Making this Condo into a Home: Guest Bathroom Aspirations

So, I've been mentally nesting.  I say mentally because I haven't started yet.  But the anticipation of FINALLY living in one place with the Math Man.  FULLTIME!  Starting the end of this summer has me excited and daydreaming about the nuts and bolts of moving back across the state.  I am noticing that my blog reading time has been branched out beyond my normal cute-families-blogs/fashion-blogs/foodie-blogs/eventnot-even-engaged-yet-but-enjoy-thinking-about-wedding-planning-blogs and lately, I've added to my internet lurking: DESIGN BLOGS!  After all, there is some sorting and purging to do in order that the stuff I've accumulated in the last few years (seriously three years of law school plus one year now at this job) can integrate seamlessly back into that sweet shared space.  All of course without anyone feeling like their style has been dominated or anyone feeling cramped. 

The problem is a mish-mash of our styles.  You know, one part my grandmother's furniture (some of which I love, some of which, eh, well, am I permitted to say I don't love something even if it is solid hardwood?), one part furniture my dad made us  (light red cherry), one part college dorm (complete with mismatching ikea and craigslisted book shelves), one part pack rat, one part Math Man's 2004 bachelor pad first apartment selections, and one part what happens when you have not enough closets, no basement, no garage, no storage unit, and no attic, aka clutter everywhere!  Plus, one part, I painted the condo a few years back and while we did a great job with some rooms, my color choices in other rooms were, well, hmmm, just not the grown-up look that I wish I'd gone for.  Oh plus, you've got two overachievers with a long distance relationship, two fulltime jobs, and one fulltime student between them.  A.k.a. the very last thing that Math Man wants to do when he's got three seconds of downtime is paint or sort the huge pile of papers on the floor of the office.  Heck, we struggle to even get the laundry put away.  Most mornings I get dressed out of the (clean!) laundry basketpile.

So the end result is a mostly finished living room and kitchen.  We painted yellow.  Erh, "Vellum."  Which had me worried would be too bold but I LOVE it.  And three years later, I STILL love it.  We have LOVELY granite (we did an awesome job when we picked that out) with big expansive countertops perfect for the two of us to cook side by side.  We're still minus window treatments.  Or cabinet sorting.  (On that note, I sometime almost honestly tear up over the four hundredth time I realize that the only other clean spatula we own is three hours away or that I just offered a friend coffee but the coffee filters are at the other place.  I can also tell you that I start to feel positively giddy when I think about the big sort and purge that will happen this summer.  I am envisioning an entire afternoon with all the kitchen appliances, spices, contents of the pantry, dishes, mismatched tupperware, and non-coordinating dish towels out on our counters and a complete wipedown of the inside of each drawer and then a massive trip to goodwill.  Does it make me a boring person that I'm so excited about this?  I like to think I'm not so much excited about the sorting but about feeling like I live in just one place.  This girl is lusting after permanence.)  And the kitchen table isn't quite right.  But really, that room is done.  It looks like grown ups live there.  There are pictures on the walls.  And a rug on the floor.  And it isn't all matchy matchy like we bought everything at once (we didn't).  Instead, it looks natural, like a slowly evolving shared sunshiney space. 

But... That same cohesive, restful vibe is just not happening everywhere else in our condo.  (which upon reflection, I guess is better than the opposite problem.  At least when people come over, they don't see our office, bedroom, and guest room.  At least not most of the time.)  But I've decided that our guests aren't the only visiters to casa-Math-Man-&-Me who deserve a sense of welcoming sunshine.  We deserve that feeling too.  And so, my goal is to "finish" the house.  You know, step it up a bit.  Find spaces for all those papers.  Throw out the stuff we don't need.  Hang pictures.  Go ahead and just accept that my paint choices for the office and guest bathroom were poor ones and re-paint.  Because you know, we deserve it. 

I'm starting with the guest bathroom.  Or at least that's my plan.  This photo below is my inspiration.  What do you think?  I want calming.  Soothing.  Modern (for the Math Man), but classic (for me). 

Photo is not my bathroom.  Sadly.  This is my inspiration from Young House Love.

Am I brave enough to tackle stripes?  A la Young House Love.

I like that this is a make-over that won't be any more expensive than the price of paint.  (plus a perfectly free swap of shower curtains from the apartment to the condo).  I'm putting it out here and now you can hold me to it.  Project number one.  And I don't even have to wait until I move back home this summer.  This one can start on a spring weekend.  Originally, I'd thought about verticle strips (to make the room feel taller?) but I'm now back to leaning towards shamelessly copying Young House Love with their horizontal stripes.  After all, it worked so well for them.  Goodbye (soon) wrong-color-green bathroom.  Hello more spacious-feeling, restful, striped, cream oasis. 

p.s. I've mentioned Young House Love on here before.  Seriously, those two are so talented and gracious-me, they are PROLIFIC!  I've been going back to peruse through their archives and I'm like still way back in 2008 with my reading.  I love their style and I'm inspired by their go-to-it attitude.  I made the Math Man this weekend look at many many examples of their brilliance.  That is before he reminded me that he had exams this week that he should be studying for.  And that he just couldn't take any more talk of nesting right at this moment. 

p.s. I can tell that spring in NC has sprung and it has me in a good mood.  Just look at all those caps!  It might bother you, but whatevs, it's my blog and I'm feeling happy.  Plus SPRING FORWARD!  While it sure was hard to get up this morning, manohman is Mr. Mason happy to know that it will be light out when I get home from work so he gets to go to the greenway.  Also, happiness b/c Spring Forward means I'm even closer to finishing up my time in this city (which I have come to enjoy) and moving back three hours across the state to live fulltime with the Math Man (which I will enjoy even more).