Colour inspiration

I was pretty happy with the blue and white colour scheme in my bathroom pre-renovation.  The blue theme was an extension of the colour palette used throughout the rest of the house - pale blue walls, dark teal door trims, white ceiling and cornice and cream skirting boards (we won't mention the odd olive green colour of the doors - it doesn't go with anything but we've put up with it until now).

Existing colour scheme for most of the house:
Pale blue walls, teal door frames and trim, cream skirting and white ceiling

That colour combination has been okay up until now but with the recent bathroom renovation came a new colour scheme in that room and its made me re-think the colours for the rest of the house.

New bathroom = new colour scheme for the whole house?

I do still need to paint the new bathroom door ASAP and I intend to get some "bullet proof" grey gloss on the door this weekend which I think will work well with the pale grey and silver in the bathroom. I was also thinking that a darker charcoal grey/almost black for the door trims (instead of the teal) would finish it all off nicely so that will happen over the next few days as well.

But of course I can't just paint one door and frame and leave the rest as-is; that would just look silly so I'll be changing to charcoal trims and bulletproof grey on all the doors and frames throughout the house.

New colour scheme in bathroom - to carry through the rest of the house?
Snow Storm grey walls, charcoal grey door frames and trim, bulletproof grey doors, white ceiling

I really do like the new colours in the bathroom, somehow it makes it look and feel more luxurious than it actually is but would it look OK if I were to take that colour palette and use it throughout the rest of the house? The floor tiles through most of the house are a pale mottled grey, and none of my existing furniture and fittings would clash with such a neutral colour scheme so it should work, but I'm still not 100% sure.

Decisions, decisions...

So I'm definite that  I need to change the door and door frame colours through the house, but for the walls and other trims do I use the same colours as the bathroom or do I choose something completely different, and if so, what?

I'm pretty sure that the bathroom scheme would work in the rest of the house but there are still those couple of questions:

1. Do I really want the same super pale, almost white, snow storm grey on all of the walls in the house?
   I definitely want something reasonably pale and bright, but will that particular colour be just too pale and show up all the grime from everyday wear and tear too easily? (it works in the bathroom because the painted walls are generally higher with heavy wear areas on the lower parts of the walls being tiled)
2. What do I do with the skirting boards? Gloss white would be an obvious choice carrying through from the while tiles in the bathroom and reflecting the ceiling and cornice but white would show up dust, floor grime and every little scuff mark.
   Would a dark color on the skirting boards look odd? perhaps I could use the same colour as the doors or door trims?

What would you suggest that I do with the walls and skirting boards in the rest of the house? Let me know in the comments.

Life after the bathroom reno - what now?

I've had people ask me recently what I'm going to do with myself now that I'm not constantly focusing on getting our bathroom sorted out.

The bathroom saga has taken up so much of my time and energy over the last almost 2 years that its been really hard to focus on doing much in the way of home improvements beyond simply keeping things ticking over. But not anymore! It's over, the bathroom is beautiful and we can move on.

But move on to what?

The "To-Do" List

I have a to-do list as long as my arm (possibly even longer) and its time we started moving on checking some of the things off that list. I'm posting them here not to add pressure or set time frames, but as a reminder. And hopefully as we go along I'll remember to come back and cross things off and add links to the posts if I happen to blog about them. So here it goes....

Bathroom

I know, it should be all finished, but there are still a few things to do in there.

• Replace window with louvres
• Install window covering (I'm thinking a silver venetian blind would work perfectly)
• Paint door
• Paint door frame
• Install full-length mirror on wall behind door
• Replace framed mirror above vanity with more permanent wall mounted solution
• Wall art piece(s)
• Decorative plant or pottery piece
• Hanging shower storage - done Jan 2015
• Replace light fitting - added to list and completed Feb 2015 (a necessity when the old one died)

Toilet

• Paint walls to match bathroom (Taubmans snow season)
• Paint door
• Paint door frame
• Replace toilet and cistern (mostly just the cistern)
• Replace window with louvres
• Install window covering (silver venetian as per bathroom?)
• Sort out and install more elegant storage for all the miscellaneous bits and pieces eg extra toilet rolls, cleaning gear, air fresheners etc
• replace light fitting

Laundry (aka the cat's night time retreat)

• Remove and replace asbestos wall sheeting (exterior wall)
• Paint walls & ceiling
• Clean out / reorganise cupboards
• Source and install a multi-basket laundry sorting system of some sort
• Replace light fitting
• Replace window with louvres
• Replace vinyl skirting with tiles as per bathroom and toilet
• New cat bed and concealed litter tray

Hallway

• Repaint walls and ceiling
• Gap filler between linen cupboard and ceiling
• Re-organise linen cupboard
• Replace light fitting
• Hang photo gallery display
• Install additional lighting for photo gallery

Bedroom 1 (Our room)

• Replace windows with louvres
• Re-plaster external wall
• Install split-system airconditioner
• Repaint walls and ceiling
• Replace ceiling fan
• Replace light fitting
• Remove and replace wardrobe
• Install smoke detector
• New curtains
• Install pelmet 
• Wall art piece(s) and/or headboard

