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the pink bathroom (with a side of floor painting)

01 March 2019

ALRIGHT.

Where to begin? The kids' bathroom is very pink (right down to the toilet paper holder) and honestly - I don't hate it. Would I love it if the pink was a little more muted (dare I say millennial?) and a little less pepto? Of course! But, the tile is in great shape and the tub is weirdly long and the shower has great water pressure and while it's dated - its functional and could be SO much worse. We'd love to remodel it down the road but for now it's perfect for lots of kids to smear toothpaste and splash ocean sized waves out the side of the tub. I'd also like to think they'll share, "remember our pink bathroom?!" stories of yon when they're older - let me dream.

Here's the before ...


(my one regret is not getting a million better before pictures - I snagged this from the listing)

However - I know people disagree with me on this but the barky wallpaper just wasn't my cup of tea and the curtains left the bathroom feeling too BUSY - to my untrained eye. The hallway just outside the bathroom is super dark because it gets almost no natural light so I wanted to brighten this up and let the tile have her time to shine so we (Simon) stripped the wallpaper (fabric softener and warm water in a spray bottle seemed to be the best method) and gave the walls a few coats of Simply White. I tackled the trim and the radiator cover with the same color and even painted then stenciled the floor.



{all sources also listed/linked here!)

I read somewhere that it's important to have some element of wood in a room to "warm it up" (I honestly probably saw this in an Instagram caption, took it as Gospel Truth, and ran with it during a Labor Day Sale) which is why I thought the stool was the perfect addition. I can throw the rug (bathmat?) in the washer and dryer which keeps it looking ~new and I appreciate that fact quite a bit. 


Let's talk about the floor for a not-so-brief minute. I think I'm being generous when I give the look of the final product a 4 on a scale of 1-10. I think the painting and stenciling on a floor that wasn't perfect squares (our master bathroom floor was a million times easier to tackle on actual squares) as my first foray into floor stenciling was stupid but how was I supposed to know? I'd do things differently (and am hoping to repaint this floor soon) and I do mourn the weeks of hours I'll never get back but, it was a great learning experience - cry/laughing emoji. 

Briefly: 

1. I scrubbed the floor and took a bottle of Goof Off (worked so much better than Goo Gone, for some reason) to the leftover + stubborn adhesive around the border of the floor (guessing they have stick on tiles at some point?). 

2. I primed it once just using a regular paint brush to "cut in" around the room's perimeter and then rolled it with a standard paint roller which went super fast. 

3. After letting that dry I did three (maybe overkill) coats of garage floor epoxy that I (bought at Lowes and had them tint it the only white that they could - they have a little brochure behind the paint counter with the tiny selection of epoxy tint colors) using the same brush/roller method which also went pretty fast!

4. I used this stencil and followed the directions on the Cutting Edge website and found the process to be easy but tedious. I wish I hadn't followed the "use adhesive" directions because it built up super quickly on the stencil and I spent a lot of time peeling and cleaning and drying the stencil and I think it made the floor look and feel kind of tacky before I was able to steam mop it several times. So - I didn't use the adhesive when I did the master bathroom it and it went SO much better!

5. I brought a bunch of paint chips home and tried to match that thin line of grey tile and bought a quart of flat paint in the best match. Maybe that was too much of a matchy/match mentality but ... what's done is done and when I restencil I'll use the same color. 

6. To finish/seal it off I did three coats (with ample drying time between) of polycrylic in clear satin. It's only been a little over five months since I painted the floor but it's held up just fine. I steam mop it a lot (not as much as I should) and it hasn't chipped even with that stool being dragged all over the floor c/o Abe. 


I was a little stumped over what kind of art to hang up and I wanted to contrast the pink with some sort of greenery so I went with these mounted vases. I only put a few up to start but lots of people (on Instagram) said I should hang more and I'm pretty sure that was the right route to take? I reserve the right to change my mind and take a few down though - ha.

I found some of the vases at West Elm and this one and the smaller/skinnier ones on Amazon but to give them the same matte finish as the West Elm vases I did paint the Amazon vases with primer which took about 45 seconds per vase and was well worth the extra step for the uniformity - I think. I found the plants at Hobby Lobby and on Amazon.


I still need to find a little something to hang over the towel rack over here, I think. It's LOW on my priority list, though!


And that's all she typed! Overall - I'm pretty pleased with how the whole things turned out. I walk by the bathroom several times a day and so far don't have any regrets (other than the floor issues I talked about)! I hate to end blog posts with questions because it feels disingenuous but I would love to hear if you have a pink bathroom and if you kept it or gave it the axe!

TGIFF(inally)!!

23 comments:

  1. I think it looks great! I am also impressed that you found the time with multiple young children at home!

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  2. I grew up in a house with a pink bathroom, it eventually got changed out to white tile in a renovation. My first home with my husband also had a pink pepto bathroom and we kept it. Although, if we had not have moved out of state, it eventually would have been remodeled. I don't love pink but I do have a nostalgia for it.

