One Paint Can later… Our Refreshed Bathroom

Last fall Sherwin Williams approached me about collaborating on instagram for a project using their color of the year, Urbane Bronze. Thrilled for the opportunity to work with my favorite paint company, I said yes before even knowing what room I would attack with a brush. As I looked around my house, not too many walls were left untouched that could benefit from a repaint, and some of the spaces don’t get enough light for a dark and moody color. While it pained me to do it, I repainted my green bathroom. To this day, that bathroom has been one of my most pinned and internet-beloved spaces that demonstrates what can be done with a few inexpensive changes and paint! However, I am a human who thrives on change (let me be clear here, only when I am in control of said change!), especially change created by a fresh coat of paint, so I figured what the heck… let’s do it.

While the green was a more energetic color, Urbane Bronze is more calming yet still has a grounding earthy feel to it. I love it in here so much more than I expected I would! Being that it’s a dark color, alone it can feel a little cold, but warm wood tones, gold accents, and green plant life balance it out perfectly.

After we painted the walls of this space (with less than one can of paint – it’s that small!), I worked on decorating it to evoke the feelings I wanted when I stood in this space looking at myself in the mirror: grounded yet energized, loved and surrounded by warmth and life. The true jumping off point that inspired everything about this space was a print I found last summer after discovering new to me Black owned businesses.

Earlier last year, I read the book Untamed by Glennon Doyle and if you’ve read it, then you will understand why this cheetah print from the Every Day Print Co. spoke to me. This print has a similar earthy gray, plus all of the plant and natural boho vibes I wanted to bring into this small space to breathe into it life and positive energy.

In addition to the print, I also brought in this beautiful handmade golden sun mounted on found driftwood created by Jess at Vida & Luz in Seattle.  The sun is a special symbol in my own life because I am a Leo, but mostly because of what it represents to me personally.

Thankfully, this bathroom has a window so I was able to bring in plant life such as the pothos that drapes from the shelf and helps hide our oddly placed outlet.

This little plant in the corner, though, is a fickly hussy, and had to be moved after she started droppin’ leaves faster than Wilder drops crumbs for the dogs. It’s not surprising – that planter is practically smirking at me.

In addition to plants and some small changes to the live edge shelf, I added a little hook rack to the right of the sink. I selected a vintage accordion rack because I had it on hand, I love the added vintage touch, and the wood adds a nice tough of warmth. Plus, it’s 2021 and we need somewhere to hang our masks.

Now that this rack is in place, I really don’t know how we survived so long without it.  We didn’t have a place for hand towels, plus I wash my face each evening, and needed somewhere to hang my washcloth. This little rack is worth its weight in gold. Although I think it only cost me $2.

Everything else in here remained the same from when I gave it its first makeover with paint and small changes back in 2018.

Should we take a look back at the green bathroom for comparison? Let’s check out how these views have changed.

Before:

After:

Before (when we had just moved in and it didn’t have much decor):

After:

Confession time: When the walls were first repainted in Urbane Bronze here, I panicked.  I thought to myself, “Well, good thing I still have Rock Garden downstairs because I will be repainting when this partnership is over!” And I honestly thought that’s what would happen.

Emmy and Chris both told me they liked the green better.  Sawyer didn’t notice a difference because teenage boys. Ha! I could repaint his room bubblegum pink and he might not even notice. Hmmmm… how hard do I want to work for a good April Fool’s prank?

Looking back at these photos, I still very much love the green, and I would be happy with either color gracing these walls. That being said, Urbane Bronze is exactly the color I needed at this moment in time.  2020 was a year filled with unknowns and uncertainties that continue as we head into this new year.  Urbane Bronze offers a calm, grounding, earthy warmth that I need right now so that I can get ready each morning and feel a sense of serenity as I prepare to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

I would love to hear from you… which color do you prefer?  Have you ever repainted a space and immediately regretted it? (Should I tell you about our first house in Louisiana where I painted a room this horrendous turquoise, spurring Chris on to dub it our “Under the Sea” room.  I supposed we could have rented it out for high school proms – Bayou Cruise prom, anyone? I made so many color mistakes in that house, but we learn by trying, right?  Some people are cool from the get go, and others are card-carrying members of the big dork society, and get there only eventually by embracing all of the quirks that make us who we are.

Thanks so much for stopping by today to check out out little mini-makeover.  If there’s anything you’re looking for from today’s post, you can find most items below. Some pieces we used are no longer in stock, so I’ve gathered similar items.