O Mais Oui...Oui

This was a project weekend. A good one.  I don't deny it, it's been a long time coming. The kids' bathroom has been a dull, sad space for quite a while. I know; what kind of mother lets their kids poo in a boring bathroom, right? I believe Charmin said it best when they said "why not enjoy the go?". No more lame poo-ing in this house!
Pickles and I decided on a a black and white theme (which of course I was rooting for since the bathroom is already white...don't tell Pickles). She also said she wanted it a little bit frilly and she wanted it "french". (Mind you, two boys use this space as well, so let's not get too frilly or frenchy)

We scoured the webs for decor ideas (you can see the stuff we liked on this Pinterest board) and settled on some fun elements.  So here are some before pics:

What happened?!?! This all white bathroom actually used to be so cheery with a rainbow ribbon shower curtain, sunny yellow window curtain and a circular rainbow rug (not pictured). And what do we see there...THERE, in the corner of the window. Is th-...is that FLORIDA?

I promise, there are no bodily excretions on this wall. I don't know what it is, but I know what it's not. Let's move on. Next we see the view looking out toward the hallway

 

Yep, nothing to see here. Just plain white. Just the shower, the cabinet and the bathroom door. I can't really say why the cabinets and the door weren't painted plain white when the rest of the bathroom was...somethings will remain forever unknown. Like that Florida thing at the window.

 

More plain white (I think I'm typing that phrase by pure muscle memory now...plain white, plain white, plain white. yep.) I think the point has been made. So, ready? Here it is:

 

I loved the curtains I found on the web and decided to make my own. I bought two curtains for $13; one was $5 (for the window) and one was $8 (for the shower). I sewed on a black ribbon I got at a local supplier and voila!

Oh look at that lovely black trim breaking up all that PLAIN WHITE. And that baker's rack? I shopped that from another part of the house. It was the typical wire and wicker baker's rack. All it needed was a quick spritz with some black paint for the shelves.

 

I'm sure the neighbors loved looking at junk hanging from the porch as the paint dried.

Now, the same simple black broke up the opposite side of the bathroom...

 

 

The Eiffle Tower print was $5 at Ikea and the frame came from the attic.

 

Letters from the craft store were sprayed with black paint and we hung them up with ticky-tack (that's what Pickles calls it). It's that tacky, stretchy gum for posters and such.

 

Why, yes, the tile around the shower is black! No, I can't possibly afford to re-tile. I confess to having painted it. I call it my Franken-tile. 

 

I painted it with outdoor, all-weather Krylon paint. It's a Franken-tile because when you get up close (and we won't be doing that today) It's a bit messy and patched up. Safe to say....I learned a few lessons about painting shower tile, painting in the bathroom, SPRAY painting in the bathroom, proper preparation for a job like that. BUT it can be done and I'm pretty much happy with what resulted.

 

I love it, Pickles loves it, the boys well... they don't hate it. And they have a nice place for Oui Oui!