The basement bathroom is ready to paint. I’ve talked before about my love of cream-colored paint, and so my original plan was to paint the bathroom Sea Salt like the dining room. Then I remembered that our basement is in fact painted with colors: I used two shades of DARK cream, otherwise known as yellowish, and I think a white bathroom would be not so pretty next to that.
Oh, who am I kidding, it’s that painting with cream-colored paint is unbelievably dull, as bad as painting two coats of primer, and I’m sick of it and I don’t want to do it again. I want to use a color not because I particularly want colored walls, but because it’s boring to paint with white. If I were hiring a painter I’d have the painter use cream, but I’m NOT so I’m NOT. Okay, and FINE, I think it would be fun to choose a color for a change.
So! Let’s choose a color. One of the shades I used in the basement is the exact color of eggnog. Seriously, I’d poured some into a little plastic container for doing the edges, and I kept ALMOST drinking it. The other shade is the same basic idea as the eggnog shade, but one step darker down on the strip—more like Classic Pooh (as opposed to rainbow-yellow Disney Pooh).
I am NO GOOD at choosing colors, but I AM happy with those shades of dark cream. So one possibility would be to use the same one(s) in the bathroom. Problem: would yellow be kind to complexions in the mirror? I would like to be kind. Plus: kind of boring to do the same color again.
What appeals to me most is a light green, yellowish, new-leaf-type. But greens are so hard to choose! One false move and it’s Hospital or Seafoam or Mint or Nauseated. Plus, with the complexions? No good?
I’m also considering a pale, glowing lilac color. I asked Paul if that would be too girly and he said no, that would be fine. But this is probably the bathroom our ADOLESCENT BOYS will be using later on. Not that boys can’t take showers in a purple bathroom. In fact, they should feel fortunate I don’t make them use the garden hose in the driveway.
I don’t really want to dither this to death, though. When I chose those yellows, I took every single remotely-cream/yellow paint chip in the store, and I leafed through them for WEEKS. I dealt them out and compared. I eliminated some, then added them back in. I paused Gilmore Girls so I could see which yellows looked most like the yellows in Luke’s apartment and in Lorelai’s house. I poster-puttied finalists to the walls so I could do quick evaluations every time I walked by, and so I could see them at all times of day. I fretted that I should really be getting sample cans and painting little pieces of the wall.
This time I was thinking I might just…walk into the store, pick a color that looks good, and go out with a can of paint. The bathroom kind of needs to be painted this weekend. I mean, it wouldn’t be an emergency if I postponed, but I think I’ve pushed the patience of the flooring people far enough already.
I like the colour you have for your blog background. It would complement the yellow/cream tones nicely, it would be appropriate for boys and would be refreshing with white fixtures.
Lilac would also be pretty.
I LOVE the way you say you don’t want to paint with boring cream/white and then go right to the oh so racy dark cream. You are living on the edge! ;-)
I think swistle blue is a lovely color for a bathroom as well!
I agree with the Swistle blue suggestion. Blue and cream are a lovely combination and bonus! blue is a boy color. :)
Go with your gut. You can always make the boys repaint if they hate it later.
I always choose my paint colors by looking through a catalog like Restoration Hardware or Pottery Barn, finding a bathroom/living room/dining room I really like, and using as similar a color as I can find. Pottery Barn now even lists the paint colors (Benjamin Moore brand maybe?) that they use in their catalog and website.
I always feel like a lemming consumer, but I almost always like the paint color!
Lilac is a great complement to yellow, but I agree that swistle blue would be good, too. And, maybe easier to pick?
Our bathroom is painted gray and it is a lovely and flattering shade. A lot of grays kind of veer into lilac shade. Maybe you could find a grayish lilac that would be OK for adolescent boys?
I like the idea of blue–I have a turquoise bathroom. We painted our entire house interior in one weekend the week after we moved in. Choosing about 7 shades in an hour at home depot led to some unexpected paint colors but at least we didn’t have to dither. and repainting is easy (says the girl who has lived with random paint for four years).
