Thanks for the advice on my pattern – the consensus seemed to be no contrasting panel, so I’m trying the high neckline without contrast.  I can always cut a contrasting panel if I change my mind!  I started it last night, and so far (knock on wood!) it’s going well.

Our bathroom has long been a work in progress.  When we moved in it was apparent that the previous owners had cared about having a nice shower, and not much else, thus this sink and light fixture:

The light fixture was homemade, probably from the remnants of the homemade trim:

Yes, that is a 2×4, glued to a quarter round and a piece of tiny trim.  They also didn’t believe in priming, as you can see from the bubbled and peeling paint.  I repainted it (using primer this time!) and it’s better.   It’s still not great, because it’s very hard to clean in the gap, but I don’t have the cash at the moment for what I wanted (tile or wainscotting.)

Here is the color it was most recently:

The entire bathroom, including the door and door trim was painted pale flat yellow when we moved in.  I painted the door white, and the rest a pale blue (Martha Stewart for Valspar, discontinued.)  I never loved the paint color – it looked ok in sunlight, but dingy at night, and it didn’t match the purplish undertones in the stone shower.  It also developed steam marks almost immediately – the kind where it looks like the walls are weeping.  They were impossible to wash off, so I knew I needed to repaint in a paint specifically for bathrooms.

Here is the result:

This color is Iron Mountain from Benjamin Moore, the same color I used in my hallway.  I like Iron Mountain because it’s somewhere several colors at once – both an almost charcoal, a taupe brown, and a plum.  It’s also nice and dark, which I like better than bright colors for a bathroom.  I used Aura Bath and Spa paint, which is supposed to keep off some of the weeping (steam marks on the walls) that I had with the cheaper paint.  We will see – I’ve banished all towels from the bathroom and plan to shower with the door open from now on.  We don’t have an exhaust fan, and with this being a second floor (out of 3) bathroom, we can’t really install one.  I thought of having one installed out the wall, but I want to see if I can solve the problem another way first.  I’ll try opening the window as well after a shower – that’s the reason why it’s up to code, because if you have a bathroom you aren’t required to have a fan.

I bought new rugs:

All the bathroom rugs now seem to be made of memory foam, and I don’t like them.  We had a set of those, and they were impossible to keep clean and nice looking.  These rugs are nice and soft, and without a rubber backing they can go through the wash.
I need something for the walls, so the room isn’t finished, but I feel much better about it now.  On to the sewing room!  I managed to pawn the bed off on one of my friends, so now I can get started.

Yes I do:

I love this color (Cabana green by Benjamin Moore).  It’s pretty both in the daytime and at night, and it’s bright without being fluorescent.    I also chose the color for the other walls:

It’s Revere Pewter, also by Benjamin Moore.  As you can probably tell from the difference in the green, it’s actually a little cooler than it appears above.  I decided to go with a grey-ish beige (greige!) because the cool silver wasn’t working with my brown sofa, but it’s not as yellow as my other choice (above, which looks good here, but looks dirty on the wall).  This gray has a slightly green base, and looks different in different lights.  It’s pretty light and neutral, which is different for me.

I’m not painting the doors or stairwell until after an audition I have in 2 weeks, because while I can handle regular (low voc) paint fine, the oil primer I prefer on the woodwork is a bit much, and I’d rather not be ill.  In the meantime, I’m going to work on other projects – choosing the fabrics for the pillows and curtains I’m sewing, and changing other fixtures.

Last year we replaced the chandelier in our dining room.  The old one was not to my taste at all:

I really don’t like brass.  I replaced it with a chrome and white fixture that goes well with the cobalt paint, but I kept this one around for a redo.  It used to have really awful frosted glass shades with weird raised images of fruit on them, but I got rid of those – they weren’t working for me at all.  I was resigned to buying clip on shades when I found these at Goodwill for $4:

They aren’t setting the world on fire or anything, but they fit.  I’m thinking of using a faux mercury glass technique (here) on the outside of the glass, but I’ll wait until the fixture goes up this weekend.

In the meantime, I’m painting the chandelier itself:

Plain black gloss paint.  Here is what I use to paint metal:

I apply the liquid sandpaper with the gloves on.  This is important for metal because I think it’s hard to sand enough, especially if you have shiny brass.  You really want to knock the shine off!  I did three thin coats of the paint and then two lacquer.  I didn’t prime, but I would prime anything that is going to be handled at all with spray Killz.

I also have replacements for the other two fixtures – a flushmount for the hall to replace the awful bare bulb we’ve been living with, and a track for the stairs.

I don’t use the ceiling lights at all, but my husband does.  Hopefully with all those new lights (vs the three single bulbs we have now) it might actually be bright enough to see.  I’m keeping part of this old lamp:

My Mom gave me this lamp.  I like the interesting tree shaped base.  What I don’t like?  This:

I know, some people love these lamps.  I find that when you live in a victorian, people think you really need tiffany lamps.  I have five of them for some reason, and they just aren’t my thing.  This one isn’t fancy, so I won’t feel bad putting the shade in our yardsale and replacing the shade on the base.  We picked up a new shade last weekend here:

My husband wants to make it clear that he’s riding that cart like a crazy person.  Of course, I was taking pictures of him doing it, so that makes me just as crazy!  Where are we? That bright yellow wall can mean only mean this:

IKEA opened a store in Cincinnati a few years ago, and I’m not over the novelty yet.  I know, those of you in really big cities (or Europe) are over it, but trust me… before this there were no inexpensive places with good design.  I like to thrift, but there are some things you need to buy new.  My budget for this makeover is really low, so I knew a trip to IKEA was in order.

I picked up a plain cotton area rug (Erslev)in a large size to paint, a new floor lamp,  the track lighting, and a few odds and ends.    Oh, and I bought their panel curtain system to use as a fourth wall in front of the stairs – I want the living room to feel more like a room!  I thought their curtain choices were cheap though, so I bought the hardware and decided to make my own.

Tomorrow I’ll post about the actual sewing I’m about to do.  I have new curtains, pillows, room divider panels, and an area rug to paint.    Yes, still a lot, but I’m really pleased with how the room is shaping up – maybe I’ll finally have a living room I enjoy spending time in!