The Heathered Nest

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A DIY powder room design. AKA “And We’ll Never be Royals”.

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Bathroom design, powder room design…they are some of our favorite things.

 

CLASSIC! Love this powder room design with grasscloth wallpaper, herringbone tile & vintage pedestal sink!!

 

You know what’s NOT one of our favorite things? Purple. They say purple is the color of royalty. And Lorde may have said it best…”we’ll never be royals.” Good jam, right?

 

Before we get knee deep in the muck of this renovation, here is the source list for the space:

 

MY OTHER PROJECTS

 

 

There’s another line in that song about “trippin in the bathroom.” And that’s pretty much what happened here too, because this was our “royal” powder room when we moved out here to our house in the country…

 

Powder room design with grasscloth wallpaper, vintage pedestal sink and herringbone marble subway tile floor from www.heatherednest.com

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Complete with broken vinyl roller shade, and luxurious linoleum, anyone who thought this lavender loo was staying “as is” was STRAIGHT trippin.

 

Before we go too much further, here’s a little video synopsis of the powder room design and transformation:

 

 

 

Powder room design and renovation process…here goes!

 

Powder room design with grasscloth wallpaper, vintage pedestal sink and herringbone marble subway tile floor from www.heatherednest.com

 

THIS “royal” needed a flush…

 

Powder room design with grasscloth wallpaper, vintage pedestal sink and herringbone marble subway tile floor from www.heatherednest.com

 

So after just two weeks living in our new pad, I decided on a new powder room design, and I started ripping the old one apart. As Lorde said “we crave a different kind of buzz”…well, this was mine. Destruction of the purple-people-eating-privy!

 

Powder room design with grasscloth wallpaper, vintage pedestal sink and herringbone marble subway tile floor from www.heatherednest.com

 

Ahhh, the sweet sights of progress! In our home, that’s seeing something like seeing a new powder room design take shape, and getting the child labor force going on installing cement board.

 

Powder room design with grasscloth wallpaper, vintage pedestal sink and herringbone marble subway tile floor from www.heatherednest.com

 

A love of k is engrained at a very young age here.

 

Powder room design with grasscloth wallpaper, vintage pedestal sink and herringbone marble subway tile floor from www.heatherednest.com

 

Down go the Carrara marble subway tiles.

 

Powder room design with grasscloth wallpaper, vintage pedestal sink and herringbone marble subway tile floor from www.heatherednest.com

 

The powder room design really took off once I found the pedestal sink. For weeks, I’d been scouring Craigslist for a vintage pedestal, and when I saw this one, I knew I had a winner.

 

This baby is a 1930’s-1940’s cast iron sink. It was absolutely stunning. Had a bit of rust, and needed to be re-plumbed, but for $80, I think I got a GREAT deal. My father came along with me to pick it up…he wasn’t so impressed, to put it mildly. Sure, it had issues, but that’s universal, right? And, afterall, we aren’t royals…we can deal with a little rust.

 

Powder room design with grasscloth wallpaper, vintage pedestal sink and herringbone marble subway tile floor from www.heatherednest.com

 

OK, so maybe more than a little rust.

 

We had the sink professionally refinished. Set us back about $200, which, when all was said and done, was about what we would have paid for a new sink. And in my opinion, this one was just so much cooler.

 

Powder room design with grasscloth wallpaper, vintage pedestal sink and herringbone marble subway tile floor from www.heatherednest.com

 

Now, there is no more rust, and we were even able to save the original faucet and “waste” stopper.

 

Powder room design with grasscloth wallpaper, vintage pedestal sink and herringbone marble subway tile floor from www.heatherednest.com

 

The walls are done in a burlap grasscloth. We used the leftovers we had saved from our family room in the last house.

 

Powder room design with grasscloth wallpaper, vintage pedestal sink and herringbone marble subway tile floor from www.heatherednest.com

 

A couple shots of the completed floor tile…

 

Powder room design with grasscloth wallpaper, vintage pedestal sink and herringbone marble subway tile floor from www.heatherednest.com

 

which we laid in a herringbone pattern.

 

GORGEOUS! White carrarra marble tile laid in herringbone pattern. Want this in our master bathroom!

 

Not the easiest DIY tile installation, but once you get the pattern down, it’s not so bad.

 

GORGEOUS! White carrarra marble tile laid in herringbone pattern. Want this in our master bathroom!

 

The powder room is situated in a hallway that did not offer much in the way of natural light. And in a ten foot distance, there were FOUR swinging doors, which in a house with three kids was recipe for a lot of noggin bumps and bruises.  And it felt like kind of a dark maze. To help make the hall feel wider and brighter,

 

Powder room design with grasscloth wallpaper, vintage pedestal sink and herringbone marble subway tile floor from www.heatherednest.com

 

we took out the old door, and added a pocket door and transom window. These changes made a big difference in the bathroom, as well as the hallway. Beadboard was added around the perimeter of the room, and of course, because of my ongoing chandelier fettish, the room got one of those as well as a couple pretty sconces.

