I promised you I was going to talk about textiles this week but I lied. Instead, I spent last week working on our family’s shared bathroom updates and I am too excited to wait. It’s not like anything you’ve seen from me before.

Here’s why …

I WALLPAPERED THE VANITY

AND I FREAKING LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!!

When we first designed this new bathroom, we decided to install a Hemnes vanity from Ikea. It has a ton of storage. Like, seriously, a TON of storage:

This is the side of the vanity that I share with our six year-old daughter. So it’s pretty packed. Because remember: although this is technically the principal suite bathroom, it’s going to function as our main family bathroom for a while. (more on that here)

So we need storage. Lots and lots of storage:

And the Ikea Hemnes vanity offers a lot more storage space than the average vanity. It’s also highly affordable.

Unfortunately, it’s also pretty boring. Especially in white. And I don’t want this bathroom to be boring. I want this bathroom to be fun!

Enter wallpaper, stage right:

I love wallpaper. I use it all the time. I used it here, here, here, here, and here. In the past, I’ve detailed a lot of ways to use wallpaper on an actual wall. Which is obvious.

But I’ve also talked a lot about using wallpaper on furniture (like this Serena & Lily-inspired console table, this easy vase DIY with wallpaper samples, and this grasscloth artwork mat). So I’m not going to detail all the steps of how I used wallpaper to give this vanity a makeover because that’s covered in the console table post. But I will tell you that I chose to install the wallpaper only on the flat portion of the drawer front.

In that closeup shot, you can see that these drawers have a slight bevel on the edges. I opted to keep the beveled portion of the drawer white and use that as my guide for my paper cuts.

So you can see there’s still plenty of white surface on the front of this furniture piece. That allows for the best adhesion and it keeps the furniture looking like furniture and less like an extension of the wall.

As for the actual wallpaper I used, I opted to stick with a traditional paper that requires a separate paste application. The exact paper I used is available here. It’s technically a wall mural and you can add your own custom dimensions. It even came with a powdered glue mixture but I opted to use my favorite paste because I already had some in the basement and I trust it.

Additionally, I replaced the light fixtures in the room and they’re good. Really good.

But nothing beats what I did on the wall above the vanity. It’s the creme de la creme of the space. It’s the piece that turns the boring mirrors into artwork. I created a custom vanity mirror vignette to make two $20 Ikea mirrors look custom and high-end using a thin piece of plywood and even with these ridiculous lumber prices, it’s the best $30 I’ve spent in this room!

All of the sources will be linked at the end of the post and this is clearly just an in-process shot but DOESN’T IT LOOK FABULOUS?!

I used simple silhouette cage pendants over the vanity and gave them an upgrade with an oversized G40 porcelain lightbulb.

If the bulb is going to show, it needs to be a stunner. And this lightbulb is a stunner. As are the lightbulbs I installed in the linear sputnik chandelier in the center of the room (these bulbs are G25):

You can also see that I’ve begun installing new vinyl tile over the existing tile. This was always the tile I wanted in this bathroom but it was on backorder last summer when I needed to install flooring. Now that it’s back in stock, it’s giving us a callback to the downstairs bathroom tile which is also black and white hexagon:

These two bathrooms are cousins. Not twins. But they work well together in their respective spaces in the house. The downstairs is more traditional while the upstairs addition is clearly all new and more modern.

So if you’re keeping score, here’s the transformation of this bathroom thus far:

This week, I’m finishing up the vinyl tile installation, adding the final piece to the plywood mirror vignette, customizing our shower curtain, framing and hanging artwork, and adding the final decorative touches to this bathroom and bedroom.

Reminder: This is not a client’s project. I’m completing this space in my own home as part of the One Room Challenge. The ORC is a biannual event in which interior designers and home decor bloggers come together to cheer one another on as we complete one space in our own homes in just eight weeks.

Please go check out all the other spaces getting an overhaul this season by clicking the image below:

If you’d like to catch up on the entire progress of this Principal Bedroom / Bathroom makeover, you can read all of the updates from this season’s ORC here:

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Next week, I’ll show you each little accent that makes these rooms (and the closet!) special. After that, we’re on to the final reveal in Week Eight!

I’m genuinely so excited to have a completed bedroom for the first time in my adult life. Seriously. My bedroom has always been an afterthought so it’s a real treat for me to have a finished space. Artwork, objet d’art – the whole nine yards!

As promised, here are the complete design concepts and source lists for the bedroom and bathroom:

See you next week! Until then, stay safe and sane.

xoxo
Teri

DECORATING ON A BUDGET ISN’T ALWAYS EASY BUT I’M HERE TO HELP.

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