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  3. I think it's gorgeous! You're lucky your fixtures are white! We had a pepto pink bathroom with pink tub, toilet, and sink, and it had a maroon border with a pink/maroon floral floor. Ack! I love your floor and think you should keep it---would the change be significant enough to outweigh the labor involved?

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  4. Wow so cool We have the exact pink tile and I did something similar.. Basically all white with a few notes of grey.. My kids like it.. (except one who is watching me type this.. she wants you to know she doesn't love it.. :) )

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  5. When I was little my parents rented a 50s-era ranch house with both a pink bathroom (the "girls' bathroom") and a seafoam green masterpiece (the--you guessed it--"boys' bathroom") and I remember them so so fondly! So this is my solid vote that the pink bathroom is definitely enhancing your childrens' memories of childhood.

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  6. I agree - especially in an older how I love that you kept its history alive.

    Now please please tell us all how you kept the kids out of there for alllll the days of drying!!

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  7. We had pink tile and tub professionally coated white. Held up for the seven years we lived there. I suggest storage above the toilet, for tp and feminine products. Seems like years before that, but I have 5 girls and my first thought was "no storage"

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    1. We’ve got two big closets flanking the bathroom door and the mirror opens up but yes, maybe that’s smart! Just seems so high up above the tile

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  8. I saw a photo on instagram (I think) a while ago and I thought you added the barky wallpaper (wallpaper is all the rage, as we know). It was so busy! So I honestly love the after and I appreciate the practicality of you keeping all the good quality tile work even if it isn't your forever choice. Those mysterious, toothpaste slugs. How DO they get all around the bathroom?

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  9. I think you did an awesome job!!! Love the pink!

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  10. My sisters and I grew up with a pink tile bathroom (with pink-matted Anne Geddes prints!) and we DO remember it fondly.

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  11. Had a pink bathroom with pink rose wallpaper when we bought the house - it was 2000 and I was 21 years old - we gutted it and it’s been purple since (I’m not sure that’s any better..... but I hate painting so it stays!) ��

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  12. Oh the joys of being able to share our house had a pink (and a little gray) bathroom growing up. It was a half bath right inside the door to the garage and mud room. But even better, the kitchen next to it had PINK appliances! I am racing towards 61 years old which is also the year the house was built. I wish we had color film back then to share the visual.

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  13. I grew up with a pink tile bathroom very similar to yours and my brothers and I still talk about the "pink bathroom" even though my parents have since remodelled. Fun childhood memories! :)

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  14. I seriously love what you did with the floor - that's a huge improvement and it looks awesome!

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  15. My Grandma's house had a pink bathroom and I never blinked an eye until I was house hunting myself and xxx pink bathrooms. It had such a different feel at Grandma's house.

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  16. I love the after! We have a pink bathroom in our home and it's the last room to be remodeled. Pink tub, pink sink, pink and white countertop, white and pink linoleum!. We are leaving the tub and sink but are going to tile the floor in light grey with white and one day a new countertop! The links aren't working (sad face) could you fix that? :)

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    1. Hmmm shoot! which links? They’re all working for me!

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  17. I love what you did to the bathroom! I seriously love that pink, though. And kinda, sorta the barky wallpaper. What was the method used to remove the wallpaper? Just spray sections at a time then peel back the paper? What was the ratio that Simon used for the fabric softener and warm water? Our master bathroom has the most hideous red/maroonish and white striped wallpaper with decals of roses plastered here and there over the stripes. ~shudder~ Luckily, it's a small bathroom so potentially shouldn't take too much time to remove.

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  18. My parents just bought a house with a pink bathroom and it is the first and only thing they're re-doing--But...when it's your only thing to remodel I guess I get it. Our 1st grader is on them though to keep it so we shall see. ;)

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  19. Wow, this is great! Ours is, in fact, that pepto pink and BLACK. It's horrific. But we are living with it now. But after 50 or so years, its beginning to break down. Grout is breaking, etc. I fantasize a redo, but doubt the hubby will go for it. But this idea of painting is awesome! Unfortunately, our sink, tub and potty are pink too.

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  20. I am so impressed! Loving all these home projects you are sharing via the blog and insta!

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  21. I think you did a fabulous job and really like how it looks, especially the floor!! I grew up in a 1950's ranch with a pink bathroom, and my husband's and my first 1950's ranch had a pink and gray bath--8 ft. by 5 ft. We redid it in pink and gray! White tiles on the wall and a beautiful pink and gray marble on the floor--didn't need many 1 ft. sq. pieces!! Our now 16 year old house has all white and beige bathrooms--boring! Embrace the pink and the history, it's fun, especially for children!

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