I’d go with light, bright blue (like swistle blue) or I like the idea of a lilacish gray. Let us know what you decide–I’m looking for a good gray.
I say lavender for 3 reasons… 1) because it’ll be really pretty 2) because the boys won’t want their eventual girlfriends to see their purple bathroom because it’s not manly so you might have a little less of “what’s going on down there” do deal with 3) see #2 only sub dudes/bros where girlfriends is typed.
Jess – I was going to exactly propose a light grey! Because it does veer toward lavender/lilac. I painted our dining room and our bathroom with it and I keep thinking why did I pick the light purple grey and not the grey grey. But anyway, it is very versatile.
Definitely don’t just pick whatever random color though. I did that with my son’s room the first time around and ended up with a horrid yellow. Which I then had to cover up with three coats of lighter yellow. So essentially, including the primer coat, I painted my son’s room SIX times over. If I had just sucked it up and bought a test can I would have saved my pregnant self and my in laws a significant amount of time.
Oh and I have decided that I extremely dislike Home Depot’s paint and would choose a higher quality paint like Sherwin Williams again and again. Also, same goes for the edging brushes…you get what you pay for. I’ve learned both of these things, along with the test cans are worth it, the hard way.
Oh, I agree with Jess whole heartedly about the paint. Go for SW or Baer, it makes a world of difference. Trust me, I paint each one of our rooms about once a year (I like colour) (and change) – colours ranging from bright orange/teal/dk brown… I’ve never needed more then 2 coats.
I was just going to say Swistle Blue! Think of it as palest sea glass. It’s got just a little warmth to mix nicely with the cream. Pick sand-colored towels. I love it already.
The only greens I like are sage greens, kind of like what you see at Restoration Hardware. I like all of their colors, though. Their paint is ungodly expensive but if you take their chips you can find something close enough at Lowe’s.
Our bathroom is currently a pinky tan (a color I picked when we moved in 10 years ago), and we are changing it to periwinkle blue. I’m excited about it! Can’t wait to see what you decide!
Go with a taupe. It’s darker and can look like different colors (brown or green maybe) depending on how the light hits it. Then, you can accessorize with a nice blue or green color.
I don’t see anyone else pointing this out, but I think the real question is: what color do you want the shower curtain to be?
Or maybe this is the type of shower with a glass door, so this is a moot point?
Good luck! Whatever you pick is the right color.
My friend just remodeled her kitchen and used Sherwin William’s ‘online’ which is a light blue. It was so pretty that I painted my bathroom the same color and LOVE it! Also, another friend is planning to use it in her kitchen. It is a fabulous, fool-proof color that you can go pick up and be done with the decision. I recently painted my kitchen and den and went though about 12 test shades of green (settled on SW wheatgrass – also love it!). It was so nice to be able to walk in and pick up the color and not have to go back! Good luck!
I love the idea of a gray-ish lilac! Classy.
I also love the idea of Swistle blue, but maybe just a wee bit lighter?
And I’m in major support of your plan to just go for it with the color and the decision! Whatever color you pick will look awesome with some white trim, which I think is the best part of using non-white walls.
GOOD LUCK, YOU CAN DO IT! Just like you’re doing it with all the steps of cleaning. You rule!
When I choose a paint color, I usually buy a bit of decor first… for this bathroom example, I might buy a shower curtain or bath mat or something. Then I will bring THAT to the paint store with me to either find a matching shade, or a shade that goes really well with that piece of decor. That way I’m not totally clueless when I am in the paint store, I have more of a purpose and direction as to what I want that room to look like. Plus it’s much easier to match the paint to the decor than to find decor that goes with the paint that’s already on your wall, you know?
Are the fixtures white? I think a celery green would looks crisp and clean and fresh in a bathroom.
Maybe find a shower curtain that you love, and go with a complimenting color to that. You could take the shower curtain to the hardware store with you to see if the paint “matches”, and that way you won’t have to make more than one trip.
