Oreganet - Our Redecorating Projects

Bit by bit, we're working our way around the house, redecorating each room. Both of our bathrooms needed new wallpaper for starters. The wallpaper in both rooms was peeling and dingy with age. The small master bathroom was decorated in a country print consisting of orange flowers, and the off-white curtains were discolored and frayed. I replaced the paper with an abstract white design which looks a little like spackle from a distance - the pattern was simple and the white color brightened the room. The ceiling also got a fresh coat of paint. For color, I draped a floral sheer panel over the window and used mauve towels and mats. It is a much more appealing room to face in the morning as it doesn't assault the senses and leaves a clear view of the trees outside.

Master Bathroom - Before

Master Bathroom - After

The hall bathroom was even worse. Nothing matched. When we moved in, it was a nightmare of mismatched colors. The tub, sink, and toilet were olive green. The tile backsplash on the sink was pastel lime green. One of the light sockets in the wall cabinet was broken, and the toilet was leaking around the base and had caused the beige linoleum to peel up at the edges of the room. The wallpaper was another country print - a profusion of small flowers in yellow, blue, and green. The curtains were thick beige lace with blue hearts. The shower curtain was clear with pink and blue. Lovely combination, huh? The pictures really don't show just how bad it looked.

Hall Bathroom - Before #1

Hall Bathroom - Before #2

The easiest and most cost effective solution was to redo the wallpaper and tile and to have the linoleum replaced. After I ripped off the ugly old paper, Wayne tapped the old tiles off. The rest was up to me. We spent a lot of time looking for new tiles that worked with the olive sink, eventually selecting large white tiles with a faux marble look which used a faint green. A few of the tiles would have a flower detail, and we chose a matching flower border. The results were beautiful - not too shabby for a do-it-yourself job.

The new tile complimented the sink area.

The flowers provide just the right amount of accent.

To give the room some color, I picked another abstract wallpaper, this time resembling the sponged paint style. The paper incorporated the olive green plus a lighter, more pleasing green. I was aiming for a "serene nature" look, utilizing greens, whites, and the dark woods of the trim and cabinet.

The green "sponge" print wallpaper

adds a healthy dash of color to

the room.

Repairing the broken light

fixture really brightened up

the room.

For the final touch, we chose a brighter light grey linoleum with white crisscrosses and dark green squares at the intersections. We also had the toilet joint repaired, and I fixed the broken cabinet socket myself.

Cally seems to approve.

My last project was to redecorate the office. The last owners had used it as a child's playroom, and the dingy off-white walls were in sad shape from all of the pinholes. The room was dark, thanks to an ugly circa 70's basket lamp shade, and the old curtains were simple muslin. I put a fresh coat of white on the ceiling, selected a very pale peach color for the walls, replaced the light socket with a modern and much brighter fixture, and made colorful new curtains. You can check out the results on PussiCam, as the camera points at this room most of the time. It's amazing the difference a fresh coat of paint makes.

So now the winter months have come and gone, and I've had a nice long rest from decorating. It's time to start again. Our first project for the season is the upstairs hall, stairwell, and downstairs entry way. You can just see a bit of the old wallpaper in the picture above. It's yet another country print, a stripey flowery thing on a dingy yellow background. It might have looked okay at one time, but it is very shabby now and is beginning to peel in a few places.