Master Bath Metamorphosis

It's time again for Metamorphosis Monday! Please click on the icon in my sidebar to visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch, our gracious hostess for this weekly event, and link to all the other "mets" happening around blogland.

Last week I showed you my powder room, and this week I'm featuring my master bath. My starting canvas is a basic builder bath. Not that I'm complaining, I am certainly happy it's strictly a cosmetic makeover:
Basically what I have done so far is paint the walls and decorate, hardly a major redo, but the effect is pretty dramatic, I think. I chose "Bagel" from Sherwin Williams as my paint color, because I thought it looked like a nice neutral but warm beige. I have to say, in natural light it looks rather hideously like human skin, but my bathroom thankfully has no natural light, so the effect is a bit less creepy.
The color is really washed out by the flash in the pic below, the one above is more true to life.
I have had this big picture for a few years, I really like it in this room.
All my little canisters store makeup, brushes, and other necessities that don't fit in the tiny medicine cabinet (the mirror to the right of the vanity).
All the accessories coordinate....
I have a tiny linen closet that holds a broom and a couple of towels:
But I've also got this huge space where I want to put a storage piece to hold additional towels and extra toiletries. I am still looking for the right piece:
So, that is my little makeover. I'm hoping to change out the light fixture eventually for something less HOT, and also to frame the mirror in black. I'm also planning to paint the base cabinet black and add some nickel hardware. Think it will be too dark?
Thanks for coming by!

Teeny Weeny Powder Blue Powder Room

Time for Metamorphosis Monday, hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch, or for a quick link - http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2009/07/welcome-to-27th-metamorphosis-monday.html

When I was on my painting binge last month, I painted my little bitty foyer bathroom "Sleepy Blue" from Sherwin Williams. I have put off photographing it because I don't feel it's quite "done", but I can't find what I'm looking for, so we'll go with what we have so far. I didn't do "before" shots, but certainly anyone can picture this builder white and empty, right?
I started with a different color that had a bit of green to it and that was all wrong from the minute I put it on the wall. Luckily I was using one of the $5 sample cans, so just went back and got another. I hit it right with this color, it was just what I had in mind. The room is so small, the sample can covered the whole thing! However, I bought another one to do a second coat.
I found a couple prints with some taupe/brown/blue tones, and got both blue and brown hand towels to swap out.
The little cabinet over the toilet was an absolute necessity because there was nothing but a pedestal sink and toilet in the room, and my daughter Amanda is using this room for toothbrushing, etc while she is home from college. Pedestal sinks don't leave much room for toiletries, and even the mirror is just a mirror, not a medicine cabinet. However, the white cabinet is very bare looking and I need some accessories. I love these little boxes, but they don't go with the look. I need to find some little brown birds or something more earthy. So that is my dilemma, and I have found nothing, zip, zilch, nada, that will fit on this tiny shelf and has the look I'm going for.
I picked out a small rug which barely fits in the room, but Mandy likes it because it keeps her feet warm. The little basket holds items too big for the cabinet (huge bottle of mouthwash...)
When I find something to "finish" it, I will be sure to show it again. Happy Monday!

A good way to decorate a cloche...

Marty from http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/2009/07/another-cloche-party-september-11-th.html is hosting another cloche-decorating event in September, and I hope I remember to prepare for it this time so I can participate. I practiced this morning:It's pretty, yet sadly temporary since I already ruined the effect by eating the one on top for breakfast!

Faux Goodness

I found the prettiest fake green hydrangeas at a local nursery/garden shop. I am proudly displaying my faux finds in the foyer. The candles are overkill, right? Sometimes things look much clearer on a photo than they do in person. I'm moving them!This was my cat this morning, schlumped down over a pillow snoozing in the sun. My cat comes up with the weirdest sleeping positions. My favorite is when she sleeps with her whole face smack down against the floor. She is not a normal cat, probably mostly because she does not see very well. I was amazed today to watch her catch a fly in her paws and eat it, mainly because she can't get off a chair without leaping into the wall face first. I think her many head impact incidents have left her slightly loopy.
Hope you are having a nice weekend!

And now for something completely different....

Living with my kids can be pretty interesting. Last night, they hosted a Harry Potter premier party at my house for about a dozen friends, after which we all went to the midnight opening of the movie. My house was taken over for about 30 hours, from initial preparation til the last straggler left early this evening.
My youngest daughter Danielle, on the left, and her friend Marisa became "house elves" and whipped up "Cauldron Cakes", "Pumpkins Pasties" and "Butterbeer" in my kitchen. They did a nice job presenting the refreshments, behind which are prizes for the games and costumes:
One of their guests brought these cute "owl-face" cookies.
Friends dressed up for the party - Narcissa and her slimy son Draco Malfoy:
The colorful Tonks and Luna Lovegood:

My older daughters, Amanda and Stephanie, with a somewhat less dramatic interpretation of "costumes", in line for the movie. Will my comfy place ever recover? Well, I lost 3 faux-mercury glass pieces due to a shelf crash during the decorating, which did not make me very happy, but I can't blame the girls because I could have done a better job hanging the shelf in the first place. It took me over an hour to do all the dishes, but now everything is just about back to normal, so I can relax and be glad Harry Potter won't be back til next year. Happy Thursday everyone!

Crazy Plants

My plants are all going crazy with the mild weather we have been having here this summer. This hibiscus was not loving all the rain we had, but now that we're getting some sunny days, it's blooming like mad.
I have no idea what this purple flower is, but I like it. I have a huge pot of it on my deck.
My black eyed susan vine in it's ever-expanding glory. I have to watch it because it keeps trying to make "friends" with all the other plants nearby. It's tried to choke every one of its neighbors. Maybe the Latin name for this should be "strangulata". Ok, I know nothing about Latin, for all I know that means something dirty, so I apologize in advance if it's offensive.
This one reminds me of a big church hat.
The double petunia is even starting to look sort of nice. I picked this out for the color combination, and finally the purple flowers have come back after a long absence. The orange and pink look better together when the purple is there too. I love the little lantern hanging down, though I haven't even lit it yet this year.
Here is the mini garden I planted out front. It's sideways and I don't know how to turn it... but you get the idea. I love the little red Gerbera daisies, but the rabbits keep coming by and munching them off. Then they just leave them lay. I guess they are not as tasty as they look.
The New Guinea Impatien and some mini wave petunias are trying to hide the gas line. It's a valiant attempt, but would take a large bush to accomplish.
I'm back to work tomorrow and will be looking at this every day, it's the view from my desk chair. It may not be a spectacular view, but it brightens my day. Have a great week everyone!