Home DecorI Get Stumped Too June 5, 2015If you missed yesterday’s post on my Design Process, you might want to read it first for this one to make sense. One big thing that you may have noticed from that post is that the design has to come to me. I actively try to find inspiration, but I can’t force finding the perfect design for a space. Sometimes it’s delayed because I haven’t found the right piece yet that will inspire everything. Sometimes, there’s no rhyme or reason. Like right now. I’m having the best time designing the new spaces for The Buffalo Bungalow. And for the most part, it’s coming together beautifully and I am dying to get all of my mood boards made, share inspiration here, and see it come together! But not every space is going so well and of course, it would be the two areas with the quickest turnaround time: The Guest Bath and Laundry. I had to write this post today for a few reasons. Number one, maybe some of you have inspiration for me! But number two, you guys have to know that this process isn’t always easy for me. After the comments I’ve gotten about this, you’ve gotta know that sometimes, it’s hard for all of us! I really have zero vision for these rooms. I usually don’t share this part of the process because to be honest, it’s not that interesting to just say, “I have no idea what I’m going to do in this space.” It’s much more exciting to share the gorgeous mood board and then the revealed space, but I realized with Krista’s comment (see yesterday’s post) and others I’ve gotten over time, that isn’t realistic. Just sharing that part makes it seem like it’s so easy for me to design a room and I never struggle with it. But this time, I am struggling, friends! I think part of the issue is that I naturally gravitated toward the most exciting spaces first: the master bath, the kitchen, the living room. I’ve started really developing visions for those rooms because I’m so excited to live in them! Guest bath and laundry are just down on the list of excitement compared to all of that. But the problem is that we are renovating in two phases and Chris has informed me he needs tile for these two rooms HERE by the end of next week. What?!?! I recognize this means I’m probably going to have to go buy in stock tile somewhere or expedite it. And I still don’t really have a vision! I’ve tried to rack by brain this week (a.k.a. force it) and just end up frustrated. This is where I need your help, guys! Maybe you’ve seen some awesome, mind-blowing bathroom or laundry lately that will inspire me! I literally have nothing on the laundry yet. We need floor tile, a countertop, and there may be some cabinets. And I recognize that it’s just a laundry. But I refuse to have a bland space when I could have a vision for it and have a pretty room I don’t mind folding clothes in. So, I’m very literally at square one with this one. With the bathroom, I may have made a little progress, but I’m not loving it yet and haven’t figured anything that wow’s me. But one of my good friends suggested that I use the rug in our current guest bath as inspiration. I love this little rug and we got it not that long ago for this room redo with Home Depot. It’s really too small to work anywhere other than a bath, so it’s the perfect fit for this room. {By the way, I haven’t forgotten about revealing this room! It’s Home Depot’s hands now and will be revealed soon, hopefully}. This bath is a small space, so I know this pop will go a long way. I was leaning toward just doing all white (walls and tile) with this pop. Very classic, but it just doesn’t feel right. I’m waiting for that “I know it” feeling like I talked about yesterday to hit and it just isn’t there. Here are a few ideas I’m tossing around that just haven’t totally come together yet. I’m thinking all white floor tile and tile surround with gray grout. Maybe tile like this on the floor? We’re trying to go very budget-friendly in here without compromising on style, so simple tile is a great solution for that. I really do love this tile. And maybe over-sized subway in the shower surround. I do like these classic tile options. I have thought about doing a wall color other than white in here. I’m loving the dark moody colors, but the room is tiny with no window, so I want to keep it semi-light. The two colors in the rug that jump out at me are a blue/gray something like this: Or an olive green something like this: The olive green idea immediately reminded me of one of my favorite bathroom designs from Jenny Komenda. I loved this room the minute I saw it. The olive green just felt like an unexpected color choice to me and I still haven’t seen a ton of it. I love the painted trim look and will definitely do that in this room, if I do a color. The marble and brass paired against it are awesome. I do love this bath and maybe this is my inspiration? I’m just not sold yet. Something’s missing. I may have to do what I CANNOT STAND to do. I may have to just order neutral tile without having the full picture in mind. I know that white tile is fairly safe, but I just know that as soon as that tile is laid, inspiration will strike and it’ll be too late. But we are on a timeline here and need a working bath when we move in at the end of August. Send ideas, inspiration my way! I’m in desperate need, friends! In the meantime, I’ll just be lying awake all night over here waiting for this design to strike.
