In 2018 and 2019, my blog was basically entirely my DIY home improvement posts. I moved into a new place at the end of 2018, and it was so awful that I had to remodel every inch of it on my own. The posts were great because they documented paint colors and when I had done certain things so I could reference back. I want to do the same for my current (and hopefully forever) place. I moved in earlier this year and got a puppy a couple weeks later, so I've never gotten anything done. Today I finally did!
The house has 1 full bath and 1 half bath. To my dismay, the full bath is just a shower with no tub. I love soaker tubs and bath bombs, and I hope to eventually be able to have a freestanding one installed to have a tub/shower combo. In the meantime, I'm working around what's there until I can do that, and so today I painted the full bath.
At the end of October, I finally had the vanity, faucet, and light fixtures I bought shortly after moving in installed. They made a huge difference right away, so painting didn't feel urgent. It took me a long time to decide on a color because of the existing tile. With it being warm beige and brown, finding something complementary that I didn't hate was a challenge.
I use Home Depot's Behr paints most of the time because they're decent and way more affordable than Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams. They have a color tool where you can upload a photo of your room and test out colors directly in the space. I spent hours using that and trying to find the right color to go with the tile and the vanity. The color I chose actually ended up being the color I purchased for the half bathroom before I decided to go a different route with it. I liked how it looked in the visualizer, and already having it here made it an easy yes. The color is called Etiquette and they describe it as "a light lavender-and-pink-blend that projects an airy, open feel."
There were a couple of things on the walls that I had to take down and patch the holes from. There was a towel hook that was really close to the shower and resulted in the door hitting it when it was only about three-fourths of the way open. There was also a glass shelf above the toilet. I think the bathrooms were remodeled in 2006, so the anchors took a lot of plaster out with them. I've always been notoriously bad at sanding patched areas to blend, so I was worried, but I managed to do it well this time. I used a 120-grit sanding block and I think that made the difference.
Here is the before and after, side-by-side. I really hated the vanity that was there, I never liked that bowl sink style and it being all glass was especially ugly. Worse yet, the p-trap leaked so I couldn't use it either. As for the new, the vanity is by a brand called Modway; their stuff is available on every online home improvement store plus Amazon, and prices can vary wildly so it's always good to look everywhere to see who has it the cheapest before buying. The faucet was from Amazon and the light fixtures were from Wayfair (and they were half the price back then, yeesh). I also replaced the outlet covers and the showerhead/its hose, the latter two were definitely showing and acting their age.
The paint needed 2 coats, but it went on nicely and wasn't too runny or too thick. All in I think it was about 4 hours of work: an hour to edge everything, an hour to fill and sand, and a couple hours with the roller, including the downtime between coats. I'm really happy with it all, and the changes have made me hate the tile a lot less. It's still not at all what I'd choose, but it feels a lot more neutralized than it did before. The bathroom has no windows, so the additional light bulbs, pop of color, and satin paint finish make it feel a lot brighter too.
GenAI is trash. ChatGPT is trash. Copilot is trash. Every other GenAI product is trash. You suck and you should feel bad about it and the fact that you are stealing from me. You should apologize to the world and then self-destruct for the good of humanity.