Half Bath Refresh

Goodbye builder grade bathroom!

I know it seems silly to care so much about a half bath in a home... but when you think about it, this is probably one of the most "seen" rooms in your home when you're having guests over.

I knew that I wanted to do "something" with this room from the moment we moved in. I just wasn't sure what. When Stencil Revolution contacted me about their stencils, I was struck with inspiration and knew what I needed to do!

Here is the "before" and truly, nothing is wrong with this. It's just plain and I wanted something brighter and more fun! This is a very common situation for people buying new construction homes. They say "well, nothing is wrong with it so I feel like I shouldn't mess with it."

When you put work into a new construction home, just know that you are adding character (that is most likely lacking) and you are raising the value of your home. Within a new construction neighborhood, SO MANY of the houses have the exact same finish choices. So, when you go to sell your home down the road, your house is going to stand out and shine among a sea of bland and boring. So, do not be afraid to get messy in your new home!

First things first --

I had Stencil Revolution send me their "Boho Charm" wall stencil because I just loved the hand painted look of it. I wanted this stencil to look like a hand painted wallpaper like something you would see at Anthropologie. ($$$)

Inspiration pictures (via Anthropologie and Megan Molton).

The first step was to paint the room a bright white! I chose a Satin finish so that the stencil would appear more as a "wallpaper".

I was unsure at this point of what we were going to do on the bottom half of the room so, I chose not to paint it at this time. I finally decided on the color Cresent Blue by Sherwin Williams for the stencil paint color. It was the perfect powder blue that I was looking for!

This stencil was seriously so easy to use. Stencil Revolution's stencils are huge so that you don't have to repeat the pattern 1 million times. I tried a few methods but ultimately, loved how using a foam brush made the pattern look "hand painted".

We went back and forth on whether we wanted to do shiplap on the bottom half or board and batton...

Ultimately, we decided to go with board and batton on the bottom half of the room. This was a new venture for me, but oh, how I love it! It was so simple to execute and I know that I will be doing it somewhere else it our house at some point.

I took the board and batton up three quarters on the wall to give the room height and to give that coastal feel I was going for.

The original plan for the bathroom was to build a new vanity so that we could get rid of the dreaded pedestal sink. However, once we got into this little "renovation"... I really couldn't decide the direction I wanted the vanity to go. So, we wait! and that's totally fine. It looks amazing even with the pedestal sink.

The mirror was a $5 Goodwill find that I sanded down to a natural wood color that really appealed to the coastal vibe I was going for.

The vanity light is from Lowes Home Improvement and comes in a "bronze" (aka brown) finish. It was the most cost effective option and looked very similar to the Pottery Barn one that I had been eyeing. So, I bought that one and spray painted it matte black.

The faucet is from Amazon (not hooked up yet in this photo - reasons why there are hoses hanging out) and the towel ring is the existing one that I spray painted matte black to match!

Art is from Target and I found it on clearance for $22!

Here are some other pieces of art that I was considering from Target if you need other options!

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

Thanks for following along!