Can you believe it’s already been a month since we started working on our powder room?! Where does the time go?? To celebrate, here’s our other big helper for this renovation: Miss Betty.

She’s clearly working her tail off this week, she installed that new toilet all by herself 😉

This week we finished up our wainscoting, installed our new (NOT BROWN) toilet, and picked out our vanity top!

If you recall last week we started by measuring and taping our “shadowbox” aka faux paneling to the walls. We chose a more modern, and simplistic design, that should still give us dramatic results. You know the drama is the most important part!

After designing each portion of the wall and measuring out we started nailing down each piece. After things were nailed down we lined up and installed our chair rail. The overall process was pretty easy, so easy that Betty didn’t have to lift a paw.

I did have some decisions to make from last week, regarding the chair rail and mirror situation. I looked for some inspiration online and then took the people’s voices into consideration (thank you insta polls), and decided to put the chair rail around the mirror instead of behind. In the long run, it will make things easier, should I decide to upgrade our mirror, we won’t have to adjust the chair rail. It also worked out with our decision to do a single box next to the vanity beside the window. I wasn’t sure how things were going to play out there either, and I didn’t want it to look too crowded, but the single box was just enough to fill the space.

Next up, paint! Since we had a few things to cover AKA the mural, we started with our primer and then went to work with white. I am so pleased with how it turned out! It is an absolute fake but looks so good! It even almost makes that mural acceptable… almost. I used my favorite white – Sherwin Williams White Dove.

I even went a little paint happy and decided to paint the nook entryway to the powder room white too. And then I had to install a little crystal flush mount I got at a floor sale and have been holding onto because this bathroom is IMPORTANT and deserves its own foyer crystal light fixture.

We also had our toilet installed and decided on a countertop for our vanity. The toilet was an easy call, mid-range cost-wise, and white. We got the kind with the skirted/concealed trap, no pipes showing! (How bad is that design, way too literal.) The countertop was a bit more of a decision. Because of COVID-I had to rely on our partners at Stone Tech Fabrication in NJ to pick out a black top for me. I wanted Marquina Nero, to keep it in the same family as the tile. They picked the cutest little slab with amazing veining, and I was able to pick it up safely and have it installed at home without any additional people have to enter the home. Thanks, Megan!

We also picked out our faucet this week! This was kind of a journey. I originally wanted a Lefroy Brooks art deco inspired faucet – but they didn’t come in any gold finishes. I was looking at them on the Restoration Hardware website when I stumbled across their Lugarno collection. They describe it as “reminiscent of fixtures in Europe’s premier hotels” which is exactly what it reminded me of! It also came in a “lacquered burnished brass” which means it is antiqued/weather but won’t continue to age because it is lacquered. It looked like a perfect match to my mirror so we pulled the trigger.

It’s hard to believe we’re almost finished in here! Next week we’re working on our lighting and finishing touches, so we’ll see you then!

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