A Once-“Typical New-Build” Bathroom Now Has Adorable “Eloise at the Plaza” Vibes
Trompe l’oeil paint features are trending in houses and apartments. (If you’re not savvy in French, trompe l’oeil means “deceive the eye” in French and is an apt name for painted-on architectural details in homes.) You’ll find it in this 500-square-foot studio, this Williamsburg apartment, and this charming hallway.
Another room to add to your trompe l’oeil inspiration board is Samantha Braucht’s (@littlepommelane) daughter’s bathroom. It started as a “typical new-build bathroom,” Samantha describes, and now it has the cutest pink painted details.
Hand-painted murals add some (faux) architectural charm back in.
Samantha describes the bathroom — and her entire home — before as “new construction in a pre-war building.” It was new, white, and had nothing functionally wrong with it. “It did not, however, retain any of the pre-war charm internally,” she says.
Samantha’s style has always leaned more Parisian and antique-inspired, so she put her own spin on her daughter’s bathroom. She painted pink scallops around the mirror, and then she and her husband, Drew, sketched and painted faux molding and a 2-D sconce, and scallops, all using pink paint.
It all feels “very Eloise at the Plaza,” Samantha says on TikTok, which is fitting because that’s her daughter’s name!
The makeover goes all-in on pink.
Samantha also added pink peel-and-stick tiles to the lower half of the walls, and to make it look more like real wall tile, she added chair rail trim (painted pink to match) above it. To keep things renter-friendly, she attached the trim using double-sided tape. She used miter sheers to cut the angles for the corner.
Samantha says she used five or six packs of tiles to create the look, and she recommends buying more than you think you’ll need.
She also added a pink curtain to the shower for even more pink. It’s four interior curtain panels hung using a tension rod for an elongated look; Samantha just hung a waterproof shower curtain liner to the inside from the original shower curtain rod.
The scalloped shelves were also a DIY project.
Lastly, Samantha added Anthropologie bathmats, a white storage cabinet from Facebook Marketplace, and scalloped shelves. She bought the scalloped shelves from Marshalls (in white) and gave them a striped makeover with painter’s tape and GOLDEN acrylic paints in a light pink and dark green.
For another striped makeover project of Samantha’s, check out her entryway, and check out her full home tour here.
Inspired? Submit your own project here.