How I Started Stripping

Hello friends,

My daughter came home “sick” from school on Monday (I think she was suffering from a Daylight Savings Time hangover, and perhaps a little hungry, no real sickness to speak of), so she was parked on the couch, watching movies.  Normally, I listen to the radio during the day, and didn’t want to compete with the TV – so I decided to start stripping.  Wallpaper, that is. 😉

That seems to be how some projects get started around here – on a whim.  Granted, this is a project that I’ve had on my “to do” list since we first bought our home in 2010.  But after taking down wallpaper in our powder room, dining room and in my husband’s office, I am a weary wallpaper remover.  And this space is probably going to be my biggest challenge – lots of corners and nooks and crannies to deal with in here.

Yes, the wallpaper carries into the toilet area too.  The only thing worse than removing wallpaper, is removing it in cramped quarters.

In my haste, I started removing wallpaper before taking proper “before” photos of the entire space.

By the end of the afternoon, you could see the progress.

It’s slow and tedious, to say the least.

My biggest dilemma is the direction to take with the color (whenever I actually get to the painting stage, that is).  I guess with my wallpaper removal pace, I’ll have plenty of time to mull that over.  

This is another one of those “Love the One You’re With” decorating situations.  Although I’m not a big fan of the tile in here, we’re not going to go to the time and expense of removing and replacing it.  So, I have to work with it.

Let’s take a closer look – 

I do like the mosaic tile that is used in some parts of the master bathroom.  This is a shot of the shower floor.

 Here is a shot of how it’s used around the tub.

And our space age shower:

Not what I would have designed if I built this house, but I do love the size of the shower in here.  

I have been mulling over color options for awhile now, and as much as I love all of the beautiful grays that are out there, I don’t know if I can make that work with this tile.  However, I don’t know that I want to go with a shade of beige that would better match the tile either.  I don’t think I want a Sea of Beige.

So I’m thinking of something more along the lines of a contrasting color.

Although this is pretty sharp looking:

Here is a grayish wall color with beige tile.  Perhaps there is hope to go in a gray direction…

The jury is still out on whether or not I should paint the cabinets.  When I see photos like this, I think, “Yes, I should paint them.”  And I’m totally in love with the center cabinet and sconces in this bathroom.

Love.