Forced to redecorate the bedroom. Halp!

April 26, 2011 1:21 PM

So. This renovation just keeps getting worse. Now the bedroom is involved. Help me brainstorm new flooring, wall color, and keep me sane.

Metafilter has helped me choose cute summer shoes, now I'm trusting you guys to help me make a bedroom we'll love for the next 3-5 years.

We're probably using Behr color 510E-2 (rhythmic blue) for the bathroom walls and master closet walls, the vanity is being built, the tiles are chosen - 2" white octagons with grey squares. White subway tile in the shower.

We had to fire the general contractor/mold remediator when he explained three different bogus reasons he would not get a permit. His crew did a terrible job with the demolition, potentially contaminating the entire house.

For extra fun, it turns out we also have a leak in the bedroom sliding glass door - or somewhere - that has let a bunch of water into the bedroom over what looks like years. Half the perimeter of the carpet has molded. The original mold contractor did not notice this, but might have with air testing.

Aside from the air quality tests which I had started this morning, what else do I need to know?

TL;DR:

I need to choose 183 sq ft of something for the floor - prefer wood or cork or...something? Window treatment for a sliding glass door (and hell, if the door is bad enough, maybe a door), paint for the walls, and a light fixture/ceiling fan, as well as bedroom, bathroom and water closet doors.

I'm no longer feeling overwhelmed by lighting or water fixtures. I've come to terms with the fact that I have to hunt down my own counter slab. I no longer care that my designer didn't come up with a single solution for what to do with wet towels.

Please don't tell me to look at apartmenttherapy, please do link to specific products or colors, and please tell me your "everything turned out ok" home renovation nightmare stories. Even if it happened in the kitchen.

Pretty please, make me laugh so that I don't cry.

posted by bilabial to home & garden (8 answers total)

What kind of light/heat does your bedroom get?

I ask because our current bedroom has 12"x12" stone tiles in a diamond pattern. Never would have chosen it myself - BUT - it looks fabulous and keeps the room cool in the summer + retains heat with the heater on and is cozy for colder nights. We hardly use the ac in the bedroom. We're in LA.

It works because the bedroom is in a shaded part of the property. I suggest it because I know about Florida humidity and this could work for you under the right conditions.

Memail if you want pics.
posted by jbenben at 1:34 PM on April 26, 2011

The light is mostly from a ceiling fan fixture overhead with the aforementioned sliding glass door and no window. The heat is electric.

We hardly run the a/c as it is, because we have great shade over the house. We will probably invest in dehumidifier(s).

I'm probably leaning away from tile because I really don't like cold feet. And because I've heard that elderly people don't like it either, and I'd prefer to keep our potential buyer in the distant future as excited about the house as I can.
posted by bilabial at 1:48 PM on April 26, 2011

I sort of just wanted to commiserate and tell you everything is going to be okay. I recently went through a bathroom reno nightmare, and while i consider it to be one of the most stressful 10-week periods of my life (it was supposed to be a 7-9 day reno, to give some perspective), the joy of it being done and over with and looking good was such a RELEIF, and in the end i realised that all the little things that i'm not happy with are completely inperceptible to others, and the extra money i had to spend is water under the bridge, and that i'd learned a lot of important 'how to be a home-owning grown up' type lessons. So - really, just create whatever ridiculous coping mechanisms you need to, and remember that when its done, that its going to look awesome :)

I would avoid wood floors - if they get wet on a regular basis, it can cause problems. (Its an important consideration especially if you have splashy children.) I also think that stone tiles aren't necessarily a problem as far as coldness is concerned - i think ceramic tile is much colder than stone tile.

That being said, it sounds like the ideal thing for you is cork tiles (which i think would be beautiful with the white and blue of your bathroom), which are good temperature regulators, soft underfoot, and give the same warmth (visually) as wood floors. Lay them in a diamond pattern to de-emphasise the smallness of the space.
posted by Kololo at 2:06 PM on April 26, 2011

What have you figured out about the leaky door? It seems like that needs to be priority 1. (Plus, look on the bright side, it's great to discover that sooner rather than later!)

