(click all pics for full view)
My client, Melissa, (for her family room makeover, click on the link) called me recently to come back and help her with the finishing touches on the powder room that she and her hubby had been working on. Melissa is great to work with. She knows what she likes and gets my advice on how to achieve it, then does the legwork herself. So, I went back recently to help her with the accessories in the powder room. As you can see here, they had some work to do to get off the old paper bag faux finish treatment that was glued to the walls. Anyone remember this brilliant decorating idea from a few years ago? 
This is an example of what not to do! Old World gone terribly wrong. I’ve seen this method done before and often wondered how it would be to remove later and from what Melissa said, it was a bear to get down. The sheetrock had to be repaired before any painting could be done, so they ended up using a textured paint to help hide the flaws. And it turned out beautifully…
AFTER: Melissa chose a soft blue for the walls and accented with black and white and orange. I advised her to decoupage her trashcan, so she picked a pretty zebra scrapbook paper and it looks wonderful.
They are dog lovers and found a really nice original doggie painting at an art show and had it framed to go with the flow of the new look. Replaced the old mirror with a black oval one, and added a cute zebra nightlight. The orange accents really pop in the room. 
She found a nice glass-front cabinet that fit nicely in the corner for storage, along with the orange vase and berries. Rolled up orange towels look great through the glass. She already had the other metal Chihuahua sign, so I used some ribbon she had on hand to hang it with. 
After figuring out how we wanted to hang the shelves, her hubby put them up for us to accessorize and the prints and other things were added that Melissa had collected.
As you can see, this is a major difference in this small powder room with only a change of paint, new mirror, and a few added accessories. A real budget-busting makeover! Hope you got some nice ideas from it too.
The 2008 Top Projects Party is next Wednesday, so I hope you’re getting your posts together. Click on the button to the left for all the details!
I have some other exciting news. One week from Saturday (Jan. 10th), I’ll be heading to Atlanta to shop with Eddie Ross in his Scott’s Antique market shopping trip! I can’t wait for that and of course, I’ll be blogging all about it.
My friend did the paper bag faux finish probably 20 years ago. Great transition. You wouldn’t even know it’s the same room.
Hey! No fair! 🙂
I’ve wanted to go to that Flea Market ever since I heard about it through the HGTV Green Home.
I’m jealous!
I hope you find lots of goodies!
Layla
Big difference. Never did get into the paper bag thing… I guess because I knew what a hassle it would be taking it down. YIKES!
I like the clean new look…
Eddie Ross?!?! Wowsa! Cute transformation. I had my powder room this exact shade of blue for 5 years and just recently redid it to a linen/antique white. I have a pedestal sink also! I loved the blue, just got tired of it. Thanks for sharing this project.
The powder room looks great! Love the blue color and accessories.
Eddie Ross?? I can’t wait to see what the two of you come up with together!
Diane
I think I’m the only one who’s never heard of Eddie Ross – lol! Thanks for providing the link, Rhoda!
Oh I am so glad that you shared this! My front bathroom is a very pale shade of blue like this and I am really loving the way the black pops against it. Looks like I’ve found a new redecorating project to tackle! Thanks for the inspiration and Happy New Year 🙂
Hugs,
Dena
what a great transformation!
that blue is sooo much better.
and yes light blue looks great with orange accents..but also yellow or lime green works for a modern twist too.
great work as always!
Rhoda, Dark and dreary to fun and cheery..great transformation…I’m so glad you are going shopping with Eddie Ross..he’s great but I bet you could teach him a thing or two about bargains!
Happy New Year Rhoda!
I like the redo on the powder room. I have some friends who have done the tuscany texture finish thing on their walls… I was wondering the same thing, “How do you get it off?”
I have enjoyed getting to know you this year.
I have one very tiny favor to ask of you…. please tuck me away in your pocket so I may go shopping with you and Eddie. I love him! I watched him this morning on Martha. You go girl and please tell him I said hi. Not that he would know who Susie Harris is or anything but I do think he is so creative. You lucky little ducky~
The powder room came out great! I have a black and white powder room I’m looking to give a “boost” to with orange towels. Love that combo. Just trying to find that perfect shade of orange towel (not easy!). And I *totally* remember that blink-and-you’ll-miss-it paper bag wall “treatment.” Thankfully, I blinked, and missed it. 😉
I’ve been out of town for Eddie’e NYC fleas, but hoping to join him on one (and hopefully when it gets WARMER here. Brrrr!). I can’t wait to read about your adventure!
Happy, happy new year! I’ve had a blast getting to know you this year…Thank you for your fun and inspriring blog.
Hugs from the shore house,
Laura
Thank you for sharing all your wonderful ideas throughout the year. I wish you good health, happiness, and many blessings in 2009! With love from Colorado, Denise
Nice powder room re-do! Have a good time shopping with Eddie Ross…how fun is that?
What a transformation! Looks so fresh and pretty! I especially love the zebra print accents :)! Happiest of Happy New Year’s to you!! It’s been such a joy to visit your blog this past year, and I can’t wait to read about your upcoming adventures :)!!
You’re going shopping with Eddie Ross? How fun! I can’t wait to hear all about it!
Also can’t wait for your 2008 Top Projects Party. I need to start figuring out what I want to post for that because I don’t want to miss out on all the fun.
This is a fun makeover. You can’t tell it’s the same room! I cringed when I saw that old paper bag faux finish someone did. It looks like it really would be a pain to remove. Ugh. Worse than wallpaper. But you can’t see any traces of it now. Great job, Melissa! 🙂
What a beautiful powder room your friend has now. I love the idea of using scrapbook paper on the trash basket. Another use for scrap materials I would never have thought of. Yes, Rhoda, it has been extremely hard, but God is soooooo good and shows up with comfort and love every single day. xoxo
I never did like that “paper bag” treatment.
I can’t wait to hear about your Eddie Ross excursion.
It looks great! Love the colors!
Very lovely transformation! I hope that you have fun on your shopping adventure, too. I don’t have too much computer time these days (hopefully not for long), and I wanted to stop by and wish you a Happy New Year!