Before & After: Adding Character Through Color

published Mar 4, 2016
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(Image credit: Photo by J. Lee)

When we moved into this rental house last year, we had the luxury of not only having a powder room but also a newly-painted, all-white space with a beautiful grey wood floor throughout. Although the rest of the house has large windows and skylights and is very bright, this powder room has no windows and is tucked into the end of a short hallway. The white walls in this powder room felt a little clinical and even kind of dingy with just one small sconce providing light (the before photo is from the realtor’s website and was taken with the hallway light on). I turned to paint and accessories for a quick and easy makeover that would add some style to the space. Given that the room is fairly small it also felt like a manageable space to makeover both in terms of labor and cost.

(Image credit: Submitted by Naushin )

I opted to paint one wall black (Benjamin Moore’s Ben paint in Black Beauty) to anchor the space and add some personality, and because I love the look of black and white spaces. I dressed up the rest of the room with the addition of bathroom textiles and accessories I bought from IKEA and Target, plus I hung framed artwork (from Inaluxe) that we already owned. All in all, for a day’s work and $112 plus change, I think it looks great! It’s simple and stylish and it will be just as easy to paint over the black wall when we move. If you’d like to read the full breakdown of costs and see some more photos, there are more details on my blog.

Thank you, Naushin! You can see more of Naushin’s bathroom makeover on So Fresh and So Chic.