anthro inside out. I love the knobs and found some that are perfect–but I can’t find pulls! I’m not even looking for matchy-matchy pulls, either.
Jules, it looks soo soo nice. I love pink with brown :) and the best part is it did not cost you a bunch of money. Now go and polish mama’s lizard vase….hahaha. jk. Us spanish mami’s got to have it all polished up !!!!
this is amazing! beautiful work, you should be proud!
We have a pink bathroom in common! Don’t you just love the his/her bathrooms from the 1950’s? LOL Although my tile and tub are both blazing pink. It’s hard to justify tearing it down to the studs (you’d have to with the tile mortared to the walls) when everything is in ridiculously good shape. Your renovation is LOVELY. I’m so jealous. xoxo
you REALLY need to give yourself more credit. that looks FANTASTIC!! congrats(:
rachel made me want to check out your bathroom remodel. i love the original and the new bits of it. we’ve got some of that going on in our old bathroom as well. never seeing your posts before, i had to do some re-caps…i’m a sucker for holiday posts. i take that back. i’m a sucker for photos. they speak volumes to me, whether they have captions or not. i think my fave post so far is the one in nov about etnies and the dirty vehicle. thanks for that laugh. and i must say i was quite impressed with the 50lb loss. wow. i miraculously lost 4 lbs this month…but that was just a fluke and caused by stress, so that hardly counts. congrats to you!! :)
Looks great! Can’t believe you’ve so drastically changed that space for $500! Great job Jules!
{ Lindsey }
From dated to modern and chic. I love every thing about this bathroom. GREAT JOB AND HAPPY NEW YEAR
Totally Fab. A far superior result to any possible pink/ yellow combo.
Ooooooo… LOVE it.
Just getting to this post in my reader (can’t seem to keep up with all the blogs I love, one being the brightside project!). I just had to tell you that we had the same Brueghel museum print in our bathroom until we moved in march and now it’s over the fireplace (much too small) because we’re still searching for the right piece. We picked it up at a museum in Vienna eight years ago where they had the original and some other works of Brueghel on display. I am not much of a decorator at all so feeling pretty good that I made the same choice as someone so skilled in the area of house beautiful!!
Oh my goodness, you’ve just inspired me! Our master bath has a pink toilet and tiles but we don’t have enough money to do a complete renovation. I never thought of just working around it…I have to show this to my husband so that we can come up with a game plan – thank you so much for posting this!
Surprisingly Pink is also my favorite color. And seeing your beautiful bathroom after the remodeling, I am also thinking to renovate my bathroom with Pink. And once I have done I will surely post some screenshot of it.