I’m still in the middle of my powder room renovation, but I wanted to share my budget-friendly console sink vanity and a sneak peek at the wallpaper progress. Plus, I have some news about exterior colour that you don’t want to miss!
First of all… the painting of my house exterior has started! I asked my painter to test this blue on the mudroom entrance door and I declared it perfect. He will paint all three sets of french doors blue next. Find out which colour it is in my Exterior Colour Selection Masterclass.
Also, true story! Because in every other house he’s mostly painting black or white, when he comes to my house and I give him a colour, that’s the first thing he tackles. 🙂 #waymorefun
Powder room makeover
Okay back to my powder room.
When I was choosing the finishes for our powder room vanity, I decided to install a console sink vanity since I have plenty of storage in this house.
Here’s a look at this powder room before. Notice the 12″ x 24″ taupe tile, dark taupe grasscloth, taupe ceiling, and an odd asian inspired vanity that in no way worked with this french country home.
I have a story I’ve made up about the original designer of this house.
Whoever this person was, left the company after they designed the kitchen (which I love) because the rest of the bathrooms, the upstairs kitchen, and the powder room were super average. And they in no way related to the style of the home. They all need to be re-done and I’m halfway there.
Anyway, as I was searching for powder room inspiration, I came across this bathroom by Alice Lane Interiors, so I tracked down the vanity.
It was $25,000.
Remember I live in Canada where everything is VERY EXPENSIVE.
Our budget-friendly console sink vanity
Since I am a firm believer in spreading the budget around appropriately, I kept searching.
So I found this one for a fraction of the price. Not as curvy, looks even a little plain, but we’re not finished decorating the room yet.
Wallpaper alone will absolutely transform this bathroom.
Polished Nickel Console Sink Vanity
It also comes in gold but since my wallpaper will be an oversized yellow, modern floral, it will visually relate to the brass chandelier I’ve installed in this room.
I kept the faucet simple and more modern. And it had to be polished nickel because the vanity was the same.
Here’s a sneak peek of the Thibaut wallpaper. We ran out and I need to order another double roll.
And, I really like the Kohler toilets we had in our last house (they are 6 years old), so since we rented it out, we switched one of them and brought it here.
When I ordered the vanity, I didn’t think too much about what the top of it looked like but when it was installed. However, I was pleasantly surprised that it coordinates perfectly with the toilet (below):
The floor is a 5″ black marble hex tile. You’ll notice I haven’t repeated any black in this room yet. I plan to install a large piece of art on the focal point wall in here and it will have a black frame to relate to the floor.
Here’s a better image of the tile:
A little black goes a long way baby!
So if you’re renovating a powder room consider a console sink vanity. It’s definitely better priced than a custom vanity. I like this one because it still gives you a tiny bit of counter space for soap and some decor.
I have seen so many pedestal sinks in a large powder room. I assume it’s because of budget reasons. I love how this one gives it a much more elevated look and feel and is the right size for the space.
What’s next? Now I’m on the hunt for a good piece of art for this room. I’ll post the finished photos when the room is all the way done. Get sneak peeks of everything I’m working on every day on Instagram.
Trendy vs. Timeless exteriors
I have been posting a trendy pic of the day until one of my followers suggested I also post a timeless one.
Here’s an example:
Why is the blue and white house timeless? Because the only way we know this house is new is because it’s a modern farmhouse. The first one has been painted in the last 5 years but probably most accurately, the last two years.
And a blue house will be timeless forever while a black, white and grey house has a much shorter shelf life and will eventually feel dated because the trend will pass.
I was watching a video someone sent me where a celebrity posted on the exterior of her home. It had stark white and black, of course, with a black squre fountain sitting in front of her house. The concrete cap was black and the inside was black in addition to the three tiered fountain.
It struck me that wealthy people, who don’t know that this is the most timeless way to decorate, obviously just assume that a show of wealth would surely be living in a home that is up-to-the-minute-current and on-trend.
But again, the trendy neutral of the moment has a much shorter shelf life. And, you already know that from reading this blog. 😉
NEW! Timeless exterior colour inspiration
I’ve also just added a new module to my Masterclass for Exterior Colour Selection called: Beyond Neutrals: Timeless Colour Palettes for your Exteriors. If you already have this course, you will also get access to this new module so make sure you login and watch it.
If you’d like to learn how to choose the right exterior colours for your home, you can shop the masterclass here. It’s a total of 18 highly-focused video lessons you can watch over and over again.
If you’d like to learn how to use black the right way in addition to so much more, there’s ONLY ONE more Virtual Specify Colour with Confidence events this Spring, register here.
PS. I’m off to New Orleans (it took me a few attempts to get the pronunciation correct 😆) Tuesday morning. I’ll be teaching a group of designers at the annual Decorating Den conference how to decorate with colour!
My sister Anita is coming with me, we will stay a few days, we’ve never been to New Orleans and are very excited!
Related post:
Maria Killam’s Garden Powder Room; Before & After
Maria – can’t wait to see that powder room finished !
Going to love that look .
Looking forward to seeing more! Thanks for sharing.
