Last week when I posted my main bathroom colour (I’m not touching this bathroom until the renovation except for colour, light fixture and accessories) I got this email from one of my lovely readers Sherri Wheeler:
‘What you have done so far is a huge improvement but I think the towel bar really ruins it. A large piece of art would do wonders for that wall. Move the towels to the back of the door. I’m not a designer. Â Love to read your blog.’
Before
During  – Colour is Cloverdale CA184 or Behr 700E-3
And she was absolutely right. I didn’t think of that because I don’t see towel bars as ugly in general. I like to hang big, fluffy white towels on them. But moving it across the mirror in my bathroom was exactly what this bathroom needed.
The radiator is being replaced so it’s still a dirty colour.
I had a print of Audrey Hepburn from Breakfast at Tiffanys. I think it needs a few more black and whites which I will add when I find them.
Love my ottoman covered in fabric by Eileen Kathryn Boyd from Duralee.
And here’s an updated pic a few months later, photographed a little better too!
Thank you so much for your emails, I love my readers! Thanks Sherri for the suggestion.
Related posts:
Do you Choose Finishes based on Light vs. Dark?
Creative Stripes in the Bathroom
The Best of Colour Me Happy for 2010
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That was a great suggestion! I’m renovating my new house and I’ve taken to adding decorative hooks right above the shower so that your towels are right there. It alleviates the problem of having them hanging over the shower door and I don’t need an out of the way shower bar. They are within easy reach out of the line of site.
Love the towel rack and it’s still convenient to reach when you come out of the shower. The artwork is super pretty but I think I’d just use one big one similar to the white flower. Do you know what type of area rug you’re going to use? I love to see one large room rug instead of two smaller ones. So much progress everyday Maria! You must be exhausted!
Never been a fan of towel racks either. They are just blocks of colour with no life as far as I’m concerned. So this solution is perfect. We all NEED somewhere to hang our towels. We just don’t need to make it the focal point of the bathroom.
Love the new colour!!
I notice you have the same old cabinetry I had with the wood trim. I took a tuble of white acrylic paint and painted the trim to match the cabinet. It made them look a lot less conspicuous!
that looks wonderful! By the time your done “temporarily decorating” this bathroom you won’t need to renovate it Maria!
What is the wall color? Love it.
Beautiful! I also removed all the towel bars from our master bath and use hooks instead. Love the wall color!
Your bathroom is coming along nicely! I love the color. And I think hooks are always the way to go with towels – they are just cute, easy to use and the towels always look neat and tidy!
Brilliant suggestion! Now you have an art wall as your focal point – it looks great đ
Looks great-I am going to move my towel bar now. Please share the paint color and brand.
Beautiful! I want to paint my office Turquois and use Black and White accents. What is the wall color in BM or Behr paint palettes? Thanks!
The room looks great! Amazing what a little paint can do.
She was spot on Maria! Funny what we cannot see sometimes. I agree with Donna about having one big print on that wall too. Great wall color! xoRoberta
Hi Roberta,
Yes a big piece of art would look amazing, these are placeholders for sure. And it’s a very steamy bathroom because the fan needs to be fixed which won’t happen until next year.
I also need a larger mat but the size I want is hard to find.
I will paint those cabinets if I seriously run out of projects in the rest of my house before the reno which is not likely to happen, haha.
Thanks for your comments everyone!
Maria
I love the color and agree, moving the towel rack and replacing it with art makes a huge difference. I don’t know if you plan on refinishing or replacing your cabinets but I agree with Jill Baum- painting the trim would minimize their distraction.
What a great and simple improvement. I too hate towel racks, mainly because they’re never in the right place and they’re never wide enough so only work when you have dry towels neatly hung. The only place to put the towel rack in my long narrow “hallway” bath was in the water closet with the toilet. Eeewww! And talk about inconvenient! I found an adjustable metal coat rack at Pier 1 (small heavy base with 2 hooks – very, very plain and simple) and it works perfectly. Sherri’s suggestion and your implementation was neat. And now, a “feature wall” in your bathroom! Way to go, Maria.
I love this change, Maria. I’ve ended up doing the opposite in the rather dark guest bathroom in our rental. Since I can’t move anything and white towels just didn’t perk it up, I’m featuring towels as pops of color to tie in with a print and make it look happier. I love my mix of red-orange, turquoise and purple towels! đ
I love the change! The bathroom looks amazing for a room that still needs to be renovated!
I love your ottoman too!! That and Audrey give that room so much class! Now the room is starting to SING!!! Way to go, Maria!
Love the blue, I am thrilled it is back, it really pops with the black & white, my favorite combination. My design studio features those colors, as does my office. The art work really made your bathroom come alive, who needs a remodel!
Oops sorry I forgot to post the colour: Colour is Cloverdale CA184 or Behr 700E-3
Maria
That makes such a huge difference! Brilliant suggestion. It looks wonderful. I love the colors.
Great suggestion, it looks better.
I know Maria you said it was not complete yet so here is my 2 cents worth. I would add a round mirror or clock to mix it up or perhaps a tone on tone textured tile.
Also I agree with the previous comments that one larger lush rug in white would be lovely.
