It all started with a new nickel finished faucet.

Actually, the faucet to the left isn’t the exact faucet, but it is pretty close.

As some of you may remember, the Christmas Elf spent is Christmas break re-doing our main family bath. He is a college professor so he has nice chunk of time, probably about three weeks.

In this case, he had actually started the process before the end of school. We are between cameras at the moment, so pictures will have to come later.

Like so many home improvement projects, this one started small – with my request for a new faucet, after the sink faucet started leaking.

He brought home a new one at some point during the summer and got it installed this fall. (The new faucet lived on the bathroom floor, in its box, for several weeks. It was tucked under the green and silver vintage chair in the corner of the bathroom so I just pretended it wasn’t there and Mom was polite enough to ignore it!)

It is brushed nickel and has two handles. My personal preference is for sink faucets with one handle because I like the way you can leave the handle in position for your preferred water temperature (which I think saves water), but I am still happy with this one.

Later in the fall, the Christmas Elf came up to me and asked me to take a look into the bathroom.

We have a HUGE, beautiful antique mirror named Coco Chanel. She has a large mirror with a wonderful frame made out of beveled and mitered and carved mirror panels backed with heavy, 1″ thick wood. The frame is mitered and beveled, as are the mirrored panels on the frame itself. She weighs 70 lbs and is a real bear to hang safely and securely.

Anyway, the Christmas Elf wanted to replace our dated mirror and light fixture with Coco Chanel and wanted to show me how she would fit.

The vanity is 48″ wide, and the mirror is wider than that. The problem is that she FILLED the space between the wall on the right and the window frame on the left. There was only about 2″ clearance TOTAL.

I looked at it and decreed it was too tight (and it was! LOL). So at that point, we shelved the idea.

Later that night, I couldn’t sleep, so I got up and grabbed my handy measuring tape and headed into the bathroom.

I discovered that there was room for the mirror if we hung her vertically, rather than horizontally. She fills the space between the vanity and the ceiling visually, but there is about 6-8 inches of space, so it is practical.

Anyway, that is what we ended up doing. I’ll talk about the challenge of hanging something that big and heavy in a later post, but let me tell you, she REALLY is the centerpiece of the bathroom. Every time I look at her, I can picture Alice in Wonderland stepping thru the mirror into another world…

After we knew that we would be able to use the mirror, we headed to the paint store to look for color ideas. I have been intrigued with all of the lovely grays and grayed down colors I have been seeing, so I started there.

I found a lovely lavender and because the trim in this part of the house had already been painted multiple times, I didn’t feel bad about painting it again.

Our house is 100+ years old and the main floor has incredible dark wood trim and woodwork, including 2 full height columns  leading into the living room. I refuse to paint over the wood work on principle. Downstairs in the bathroom and kitchen, previous owners had painted the trim, so I don’t worry about repainting it… I just refuse to paint the UNpainted vintage trim elsewhere.

Anyhoo, for the bathroom, I chose a pale lavender for the walls and a crisp white for the trim. The tub alcove is a couple of shades darker on the same color card, the cabinets are the next color darker and the floor is the darkest.

While I am not personally a purple person, the grayed tones make this room lovely AND serene. Just peeking in the door calms me! LOL

Having this room so beautiful, organized, and finished is something that I think we are both enjoying!

Tink

When I dream…
All my shelves are level and my walls are plumb…

Post Product Reference

If you want more information about the infamous new nickel faucet, here is a link to a similar one…

Delta Faucet 2538 Lahara Double-Handle Lavatory Faucet, Chrome (Not CA / VT Complaint)