Turning My Bathroom Into a Forest

Guess what I did this weekened.

I'll give you a hint: it rhymes with "schmatement mall."

That's right! I finally figured out what I wanted to do with my statement wall in the half bathroom. Birch trees! It all started when I saw this wallpaper in a small bathroom picture on Pinterest (via the Better Homes & Gardens website) a while back. Been in love with it ever since. But at $200 a roll, there was just no way I could ever make that kind of splurge on the Capers.

So I put the idea in the back of my mind, not sure how I could ever get my birch forest in the half bathroom. But then, last week, when I was searching for wall stencils for a design I saw in my Young House Love book, I found this Etsy listing. Birches! Love love loved it! And the stencil was way cheaper than the wallpaper, so that was great.

But then when I actually went to purchase the stencil, added in the $10 shipping, looked at my sad bank account, I hesitiated. $75 still seemed a little pricey to me. But the idea of once again passing on my birch forest made me so sad, so I sat and stared at the image for a long time.

Image from CuttingEdgeStencils.

I could picture it so clearly on that half bathroom wall and it looked sooooo good in my head. And then, after a while, I started to see the white space and the grey paint and I began to think that maybe I could actually skip the stencil and wallpaper and just freehand the design FOR FREE. Loved the idea, even if I was a little skeptical that I could make it look good.

I ended up giving myself a little pep talk and figured if it looked bad, I could always just paint over it. But I was hopeful.

And honestly, I'm super thrilled with how it turned out.

The grey is actually leftover from the hallway, and it's Benjamin Moore's Moonshine.

I made the birches a little bigger than the stencil, and I did less branches because I didn't want it to look too chaotic, and I figured I could always add more later. But I did add a couple sweet personal touches that I love, like the "carving" of Chris and my intitals below.

I also added this cheery yellow bird, perched on a branch and looking out the window.

I gotta say, it definitely makes a statement when you're walking up the stairs.

I also finally installed the towel ring, which was sitting unassembled in one of the vanity's drawers when we moved in. Talk about procrastination.

But I'd love to get a bright yellow hand towel to hang there. Wouldn't that look adorable with the little birdy?

And here's the view as you walk from our bedroom to the bathroom. You just get a little glimps of Mr. Birdie.

Here's my little to-do list for this half bathroom:

• Replace the old window
• Sew white curtains for the window
• Remove two 2x4s from the wall
• Remove awkward mirror
• Patch the walls
• Paint the walls and ceiling white
• Paint the trim glossy white
• Paint the statement wall with birches
• Install towel ring
• Hang large mirror behind the toilet
• Fix up the door knobs
• Buy a pretty yellow towel
• Put a picture in my new Valentine's day frame
• Install a new light
• Add an electrical outlet

Doing pretty good! Oh, and I should get rid of those old 2x4s too, pictured below. Those need to go.

The mirror leaning against the wall is the one I'm going to hang behind the toilet. I still need to paint the frame though. Maybe grey or yellow?

So that's how I put a forest in my bathroom. The whole thing was pretty easy. A little time consuming, but not too bad. I'll be back soon with a tutorial on how I painted the trees and broke up the work into several easy steps.

In the meantime, what do you guys think? Love the trees? Does it need more branches? What do you think of Mr. Birdie?