What's behind Door #2

The Powder Bath Transformation!!!

So I told you all I had plans to stencil our powder bath with this stencil.  What I didn't tell you is that I have actually had the stencil for months and haven't been able to bring myself to get out the paint and start this project.  I'm a little tired right now of projects (yes I am human).

Then I saw this idea from Vintage Revivals and it got my wheels spinning.

What if I just traced the stencil using a paint marker?  It sounded a little easier than painting it and it got me excited enough to attempt the project so it was already a win.

Here is the BEFORE: (Lots of room for improvement!)

And the After:

I used Sharpie Paint Pens (water-based) in the color "silver."  They cost $4.00 each (you can get them on sale for cheaper) from Michaels or other craft stores.  I used a total of 4 pens to do the whole bathroom.

Overall this did not end up being easier or harder than stenciling with paint and probably took the same amount of time.  However there were some aspects that did end up being easier -
No mess of paint, cleaning up of brushes, or getting out a lot of supplies every time I worked on it.  No taping baseboards or the edges along the ceiling, and I didn't have to remove any outlet covers or anything else for that matter!  The corners were also much easier this way than working with paint (again still not easy just easier).  In the future if painting a stencil, for the corners I think I would use this method of just tracing it out in pencil in the corner, then take the stencil down and paint in the lines.

The tile on the floor is a fake marble tile from Daltile - "Carrera star." I had the 12x12 square tiles cut in half so that they became 6x12's and could be laid in a brick pattern.  

Tracing (as opposed to painting) the stencil definitely achieves a different look 

and I am very happy with that!

 It just took time - no skill - just time.  There are probably easier stencils out there to trace, I just happened to already have this stencil so that is the one I traced!  Mistakes are still evident but thankfully not too noticeable when you look at the big picture.  I did find that a wet wipe was once again my best tool for fixing mistakes and cleaning up lines as soon as the stencil was removed and the paint was still wet.  I took my time on this project and only spent 1 or 2 hours on it a day (somedays more, somedays less) and I completed it in one week.  I would guess around 14 hours total.  The really nice thing was that it was VERY easy to work on a little bit at a time.  It was pretty mindless work so I enjoyed listening to a book while I worked - it's my favorite way to "read" lately and I highly recommend it when you're working on projects!

Part of this rooms transformation was also having an electrician install these sconces that I scored at a garage sale (thanks Kori!).  So no more ugly bar light as seen in the "Before" photo.

Click here for more information on the mirror above and here for information on the artwork below.

Once I was finished and stood back to look at this small room with all its pattern and design going on (and knowing that I had traced the whole thing by hand) I had a bit of a moment where I suddenly thought "oh no - I'm like the guy on "A Beautiful Mind" - I'm even a math teacher like him (yes that is true)!  If you haven't seen the movie basically I am just admitting that this room proves how crazy I am.  Everyone that now uses my powder bath in the future will exclaim "you traced this all by HAND!" and then they'll think "Man she is crazy"!  And now that I have posted this on the internet I can hear all of you thinking the same thing!  It's ok, I already knew I was crazy, this room just proves it :)

And if you don't follow my blog and are curious about the numbered door (?) - check out this post.