Chateau Bathroom

The Chateau's bath is on the 3rd floor and it's a nice large room. Since it's the third floor, it has attic ceilings and presents some design challenges. I have been envisioning this room for months and purchased some Reutter porcelain - tub, sink, and toilet for it - simple white with gold accents. 

While looking at Les Chinoiseries wallpaper and the tile in particular, I was intrigued by 2 patterns. One became the kitchen floor, and the other I knew would be the bathroom floor. I also had to work out wallpaper and kept envisioning wainscoting. I never jump into these design decisions fast, and they marinate for months sometimes. So the size of the bathroom would be determined by the wallpaper tile, and it has a border. I went through one iteration of this floor without the border, thinking I would cut down the border a bit. Seems it was really too small of a border, and had to order more paper tile. I got the wainscoting and chair rail but before beginning that, I knew I needed to build a dado wall to cover the angled wall on one side. 

The window dormer presented some interesting challenges. I first thought I might paint it but the surface wasn't smooth enough so I decided I'd paper. A bunch of templates later, I could paper in the recess and am very pleased with the results. 

I also knew that I wanted the finished floor to be able to slide in and out, so if I needed access to the chandelier wiring in the room below, I could do it easily. Cardboard templates led to thin basswood pieces and it all came together. The flooring was a challenge, as I had to also cut it so it slid up to the dado wall and had a section in the center that went into the dormer space. 

Today I installed the chandelier and the wall sconces and soldered them. It's coming together! I have some baseboard quarter round and some chair rail to finish, and the mirror should be arriving next week. 

Here's the room with the finished floor cut out and borders applied.

Random photos in French Country

 What bedroom isn't complete without If you give a moose a muffin" or "cat in the hat" or a slinky?

Much happier with smaller newel posts on these railings. I also added the finishing baseboard and white trim to cover the spot between floors where wallpaper doesn't meet.

Potential picture, and will need to start filling the bookcase with all those books I made a couple years ago.

What do you think about the parsons chairs here?

Need to figure out what I want above the LR and DR fireplaces - I have some resin mantel frames...I should get them out to see if they work.

Kitchen from the actual front of house. Think I want to put some plants on top of the cabinets and have vines hanging down. Any other ideas? Maybe a picture? Would that look odd?

Interesting view.

I gave up on my idea of a shower curtain - I am terrible at hand-sewing, and this was silk, not easy to work with. I used a different silk as a test...I have the silk that is the fabric match for the wallpaper but am really not looking forward to trying it. I may try with a cotton to see if I get better results.

I am starting to think about draperies for this house. This rook would look good with beige silk that would blend and pull out the silk in the headboard. Something very simple - draperies and a cornice probably. Wouldn't have to worry about sewing rings like the dreaded shower curtain and could hide edges under a cornice.

Maybe light pink draperies for this room?

Living room and Dining room - something neutral - beige for draperies again?

Finished backing on needlepoint rug.

French Country bath lighting installed

 Finally decided to bite the bullet and direct wire the 2 lights I have for the bath. It was challenging to work in a small space, after having cut the wires shorter and then not having glued on the lights first. Ah well what is life except challenges anyway?? 

These are old discontinued Cir-Kit Concepts lights with rose shades, and they add the perfect rose glow. I'm very pleased with the results. I had previously experimented with LED battery lights and I really hate having to switch each light on. 

Bathroom

I finished the flooring in the bath, applying it to cardboard so that it would sit smooth. I also finished the chair rail and wainscoting.

You will notice I have lights here - these are battery powered lights. I still may try hardwiring some lights I have directly to the ceiling where there is tapewire. I think the wiring would be hidden. 

French Country Bath Knee Wall

The knee wall I planned earlier this year got built and installed today. I attached the stained wainscoting, cut, stained and installed chair rail as well. I knew I didn't want the knee wall to go over the floor, so that came out, and got recut to fit the smaller space. I also attached the flooring to cardstock so it would lay flat and be removable so I have access to the tapewire on the floor under it.

I still have to paint the window frame and attach it. I'm experimenting with some colors, it will be more like the wainscoting though. Just placed furniture back in and its looking good. Nothing permanent yet, I had wanted to have a ring and shower curtain for the tub but that may take some work to add to the current shower stand.

Update on the window frame: FolkArt Home Decor Chalk paint - Java 34165, 1st coat on!

French Country Manor Bath

Once the wallpaper was up and window cut out, I began placing the furniture again....and the darn angled walls make that hard. So I decided I needed a knee wall. I poked around in my stash and came up with some stained wainscoting I had done and not used.

So I needed to make a brace for how it would be mounted. This picture shows how it will look, it hasn't been installed yet. I have to probably cut the flooring shorter, so that the knee wall doesn't permanently hold it down. I need to have access to the electrical tape on the floor, in case the wiring for the room below goes wonky (technical term). So the floor shows the 2 sections buckling, and once I cut the floor down, I will adhere it to a piece of cardstock to keep it flat.

I think I have a piece of chair rail or 1/4 round that I will stain the same color to finish the wainscoting. It does offer a nice contrast and makes placing the fixtures much easier - more realistic.

Bathroom Wallpaper and Floor

The French Country bathroom is the last room that I've waited to tackle. I bit the bullet and glued the 2nd floor wing onto the house. I previously had wired the Study and the tapewire was done on the bathroom floor. I had previously been planning on the paper and layout, just needed to do the work.

The wallpaper templates took me a few hours, and then cutting and gluing the wallpaper on. I'm very happy with the effect. Next, I tackled the flooring. I used World Model tile cardstock, cutting off the greek key borders, and since the room is large, pieced together 2 sections. I still need to glue it to a posterboard base, as I don't want it to be permanently attached in case I need to access the wiring.

Once the paper is completely dry, I will cut out the window.