Have you already pulled out the moldy carpet?
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:14 PM on April 26, 2011

Would it be possible to convert the sliding door into a window? If it's not super functional or necessary to have an outdoor egress, a window might balance the room and would also be much less likely to leak in the future.
posted by charmcityblues at 2:46 PM on April 26, 2011

It's gonna sound odd but we really....REALLY...love Marmoleum floors. It's warm under foot, easy to install, bomb proof, moisture resistant, comes in a ton of colors, etc. Forbo floors is who sells it, and it is not the linoleum you are thinking of. This stuff is made from Linseed and looks fantastic.

I'm with poster above saying deal with the water penetration issues before anything else because you might uncover things that will guide your flooring decisions/etc.
posted by iamabot at 3:30 PM on April 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

Pro-tip: A lot of pros suck.

Good on you for firing the ones who have let you down. You have just done us all a service. And I say this as a pro (architect and former contractor). These people give our profession an all too often well-deserved reputation for being shady, opportunistic, and smarmy. We are better without them. That said, don't let it irreversibly tarnish your opinion of professionals in general; if you find yourself continuing to need help there are good people out there who will eagerly do the job for you. The best (in any field) are always out there, despite the economy.

More importantly: do not let your bad experiences with the professions you have worked with so far start to make you doubt YOURSELF. Too often, people don't know exactly what they want and seek help. The pros screw them or let them down, and smart clients fire them like you did. Unfortunately, many smart clients then have this weird mix of emotion of feeling like they need pros more than ever, but hating and not trusting them more than ever at the same time.

Take a breath. Trust yourself. And by this I mean, don't get shoved into making a decision that you don't feel good about just because you need to Get on with it. If you do, this will haunt you and frustrate you. It will be the ONE thing you look at more than any of the stuff you love. If you commit to being true to yourself and your tastes thought this whole thing...your project really WILL turn out just fine. The lousy parts will slowly turn into amusing beer-time stories, and you find that everybody has one. The hassles are always there in any job. It's the nature of the beast.

Retain confidence in yourself. In your needs and opinions and priorities. If I were in your shoes, I would find your local AIA (American Institute of Architects) office. They will have lots of resources and portfolios to browse through of local firms. Find one who resonates with you. Call their office and ask if they will come for a one hour consultation. Any of the good ones will. The really good ones won't charge you for it. When they get there, tell them you respect their time and promise to only keep them the hour. Hand them a gift card to a nice arty local bookstore. From the sounds of it, your problems are easy. And good creative people love easy problems. They get to make you feel good and happy with next to no effort. Bedrooms and bathrooms have been done a gazillion times in a gazillion homes. Most skilled designers have some quality go-to things they can rattle off, and you will learn way more in that hour than the cost of that gift card.

You will have set yourself apart as someone who respects and values their work and time. Pro-secret: on easy projects like yours; you will get 75% of the architects best thoughts in that first hour, no matter how many hours it would actual take for them to go through the mechanics of running your job through the normal system. They will give you a direction and maybe help you nail down some of the easy stuff just while standing there.

I could go on, but that's my main point. Don't lose faith. Mostly...don't lose trust in yourself. Don't give up on pros altogether. MeMail me if you would like to chat about specifics. I'd be glad to. (I just always feel like I ramble on too much here.)
posted by nickjadlowe at 3:34 PM on April 26, 2011

No window in the bathroom? I feel like your tile and paint + fluorescent light may make that space seem rather cold. Perhaps use Rhythmic Blue in the bedroom instead, and a warmer blue in the bathroom. Whatever you do, paint a bid swatch on something like primed drywall and try it in the rooms, against the walls it will be going on, at night and during the day. Don't just try a 6" square as a paint swatch on the wall.

Actually, re-reading your question and response, I'm not entirely sure what is being discussed. Feel free to disregard my comment if it makes no sense.
posted by oneirodynia at 4:20 PM on April 26, 2011