With the start of the new year I have been doing a little creative dreaming, I borrowed that phrase from my fellow blogger, and friend, Yvonne, from Stonegable blog. She wrote a post on a step that we all need to do in our homes and she called it, "creative dreaming."
This is a process I always go through before I can get anything concrete going in my mind.
I thought it might be fun to take you along with my process and how it evolves.
Today I am going to share a little creative dreaming that I have been doing about my guest bathroom in our new home. I know I will be doing some changes in stages in there, but for now it needs just a little sprucing up.
I will admit I had NO inspiration going on in my head at all, and to be honest that was a bit alarming because I always have a million ideas swimming in my head.
The first thing you have to know about this room is it's very, very small size it is 5ft wide by 8ft. deep. We have a nice 5ft by 3ft shower, however that does not leave much room for the toilet and vanity.
The biggest downfall for this bathroom is there is literally no countertop space, but we will get to that later. Right now we are going to start with the dreaming process.
In my perusing on Pinterest I ran across a piece of artwork that captured my interest....
Being a Mom of three sons, this handsome young man really caught my eye. The colors are beautiful and did you notice the striped bow tie? Stripes are a pattern you will find throughout my home, so he just fits.
This was my jumping off point and from this point I let my imagination go. Once I went to the Etsy site, Elizabeth Mayville, where this piece of art came from I found another piece I liked that I thought paired nicely with him. I would place both in nice white frames with large white mats.
Now here is my thinking....
"Since it is a guest bath, both boys and girls will be using this so a picture of a boy and a girl will make perfect sense!" Or at least it does to me.
The three girls in my family all have blonde hair, and this reminded me of all of them. I like that both images are a touch whimsical and different. Plus the addition of the stripes made it a win-win in my book.
Some of the things that can be changed fairly easily in the bathroom are the mirror and the lighting. So that was my next stop!
I did not have to look too far for a mirror, since I already have one that I think will work nicely in there.....
(mirror from Ballard, Atoll mirror no longer available)
The size is perfect and with the scalloped edges will give a softness to all the linear lines in the bathroom.
Now for lighting. We have a bar light in there right now, it is perfectly fine and after all it is brand new, however I don't really like it and planned on changing it out all along.
When I saw this image I just knew this could work with the look I want to go for.
Seeing this image also conjured up visions of wallpaper down the road. I loved this pattern that is shown in the image and thought that it could work nicely with the look I am going for. It has some stripes but is broken up with angled lines.
This neutral would be light and airy and it will also go nicely with the countertop and the shower walls, and the 12X24 in tile flooring.
This is an image of our actual guest bathroom.
The wallpaper also comes in a navy which I like as well. I will order samples of both before I take the plunge.
I have two other patterns that are interesting to me. One is a dark navy stripe and the other is a neutral...
This could look really sharp in there, it is dramatic, handsome and makes navy the dominant color in the room,however I have to see it in person first.
This has all the colors in the room and it is easy on the eye, fresh and quiet.
In my looking I had already pinned a couple of shades for the lighting that could work and they can work equally well with any of the above wallpapers. I like that they will give a nod to the stripes in the room as well.......
OR
I actually like the simplicity of the first one the best but I have to admit this one is very appealing to me. The wallpaper will be the deciding factor in this decision.
Because there is no real storage in the bathroom I felt we could use a shelf above the toilet to hold towels for my guest. I am limited to what size I can use, but I found one that I really love.....
This will fit the bill nicely. I like it's simple lines and the nice quality of the metal finish.
Speaking of metal finishes that brings up another question, dream, want, need.
I have brushed nickel which is quite nice, but not my first choice so I am going to opt to change out the faucet and hardware down the road to polished nickel.
So when I get the shelf it will be polished nickel because I do not want to replace that when we are ready to make the other changes.
I think it will look better than chrome, since chrome can sometimes have a slight bluish cast, and nickel has a softer, warmer glow.
Rugs and towels will be kept simple in all white for a clean, fresh look. I have always had all white towels with monograms, but I am not sure I want our monogram in there. If I stick with this whimsical plan for this room, maybe I will do something a bit more fun and use a word.
I do like this style of monogram for this particular bathroom, something to think about....
I think this look would go great with any of the above wallpapers.
I do have one more touch of whimsy, and this will go right outside the door in the hallways...
Normally I would only use one, but for this room I think all three inside an open white frame will be fun and interesting.
So there you have it, my creative dreaming for my guest bath. Now I am not sure when we will get to any of this and I am actually going to draw up another bathroom plan as well. The next one will be a bit more elegant in feel.
It sure is fun to dream and source products. Until you do a little of both, you really can't, or shouldn't jump forward.
By getting all your ducks in a row, so to speak, you will have a better idea of what your finished product will be........
