birthday bathroom blues

I think I was saying the other day that getting into a project was really helping me get out of my bad mood and back into living life. I painted my foyer and yesterday I painted my hall bathroom. Why I am doing all this painting? Well, there are two things really.

1. We moved into this house a little over a year ago and there were rooms that hadn't been decorated. Normally when I move ( and I moved a TON when I was single) I put things on the wall very quickly, but I didn't do that with this house. Since it was built in 1961 we had a lot of renovating to do first and we completely remodeled the kitchen in the first three months. So I was tired after that, and stressed and lazy. So I finally got around to it this summer. Here is a picture of the foyer I painted the other day. I kept the mirror up there because it matched nicely and added the stars that I picked up at Linens and Things.

2. Why I painted the bathroom? When it was perfectly fine? Happy Birthday, Charlie!!! You see, I painted the bathroom when we first moved in and I picked out what I thought was a really pretty green called "grape leaves." Sounded good to me. I accessorized it with white and purple and it was so cute. OR so I thought.

Well, it turns out that when you have the door closed and the light on, it glows. That's what Charlie says. And he had to use the bathroom. Our master bath does not have a door (don't get me started) and so I won't let him get ready in there at the Godforsaken hour he gets up. I need my beauty sleep, people. So he uses the hall bathroom, which was evidently like Chinese water torture or something with that green on the walls.

He would tell me all the time how he hated it. I told him to pick out another color while we were at Home Depot the other day and he comes to me with a blue.

Now, I hate blue bathrooms. If you have one, I am sorry. They feel cold and sterile and everyone has sea shells or tacky ocean prints and I hate them. They are not welcoming in the slightest and I think blue is the color you choose when you aren't brave enough to get what you really want. Blue is a safe color.

Now, I didn't mean to get started on all that, but you notice I did not delete it.

I told him there would be no blue. He was welcome to pick out another green, but I would not have blue in this house.

Would you look what happened? (Sorry about that glare.)

It all started with his comments of course. But when I was redoing the living room we took down these heavy brown curtains. And I wasn't going to give them away because I loved them and they are great faux silk and velvet curtains that are lined. Nice, in a Target way.

So, one afternoon I think: what if I attached some blue ribbon to those brown curtains and painted the bathroom?

So I took myself to the fabric store and bought me some blue ribbons. They even had one that was a blue and brown plaid. Then I glued them on. Yep, glued. Tacky glue, to be exact. And I went to HD and matched the ribbon to a paint color called "liberty gray," which is a subtle blue-gray-periwinkle color.

Then, in true mistreatment style, I nailed my curtain panel to the wall. The Nester will be so proud. I used her method of tacking down the ends where you want them and then going back and working from the middle. Great and easy technique. Then I swagged it back and tacked it with more ribbon (but, I didn't take a pic of that..sorry.)

Here is my ribbon sweetly protecting the white handtowels I don't let people use. I know, I am such a Monica about that. But I think the ribbon tells them to back off in a polite "i-am-being-saved-for-the-queen" way. I do have another towel out for people, so don't think I am so horrible that people can't wash their hands. Gross!

When my husband went to work yesterday the bathroom was green and purple. When he came home it was blue and brown! I even managed to accessorize without spending too much. I looked around the house and we had that painting on the wall in another room. I put my shelves and mirrors back up and found that "fleur de lis" thing at Hobby Lobby for $2.50. He was really excited and he said he knew it was really a gift from my heart because he knows how much I hate blue ( see above rant if you forgot already!)

But, don't tell him how much I really like it, ok? It'll be our little secret.