Good job Maria and thanks for sharing! đ
Wow, that looks great. Love the color and that ottoman is fabulous. And how great is the blogging world that your reader gave you such great advice!
It was beautiful before, but better now. It is amazing what a difference a small change can make. BTW, you could paint that radiator until you replace it. Are you HW heating? Heated towel racks are great, but then you’d have the towels on that side again. Oh well, you can’t have everything, but I adore hot towels!
CTD
So funny that was exactly what I was thinking too!
How cool that a reader had the guts to give you a great suggestion, and even more cool of you to make the change and give her the credit! I love the sharing of information that comes with blogging.
Way to go Sherri – great suggestion. It took that wall to a whole new level.
How did you decide on black and white photos? I think they look great, but I never would’ve thought of it myself.
I want to second the suggestion from Jill Baum, I have seen pictures of cabinets like yours with the wood trim painted white and they look pretty good.
Hello. Yes your reader was so right! Here in sunny Queensland, Australia, the timber and tin houses have picture rails along the walls about 30 cms below the ceiling. I think the best way to deal with them and to make the walls appear higher is to paint the rail the same colour as the wall. You could do the same with your white chair rail if you wished. Your house looks lovely. Thank you for sharing.
So maybe Sherri SHOULD be a designer!
PP
Love the little seat Maria and yes relocating the towel bar from where it was is an improvement.
(Not a big fan of towel bars to begin with unless they are hard-wired heated ones.) -Brenda-
I just watched “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” the night before last. Audry Hepburn – what an iconic star! Just like you are turning out to be Ms. Killam. I’m glad to see your place is coming along. Ours? We are painting and doing finish carpentry. I’m looking for the scraped teak flooring we used to install. Cabinets delivered tomorrow. Four weeks to go.
Love, love, love the wall color!!! Beautiful bathroom
I would have painted the radiator even if it’s going to be replaced soon. What’s a little extra paint temporarily đ
Otherwise, the room is quite nice. It could serve well for quite some time…although you say you’ve got reno plans.
Moving the towel rod does make a big difference. I agree with others about painting the wood strip. I had some other ideas and I’ll list to save space.
1. long skinny handles placed horizontally on the wood strips could totally disguise them and look intentional. Ikea has those cheaper than other places if the finish works in your space.
2. IKEA has a big audrey hepburn graphic canvas but i think it’s square – the image is on the right (the corner in the case) so if the scale worked it might stretch the space visually and you could use other audreys around the room.
3. Mod podge might be a good way to seal it from moisture. Some people cut down prints and mod podge them to luan or canvas – great way to recycle and get the size you want. They wrap the edges so no framing either.
4. I think there are AH vinyls like that head shot. You could make your own panel that fit the space best. Or in reverse on the back side of glass, the wall color would show through and you could use the empty area on the left near the shower with a dry erase marker for favorite quotes or as a memo board you’d see first thing
5. Frame some quotes, like the impossible one. Inexpensive, b/w, and as custom as you like. Even flourishes from clip art in groups or small frames look special and fancy.
6. Stylized sketches of her famous dresses would pay tribute but be more architectural than just girly. Lots of the movies have great architecture too so stylized sketches of those sites is an option. PS will turn pics to sketches too so even finding the right sketch isn’t always necessary.
Thanks for the post, thinking about that gives me lots of ideas for that Paris room my princess wants….
Love your ideas Lucy thanks! Maria
I love the change especially the paint color – pure and refreshing. It’s amazing what a coat of paint can do to a dated or tired space. I would encourage you to paint out the cabinet or at least the oak strip. With all that clean and white trim, that oak strip screams “I don’t belong in here”.
I totally agree but it doesn’t bother me because I’m not trying to make this bathroom look good for 10 years. It’s coming out sooner rather than later! Maybe I’ll get inspired to paint them in the summer! Thanks for your comment! Maria
Gives a peacful, tranquil feeling. One other trick i have used in bathrooms is raising the shower curtain rod up to 7 or 7 1/2 feet instead of the standard 60 or is it 70 inch curtain height. That height is a pet peeve of mine and tends to bring the ceiling down making small bathrooms smaller. I make my own curtain to get the better length. Also you can just make a linen valance and mount it over the ext shower curtain to add height that way ( covering the other rod of course). You rarely see good ideas for bAthtubs and shower curtains In House Beautiful and the like since they only feature large luxurious baths w glass showers and separate slipper tubs…lol
What color cabinets will you be using ?
Love your blog!
Diane
I love the white shower curtains, where did you get them? Thanks
I have had it forever, the store is now closed down đ
Hi Maria,
I was very inspired by your bathroom redo. It is so tranquil. I LOVE the color you chose. I actually went to Home Depot here in the states and could not find the color 700E-3. Do you know what the name of the color is? There was a 500E-3 that was possibly similar. It was called-Rain Washed.
Your ideas and suggestions are always so helpful.
Your home is beautiful.
A forever fan,
Dawn
Hi Maria,
Your bathroom looks great, considering those cabinets of which I also have! You’ve inspired me to paint!
Do you think Restoration Hardware’s Silver Sage is a comparable color to the paint you chose?
Thx,
Diane