Words on a Bathroom Wall

Here’s something that is not going to be a shock to anyone who has been reading this website for, oh, longer than five minutes: If you set me down in front of a basket of laundry and ask me to fold it, the next thing you know I will inexplicably be writing on a wall with a sharpie marker. So basically I’m like a three year old, with only marginally better spelling skills.

What this picture should tell you…

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Is that there is a lot of unfolded laundry in my life right now.

This is the upstairs bathroom (not the downstairs bathroom, or the torn-apart master bathroom, because a girl who has a moral objection to cleaning should really own a house with three toilets) and when I bought the Liberty House, it looked like this…

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It contains a lot of… weirdness. Not the least of which is that there are a couple of mismatched wall cabinets serving as a sink base for a very expensive granite counter. Oh, and those outlets that are located smack in the middle of the wall and make mirror placement rather awkward.

At some point in the next five years I will probably tear this bathroom down to the studs, but it’s very very low on the project list, so I decided to give the space a mini-makeover so that it wouldn’t make my eye twitch. A few months ago I put some time in getting the it-looks-like-someone-got-murded-in-here iron stains out of the shower, taking a hammer to the old sinks and replacing them, painting the walls, and hanging a skull on the wall. Eventually I’ll build new doors for the cabinets.

For the wall behind the sinks I had this grand idea to do a gallery of mirrors with a of the frames containing “chalkboard art” in them.

Here’s how far I got with that idea.

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The bathroom has seriously looked just like this (yes, with those two pieces of paper still taped to the wall) since June. Because I’m awesome at finishing projects like that.

Truth is, I just couldn’t see the end result in my head, and that’s usually when I have to a.) just push through it until I get far enough along that I can envision what it will look like, b.) leave it in an ugly unfinished state for eternity so that everyone who comes into my house gives me a look and shakes their head, or c.) scrap it. Also, I had a complete mental block over the fancy chalkboard lettering, which I intended to do with a white paint sharpie directly on the walls.

And you know what? This wasn’t even on my radar of projects to address in the next several months. I know that, because it’s not on my list. But then I was looking at my Pinterest boards last night and realized I don’t want fancy lettering, or worrying about spacing or spelling or typography.So I grabbed my Sharpie, pulled up some of my favorite words to live by, and did it.

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I know there’s a rule written somewhere that you need to have a mirror over your sink. Which, now that I think about it, is basically the stupidest rule ever. Who was the person who said, Hey, you know what I’d like to do first thing in the morning? Stare at my exhausted face in a mirror– the dark circles under my eyes, three new gray hairs, and a stress zit the size of a small planet that has magically appeared on my forehead overnight (thank you, day job)– for two effing minutes while I brush my teeth. Who ever that was, I can guarantee you they were far, far prettier than I am. Or delusional.

Either way, here’s how I’d rather start and end my day– by being inspired, remembering what is important, and laughing.

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My house is such a smartass.

 

26 Responses

  1. No matter how crappy my day is, reading one of your posts makes me smile, or just shoot coffee through my nose. Thanks!

    1. I will stay up late at night writing incoherent posts, as long as it’s making someone’s day (because that’s what makes mine!) Thanks for sharing in my adventures.

    1. The web knows all; that passage is a garbled extract of:

      Cicero, On the Ends of Good and Evil , Book I, chapters 32-33:

      “neque porro quisquam est, qui DO-LOREM ipsum, quia dolor sit, amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt, ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit, qui in ea voluptate velit esse, quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum, qui dolorem eum fugiat, quo voluptas nulla pariatur? At vero eos et accusamus et iusto odio dignissimos ducimus……”

      -“ Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure? But we accuse them and really think that they deserve hate….”

      1. Ah, yes. “Lorem ipsum” is actually commonly used placeholder text in the design/typesetting industry. People drop it in to show where text goes to get the feel of a layout without the distraction of actual content.

  2. This is seriously a great idea Kit. Thanks for sharing it. I saw the same picture on Pinterest and pinned it as well. I’m thinking of redoing a small bathroom and love this idea because my daughters use it 🙂

    1. A- Thank you.

      B- Guilty. But, actually, I already had it because I knew I was going to do something “chalkboardy” on these walls, and I used it around the frame of my skull over the toilet.

  3. THAT is what you should be looking at in the mornings, words of inspiration, not bed head and bags under your eyes like I do!

  4. If I ever divorce my husband, will you marry me? 🙂

    This is SO FREAKING COOL! And right now, I want to do this in my half bath.

  5. I still think a mirror(s) would still look cool hung over the wall. Like really ornate federal-style gold mirror, something similar to the empty gold frame you had in the one gallery picture.

  6. My partner and I bought a 1982 split foyer with strange painted paneling/plywood/who knows all over the walls. Need to find out what’s behind that! We’ve ripped up badly done carpet in the bedrooms and hall and I’ve stained the plywood dark walnut,then stenciled words and paint drips – 4 coats of poly and it is clean and shiny!
    I accidently found this site and I LOVE it!! I won’t have to think anymore – I can just look here! LOVE IT!

  7. I was so enamoured by the wall, all I could do was read and be awed.

    Then I read the note by the switch and snorted HOT coffee halfway to my brain!

    Guess what’s worse than an ice cream brain freeze!

  8. Closing the last half mile to Bay Shore, the “Lauren Kristy” swallowed gulps of the now oily-black water
    with its bow, seeming caught in a sea-and-sky void presently pierced by the pinpoints of light defining the approaching coast ahead and the 7.
    s seating and that allows for partial submersion into the waters, so the angler can steer around a limited area easily and also
    have access to an air chamber. A bigger fridge costs more
    to run, especially if it’s mostly empty (as more cold air escapes when you open it) so if you live alone, a
    fridge which is only a quarter full is costing you too much money to run.

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