Ellen Dittmar says June 5, 2015 at 6:33 am I love this bathroom with every fiber of my being. https://instagram.com/p/0yCvE3uRLa/ . Or this one: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/110478997086330856/ maybe with your rug. π Whatever it ends up being..it will be beautiful! You have great taste! Good luck! Reply
Lindsay says June 5, 2015 at 1:20 pm Ellen, both of those are awesome!!! I so wish I could afford that printed tile for this bath! I actually considered it, but it’s like eight times the price of the one I shared. We’re going very budget on this room and saving for elsewhere. So my goal is high style, low low cost π Reply
Amy Lowdermilk says June 5, 2015 at 9:35 am Hi Lindsay. I love a paint color called Pewter Grey. We found it at Lowes. It is a greyish blue and sometimes can appear to be green. It is almost a cross between your two color choices, depending on the lighting. I tried to go dark in a bathroom that had no lighting and ended up repainting the whole bathroom because it was just too dark. Neutral tile is wonderful because you can do anything as far as color goes. I would highly suggest it. I am by no means a professional. Not even close. I love your style. I think you are doing a great job and whatever you decide I’m sure it will be beautiful! Reply
Lindsay says June 5, 2015 at 1:19 pm Thanks Amy! I’ll have to go look at that color! I really appreciate you sharing it with me π And I’m leaning more and more toward light and bright for sure. Reply
Anna Creecy says June 5, 2015 at 9:57 am I really like the tile you have pictured above. I think the neutral tile with the blue/gray paint and the rug you already have would look really good. I also think that it would flow well with what you have going on in your master bath. That blue gray is sort of in the patterned tile. You could have a lot of fun with accessories and mixing metals, etc. with keeping the palette somewhat neutral as well. Reply
Sam says June 5, 2015 at 10:17 am Love the rug! If you are loving the dark and moody, how about a matte black tile for the flooring and white subway for the rest. I think the rug would pop on the black flooring. You could then bring in the green and/or blue in the art work and accessories. Reply
Lindsay says June 5, 2015 at 1:18 pm I do love the idea of black tile! I’ll have to look around for some… Reply
Sarah says June 5, 2015 at 10:22 am What about adding a black and white tile on the floor for added excitement? https://www.pinterest.com/pin/252201647859084695/ Reply
Sarah says June 5, 2015 at 10:42 am Or maybe a brightly colored vanity? https://www.pinterest.com/pin/252201647859201639/ ….I could do this all day. π Reply
Rosalind Ross says June 5, 2015 at 10:51 am I’m sure you’ve seen Jenna Sue’s new bathroom? It’s one of my all time favorites. Would love to have a bath like that!! Of course, you could just use it as inspiration and add your own personal twist. It is hard sometimes to have a vision for certain spaces, especially when dealing with small rooms and time constraints. Good luck! Reply
Blair says June 5, 2015 at 11:02 am have you considered also putting down a brick floor in the guest bath? that’s one of my favorite elements in your main bath, it would tie the two rooms together and look really nice with your rug and white oversized subway tile in the shower. you could decide afterwards whether the walls and trim should be painted olive, i personally love that idea. Reply
Taryn E says June 5, 2015 at 11:42 am Have you seen Jenna Sue Design’s new laundry room? It is heavenly! Neutral and gorgeous. I could see you being able to put pops of color in a laundry room similar easily. http://blog.jennasuedesign.com/2015/04/new-laundry-room-the-reveal/ Reply
Lindsay says June 5, 2015 at 1:18 pm Oh my goodness, Taryn, thank you for sharing this! I really appreciate it. This laundry room is awesome!!!!!! I definitely just pulled some ideas from that π Reply
