My Bathroom's Gone Wild

Yes, I moved out of my comfort zone - waaaaay out of my comfort zone - with the kids' bathroom. I have to admit I'm kind of builder beige type of person when it comes to selecting paint colors. After all, it's the safe choice, kinda like that pair of khakis you have hanging in your closet. Everything looks great with them and the Gap knows it.

Anyway, I decided to take a walk on the wild side when it came time to select the colors for this particular room. And the inspiration for the color came from the silliest of places. Bath and Body Works. More specifically, the bottle of Coconut Lime Verdena shower gel that my husband bought me for my birthday. What can I say? He's a keeper.

In addition to providing an amazing aroma, this little bottle of heaven prompted me to drive over to Lowe's and purchase a Valspar paint color called Jalapeno Jelly. While I'm not a fan of jalapenos (or jelly for that matter), this color is yummy.

Check out the before shot:

Nothing wrong with the paint color before. Just not my style. Here's an after shot:

Wild, isn't it? The original plan was to buy a white waffle-weave shower curtain to keep things in this super-small bathroom light and airy, but I saw the zebra print at Target and couldn't resist.

Upon returning from Target, I did a little shopping around the house.

Total transformation for just a little bit 'o money. I'm happy with it and even happier that I can finally use that Coconut Lime Verbena.

Privacy, Please

"Mom," my eight-year-old whispered as she knocked on the bathroom door. "Are you in there?"

"Yes."

"What are you doing?"

What am I doing? Hmmmm. Re-programming the VCR. What in the name of all that is holy do you think I'm doing?

"Um, going to the bathroom."

Lie.

Big. Fat. Lie.

I'm a mom and moms don't go to the bathroom to go to the bathroom. We go to the bathroom to escape the chaos, the clutter, the kids - even if it's only for a minute or two. And my bathroom, with the tile that I hate and the wall color I detest, is my own personal refuge simply because there's a lock (installed upside down and backwards) on the door. And for 147 seconds I can have a little time to myself.

But what happens when the doors are removed?

Mine were removed for three whole days last week so they could get a fresh coat of glossy white paint. And here's what I can tell you: it wasn't so much the 147-second escapes that I missed. What I missed most was the privacy to actually use the bathroom for its No. 1 (and No. 2) purpose. Seriously, you just sort of take that for granted. No one wants to announce that they are going to use the bathroom (well, my pottie-training three-year-old does), but that's exactly what I did last week. You see, unlike my three-year-old, I don't need the cheering section.

I just need a little privacy.