AS THE HOME of a family with two teenagers, a dog called Ted and a blossoming PR business, Niamh O’Carroll’s 1920s house in Glasnevin, Co Dublin has a lot of demands to meet.
Close to the Botanic Gardens, Niamh’s grandfather had bought the house in 1928 and during their college years, nearly all of ‘the country cousins’ (including Niamh) had lived in its converted garage at one point or another. It was always a busy household, and to this day, the house is still the epicentre for family gatherings.
So when originally painting the family bathroom, time was of the essence. Not thinking too much about the demands of a bathroom, the paint Niamh opted for wasn’t created for her wooden panelling.
Soon the natural knots of the woods began to show through the white paint – something that was starting to bother her. Enter our colour consultant Darran Heaney (oldvictoriannew) who helped to create more of a sanctuary for the family.
Niamh loved the neutral palette that was currently in the bathroom – a light grey on the walls and white panelling. One of Niamh’s favourite parts of the room was where the original window had been replaced by tiles featuring dark grey designs – a feature Darran hoped to pick up on in his colour choices for the room.
“I’d like to keep the palette quite neutral, but I’d also like to bring some dark colour into that”, explained Darran. It might seem counter-intuitive, but if it’s a small space with little light, dark can be the way to go to create warmth: “It’s a really good idea when you have a small space to use a dark colour because it embraces the space.”
Looking through the Dulux Easycare colour chart, Darran explained that he wanted to create a two-tone look using a dark grey called Suspense on the panelling, and a lighter grey called Brume on the wall, with Iced White on the ceiling. “It gives you quite a neutral palette but we’re keeping it warm”, explained Darran.
As it was for the panelling, Darran was able to colour-match the Suspense in a (wood-specific) Satinwood version – you can request this at most DIY stores. This meant an end to being able to see the wood’s knots through the paint and a smoother, more even surface around the extensive panelling.
Once Niamh was happy with the new colours chosen for the space, the painters set to work and a few hours later, the room was ready to be revealed…
Niamh was immediately happy with the bold new choice: “Oh I love it! Oh, I really love it!” She explained how the new paint made the bathroom into a feature of the home – something it had never been before.
The darker panelling and two-tone effect was something that made her bathroom feel a lot more luxurious, as Niamh explained: “To me it’s much more spa-esque, it’s a much more relaxing space. I actually love my bath so it’ll be lovely to have this space.”
Despite the fact that a lot of us might go for white in our bathroom, Darran insists that we should be looking into the darker side of the colour palette to maximise space and warmth:
Bathrooms tend to be spaces with limited light so don’t be afraid. Be brave and bring in some dark colours into the space.
Darran reminded DIYers that paint in the bathroom needs to be moisture- and mildew-resistant, and if there’s panelling or skirting boards in there, you need to be using a paint specifically created for wood.
Without these, bathroom paint can sometimes appear rough and uneven, it may also peel and/or be more susceptible to mould. Sound familiar? You can check out Dulux’s Easycare Satinwood range here.
Enjoy this makeover? Next time, we’ll be taking on a living room. In the meantime, you can catch up on our Flying Colours series in the links below.
Got a busy household too? Dulux Easycare takes the stress out of spills with stain-repellant technology. The range is 50 times tougher than Dulux Vinyl Matt and allows you to just wash away common stains. Easycare Satinwood even comes with scrub resist technology, meaning you can always keep every room looking freshly painted.
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