a peek at the progress in our new guest bath for the blue & white bash!

Hello again! My apologies for being so absent lately, but luckily I am back in time for The Pink Pagoda's fourth Blue and White Bash today!

Since my last post, we closed on our new home and I have hit the ground running around like a hen with its head cut-off with repairs and cosmetic updates, a few of which I will show you below, as they are blue and white and bash-appropriate!

This is my fourth time attending one of Jennifer's bashes. If you are a blogger, you too can link-up and share your own post, or if you are a reader, simply sit back and behold all of the beautiful blue and white!

My first time to the bash I brought a recreation of a blue and white room by Meg Braff, the second time I brought some blue and white ways to decorate for Christmas, and last month I brought extra seating to the party with some blue and white bistro chairs.

But this month I am beyond excited to finally reveal the very first glimpse into our new home, which we are not yet living in as it undergoes the updates...but we are getting close!

In the meantime, my spring fever has continued to intensify over the past few weeks, as lately here in the Lowcountry, we have been teased with warm days in between the cold ones. Of course, we all know that one way to enjoy an endless summer is with decor and I believe a bathroom is the perfect place to recreate a little bit of the beach.

The following are a few examples of blue and white beachy bathrooms that I love:

via Coastal Living

via Martha Stewart

via Artistic Designs for Living

I have always loved having a bathroom that evokes fond memories and feelings of the beach with blue and white accents, as well touches of as sand, shells or sea glass. I think that--much like the beach--a bathroom should be a relaxing retreat. The following two photos are from our last rental apartment in Boston, where I tried my best to make the bathroom tolerable by adding some beachy accents, but as you can see, I didn't have much to work with!:

Fast forward about a year to the next two photos, which were taken two weeks ago of the guest bath in our new home!:

Yeesh! Those blah, brown walls were horrid! I don't mind the tile as much, as it is the same color as sand and can be complimentary to the coastal look I want to achieve. 

As for the more permanent features in the room, I would love to replace the vanity with a pretty pedestal sink, but this bathroom will one day belong to our future children and if they are anything like their mother, they gonna need some storage! Regardless, I am sure I can find a prettier vanity that offers just as much storage space...when I have the budget. In the meantime, a little paint can make a big change--and be affordable!--so that is where I began.

One blue and white bathroom accent of ours that I love is our Regatta Stripe shower curtain from Garnet Hill, to which I referred for color inspiration in the new guest bath:

So I took a trip to Sherwin-Williams (my new home away from my new home) and painted a few samples on the wall:

And despite the awful lighting, I was able to pick one fairly quickly (unlike in our master bedroom, but that is a post for another day)! The color I chose was Blissful Blue:

Blissful Blue

But before the painting began, my wonderful contractor took the existing eyesore of a mirror down and added some beautiful wainscoting and beadboard to dress-up the bathroom a bit. And he put the potty in the tub. Then my very-patient painters (another reference to the master bedroom "incident") began priming...

...and as always, it looked worse before it looked better...

But here is the beginning to our beautiful blue and white guest bathroom now!:

Clearly is still has a long way to go (the potty is still in the tub), but I think we achieved a solid start!

So the next step will be accessorizing! Here are some of the beachy accents I am considering to complete the look for our guest bath:

source unknown via Completely Coastal blog

Restoration Hardware

Barn Light Electric

Barn Light Electric

Barn Light Electric

Pottery Barn

Crate and Barrel

World Market

Ballard Designs

Garnet Hill

Wayfair

via Nautical Couture on Etsy

via 215 Ash Lane blog

via Country Living

Just one of many potential outcomes:

I will keep you updated about the bathroom and hopefully it will be ready for it's big debut by The Pink Pagoda's next Blue and White Bash! In the meantime, feel free to give me some of your guidance with the bathroom accessories!

Also be sure to follow along next month as I work on another room in our new home for Calling It Home's One Room Challenge Linking Party!