A Little Time In The WC

While I wait to see what the finishing solution will be for the dining room table, I thought I'd move on and address another little project I've been wanting to get to: replacing the recessed light in the master bathroom WC with a hanging light fixture.

A little work was done in the space when we first moved in, painting the walls with a striae effect by applying a darker wash over the lighter wall color. Then I began hand painting a pattern on the walls...this was long before I had this design made into a stencil. As you can see I gave up before completing the job. I have considered painting over the walls and starting over using the trellis stencil used on this DIY Tray, but I don't know.

Cutting into the corners, ceiling, baseboard...do I really want to set myself up for all that work? Besides, this random half finished look has, after two years, grown on me. We'll see! 

For now, I'll address the lighting, and then a window treatment. Do you see how close the neighbor's house is in the photo of the WC?!? 

To begin I remembered this lantern tucked away in a closest. It was ordered from Shades of Light last summer for a project I was working on for HGTV.com. It arrived damaged, with the glass inserts broken, so happily they sent me another and I was able to keep the damaged one. Well, it finally occurred to me that if I removed all the glass panels backing the fretwork, broken and unbroken, and I'd have a fixture that was just fine to be used! So the next question was, should it stay green or be refinished?

At first I tried applying my favorite Rub n' Buff over the green...but soon I saw this wasn't the direction to go for this project.

So the wax was quickly sanded off...

...with a layer of adhesive primer brushed on, followed by a layer of my favorite neutral paint color, Sherwin Williams Softer Tan.

I am liking the fresh new look of the fixture! If I find the time later today I'll install the conversion kit and hang the lantern. If not, I'm sure to find something else to post about tomorrow...