After recently refreshing our family room and kitchen area, our chocolate brown bathroom – located just off the family room- looked ridiculously dark and out of place.

When we moved in (back in 2006) the bathroom was painted in a chocolate shade – which I actually didn’t mind – but it had ‘had it’s time’. I wanted a cleaner and brighter space!
It’s a hard room to photograph as it’s just a powder room so very small, plus it doesn’t have a window so natural light = zero. However, here is how it looked before:

A few weeks ago I set about changing her from a chocolate cone, to a vanilla one. If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen this photo I posted as I began…
Two coats later, I had a vanilla cone.
The colour is called “Painter’s White” by CIL which I had colour matched in Behr paint. The name is really deceiving as it’s not a ‘white’ at all. In fact, it falls right in the middle of the paint chip and is rooted in the brown family.
Like ‘white’ though, the colour does make the room feel bigger, fresher and more modern.
I know my new vanilla cone is kind of well, ‘vanilla’ (excuse the bad pun) but after having the chocolate so long this new colour is rather tasty.

While doing this mini-makeover I also decided to embrace the gold trend and spray the picture frames, towel rack and toilet paper holder. Again, if you follow along on Instagram you may have seen this…
I used this gold from Rustoleum and was really happy with it. It wasn’t a shiny metallic finish (like the brassy 80’s gold) but a much more modern champagne shade with a satin finish. 
These frames used to be silver but I think they are much more luxe in gold! The art they hold are some old ‘mill swatches’ from my industry (graphic design) – learn more about how I use mill swatches for free art here. The frames are old Ikea ones from years ago. And the mats are ones I had custom cut to make the art look a little fancier (also years ago).
I know you don’t need to see the toilet paper holder but here is how the towel rack turned out… 🙂
Overall I think it brings this little powder room up-to-date and definitely ties into the flow of the main floor better. 
As they say, nothing can change the look of a space easier than some simple paint!
What about you – painted anything lately? What are your thoughts on gold coming back into décor and fashion? Love it or hate it? Running towards it with open arms… or running as fast away from it as you can?  
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