Red, Black & White Kids' Bathroom

  

When we bought our house there were a few things that were on my "must change" list. The kids' bathroom was near the top of that list. I wanted to change the paint color from the too- close- to- margarine shade of yellow, replace the worn vinyl floor, add board and batten trim, upgrade the oak vanity and top, and change the fixtures. Keeping in mind that we are a military family and whatever I did, another family would end up enjoying (or hating), I compromised a bit to keep the cost from skyrocketing.

It's a tiny space so I wanted to make it bright, fun, and try something that might not work in a larger room. I knew I wanted the walls to be red and loved the look of black and white tiles for the floor. We found black and white vinyl sheet flooring in a diagonal pattern that looks as sharp as tile, cost much less, and requires little more than a damp mop to keep squeaky clean. I'm not sure how I could ever put grouted tile in a kids' bathroom after having it! The wall color is Ralph Lauren Stadium Red. In some light it looks almost maroon and at other times, a bright fire engine red.

  

I searched for months to find the cross handle faucets that I was after but seemed to cost way too much everywhere I looked. I also shopped around quite a bit before choosing the three light schoolhouse vanity fixture. 

 

A key factor in the DIY process around here is that whatever I dream up, my husband finds a way to create. He used a large sheet of mdf cut into four inch wide pieces and created what I think is an amazing board and batten look and painted it Acadia White by Benjamin Moore. He refinished the oak builder grade vanity in the same smooth white and framed the existing mirror to tie in with the rest of the trim. I can't say enough good things about Acadia White for trim.  It's just a beautiful white that reminds me of cream.

The above photo of the bathroom under construction doesn't come close to showing how unattractive the shade of yellow on the walls was before they were red. It was a stubborn, horrible yellow that didn't want to be covered- even by a dark red paint. Notice in the photo below how the yellow shows through!

The before shot of the oak vanity was taken with my cell phone when we were looking at the house. My hand was probably shaking because the yellow paint was causing me stress. Changing the vanity top and sink out with a black granite top made for such a great contrast with all of the creamy white. We haven't added any hardware to the drawers mainly because I can't make up my mind about bin pulls. I like the sleek look of it the way it is.

I thought about adding some photos of the baby splashing in the tub but since we knew we were going to be showing the house in the near future, I didn't want to hang too many personal photos and instead went with bold black accents on the wall.

Overall, I'm so happy with the way the remodel turned out. It's a unique look and makes a huge impact in such a tiny space. I will miss this little room when we have to leave. Sigh.