Good luck! Can’t wait to see the finished product… you will show us, right???
Another vote for blue here (though I also like the sound of the celery green that Marie Green suggested). My mom painted her bathroom a pale blue that reminds me of the beach — something like Behr’s “Monaco”. I find it really pretty and relaxing.
My new favourite thing is Behr’s Colour Smart thing.
Here’s the website:
http://www.behr.com/Behr/home#view=26;vgnextoid=8328ea6621ca5110VgnVCM1000008119fea9RCRD;channel=EXPLORE
It totally helps you explore colours, and plan coordinated colours and such. If you go to a place like Home Depot they should have the paint chips that have different colours put together so you can choose a whole set of colours to work with (you can also use the computer in the store, input colours you already have and then it’ll tell you complimentary colour ideas).
I really think this will help me use Colour in my future home in ways I never would if they didn’t make it so comprehensible!
Also: My word verification word is “dogshet” … maybe that’s a colour option for you, do you like BROWNS? ;-)
I’ve been wanting to paint my bathroom a dark slate color. Charcoal gray. Something like that. I’d accent with white towels, white shower curtain, maybe a dark purple flower and silver fixtures, so it wouldn’t be too dark for a small room, would it?
Or maybe I just like that color because it reflects my current mood.
Hope you find the right thing!
My first thought was a blue/teal/grey type color. Maybe a little like your blog background but with more grey? Even bright colors if they’re mixed with a little grey are muted enough for walls, I think. Especially in a small room like a bathroom!
Our bathroom is an awesome gray-almost purple that I and my husband) love. It’s actually a very masculine color for as close as it teeters to a lavender sometimes. It was painted that way when we moved here and we need to touch it up (we’ve replaced towel bars and light fixtures and NEED to paint those spots) but I can’t match the color and I don’t want to give it up!
We also painted our guest room a grayish color that’s a tad lighter but reminds me a lot of the bathroom. We’ve gotten a ton of compliments on the guest room color. That color was Sterling from Lowes.
Good luck!
Vast Sky by Sherwin Williams is a very lovely shade of pale blue that is almost a neutral. You can’t go wrong. Good luck!!
I have two yellow bathrooms. I’ve never noticed the yellow paint doing anything weird to complexions in the mirror- I actually really like the more muted mustard yellow color with the warm lightbulbs in our master bathroom. The other yellow bath I’m in the process of painting a plain white (and WHY are there so many shades of white??) because it’s just too pastel yellow and matchy matchy with the tile. I also think a taupe or pale blue would look really nice.
I know that new-leaf green you are talking about, and I once found the PERFECT swatch of it (at Kelly Moore I think) but it was called Bumbershoot and we could not get past the name. I mean, Bumbershoot??
But for your bathroom, may I suggest sage? Plays well with cream and eggnog, isn’t too girly for adolescent boys, complexion-friendly, and not one of those colors that gets too bright and creepy like a facelift gone wrong. Think about it. Sage.
I just painted out master bedroom a grey-ish liliac and I love it. The paint sample I liked was from Home Depot, Glidden swatches (Polished Pewter…oddly enough, it looks blueish online). I had them color match the Glidden swatch to a Behr paint, as I love the coverage of Behr. You can even try out the Glidden with their little jars of paint. I loved being able to do that. Very helpful. Good luck! I’d come over to help if I lived closer!
Obv Im not the first one to say it, but I completely vote for the Swistle-blue color.
We also used a color called Sea Salt that would be great in a bathroom. It is not a cream color though like yours. It is from Duron Paints and is a gray/green. Sea Salt #6204. You can check out colors online at Duron.com – their eColor online is pretty cool – you can click on the color and it puts it on the “wall” of a photo of a room. I could play on it all day. We had a very bad experience with a yellow that had green undertones so I would stay farrrr away from that. I think the gray family is your best bet.
