Ryan and I have lived in this house for five years now, and every day of those five years I have patiently lived with a pastel blue toilet, sink and tub surrounded by pastel blue wallpaper. When we bought the house, we had earnest intentions to remodel the bathroom. How naive we were to the pitfalls of home ownership! We couldn't just start ripping out the walls, because it is our only bathroom, so we decided we needed to finish a new bathroom in the basement first. Of course, that requires a certain amount of time and money, and the two daughters we have been blessed with since living here seem to spend both of those resources like teenagers set free in the mall with credit cards.
So, here we are five years later. The basement bathroom is maybe halfway done. We still only have the blue loo in which to offer our daily oblations to hygiene. As I lay soaking in the tub, I decided that it was long past time for the pastel wallpaper to feel my wrath. I didn't even bother getting dressed. I jumped out of the tub, threw on my robe and started ripping. That darn wallpaper is stubborn! It clung desperately to the walls. I sent my son to the garage to find me a putty knife. He decided he would take a tear or two. Then the girls toddled in, and even the baby thought that the demolition was pretty funny and pulled a few scraps from the wall.
Despite the fact that I have made a lot of work for myself by starting this project, I feel liberated. I am freeing myself from the fusty, pastel prison that has been grating on my nerves for years. Well, not completely. I guess the fixtures will have to stay for now. Does anyone have good ideas for decor that will complement a blue toilet?
March 28, 2008
The Blue Loo
Do you have a place where you feel your thoughts flow more freely? Where inspiration seems to strike more often than anywhere else? For me, that has always been while bathing or showering. I don't know whether it's the fact that the hot water is so soothing, or whether it's the vulnerability of being in the nude. All I know is that one minute I am blissfully soaking up the steam, and the next minute my brain is bursting with a new thought or idea.
Tonight as I was soaking in the bathtub, I was looking at the bathroom around me with a certain amount of chagrin. Ryan and I have lived in this house for five years now, and every day of those five years I have patiently lived with a pastel blue toilet, sink and tub surrounded by pastel blue wallpaper. When we bought the house, we had earnest intentions to remodel the bathroom. How naive we were to the pitfalls of home ownership! We couldn't just start ripping out the walls, because it is our only bathroom, so we decided we needed to finish a new bathroom in the basement first. Of course, that requires a certain amount of time and money, and the two daughters we have been blessed with since living here seem to spend both of those resources like teenagers set free in the mall with credit cards.
So, here we are five years later. The basement bathroom is maybe halfway done. We still only have the blue loo in which to offer our daily oblations to hygiene. As I lay soaking in the tub, I decided that it was long past time for the pastel wallpaper to feel my wrath. I didn't even bother getting dressed. I jumped out of the tub, threw on my robe and started ripping. That darn wallpaper is stubborn! It clung desperately to the walls. I sent my son to the garage to find me a putty knife. He decided he would take a tear or two. Then the girls toddled in, and even the baby thought that the demolition was pretty funny and pulled a few scraps from the wall.
Despite the fact that I have made a lot of work for myself by starting this project, I feel liberated. I am freeing myself from the fusty, pastel prison that has been grating on my nerves for years. Well, not completely. I guess the fixtures will have to stay for now. Does anyone have good ideas for decor that will complement a blue toilet?
Ryan and I have lived in this house for five years now, and every day of those five years I have patiently lived with a pastel blue toilet, sink and tub surrounded by pastel blue wallpaper. When we bought the house, we had earnest intentions to remodel the bathroom. How naive we were to the pitfalls of home ownership! We couldn't just start ripping out the walls, because it is our only bathroom, so we decided we needed to finish a new bathroom in the basement first. Of course, that requires a certain amount of time and money, and the two daughters we have been blessed with since living here seem to spend both of those resources like teenagers set free in the mall with credit cards.
So, here we are five years later. The basement bathroom is maybe halfway done. We still only have the blue loo in which to offer our daily oblations to hygiene. As I lay soaking in the tub, I decided that it was long past time for the pastel wallpaper to feel my wrath. I didn't even bother getting dressed. I jumped out of the tub, threw on my robe and started ripping. That darn wallpaper is stubborn! It clung desperately to the walls. I sent my son to the garage to find me a putty knife. He decided he would take a tear or two. Then the girls toddled in, and even the baby thought that the demolition was pretty funny and pulled a few scraps from the wall.
Despite the fact that I have made a lot of work for myself by starting this project, I feel liberated. I am freeing myself from the fusty, pastel prison that has been grating on my nerves for years. Well, not completely. I guess the fixtures will have to stay for now. Does anyone have good ideas for decor that will complement a blue toilet?
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4 comments:
When we moved into our new house Dylan's bedroom had dark brown wallpaper that looked kind of like burlap with a golf themed boarder at chair rail height and below the boarder that wallpaper was red plaid. We thought that it would go right away but I also had to get the baby's room ready before the big day. So months later I started ripping wallpaper, much like you in the blue bathroom. Large strips just came right off, as if they weren't even glued to the wall. I thought, how easy! This will get done in no time! Then I hit the wallpaper that had somehow been magically welded to the wall. I gave up. Dylan's room sat 1/3 wallpapered. 2/3 white primer with sticky bits of glue for about a year! Then one day I got serious and really went to town with a steamer and spackle knife. Months later I FINALLY got that blasted wallpaper down! By that point, we had sort of lost hope already for Dylan to ever have that be a nice room and moved him into the spare room. The former golf room is now a happy yellow playroom. If you look at the walls closely you will see a few spots where the wallpaper NEVER came off and I just painted over it!
We too had some grand ideas for redoing certain parts of our home, but the day to day living takes up so much of your money and time that we haven't embarked on any project that wasn't absolutely necessary. I admire those people who are brave enough to get out of the tub and rip that paper right off the wall. Make sure you take some more "before" photos, 'cause that will be a great blog to see the before and after shots.
Ha, what a fun story. There is a girl with the determination to succeed! It would be fun to do something really wild in that little room, but if you don't plan to stay long, you probably have to think about how it will look on the day you "show" the house to those pesky prospective buyers! That takes all the fun out of it. =P
You should "use" the soft blue of the fixtures to create a spa-type room. Go with a cream/sand color for the walls and decorate with pictures of beautiful beaches and shells. You know, kind of a sand and sea theme.
If you have room you could put a tropical plant or two in there.
Replacing the light fixtures is a fairly inexpensive way to update too. We just did our bathroom and we bought new fixtures for over the vanity and ceiling for around $60.
As for the wallpaper removal, you can buy some products at Walmart (yes, you'd have to go there) to help with that.
I just peeled off the vinyl layer myself and put 2 coats of primer and then painted, but I'm lazy....
Best of luck to you!
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