Corley says June 5, 2015 at 12:03 pm What about the hard wood tiles? Those have come a long way and in a bathroom I would still call that pretty neutral with out being white. But I love your he tile idea and subway tile. You would make it awsome with funky light and art. What about the master bath tile but take the look in a different direction? Reply
Lindsay says June 5, 2015 at 1:17 pm Great idea! I like those hardwood tiles and think they might look great somewhere. Maybe even laundry! Reply
Rosemary says June 5, 2015 at 1:44 pm Have you ever looked at the bathrooms or the laundry room on house tweaking? She definitely has a mid century feel going on in her house but I think because her feel is so clean you could change it to go a lot of different ways. When you said laundry inspiration she little laundry area made me think of you. Not sure why. http://www.housetweaking.com/2013/04/26/wayfair-in-the-house-a-laundry-nook-mirror/ Reply
amandaH says June 6, 2015 at 9:38 am I was going to suggest House Tweakings main bath as inspiration. It’s neutral but with a fun bright rug like yours. Reply
Sherri says June 6, 2015 at 10:12 am Love the rug as inspiration. I also loved the BM Olive in Jenny’s bathroom. But I used it in my dining room! I couldn’t love it any more than I do. I have a black dining room table and chairs and antique china cabinet I painted black. Did a graphic black and cream print on chair seats. Then I have a mid century piece I use as a bar cart and painted it a gorgeous deep rose/magenta/pinkish purple. Sounds weird, but it’s not. Then I have a ton of brass accents. Also got a Nate Berkus graphic black and cream area rug on sale at Target and some curtains that top it off. Black and white are the bomb with this olive. I’d use anything but gray. I have three rooms in different shades of gray and they look awesome. But I recently painted our bedroom a light bluish/gray similar to the Makerista’s entryway. Our master doesn’t get much natural light. Very pale on poster boards, but it darkened to the perfect shade. BM Blue Haze and we love it. So tranquil…….. Keep searching! Don’t get overly stressed. You have amazing taste. You can’t go wrong! Reply
Sandie says June 6, 2015 at 12:31 pm I see why you like the olive bathroom by Jenny…..love everything about it! I vote green. Reply
Robbie Zeller says June 7, 2015 at 9:06 pm One of my favorite designers is Emily A. Clark. She has a lovely guest bathroom painted SW Urban Bronze and another upstairs bathroom that has a cute BM Raleigh green vanity with red rug very similar to the one you have chosen. These are two of my favorites! Reply
Kristina Atkins says June 7, 2015 at 9:09 pm I’ve recently fallen in love with marble subway tiles set traditionally or in a herringbone pattern. So that’s all I got. π Reply
Corinna - For My Love Of says June 8, 2015 at 5:58 pm I would love to see you go with the olive! Everybody does grey, it would be so interesting to see something different. Does brushed gold tile exist? Sounds luxurious. And it would go well with olive. (I’m not sure if that’s a serious suggestion or not ;)) Reply
Lindsay says June 9, 2015 at 8:55 am OOh Corinna, I don’t know if it exists or not, but it would be awesome, right?! Reply
Kayla @ KR Dixon Designs says June 8, 2015 at 11:53 pm Love the idea of doing an olive green bathroom with that rug and tile. Matte black faucets would be a really fun addition too and then mixing in some Metallic with your lighting, accessories and such. I kinda like the idea of a wood vanity, maybe floating…. For the laundry I really like darker grey floors because they hide dirt well. You could do a fun size like a 6×24 in a cool pattern. That way you could save money in buying a cheaper (big box store) tile but it looks higher end with the pattern. Reply