I am decorating-challenged
 

We are finally in the process of remodeling our bathroom. Please, someone tell me what color to stain our vanity (I bought it unfinished). I am tired of trying to decide. Evidently, it's all up to me because I'm "the girl".

I bought a granite counter top for a good price (thanks to FMCoug for recommendations). It looks a little like this. http://www.faucetdirect.com/index.cf...ELAID=79521519

This is the tile for the floor and shower
http://www.flooranddecoroutlets.com/...lD&cat_id=ODA=

I'm guessing the walls will be some sort of a tan, neutral color.

This is a small bathroom, about 6 x 8 ft.

all our rooms are really bright colors. lots of pop on the walls. I like that.

I would paint it pink and lime green stripes. A little contrast is good.

Me?...I'm just a guy...so what do I know?

But my .02 cents is....

You have a granite counter-top that has dark flecks in it...but over-all, it's mostly "light" colored.

Your tile flooring is "light" as well.

Me?...I'd go with contrast so as to prevent the cabinets from getting washed out in the floor and counter-top...so, something dark to match the dark flecks in your counter-top. Cherry, Walnut, Mahogony, etc.

I like your colors you've chosen.

I was actually being serious about the bright colors. All our rooms are that way.

For our downstairs (guest) bathroom, I basically took stuff that I liked from different hotels and then copied it.

I tried to move all the kids junk out of the way so you get an idea, but then I realized that what I was doing, in essence, was cleaning the bathroom...and I don't clean bathrooms. So I stopped and took the picture. I did leave the toilet seat up on purpose because toilet seats are more funny in pictures when they are left up.

You can also see where my daughter splashed the mirror with her toothbrush.

Not sure how I get the pic to rotate correctly.

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z...d/P1010266.jpg

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z...d/P1010267.jpg

Ha ha! Triplet Dad touched a toilet seat with his hands! Imagine all the germs that are invading your body right now. Infecting you and making you sick. Gross, now they're on your computer keyboard. Every time you type it's like you're rubbing your hands all over a toilet bowl.

Farrah, go with something dark. Walnut, mahogany or cherry.

Hey, I said I left it up, not propped it up.

I am OK with my family's germs, anyway. It is just the germs of strangers, coworkers, and midgets that freak me out.

I did see on the news last week or so about how disgusting our computer keyboards really are. I think it was a UK study. I went down the IT department and took one of those cans of compressed air. What blew off my keyboard was pretty disgusting. Lots of crumbs, some hair, dust, and Lord knows what else.

I may start wearing gloves all the time.

Farrah, you know you are decoratingly-challenged if you are asking for advice from a bunch of guys from a sports message board.

I'm with you though... I am absolutely clueless in this area.

Third vote for dark.

I'll be a contrarian and suggest a light tan/sand color that matches the lighter colors in the granite soley because its a small room, and dark colors would make it seem smaller.

I had that thought as well. But I think it may look too washed out. The other thing to consider is small children. Farrah would be constantly cleaning fingerprints, etc. off light colored cabinets.

Well I didn't say white. Maybe its better for health reasons to see those fingerprints ;)

As I remember the bathroom in question, it seems like there is no window so lighter colors might brighten the room as oppose to darken it.

I'm no Hyrum, but I would suggest a dark cherry. I've seen that color scheme before with you granite top, travertine flooring and the cherry wood looked really nice.

We got our travertine for 1.99 /sqft. Did we get ripped off?

We're talking asthetics and all you can focus on is the price? I see your rpoblem, Farrah.

Go with dark. If you are staining wood, I would use Cherry or Mahogany. Get a couple of stains and try it on some small areas inside the cabinet or on test wood to see what looks best with tile, etc. This is a lot like music, in that colors have 'overtones' that make some go better than others, menaing nothing can compare to trying it out first.

I think that's a good price for Travertine. FYI, you now have higher end flooring in your house than I have in mine. We didn't want to spring for Travertine. ;)

but our bathroom is as big as your shower.

I recently took a shower at our friends' home ($1.7mill in plano). Their shower could have fit 10 people in it.

But there was only one showerhead.

there's a wide variety of quality in travertine, or so I was told when I bought it for more than that.

Farrah, don't go dark. Cherry, especially, IMHO, is starting to feel dated. What kind of wood is it? Pine? Maple? Something warm but light would be good. Look at a kitchen and bath design magazine at Home Depot or wherever.

I'm feeling particularly decorative today, as I have a new (and first) avatar.

whoa, that is the most perverted avatar on this board.

These things shift over time. What is dated now will be the rage in 6 years and will be dated again after that. Go with what you like and what looks good with the tile.

All you folks are posers. Have some guts....Step up and post some pics of your messy bathrooms!

You need to go darker...depends on how dark you are comfortable with. Cherrywood coloring is nice or you could go with a darker mahogany brown. Black would pop as well. If you go light, it will soon feel as if you have entered the celestial room. And yes, I agree with DDD, put up a picture of that room!

You say that as if it's a bad thing.

I'm trying to support Farrah here.

Wow, thanks for all the help, guys and gals. I am touched that DDD (almost) cleaned a bathroom so he could take a picture. I knew my metrosexual compadres would come through for me.

We are hopefully planning on moving in the near future, so I just want the bathroom to look nice, and sticking to neutral colors. There is a window, and we will hopefully add more light so the room won't look too dark.

I just finished staining the vanity with mahogany. I'll post the after pictures when it's done.

And just so you can see how awful it was beforehand...
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...m/IMG_0816.jpg

That's a big loo. mikewaters made it sound like it was a shoebox.

Your new granite and travertine will look nice, I am sure.

Again, I vote for bright colors. Don't be afraid of color. One of our main rooms is painted a bright red.

Our living room and kitchen are blue.

Our bedroom is a mint green and brown.

Fun!

DDD, you would like the kitchen at the Padrino house. My wife wanted an apple theme, so the walls are green and red and the doors exiting the house from the kitchen area are yellow.

I'll take some photos and post them for you to see in the next few days.