{black & gold guest bathroom}

We signed the lease on our Chicago place almost 5 months before we actually moved.  Even though we never saw our place in person before moving day, I did have a ton of pictures and a floorplan to allow me start dreaming up decor for the different rooms.  One thing I was most excited about was that we would have both a master bathroom and a guest bathroom which meant I could do something a little crazy with the guest bath.  I fell in love with the sexy look of these black walls forever ago, but our loft just did not lend itself to this kind of look since the walls were 20 feet high. I figured the Chicago guest bath would be the perfect opportunity to try out the look of black walls!  The guest bath is pretty small so if the black paint looked horrible it wouldn't be that big of a deal to just paint over it.

We definitely won't be painting over this bathroom anytime soon because I am obsessed with how great it turned out.  The deep black walls mixed with the clean white fixtures would have been a good look on its own, but I really wanted to add in gold hardware and accents to give the room a bit more of a luxe feel.

 {brass tray to hold my perfume}

{bin from Crate & Barrel transformed by my favorite gold spray paint available here}

 {Jonathan Adler's soap dispenser from the "druggist" line . sadly this line is now discontinued}

 {brass guest towel holder with the custom guest towels we originally had made for 

our wedding with our custom crest}

 {I wanted to create somewhat of a "his and hers" look with the towel holders, but rather than going with the obvious printed signs I choose two of my favorite images which I printed on regular cardstock to give them a muted vintage feel.}

 {another inspirational image in a little bit bigger of a frame from Michael's Crafts which I painted gold}

 {gold shower curtain rings}

{the mirror is from Ikea and is sold in a matte black finish, but I obviously 

gave this one a few coats of gold spray paint}

We used a true black paint from Ace Hardware for this room and I would give you the exact color name/number, but honestly it doesn't matter because there is only one shade of black available in most paint color brands and they will all work for you.  I could not have made this project happen without some trusty gold spray paint and the fact that we are fortunate renters with landlords that chose beautiful white Kohler bath furnishings.

After seeing the results of this room, I would most definitely paint a bathroom in any of our future places black.  I also think this color would also lend itself well to a second bedroom that is converted into a closet/dressing room.

{our new Chicago place: in progress}

{taken when we first arrived into our new place}

Somehow we actually survived driving a 26 foot moving truck and a car all the way from LA to Chicago and we are now just getting settled into our new place after arriving here last Wednesday.  Moving is always a long process filled with multiple trips to Home Depot or Ikea, searching through countless boxes for the cord to connect your tv and debating paint choices.   We have gotten all of the boxes opened and unpacked and most of our furniture assembled, but we still have a ways to go before I would consider our new home to be complete.  Some of the projects on our to do list right now include painting almost all the rooms (especially the bedroom since our DIY headboard currently matches the blue wall perfectly), setting up our fauxdenza and hanging all our artwork. 

 {our new tree-lined street and ivy covered building- you cannot even imagine what a pleasant change this is for us coming from the concrete metropolis of downtown LA}

 {supplies for my black & gold bathroom- the mirror is from Ikea and it is currently on my to do list to be painted gold}

 {the Malm dressers set up as night stands awaiting their overlays.  As much as I loved making our previous nightstands, they proved to be way too small to hold more than a small glass of water and a tiny lamp. Robert Abbey Delta Lamp from right here}

 {a new houseplant from one of our Home Depot trips}

{supplies for our "fauxdenza" tv stand.  we are still  trying to find a good resource for the wood top- if anyone knows of a good (not sketchy or creepy) lumber yard in the Chicago area I would love to hear about it!}

I'll be back with updates on these project as we start crossing them off our list!