Bathroom Renovation - Vanity, Baseboards and Door

I've got a color conundrum. I'd really like to paint the vanity a different color than the reddish brown wood finish that it currently has.

However that same reddish brown is found in the baseboards and door to the bathroom.

I'm unsure whether I need to be concerned about a new vanity color clashing with the existing baseboard and door. Would I need to paint them as well and if so, how would that mesh with the door frame and hallway that continues the same reddish brown color scheme for doors and baseboards.

It kind of leads me to a paralysis of analysis that for the moment my only escape is to tell myself just not to worry about it. Paint the vanity however we want and any color clash will be a minor distraction at most.

Zone Breaker - Bathroom Renovation

When it comes to home renovations, I am a not a good homeowner. We've lived in our house for 15 years and beyond a couple of repainted bedrooms, the interior of the house is the same as the day we moved in - only in worse shape.

Case in point, our hallway bathroom...

The floor is terrible, torn, peeling on the edges and stained from numerous accidents.

The wallpaper isn't much better. It is also peeling and torn in places. Fortunately there have been no accidents on it ;)

The vanity is functional, but could definitely do with an upgrade, particularly moving away from the aquamarine color of the top (which matches the floor patterns).

Finally, the toilet is lopsided due to some water damage from the kids and their bath tub hijinx.

This is definitely a comfort zone challenge.

First, neither my wife nor I have much sense of home decorating.What color do we paint the walls? What kind of vanity and top do we want? What kind of flooring do we want to use and what color and pattern should it be? What ideas work well in the small space that is this bathroom? For 15 years, those questions have been a brick wall for us.

Of course we could just hand the entire project to a home decorator and contractor and let them figure everything out. But that would require finding and paying for someone to do something that we ought to be able to do for ourselves.

Plus, I want to learn some new skills.

So, for my first major Zone Breaker, I'm going to blog about renovating this old, shabby bathroom into something that looks fresh and nice.

More to come...

Introduction

Welcome to Expanding the Zone. The Zone refers to the comfort zone that surrounds each of us. Within the zone are those things we know, those things we are good at, those things that offer little challenge or opportunity to fail. The comfort zone is safe and predictable. There is little risk, but little growth.

Of late, I've become more aware of my comfort zone and how it has restricted me.

It's time for a change.