I just did my bedroom in French Gray from Behr and it is a lovely, soothing shade of bluish-gray. Looks good with black-and-white prints or if you wanted to go with brown accents it would be very trendy. My husband says it has an acceptable level of masculinity, but not too much. We also just redid our office in Sandstone Cove by behr and it is taupe and super boring, but still pretty. It is right next to my cream-colored kitchen and seems to flow nicely.
good luck!
I painted our 2nd full bath ORANGE. No two ways about it – orange, like the fruit. It’s the kids’ bathroom so the other colors in there are similar in vibrancy (not obnoxious, I don’t think) but I have to say… I love showering in there! It has a certain early morning wake-you-up-pleasantly quality to it… and I never noticed anything odd with the complexions.
I love sage. It’s light, bright without being obnoxious, and not too girly. Add another vote for swistle blue, though. Love that color. And don’t do gray. One of the rental houses we lived in had a couple of gray rooms. It was depressing. Felt like we were living in an asylum.
I have to admit that my favorite colors are saturated hues, but that’s not the kind of color you want in a basement. Go for a shade or two darker than pastel, whatever color you pick. And your boys probably won’t object as long as you don’t paint it Barbie pink!
I’m not a … tweep? Tweeter? Anyway, I wanted to say no need to lay off with the cleaning posts. So fun! So happy for you!
What I do when I’m choosing paint color is I pick up those color samples that they have that are grouped by theme. At Sherwin-Williams they have things like “New Vintage” or “Cozy Cottage” and they have maybe 6 choices per card. (This is a good thing to do because they choose the most ‘livable’ colors and the colors that are the most popular. Also, it keeps you from being overwhelmed by too many choices). Then I bring the cards home and look at them a while. If there is something that will be in the room I’m painting I often hold colors next to it (like a table or countertop) to get an idea of how they would go together. This is easy and straightforward.
One last tip–I go with a grayer tone than I think I want. For example, when choosing a color for my kitchen I found two colors that went well with the new countertop. One was a medium teal-ish color, like from the 50s and one was grayer teal, like old seaglass. I am SO GLAD I chose the less saturated color! The one we chose is perfect and very easy to live with.
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I am also horrible about picking paint, and when we bought this house and painted the entire upstairs before moving in, I simply outright copied color ideas I loved from one of my favorite home decorating bloggers and never looked back.
Svelte Sage by Sherwin Williams was one of those colors, and might be your answer. It goes well with the chocolate brown and medium, creamy brown tan we have nearby. I think greens can be SO tricky, and this one has not let me down.
Oooh, just saw Jess’s idea and I love it!!
I suggest Sherwin Williams’ Copen Blue (a similar color to your background). Whatever you decide, definitely get a color sample – it’s worth the $5 to make sure that you really dig the color.
We recently repainted and I bought 14 sample cans. FOURTEEN! At $3 each, that’s a lot of Nutella. (What? It’s all I’ve been thinking about since yesterday and I haven’t had a chance to get to the store.)
Anyway, I like the idea of a blue or a grey. But not a grey with green undertones because I imagine that would not be kind on the eyes. A lighter version of Swistle blue would be lovely, I’m sure. In fact, that’s very close to the color we painted our laundry room, and I’ve always wondered why I didn’t use that color in a room I actually enjoy spending time in.
I’m horrible with decisions and have lots of brown walls. That, and the whole rest of my house that is not brown is antique white which I fell in love with because the name is Cozy Cottage.
I ENCOURAGE you to stick with your decision to pick a COLOR. Just coach yourself, it’s only paint, you can always change it…
Some Benjamin Moore stores carry teeny tiny samples of their most popular colors (like a hundred or so, for about $3.99 per color). I once put 14 (yes, really 14) colors of beige up on the wall before finding the right one. It looked like an abstract art project by the time I was done. I now do this every time I paint something, or I inevitably end up repainting at least twice. Sherwin Williams does something similar, but slightly different–you can get any color they have as a sample for about $6 (but you have to go in and have them make it, they aren’t already in sample packs, like Benjamin Moore.)