Bedroom 2 (aka The Monster's room)

• Replace windows with louvres
• Install split-system airconditioner
• Re-plaster external walls
• Repaint walls and ceiling
• Replace timber louvre door with solid door
• Paint door and trims
• Paint bookshelves and storage chest
• Replace ceiling fan
• Replace light fitting
• Remove and replace wardrobe
• Install smoke detector
• New curtains
• Install pelmet 
• Wall art piece(s)

Bedroom 3 (Spare/guest bedroom)

• Replace windows with louvres
• Install split-system airconditioner
• Tidy up/ smooth off wall plastering
• Repaint walls 
• Replace timber louvre door with solid door
• Paint door and trims
• Paint bookshelves and cabinet
• Replace ceiling fan
• Replace light fitting
• Remove and replace wardrobe
• Replace traditional double bed with a sofa bed, murphy bed or similar (something more compact to make better use of space when not being used by guests)
• Install smoke detector
• New curtains
• Install pelmet 
• Wall art piece(s)

Kitchen

• Remove and replace entire kitchen including cabinetry, benchtops, splashbacks, sink and rangehood
• Replace windows with louvres
• Install smoke detector

Dining room

• Reclaim room for intended purpose (its currently the place where all the tools, equipment and supplies for our current projects are stored.)
• Replace windows with louvres
• Replace light fitting
• Install smoke detector
• Repaint walls
• Repaint ceiling
• Paint door
• Window coverings - venetians or curtains - not sure yet
• Wall art piece(s)
• Floor covering / rug of some sort

Lounge room

• Replace windows with louvres
• Change back windows to sliding or bi-fold door
• Install smoke detector
• Repaint walls
• Repaint ceiling
• Paint door
• Replace lounges (or at the least the lounge cushions)
• Floor covering / rug of some sort
• Window coverings - venetians or curtains - not sure yet
• Wall art piece(s)
• Floor covering / rug of some sort

Wow! What a massive list - I can see I'm going to be busy for about the next million years and that doesn't even include anything with the exterior of the house, or the garden. 

The bathroom of nightmares is no more!

Has it really been more than 2 months since I last posted? How time flies! So much going on and even though some of it has been blog-worthy I just haven't found the time.

Lots of goings on in our household, with the biggest being that our bathroom has finally been re-done properly after a disastrous insurance repair job more than 18 months ago.

For those of you not familiar with the saga... super quick summary... burst water pipe = flooded house & insurance claim to locate leak, repair and reinstate the bathroom. First repair job done so badly that it needed to be entirely re-done...and now almost 2 years later its finally over!

I've promised people pictures so here they are.

The before (and during) pics

Trying to work out where all the water is coming from...
"Maybe there's a pipe broken under the bath?" 

"Or perhaps its actually in the floor slab! "
"Hmm we'll need to wreck all the tiles around the bath, rip out the wall lining and dig
through the floor to get to that. But its OK because we'll fix it all back up just the way it was."

"We'll make sure everything is completely safe while we're working"
(yes that is live electrical wires strung across the bathroom at head height
and tied to the shower rose. And yes, the mains water was still switched on at this point.)

"We'll find new tiles that are similar to the
original ones and patch that nasty hole in the floor.
See? you can barely notice the difference in color and texture"

"You like sharp, sticking out corners right where you could
take chunks out of your shins/eyes/forehead
when you slip on the wet bathroom floor don't you? "

"What do you mean its not straight?
Aren't all baths supposed to have a gap at one corner?
How else are the creepy crawlies going to get in and out from under the bath?"

For some reason the insurance assessor was a bit put out when we insisted it wasn't good enough and that we didn't want those contractors back to try and sort it out. So after much back and forth, waiting, expert reports, quotes, waiting, arguing, more expert reports and several dragon-lady appearances during this time it was finally conceded that perhaps it wasn't good enough and needed to be re-done.

The after pics 

We've had GSK Patrick Builders here for the last few weeks and they have been fantastic. A completely different (and 1000% better) experience compared to dealing with the previous contractors. They've been helpful, knowledgeable, friendly, reliable and the quality of work has been marvelous.

First we had to go back to a bare concrete shell of a room.

But after just a couple of  weeks its all done and that is just a memory. I'm so thrilled with how the room looks now that its become my favourite room. See for yourself.

New shower including glass screen and tiling
I love those accent tiles, photos just don't do them justice.

Deliberate choice of a fairly neutral colour scheme
so I can jazz it up with any colour accessories.
Dark grey floor, gloss white wall tiles with
pale grey paint and chrome trims

Another shot of the shower
Those mosaic tiles are actually silver, mirrored glass tiles
with occasional textured silver in the mix

grey, white and chrome

Bath taps! after almost 2 years with no taps
on the bath it seems weird to finally have them back

Perfectly sized ledge for a glass of wine or scented candle
to complement a relaxing bath

More gloss white and chrome

A lot of time and angst to get to this point, but so very worth it in the end. 

K