mad maison

I’m happy to report that project sneaky was a success. After Mike expressed a little guilt that I completed some work without him (what a sweety!), he has stated that even with the few items that need to be changed, our ‘new’ half bath is currently his favorite room in the house. Given that I picked the wall color (gray tint from Benjamin Moore) without him, I’m thrilled and relieved that he’s happy. I’m also pleasantly surprised that what I had planned as a temporary fix, spray-painting the brass frame of the mirror silver, is one of Mike’s favorite elements. There’s also something invigorating for both of us to work through a room so quickly. I’ve gotten a couple of requests to show the room with the floor visible as well (since it was so visible in the before shot). Here you can see the wood floors that run through the whole house. We’re so grateful that these floors were refinished before we arrived–and I think you’ll agree they ensure that all of our work has a gorgeous “canvas” to sit on .

Here's our new half-bath, including our gorgeous floors

This past Saturday, Mike caught a flight to Florida to visit his mom. He was able to leave with a sense of accomplishment, knowing that I would be sleeping in clean, restful comfort in our newly completed bedroom. What he didn’t know is that I had a plan to surprise him with some covert home improvements. I decided to enlist my pops to help me complete a small but meaningful project. It seemed like a tangible way to say “thank you” to my amazing partner who has embraced this adventure by working hard to make our house a home. Mike is en route to California now, so this is a perfect opportunity to let our faithful readers in on the project before Mike even knows about it.

We have a small 1/2 bath that was created in the early 1990’s out of a coat closet. True to form, it was decorated with wallpaper and other touches that are not exactly to mad’s tastes. The room is tiny, but something we use quite frequently. Given that the wallpaper isn’t 900 years old, isn’t painted over, and is in such a small room, I thought it presented a perfect opportunity. Over the course of Sunday and Monday (which was a holiday for me), my dad and I removed the wallpaper, primed, and painted the room. I now understand how all of these wallpaper removal products are supposed to work. We scored the wallpaper, sprayed some Diff, and after some steaming, pealed the paper off in about an hour. There are things still left to be done in the room (replacing the beige toilet and sink primary among them), but the task that has given mad the most grief over the last 6 months is done. We’ve also removed all the brass-colored fittings and replaced them with mad-friendly chrome. I’m hoping Mike appreciates the surprise. Perhaps he’ll let you know in this very blog after he recovers from his long flight and jet lag.

Here's the original 1/2 bath on our main floor. Notice the wallpaper and brass fittings.

The after. No more wallpaper, and chrome fittings. Trust me, this light is much better.