We’re catching a flight back from Boston (thankfully not canceled despite the snowy weather), so this post is up a bit early. Your comments might not appear right away, but I wanted to share the update on our hall bathroom paint decision. Ever since we moved in we’ve debated colors: deep blue, dark, light, colorful, muted—lots of back-and-forth.
We finally settled on a direction after placing a bright fish painting on our whitewashed shelf. That pop of color gave us a clear vision: walls that are toned down but not neutral, with bold accents. We wanted a new undertone for this room—plum. Sherry chose Benjamin Moore’s Elephant Gray in a satin finish; we only needed a quart for the whole job. It reads gray overall but carries a warm, plummy undertone that complements the accents.
As with our other small bathrooms, we painted the ceiling the same color as the walls. In compact spaces that trick makes the room feel larger and more cohesive—there’s no stark white plane breaking up the flow. The photo below is a bit grainy because I zoomed in; for the record my painting ensemble was minimal, which made for an amusing photo Sherry wanted to share. We’ll leave a little mystery about that part of the process.
Once the job was done we both stepped back and agreed it reminded us of Granny’s bathroom. We loved Granny’s makeover, and while these photos show the two rooms as similar, Granny’s “Hint of Violet” was lighter and more purple. Our Elephant Gray is darker and plummier—deeper and less pastel than hers—but the resemblance is a pleasant inspiration.
Having a Granny-inspired vibe in our own home feels pretty great. The new wall color pulls tones from the painting while providing a calm backdrop for the bright oranges and blues we plan to use in a bold Roman shade Sherry has in mind.
The paint also works well with the room’s metal accents—our iron horse head towel hook and the oil-rubbed bronze light fixtures fit right in against the soft, moody walls. Looking at these photos does make one thing obvious: we still need to frame out that builder-basic mirror. That project is on the near-term list.
Here’s the other side of the room. The subtle, moody tone of the paint balances nicely with the hardware and fixtures. Framing the mirror and making the Roman shade are the next two contenders for our to-do list—Sherry’s fabric is ready and waiting, so we’ll see which one gets finished first. May the odds be ever in my favor.
The best part of this update is that we made the existing tile work. I wasn’t excited about ripping it out, and thankfully it’s in much better shape than some tile we’ve dealt with before. Using what we already had saved time and effort, and just a quart of paint made the room look far more polished and welcoming than it did a few days prior.
So who else is painting right now? Are you happy we went with a plummy gray after saying “plum” more times than I can count since we moved in? I’ll admit it—I’m a guy and I love this plum bathroom. Just don’t call it purple; for some reason that word doesn’t sound nearly as appealing.