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The Hall Half Bath Befores

October 1, 2013

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Did you know the difference between a half bath and a powder room is just geographic jargon?  Maybe when this room is done, I’ll feel fancy enough to call it a powder room, but for now–it’s a half bath.  A very green half bath.
As mentioned in this post, this little bathroom is on the docket to revamp before our Halloween party in 25 days (Happy October!!), and now that the great room is painted, we are getting started–but first a little tour into where we’re at what we’re thinking.  The bathroom has great bones. We love the window that has extra private glass in it, so we’ll most likely nix the blind that we’ve had up since we moved in anyway.  This bathroom has one of the 16 infamous hook sets in our house.  Since we can’t imagine hanging more than one towel in here for drying hands (as illustrated below) we’ll probably just replace the shelf on the right with a modest towel hook or rod.
I actually didn’t notice the ceiling fixture until I snapped these pictures.  Turns out in addition to being rather small, the bulb is burned out. Hi little guy! We don’t think this small room needs a ceiling fixture and a vanity fixture, and we actually decided to go with a new ceiling fixture for a couple reasons.  First, we would want to change either one we decided on, but since there is a cabinet when you walk in, that’s blocked by the vanity light, we think a ceiling fixture would actually light the room a lot better.
Second, the vanity light is positioned pretty low.  We have moved many fixtures before, so it isn’t necessarily a problem, but we’d rather use the space for a larger mirror rather than squeezing in a fixture too–since there’s another option overhead.
The walls and cabinetry will get a fresh coat of paint. We’re also going to remove the top cabinet door to have some open shelving that we can decorate. The countertop isn’t offensive at all.  It’s white laminate.  White! I never thought I would be so happy to see white laminate.  The jury is still out on the white laminate surround.  I’d like to remove it, but we want to make sure we’re not going to damage the cabinetry by doing so. We could probably hold out for a new sink a little while longer, but would love to get a new faucet in here before the party.
The last thing on the list would be a new toilet paper holder (I’m weird about wood toilet paper holders) and maybe some new cabinet hardware.  Down the road, we plan on replacing the tile in here but obviously that won’t be happening in the next few weeks.
As I was explaining our plans to my little sister, Andi, in Mexico via chat yesterday (and maybe stressing a bit), she reminded me that, “Most people just make sure the bathrooms have toilet paper for a party, they don’t renovate the whole thing!” but I am feeling excited about this project. Small rooms are fun to start in. They’re faster and easy to make a big impact in.  Mood board coming!

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What do you think?

  1. Mylena says:

    In my corner of the globe a half bath is toilet + sink + shower and a powder room is toilet + sink only. A full bathroom means a bath tub + sink + (usually but not always) toilet, and the bath doesn’t necessarily have a shower built in.

    That green certainly is a shocker!

  2. Michelle says:

    Yep. I would totally play up that green for the Halloween party too!

  3. Lacey says:

    A couple people already said this, but neon green is totally a halloween color!

  4. This sounds very doable for the next 25 days. Can’t wait to see the results! Do you think you’ll end up keeping the wood cabinet and/or painting it?

  5. I think the current color looks very halloweeny! maybe you should just creep it up more for Halloween then paint it after!

  6. Anonymous says:

    Love your ideas so far! The open storage could be so cute. Can’t agree with your sister, though. We totally remodeled a bathroom 2 days before Christmas because people were coming over, so doing a few minor improvements will really make a difference and I think people will notice.

    And I’m totally with you on the toilet paper holder. I’m also creeped out about wood toilet seats and those squishy toilet seats that some people have/had. It just seems like stuff could live there. ;)

  7. Betsy says:

    I’m so excited to see what you do with this! It will be fantastic, I’m sure. Good luck!

    Betsy
    http://Www.lifestyledsimply.com

  8. Siblings are so great for providing much needed perspective! I am wondering if all the hooks are perhaps due to a previous owner having health issues such as arthritis or other disability where the use of hooks to hang things is much, much easier than wrangling with a hanger. I could be completely wrong and it doesn’t really matter. Either way you will make the space beautiful as you always do and I can’t wait to see it!

    • Could be! Also, Idaho is very very snowy and I know the previous family had quite a few kids. I can see loads of backpacks and snow clothes and towels filling up all of the hooks.

  9. I’m with Andi :-)

    However, I think the biggest issue is definitely the paint. And if you conquer that, I’m certain the bathroom will feel SO much better. And I’m with ya, that is a weird toilet paper holder. Also, I didn’t expect to see those cupboards though. Storage is key for a bathroom! But seriously, all those hooks for a bathroom that doesn’t have a shower??? Why????

    • The cupboards are in an interesting bathroom location, BUT this is also our only place to currently stash linens, so we’re grateful they are there. Even if it isn’t near a shower. Hahaha.

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