I’m still here far away on the walls of the studio bathroom. I knew this multi-colored painted stripe design would be laborious before I started, so I’m not surprised it’s not finished yet. After all, I’m using 35 different paint colors and I have to mix 25 of those colors myself.
Also, as I explained a couple of days ago, I did it incorrectly. I decided to paint the top 10 paint colors (the ones I actually bought) on the walls first so I could figure out how much paint each color was going to need, and then once that was done, mix the rest of the colors using those top 10 paint colors plus white, black, and any paint samples I had on hand that I might need to add.
I think this would have been much faster if I had mixed all the colors from the beginning, taped every other color in these two rows, and finished the other colors after the first stripes were dry. But since my first set of 10 colors was random in the color order, it has taken me longer.
But I’m finally at this stage where I have the top 10 colors plus about 3 of the mixed colors painted on the top and bottom rows, and now I have something resembling all the other colors taped together.
The good news is that I learned that paint doesn’t actually require 24 hours to dry before putting painter’s tape on it. I’m using delicate surface tape and it seems to work well as long as I give the paint a few hours to dry completely. I just tried putting the tape on top of one of the colors after letting it dry for a few hours, but none of the paint came off when I removed it.
So if that’s the case all the time, I can paint these stripes this morning, let them dry for a few hours, and then come back tonight, tape the rest down, and paint them. My goal is to have all of these two rows painted when I go to bed tonight.
If I can really do that and not get distracted (and I’ll admit, I’ve been very distracted this week), there’s a chance I can paint the entire second row tomorrow, although I anticipate I may have to do some touch-ups.
But that doesn’t mean the walls will be completely finished this weekend. I still have to deal with this part of this wall.
Someone asked me, “Wouldn’t it be better to fix that wall before you start painting?” And the answer, of course, is yes. But when do you know me doing projects in an order that actually makes sense? After my wallpaper catastrophe, I really needed a pick-me-up and needed to see some color on these walls. It’s the fun things that keep me going, so very often I do things in an order that doesn’t make sense to anyone but me. And yet, somehow, things always seem to work out in the end.
What motivates me now is that I want to have the mirror on the wall by the end of the weekend. I love this mirror and I think seeing it on the bathroom wall, against those colorful stripes, will be a great reward at the end of such a tedious project.
I really love this mirror. The frame is perfect and I think it will look great against the stripes. It’s about an inch deep, so it stands out without looking too heavy like any of the other mirrors I considered.
I’m also really looking forward to installing this cute little ceiling light. I am very satisfied with this light. The material is thick plastic, so I think it will hold up very well, especially since it is only a half bath. You won’t have to endure a lot of steam coming from the shower.
I really wanted to install it as soon as it arrived, but I’m waiting until the walls are finished because I’m still on the fence about painting the ceiling a color other than white.
At this point, without seeing the finished stripes on the walls, it is difficult to make a decision about the ceiling. I really need to see those stripes finished before I make a final decision on it, but in my mind I can see pink on the ceiling. I really need to paint the entire powder room too so I can see everything (the powder room and the walls) to see if a painted ceiling will be the icing on the cake, or if a painted ceiling would be way over the top.
So that’s progress! I’m going to do my best to focus on this swim this weekend and we’ll see how far I can go.
More about my studio bathroom
see all studies
diy projects for the bathroom
read the entire study
bathroom blog posts
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 upper that my husband Matt and I purchased in 2013. Matt has MS and can’t do physical work, so I do most of the house work myself. You can learn more about me here.
