Guest Blogger Before & After: La Dolce Vita

Today for out Guest Blogger Series, please welcome super-stylish Paloma of the beautiful blog La Dolce Vita!

{After: Our Guest Bathroom}

I was so excited when Lauren invited me to share a before and after on her wonderful blog, though I must admit, I was a bit intimidated. After all, Lauren is the queen of fabulous DIY projects! I don’t know how she manages to do it all, but she does so beautifully and with grace and kindness.

My before and after is of my guest bathroom which after a few very simple steps, was transformed from drab and predictable to something my husband and I absolutely love!


{Before: The Guest Bathroom circa 2007}

The guest bathroom featured a plain, white shower curtain, the requisite blue and brown combination that everyone was doing, and the original walnut cabinets. Looking at this makes me cringe now. The paint color (Benjamin Moore’s Plymouth Rock) is about all that remains.


I had spotted this shower curtain at Target, which reminded me of Kate Spade’s which was featured in Domino a few years ago. I sort of built my vision around it and got to work. I love the look of the curtain with the framed fan coral and monogrammed towels.

{Kate Spade’s Shower Curtains}


{The $30 Target Version}



I have always been partial to the look of white linens, so I ordered these towels from Pottery Barn and had them monogrammed. While I love the look of white towels, they are not always practical, so the linen closet is filled with graphite-colored Cynthia Rowley towels for guests to use when they visit. You’ll notice the hand towels are also graphite. I thought it was a nice, coordinating color.



We completed this project right before Christmas. In September 2009, we traveled to London and in the summer of 2008, I traveled to Spain. I took some of my favorite shots from both trips, framed them, and hung them in the bathroom to add some interest. I chose to print the pictures in color. I thought that having black and white photos would just be too much in a predominantly black and white room.




On the Vanity: A Potted Orchid, Handmade Mexican Pewter Towel Ring, Archipelago Botanicals Diffuser, and a little Japanese bowl from Anthropologie.



The greatest impact came from painting the cabinets gloss black. We couldn’t spend the money for a new countertop and sink, so a little can of paint gave us a lot of bang for our buck! It created contrast between the cabinets and the counter which just wasn’t there with the original walnut cabinetry. If you look at the first two images in this post, you’ll notice the difference is huge!





We contemplated getting a new mirror for a while and a few weeks ago, I suggested that we buy some plain wood trim from Home Depot and paint it gloss black to match the cabinetry. Again, I think this choice made a tremendous impact and really completed the project. Not bad for a project that cost about $15.

I’d say the overall transformation of our guest bathroom cost about $300 and we are very pleased with the difference it has made. Thanks again for featuring my before and after, Lauren!

______________________________________________________
 
Paloma- What a huge difference the simple changes made- it's fresh, up-to-date & graphic & very "you!"  I love the huge monograms on the towels and the black touches throughout.  Painting the vanity really made the space feel so much bigger & prettier.  (And all for only $300?!!  awesome.) Thank you so much for sharing your guest bath transformation with us!!!
 
xoxo,
lauren

38 comments:

A Perfect Gray said...

great job. it doesn't get much better than stylish on a budget...

Linda@ Lime in the Coconut said...

Yep...big bang for little buck=win win! Lovely job GREAT shower curtain!

Kare said...

I love the difference it made in the cabinets and mirror...stunning!! I also like that you pulled in the black without overpowering the room. Great job!

Kare

Red Door Home said...

Love her blog and have been following for some time. Great job on the bathroom renovation.

Emily A. Clark said...

What a great do-able update! Wonderful job.

Living It At Home said...

I love looking at before and after transformations. I really like the black and white shower curtain from Target. Great job and very chic!

~jamilyn

1 Funky Woman said...

In a word...Beautiful! I love the shower curtain. That adds such a bang for a small room, love it!

Marija said...

Love that last shot - great update on that mirror especially! Marija

Catherine Peart said...

I really love seeing how something that looks just ordinary and normal (like millions of our homes out there) can be made over to look so stylish and so beautiful, so easily! Very inspirational!

RB Interiors said...

I love this! I never thought of framing the bathroom mirror, but I think that made a huge difference. awesome!

