By Heather O.
My master bathroom is ugly. It’s always been ugly. It’s “Hey, this house is great, but can we live with that bathroom?” ugly. It started out with paisley wallpaper. Did you get that? PAISLEY WALLPAPER.
There are no words for paisley wallpaper. People who ever ever thought paisley wallpaper was a good idea should burn forever in a hell where everybody wears blue eyeshadow and has to wear gowns with piping hot bowls of hair. (See Wiz’s post below)
A while ago, DH pulled down the wallpaper. What an ordeal. It left the wall scarred and scraped and looking evil. Then the toilet stopped working. Then the toilet paper holder ripped out of the wall. And then the funky light burned out, and we didn’t know how to change it (and didn’t really bother to figure it out.) We were so burnt out by this bathroom, we basically never went in it. Out of sight, out of mind, you know how it works. Eventually, you stop seeing the ugly in your house, and only when your inlaws come for an extended visit and go, ‘DUDE, what is WRONG with your bathroom?” do you realize how far you’ve come from actual civilization, and that most people who are lucky enough to have a master bathroom don’t spend their time peeing in the bathroom with the duckies on the shower curtain.
So my inlaws fixed the toilet and the light and the toilet paper holder thingie, and suddenly it was like we had a normal (almost!) room again. The only thing it needed was a coat of paint.
I braved that ordeal this month, working little by little, a half an hour here, an hour here, after the kids went to bed, to gradually get it done. Well, the inlaws are coming for another visit, and I wanted it to look nice. After all, they’ve restored this room from home improvement death. So, I made the final push tonight, working well past my self-imposed hour limit to get as much as humanly possible done. I knew it wouldn’t be completely finished, as there are some high ceiling parts that DH has to do, but I wanted it to at least look fresh and fun and new. With a new shower curtain, some new towels, maybe a little planty decor, it could be a real bathroom (almost!).
I started at 9:30. At 10:30, I told myself I’d stop at 11:00. At 11:30, I told myself I’d stop at midnight. At midnight, I told myself I’d just do one more trim.
At 12:15, as I stepped back to admire my work, I kicked over the three quarter’s full open can of paint.
Did you get that? Let me repeat. I KICKED OVER THE CAN OF PAINT AND SPILLED ALMOST ALL OF IT ALL OVER MY BATHROOM FLOOR. And yes, it was a gallon, thanks for asking.
I should have stopped at 11:30.
So now instead of a nice happy (almost!) finished room, I have a big giant puddle of paint and in laws who are coming in 2 days. The good news is that it spilled on nasty linoleum, and if it doesn’t peel off, we’ll just have to replace that nasty linoleum, which isn’t too expensive and needs to be done anyways. The bad news is that I have a 2 year old who thinks paint is lots of fun. She already made her mark on the walls when she wandered in there after her bath while I was getting her diapers, and, with the walls almost completely dry, took her little finger nails and scraped big gouges in the paint.
It was the first time the child has been spanked.
And if she can do that with walls that are only slightly tacky, what on EARTH would she do with a big wet puddle?
Seriously, somebody please come and take charge of my life. I’m clearly not up to the challenge. And while you’re at it, could you take a blowtorch to the bathroom please? Thanks.
I’d post pictures, but I can’t find my camera. Because I’m a dork.




Okay, I am not laughing at you but with you. (Are you laughing?) I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants. After a day of IEP hell, I needed a good laugh. Thank you.
People paint garage floors right? Maybe you could start a bathroom floor painting trend…
Comment #1 by JessicaMarch 16th, 2010 at 10:31 pmOH honey. So been there, but still… I’m sorry.
Comment #2 by Tracy MMarch 16th, 2010 at 10:43 pmEeeeeeek.
Comment #3 by SueMarch 17th, 2010 at 12:21 amOh you poor thing! You reminded me of my own version of this particular form of hell. When my kids were little and I was doing EXACTLY the same thing (painting rooms one hour at a time) I kicked over a full gallon of paint onto a carpeted floor. Shag carpet. Long, dark colored shag carpet and white paint. It took hours and hours to get the paint up and believe me, I didn’t get it all. What a horrible memory.
You Poor Thing. If I lived nearby I would come and help you. And then when we were done and your evil bathroom looked great, I would take you an expensive lunch to celebrate. You deserve it.
Comment #4 by living in zionMarch 17th, 2010 at 4:24 amI was about to start repainting our guest bedroom today…only the bedroom has no carpet - only gorgeous 100yr old wood floors. You have now officially scared me off of that job for today.
Comment #5 by BitsMarch 17th, 2010 at 7:13 amOne time when my neighbor was painting her downstairs she heard her two girls having a ball UPstairs. When she went to see what the fuss was all about, she saw that the two of them had put their HANDS AND FEET in the paint and thought it would be hilarious to run around the house, leaving their hand and footprints in the carpet.
It was a good thing she needed new carpet.
Comment #6 by VernMarch 17th, 2010 at 8:09 amCan’t. Stop. Laughing. So sorry! How did you clean it up?
Comment #7 by wbprawMarch 17th, 2010 at 12:01 pmI would have spread the spilled paint all over the ugly linoleum evenly and called it done.
When we were first married, the shower stall in the apartment was made of cement and painted over. How’s that for frightening.
Comment #8 by mormonhermitmomMarch 17th, 2010 at 12:02 pmwbpraw, I let it dry overnight, so it was a little easier to work with (stickier). With the help of two sacrificial bath towels, a putty knife, and almost an entire container of baby wipes, the floor looks like it did before. Which is to say, still yucky, but at least yucky sans big giant paint stain.
Comment #9 by Heather O.March 17th, 2010 at 12:40 pmI’m so so sorry. It sucks to try and improve only to make a bigger mess. I often do what you did, push to get it done when I shouldn’t have. Your post will be a lasting reminder to quit while I’m ahead.
Comment #10 by jendoopMarch 17th, 2010 at 6:14 pmI tipped over a full 5 gal - yes, FIVE GALLON - bucket of paint while we were building the house we currently live in. DH learned quickly that there was a very good reason why I insisted on painting before we installed the antique wood floors. There is an 8 foot splat of cream colored paint on the floating subfloor underneath our hardwood. I need to paint again, and there will be 6 mil plastic - seams tape sealed- with a layer of painters canvas on top when I do. And no puppies or human offspring in the house.
I never sew when I am tired. Things just do not work and I either end up spending hours with the seam ripper and razor blade, or as DH found out, I end up going back to the fabric store on Saturday night because I have caught the back of an almost finished Easter dress in the serger.
Changing light fixtures isn’t nearly as intimidating as it looks. I know you can do it.
Maybe we could trade challenges for a bit? I would probably come to appreciate (that certainly does not mean “like”) my own challenges if I dealt with someone else’s for a while. I’ll take your bathroom, you can throw in another room to paint and some electrical work, and you can have my teenage daughter (and her therapist) for the week. Any takers? Huh, huh, I’ll even make a chocolate marble cheesecake for you. No one? ….I guess I’ll keep my own challenges.
Comment #11 by JCMarch 18th, 2010 at 7:59 amDrop cloths. Always drop cloths!
Comment #12 by meemsMarch 18th, 2010 at 12:47 pmPeel-and-stick linoleum tiles. So easy. So worth it. So saved me from hideous 80’s linoleum in all 3 of the bathrooms in my current house.
Comment #13 by Nancy SabinaMarch 21st, 2010 at 12:30 pm