BedStuy Reno
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October 12, 2007
color selection (bathroom division)
Lady with a fan.
Color - G's specialty. We had early ideas of what we wanted the bathroom to be painted, and in general we were both on the same page (awesome when that happens) with some kind of light grayish-bluish-purplish color. So G turned to the Benjamin Moore paint fan and found us a range of options.
The walls, we decided, would get the grayish-bluish-purplish color, the ceiling and walls above the picture moulding level would get an off white to tie it to the wall and floor tile. And the mouldings themselves (those who have spent a lot of time or money stripping theirs may want to switch to another blog at this point) we would paint black, to pick up on the accent black hex tiles.
In fact, when G brought up the idea of painting the mouldings at first, I wanted to switch to another blog myself. We're supposed to strip mouldings, not add more paint! Don't you read brownstoner?
Anyway, this first discussion was before work took me to Amsterdam. There I saw a lot of painted mouldings. Apparantly, in Amsterdam, they paint their mouldings and leave the stripping for other endeavours. (that's a good way to put it.) And the mouldings look awesome, enough so to make me change my mind. We would paint our mouldings black.
Oh, and those swatches you see on the walls, we axed them both and went for a lighter tone.
Comments
paint
:)
my favorite part
(we will be stripping and {gasp} repainting too)
Posted by: neene at October 14, 2007 11:13 PM
stripping aint that bad, so long as you have patience, the right tools (go to an art supply store and get some scuplting tools to work the details), a good fan, and patience.
I basically stripped a good portion of paint off of wood moldings, doors, stairs, in a 5,000 sq ft house that was over 150 years old.
Be sure to sand a few times and clean it up with TSP soap.
Posted by: guest at October 15, 2007 3:34 PM
I never met natural woodwork I didn't like, but even I have to admit that painted mouldings, etc can look great. Sometimes it's just too much wood, or too dark. Sometimes it's just not practical to have natural wood. Sometimes paint is just better.
I'm fine with anyone's decision for their own home, it's their home. I'm just glad you still have it up there. I like the colors, go for it.
Preservationista
Posted by: guest at October 15, 2007 4:46 PM
We stripped all of our woodwork before painting, even knowing that it was pine, and always meant to be painted (at least in 1866).
We got rid of years and years of crappy paint jobs, which made the new paint job look 1000% better. The stripping was totally worth it. I'm sure the black will be very striking.
Posted by: tinarina at October 15, 2007 4:48 PM
I would keep the palate more in the neutrals...if you start going with lavender and taupe (sorry...) but it may start to look like a froufroo business/shop, not a bathroom. Let all that time-intensive tilework make the big impact and carry it.
FortGreener
Posted by: guest at October 15, 2007 5:31 PM
What happened to the adage: "keep it simpl"
???
Posted by: guest at October 15, 2007 5:33 PM
Good for you for bucking the dogma that all wood must be stained! Painted moldings are lovely and most were meant to be painted anyway.
Black paint can do wonders in any room but in this room, Im sure it will really pop.
Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at October 15, 2007 6:21 PM
I actually had a black and purple tiled bathroom in a 1920's house I owned in West Hollywood during the 90's. The colors were original to the house. The purple was similar to the color on the right on your wall, but just a tad more muted. Like those 20's colors, how they all seem to have a touch of grey in them.
I loved the palette, and so did anyone who saw it. Everyone who entered the house would always declare that bathroom their favorite room. Of course it was a huge bathroom with a large built-in vanity with built in drawers and cabinets along one wall. Gosh I miss that bathroom!
I had black tile floors (grey grout) and black tile "baseboards", and if the effect is the same with your black painted baseboards and moldings, then you'll be pleased. It was very striking. It works. I also had black tile with white grout on the built-in vanity top which I had installed new, and which looked fantastic. Very retro, and matched the room perfectly.
Posted by: guest at October 16, 2007 11:48 AM
Me again from 11:48. Actually now that I think on it, the grout was black for the tiles on the floors, which ends up a dark grey.
Posted by: guest at October 16, 2007 11:57 AM
I should point out the large vanity was a whole separate piece from the sink, which was a pedestal. Which is what made the vanity so special.
Posted by: guest at October 16, 2007 11:59 AM
Digging all the feedback on the bathroom! All I can say is, we made the conscious decision to go bold, and to use color to play with some of the more traditional aspects of the room.
The paint is all up. It's a done deal. I will post all about it.
- Peter (who can't log in on his own)
Posted by: guest at October 16, 2007 2:04 PM
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