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

This looks just gorgeous. The before was lovely and the after is stunning. Beautiful job. Hugs, Marty

Kathysue said...

I love a black and white bathroom. It looks so sharp and sophisticated. Great Job Paloma, You have amazing taste!! Kathysue

Vaia said...

Love the transformation! So simple and chic! How did you anchor the wood trim to the mirror - I'm totally 'borrowing' that idea for my washrooms!.

Vaia said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
vignette design said...

You took your bathroom from bland to glam with just a few simple changes. I love seeing what a can of paint can do, along with artwork and new linens. I love that shower curtain!

Riviera Boardwalk said...

Great make over! I'm impressed.
nancy

Erica Cook said...

Gorgeous! Loving that shower curtain. I posted the kate spade bath on st. paddy's but didn't know there's a look for less version. Thanks for sharing! :)

Karena said...

Great job! Love the end result! Lauren nice feature on Paloma's redo!

Karena
Art by Karena

LindsB said...

Very pretty before and after- I think painting the cabinets black was the perfect choice- love it!

Haven and Home said...

I am completely convinced I need that shower curtain. Looks great Paloma!

suzanne said...

That shower curtain is divine. I am now convinced that I need to paint my bathroom vaniety black. I've been thinking about for awhile but your pictures are the proof that I needed that it'll look so much better black. Great job!

ashlina {the decorista} said...

awesome. i love that transformation!

Averill said...

Great job Paloma! I particularly love how you really upped the ante on the vanity with the black paint and trim around the mirror.

One of my Hobby Blogs said...

that curtain reminds me of a chanel dress - very stylish!

cara said...

paloma - how did you secure the framing to the mirror? we did the same thing in our bathroom - using liquid nails - and it started to pull away fromt the mirror just a few months later. any other hot tips? thx!

Unknown said...

Great inspiration for re doing on a budget and making it fresh and new...
~Rainey~

Unknown said...

Lauren, thank you so much for featuring my project today.

I am so flattered by everyone's sweet comment. I just recently got up the courage to share my home with my readers and have been on a roll this past week!

For those who would like to know how we hung the trim around the mirror, we used 3M Picture Hanging Strips. They hold up to 40lbs each and have worked beautifully so far. :)

DesignTies said...

Everything looks great, but one of my favourite fixes for those large mirrors is to frame it out like you did, Paloma... perfect!
Victoria @ DesignTies

Elisa @ What the Vita said...

LOVE! Especially the painted cabinets. THANK you for the visual, Paloma.. We've been thinking about doing the same to our master bedroom.

Alison from MyDesignDreams said...

Love the photos in the bathroom... my parents live in NYC full time but have a house in Virginia Beach. In the guest bathroom in VB they've framed like 30 small photographs and sketches of the Brooklyn Bridge arranged just like you have done in your bathroom. I have always loved that look! Great Job!

www.mydesigndreams.com

Jen of MadeByGirl said...

The TRIM on the MIRROR is just fantastic! I saw a friend of mine do something similar in her home & what a DIFFERENCE!

Jen Ramos
madebygirl.blogspot.com
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Tammy@InStitches said...

Painting the cabinet made such a huge difference. Add that to my list too.........

Laura said...

Love it! Especially the Mexican towel ring. I've never seen anything like it before, and it would work perfectly in a bathroom (like my own) where wall space for towel bars/hooks is in short supply. Thanks for the inspiration!

dcorsilia said...

Wonderful wonderful job!! I am hoping to paint my bathroom cabinets also and would love a few tips. Did you sand the cabinets, use primer etc? Or did you just paint over the existing finish? Also did you paint the inside? Thanks!!!

The SilverLyne said...

Love the shower curtain! Thanks for the tips updating on a budget.

Unknown said...

Dcorsilia, I can't really take credit for painting the cabinets. I come up with the ideas and my husband does the dirty work for me. :) He cleaned them with a solvent really well, then sanded the cabinets down with an orbital sander. Then he painted on several thin coats with a small foam roller. Good luck!

The Beige House said...

What a gorgeous transformation! What kind of paint did you use for the counter? Did you do paint it yourselves?

Anonymous said...

Wow that looks Amazing!!!