We just painted the majority of our house (interior) shades of brown/beige. I hesitated, thinking it would be too…neutral. I finally decided I could add color with linens and wall-hangings. But now, I’m thinking a bathroom is the perfect place to add a little color. It’s easier to change.
I’m trying to pick a paint color too!!! I’m perusing the dark browns for my bedroom, but I’m not convinced. I like the grey/lilac suggestion, maybe something a shade closer to pewter, even!
I don’t really care for mixing cool neutrals and warm neutrals. Cream (and most of its various shades) are warm neutrals. So I say pick something in the warm range. Grey and lilac-ish-grey are really cool colors.
There are some great warm greens. And even “swistle blue” is on the warmer side of blue. If it was my bathroom, I’d pick one of those.
I used to think that about green/complexions. But my bathroom is green and I LOVE it. green is the new neutral and you can pair it with almost anything as an accent (towels etc). stay away from the minty greens, yuk. go for the grayer greens. Mine is called Chive and I forget the brand name but I got it at home depot. Its not the behr paint…its one of the brand names. Its not really what I think of when I hear “chive” so the name is deceiving. At any rate I love it and its not icky when I do my make up at all. if you go to behr.com you can play with colors.
Blue is also nice in a bathroom but I would keep it very pale and not too aqua or you’ll feel like you’re in an aquarium. About 2 shades lighter than your blog background…
oatmeal. oatmeal and eggnog. kind of a warm grayish/taupey/cookie color. LOL not too dark though.
I’d steer clear of lilac only because I think it will look foofy and you’ll grow tired of the purple bathroom. if you go with an neutralish color you can do purple towels and lilac accents and stuff…
P.S. I do fine with Behr paint…its all over my house and took 2 coats most places.
Hate Valspar, which is what they sell at Lowes. I prefer lowes over home depot for most everything, but not paint. the valspar is runny and crappy.
I love the idea of the Swistle Blue that others have suggested. But also, what about a periwinkle? It’s in between blue and lilac. I also like the idea of using the Pottery Barn catalog and looking at their bathrooms, but then again I heart Pottery Barn.
So, I’ve been thinging more about this overnight…
And I say Graham Cracker color!
It would look awesome with white accents (nice bleachable white), or swistle-blue accents or avacado green accents…the possibilities are amazing.
And graham cracker looks really good with cream.
So. I’ve changed my vote.
We always paint our bathrooms a nice purpuly blue. The original shade was called summer evening and it is really nice.
You could do one chocolate brown accent wall and then a lighter brown (like a mocha!) for the rest – that might look nice with cream and would be fun to accessorize. (Maybe with Swistle blue accessories!)
Behr Asparagus. It’s the perfect green.
http://www.decorpad.com/photo.htm?photoId=2677
Did you know that Sherwin Williams makes the paint they sell at Wal-Mart? Same paint, different price point and label.
I painted my bathroom a light sage green, and got a dark wood vanity with a cream top and the color combo is great! One small piece of advice, don’t use the stuff they sell to ‘texturize’ your wall, the gritty-sandy stuff. I did and it looks BAD.
Best of luck!
Yes, the swistle blue!!
Or an aquamarine. That’s greeny but still blue, as bathrooms tend to be aquatic.
Embrace the sage. Sage would be a lovely compliment for cream. Or creams. Or yellow. Or possibly yellow.ish. Yay for sage! It doesn’t rhyme, but close enough, yes?
Benjamin Moore’s Elemental is BEAUTIFUL and green-ish. Definitely worth checking out.
I vote a blueish/greyish lavender color. Pale enough to go beautifully with your cream/yellow walls, and not too girly.
Blue. Lots of shades to choose from (go lighter rather than darker, esp. for boys’ bathroom in basement) – you can do “disney” blue, light blue, sky blue, ocean blue…..