Serenity Amongst the Chaos – in the Powder Room

Back in the mid 90’s – when houses were selling like hotcakes – we bought a house that had been on the market for over a year.  No one was brave enough to buy it.  It was a disaster of a home,  garage and basement would flood in the rain, there were two clunky furnaces, and the previous owners had painted almost everything (walls, windows, ceilings and trim) a pale cantaloupe color (except for our daughter's bedroom, which was navy blue semi-gloss....lovely).  In fact for years afterwards when we told local realtors that was our house, they always looked shocked and said ‘so you’re the crazy people that bought that place!’

We promptly started ripping it apart and it reached a point where there wasn’t a nice space in the whole house.  For whatever reason, the first room we renovated was the power room.  It was an oasis of calm and clean – in the tiniest room in the house.  Some days I would just go in there to hang out….to remind myself that the rest of the house, too, would ultimately look that nice.  It was just a matter of time!

Powder Room - Before

Oddly enough, that’s the first room that’s going to get transformed in our Victorian flip house.  It's at the back of the house, in a space we think was originally a porch.  This is more like a utility room, because it has the washer and dryer in it as well.  But we’re going to try and hide them behind doors at the back of the room.  That way, the rest of the room might seem a little less utility-like – and you can hide any dirty socks behind the doors.

Grouting the floor

Since this is right off the kitchen, we want to tie the color schemes together.  We installed a glass and marble mosaic ‘rug’ border, that will match the one on the backsplash in the kitchen.  And to keep it from being too monochromatic, we added an accent strip of absolute black granite - which links to the black lavatory countertop.  The rest of the floor matches the marble that’s in the mosaic border.

'Rug' marble and glass mosaic border

The result?  It's still a work in progress, but we think it looks pretty nice.  And if you stop by the house looking for me, you might find me hanging out in the powder room!

Powder Room - After

Paint color - Sherwin Williams Ancient Marble

Laundry - After

Mirror - Restoration Hardware, Dillon pivot (outlet store)
Sconces - Pottery Barn, Sussex Tube Sconce (outlet store)
Vanity - Home Depot - Foremost Westchester
Mosaic border - Home Depot
Laundry Room decal - Amazon.com ($9.99!)

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