Let the Home Improvements Begin!

Our house was built in 2013 and only had one family live here prior to us moving in, so it was in really great shape. The house has no issues, nor is it outdated. It is however lacking some of the more modern touches that you see in more recently built homes. Jourdan and I were also really excited to add some personal touches to the space and make it feel uniquely ours. We fill our lives with so much adventure, we wanted our home to reflect that.

We have so many big ideas and plans for our home and decided to start with the half bath downstairs. Now you might think this is an odd place to start (and maybe it is) but simply put- it’s a relatively small space to practice our skills! It felt like it was a reasonably sized project to tackle before getting to the bigger jobs! We figured if we mess up here at least its not in the main living space and its not too hard to fix!

The space itself is large for a half bathroom, but it lacks permanent storage making it feel empty. To give it more character and a finished look, we decided on installing board and batten (and eventually the oh –  so – needed storage). This is typically a more traditional home detail found within the craftsmen style house and other casual American style homes, but I love the look of modernizing these elements. I think mixing traditional and modern details can create a really playful and exciting space with lots of personality.

We also wanted to use this space to play with color.

I wanted to incorporate a fun pop of color instead of only using the black, whites, and greys. While I loveee those popular neutrals, I wanted to specifically use this space to add a colorful twist to what is considered modern in today’s homes. I still plan on using these neutrals in other parts of the house, but though “let’s have some fun with the bathroom”!

After looking at color samples for what felt like weeks, we finally decided on Behr Thai Basil for the board and batten and Behr Swiss Coffee for the walls on top. These colors are to die for!

I had originally wanted a really dark and bold green, but after looking at paint swatches on the wall, I ended up liking the calm and relaxing feeling of Thai Basil over the moodiness of the darker colors. We also selected Swiss Coffee for our white because it is a slightly warmer hue. This color really ties in our hard wood floors and warm colored granite counter tops in the kitchen. I was worried that if we selected a true white it wouldn’t feel cohesive with the rest of the house.

To get the project started, Jourdan removed the base boards, door frame, mirror, and sink. He then carefully measured and cut the hard board we purchased for the board and batten. We decided to install hardboard to go behind the batten because we have textured walls. In some cases, people install the batten directly onto the wall, but we wanted the smooth clean look. The other option in this case is to sand down the texture on the wall, but the hardboard seemed like the better route for us!

Thankfully, we also had some help!

Once Jourdan had all the hardboard cut and installed, it was time to paint! That’s where I come in!

I first primed the hardboard and then applied two coats of my new favorite color, Thai Basil. I chose to paint this first before installing the batten to make sure there would be no missed spots and that everything would have an even coat. Once that had a chance to dry, we started in with the Swiss Coffee for the upper part of the walls and ceiling. A tip here is to be sure to use special ceiling paint for the ceiling- this will help limit the dripping!

Once we have that painted, we will move on to painting and installing the batten, base boards, and door frame. Since we had to remove the base boards and door frame, we took the opportunity to replace them with flat 6-inch board to give an extra modern detail.

One thing we (I) have learned throughout this project is things inevitably take longer than expected. We are still in the middle of this project, but each day after work and on weekends we continue to make progress. We are also learning a ton!

I hope you continue to follow along on our adventures and subscribe to the email list so you don’t miss the next update on this project!

XOXO,

Kate