BTW the link to your instagram in the post doesn’t work.,
Sorry about that – here is the link: https://www.instagram.com/mariakillam
When I’m faced with a powder room like yours where a blank wall or art wall is opposite the entrance I like to use a piece of art with perspective. It makes the powder room seem endless.
BM Saratoga Springs blue….Loving this new colour! Will save it in my files for when I could possibly use it….not on the current home since it is a ‘darker than wet terra cotta’ brick….as such black & white are still the most classic accents.
Maria – what a well thought out space…!
Art Recommendation: consider looking into Holly Irwin-Roswell GA
Appreciate being part of your design thinking – very inspiring …
Thank you.
Eagerly awaiting next steps…
Are you going to seal the wallpaper or how do you prevent water from the sink ruining the wallpaper?
Sarah, I wondered the same thing. All the newer vanities allow water to pool around the faucets and spigot. Cleaning around and behind them is a real pain. And with wallpaper? I’m curious how this will work.
So because the hand towel is underneath the sink, I’m hoping it won’t be an issue since the only thing anyone is doing in a powder room is washing their hands. Maria
I look forward to seeing the finished room. I’m not a fan of seeing plumbing under sinks, so I’m curious about having an open vanity like this.
I also loved your inspiration vanity too but what I did was order a similar base and then had my marble guy make a thick marble countertop and curved backsplash – have a French authentic look for a fraction of the cost
Love the powder room vanity solution. It already looks lovely. I want to add to your assessment of trendy and wealthy people. New money people sometimes lean towards too trendy and even gaudy. Wealthy people who are 2nd or third generation… almost always lean toward classic. My southern momma always said “bless her heart – money can’t buy taste”.
Reno is looking beautiful. I had a similar sink in my last house and I loved it! Made a small bathroom feel spacious! Also, I recently discovered a great way to get fairly inexpensive art – on Etsy there are many places you can buy downloadable prints. You can then have them printed the appropriate size for any frame you like! Worked great for me for spaces I want art but haven’t found something nicer that I like. Also good for places you might want to redecorate or something.
I have the same concern as a couple of other followers – how do you protect the wallpaper behind the faucet when there’s no backsplash? Love this post and also love the $25,000 inspiration vanity. I was trying to do the same thing with a console vanity but was similarly priced out of the market.
Yes, very economical. We are doing a similar one in our new build half bathroom
https://www.vintagetub.com/randolph-morris-bristol-console-sink-rmbcg8408-s.html
It’s so beautiful!
I wish I would have given more thought to a new vanity I purchase a couple of years ago. I was in a self-imposed hurry from surgery and ordered a “cupboard” vanity. Afterwords, I realized that bathroom had plenty of storage and was quite small, I wished I’d have installed a pedestal sink!
Love the door color! It’s as beautiful as Saratoga Springs itself! That might be my next front door color as well.
I used 5″ matte black hexi tiles in my primary bath. Looks great, except it’s constant upkeep because everything shows. Hopefully being in the powder room you will avoid that problem.
Best news is you and Anita will have a few days in New Orleans.
Oh my goodness! I was looking all over your blog for your French door paint color and could not find it until now. So, a couple of weeks ago I went to my BM paint store and stated I needed a “French blue” for my front door and rocking chairs” and that my dining room ceiling was similar to BM Intuition. We picked out Saratoga Springs! And I love it! (my house exterior is white…no black except for roof). I did by the way paint the brick to match the siding as there was more siding than brick. So it made sense to paint the brick the same color as the siding. It looks so much better. (It’s really a creamy “white”, not stark at all.) This was before the black and white craze hit the midwest BTW. I have very colorful flowered pillows on my rocking chairs which I change out every season to my neighbors entertainment. LOL. And my landscaping pops against the white (I used MaryAnn White to design it. Still working on it by the way…. it’s back breaking work when you do it yourself). All to say that those of us with white houses BEFORE this trend can kick it up a notch with adding color in easy ways. (Front doors, chairs, planters, etc) Thanks for all your blog posts. They have helped in so many ways! You truly are an original. I made a few mistakes before I found your blog. The expensive one was the kitchen counters in our previous home. (busy granite. I had cream cabinets and wanted plain black counters and subway tile but was talked into getting a granite “with movement”… Glad I found you before we renovated this house. I stuck to my guns on white cabinets and subway tile for my kitchen. Now everyone loves it…. 🙂 I have an emerald green couch that I love. I have to say that adding color really does make me love my home! I’ve always loved color, but was not confident in how to pull it together. And, the brown leather couch is now in the basement family room, (man cave) and I found a great Ralph Lauren type rug and decorated using colors from it. It actually looks nice down there. And when my son moves out, he can have the couch and then I can get a caramel colored one! Anyway, sorry for the long post. Just wanted to show my gratitude and share my excitement. What I’ve learned from you has allowed me to create a happy home. My friends say it looks like a magazine – and yet I’ve been thrifty wherever possible. Every designer needs to take your class. Believe me, I’ve hired two bad ones…. I plan to take your next class if possible to get better. My friends are asking me to help them with their houses…eek – that scares me a little. And, if I do decide to hire a decorator in the future, I will grill them on their color experience/philosophy. Thanks for all you do!