 

Powder room design with grasscloth wallpaper, vintage pedestal sink and herringbone marble subway tile floor from www.heatherednest.com

 

All in all, we may not be royal here at the Heathered Nest, but we feel like we kind of gave this room the royal treatment on a peasant-ish budget. And we’re thrilled to say that this little pint-sized powder room has been a big hit in the print world!  It was published in USA Today’s HOME magazine,

 

Powder room design with grasscloth wallpaper, vintage pedestal sink and herringbone marble subway tile floor from www.heatherednest.com

 

as well as Cottages & Bungalows and This Old House magazines!

 

Powder room design with grasscloth wallpaper, vintage pedestal sink and herringbone marble subway tile floor from www.heatherednest.com

 

If you’re curious, YES, that is Miss Mustard Seed, in OUR john 🙂

 

Powder room design with grasscloth wallpaper, vintage pedestal sink and herringbone marble subway tile floor from www.heatherednest.com

 

And now our wash-room work-over is complete. So, come on over Lorde…promise you won’t be trippin in this bathroom now. We’re just stylin’ and profilin’ up in here.

 

CLASSIC! Love this powder room design with grasscloth wallpaper, herringbone tile & vintage pedestal sink!!

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Comments

  5. Looks great! This makes me laugh, since we had painted the basement bathroom in our old house a similar awful shade of purple. That was back in 2006. I cringe over the number of coats it took! Ugh. Glad there are no purple bathrooms in the new house. Great job!!

    Reply

  6. Hey, thanks for getting that song stuck in my head first thing in the morning!
    Oh, yes, and your bathroom is gorgeous. We had those doors & transform windows in our first house in Richmond that was built in the 20s and I loved them. Brand new ones like yours are even more stunning.

    Reply

  10. Wow! Congratulations on all the well-deserved press! And this whole post made me giggle with the Lorde references. (Not to mention your adorable little helper!) And after all that – the room is gorgeous. That tile! So well done. Thank you for linking up with us at The Makers. 🙂

    Reply

  11. I love the new look, but I would have found myself wanting to keep the purple walls 🙂 I love colors, the horrid floor, window treatment and sink…all that would have gone too, but the purple? Not sure. In itself it isn't a bad color, it just need to be staged right and that wasn't done in the original bathroom.

    Reply

    • Hey Rhonda, luckily, it is not slippery that we've noticed, although I don't know if I'd put polished marble down near a tub or shower for that reason. Since this is just a powder room, we weren't too concerned about that here, but it could be an issue elsewhere I would think! Thanks for your comment 🙂

      Reply

    • Hi Darlene,
      JUST getting around to responding, so sorry. The ceilings are about 8'6". We also love the door and transom…they made a big difference in the space. Happy holidays!

      Reply

  15. An absolutely beautiful powder room Heather! I love the vintage sink (a great save!) and the gorgeous chandelier (so glam!). And the addition of the transom and pocket door were pure genius! Thank you so much for sharing, featured you at our party this morning!

    Reply

    • Hope I thanked you on your page, Sharon! And hope your page is up and running again soon…computer troubles are the WORST. Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving.

      Reply

    • YES!!!! And it was so pivotal in this space b/c of how many doors there were in this small hallway the bath sits off of. It makes such a big difference!

      Reply

  21. So many beautiful things in this small space! I love the marble subway tile. Love the transom. Pocket doors should be mandatory in powder rooms, right? I'll check back in 14 years or so and see what your little guy thinks about his cameo here. Cute.

    Reply

  22. Saw your link on Wow Us Wednesday and couldn't look away! It's simply fabulous…definitely way more royal now! I love the sink. Yes, you could've gotten new for the same price, but it would not be constructed the same way for sure…and well, it's be new! Nobody wants that! 😉 Enjoy your powder room and love the pint size power tooling tot! Start 'em young!

    Reply

    • Thanks so much Kim!! Yes, we love starting them early here…and they think they are big stuff when they can "help". Hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

      Reply

  33. I know what you mean about the purple; when I moved in to my house there was a similar powder room in burgundy red with believe it or not a matching red toilet! You did a super job. Congratulations on being featured in so many wonderful magazines. (I love the pedestal sink ❤ and chandelier)

    Reply

  34. We actually had a sort of purple in our bathroom at one point too, but now it's gone and are in demo mode (again). I love to see what you've done with this space and just goes to show that even a little room can be much improved with TLC. Great job, Heather! I'm featuring your prodigal pieces tomorrow. 😉

    Reply

  35. Beautiful makeover. It’s no wonder it was featured by so many publications. I LOVE the tile floor and the pedestal sink. It was definitely worth saving.

    Reply

  37. Wow, you have done a fantastic job! The bathroom looks so good! I’d love to invite you to visit the Inspiration Thursday link party at my blog inthenewhouse.com and share some of your awesome projects! I hope to see you there!

    Reply

  38. Oh my goodness, I love this bathroom makeover. I have to say the purple paint was amazing! haha! That vintage sink is amazing. Wow. Love it. Thanks for sharing at Merry Monday. Pinning.

    Reply

  39. I love this powder room! I’m in the process of updating ours in a similar way. I am having the hardest time finding a suitable transom window. Where did you get this one and what are the dimensions of it and the pocket door you have here? Thanks!

    Reply

    • Hmmmm…we got it online at a place that only sells transoms I believe. I will try to find an invoice so I can give you more details on that and the pocket door Selena!

      Reply

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