After we moved into our home and added a pool, I was inspired to decorate the guest bath with a beach theme in mind. For several years, two of the bathroom walls were covered with a painted mural of brightly colored surf boards, palm trees and a beach equipment rental sign. My daughter absolutely loved the guest bathroom after I painted it. She was in middle school at the time and thought it was simply the coolest room in the house.
My personal style is always evolving and after nearly a decade of enjoying that theme it was time to make a change. I can admit, now, that it was a little over the top so I decided to tone down the bathroom with a pretty sky blue color. In this case, less was definitely more.
However, I wasn’t quite ready to cover up all my fun work, so the “Surf Shop and Bar” portion proudly remains as a beacon to those dreaming of warm sands and cool waves. Even though we live in north Texas and there is not a beach for hundreds of miles, a girl can still dream! And I wouldn’t want to deny my guests from indulging in a little daydreaming while they freshen up in the guest bath.
The bottom portion mimicking paneling is striped with craft paint and separated by strips of bamboo. At the time, I had a bamboo roll shade that I deconstructed by cutting the cords holding the tiny dowels and bamboo strips together. Then I glued the bamboo pieces in place to separate the stripes with hot glue. I made the border above the stripes by tracing around a starfish with pencil and then carefully painting inside the lines with craft paint.
The turquoise, lime green and deep periwinkle blue compliment the orange starfish. If you want something to really catch the eye or “pop”, try using shades of complimentary colors. If you take a color wheel and find two colors directly opposite of each other on the wheel, you wind up with complementary colors. This is a dynamic approach that I like to take when I want to make a bold statement with decorating. And this bathroom was nothing less than bold and fun!
Starfish
The border at the top is painted to look like short round pieces of bamboo and because I did not use a stencil – no two pieces are alike. The big playful lettering was first drawn on with a pencil, free hand, and then painted over with craft paint. If you mess up drawing with the pencil, no fear! You can always take a magic eraser lightly to the portion you wish to erase. I find this works more effectively than trying to use the pink eraser on the pencil. Don’t let the fear of “messing up” deter you from “having a go” at a new project.
Two big jars on the counter hold guest soap and, of course, seashells. Every time I’m lucky enough to go to the beach, I pick up a few more shells to add to the collection. I love looking at them and they remind me of good times. The little wrapped package is a bar of soap covered in scrapbook paper and tied with a bow. Just a special touch to show guests they are welcome.