Vintage/Victorian Bathroom
When I moved into my home, the bathroom actually had a lot going for it. White floors, white tile most of the way up the wall, a decent shower... I had modest aspirations.
What didn’t quite look right with the rest of the house was the sink, which was plain, utilitarian, hung on the wall, and was reminiscent the kind found in a 50s roadstop gas station.
What increasingly nagged was the color of the upper walls which were an acceptable neutral beige in daylight but took on a strange fleshy-orange color at night. Sort of like George Hamilton after a long  hard day at the tanning bed...
Then what pressed the issue was when part of the shower knob disintegrated and required needlenose pliers to move it. Which meant if an unwary guest so much as BREATHED on the knob that turned water over from the tub to the shower, there was not enough water for either. Just a weird Niagra Falls mist.
Guests do not like to mist. And guests deserve better than elaborate pre-shower instruction from their hostess about not breathing during bathing. Also, needlenose pliers have no place next to hand towels. I’m just saying.
Something had to be done.
So I had the pedestal sink you see here installed, changed the shower knobs and sink taps all over to a Delta Victorian-influenced style in chrome and brass. And then I decided to change that George-Hamilton-Tan.
Originally I thought I would use a gold mis-tint paint I got cheap at Lowes. At the time, I’d had a burgundy and green shower curtain, so I had been under the impression that the gold would be, um, regal.
Only the more I painted, the more I hated it. The gold wasn’t regal and the gold wasn’t so much gold.  If anything, it was Bling Dipped in Gulden’s Mustard-- and heavy on the mustard. It was oppressive and dark and the opposite of inviting...
I could not see myself misting in this bathroom.
(It has since been quite rightly pointed out to me that the word “mis-tint” might have been my clue that my plan was less than wise. Lesson learned.)
Well, as anyone knows who’s done home improvements, things are not always so simple as just hating a color and then getting a new, better one...
You see, I had to MOVE THE LADDER with the gold paint can sitting on top of it.
If I didn’t like the gold on my upper walls, I certainly didn’t like it down my white tile. And my white fabric blinds. And my floor tile. And across the floor to my new pedestal sink. And me. I definitely did not like it on me.
In fact, to this day I find it ironic that the phrase “the Midas touch” is supposed to imply a knack for improvement.
But as you can see, after about a zillion paper towels, some crying, and some laughing, too, everything is right with the bathroom now. I went for an enamel in “Aloe,” a sort of fresh spring green. This allowed me to get some gold curtains, which ARE regal-ish and also don’t have mustard-colored paint on them.
The accessories you see here are a combination of real vintage items and new resin pieces, all trying to keep the turn-of-the-century art nouveau thing going. The little towel table is something I bought and refinished, and the pink table came as-is from a thrift store.
George Hamilton and the Gulden’s are gone. All is right with the world.