Any bathroom I thought of as "understated but interesting" had all the same boring fixtures that all bathrooms have, but they made a statement with lime green towels, or a wall mural behind the tub, or something that really showed their style.

Go to houzz.com and search for "gray vanity" to get some ideas.

Are the walls tiled? Or painted? What kind of off-white are you working with? Is it creamy? Are the rest of the fixture true white?

Are the walls just dry wall or tiled or?

One possibility is to use wallpaper on the walls. That could introduce a lot of color and pattern. Or you could paint the walls a color.

My impulse would be to consider something other than grey for the vanity. If you want something interesting and different and you are putting the work in to painting it anyway. . . .

I second Weedy's suggestion to check out all the photos on Houzz.com

I know nothing about gel stain but have heard other use it with success on their old cabinets for an updated look. I third the suggestion to check out Houzz pictures for inspiration.

Hey! IâÂÂm in about the same boat ��" 90s house with orange oak and brass everywhere. My master bath is all carpet too!!!! IâÂÂve been planning my master bath remodel for a while now and hope to get it done in the next month or so.
A while back I painted my oak kitchen cabinets. I picked a soft gray color (BM Cumulus cloud). I thought about painting my bathroom vanity because itâÂÂs 72â and hard to find a cheap replacement because itâÂÂs set between two walls. Anyway, IâÂÂm getting a new vanity because our current one is super low and I want a standard height vanityâ¦

Share some pics if you can! Remember to go with things you like, not with what others suggest.

This post was edited by MrsShayne on Fri, Jan 23, 15 at 22:13

I've been re-thinking this. Now I'm leaning towards not re-tiling. The bathroom currently has pinky/peachy mable-y looking tiles. It's not my favorite but I don't hate them and I think I can work with them and save a lot of money to redirect to our kitchen remodel.

If I keep the pinky/peachy tiles, I'm leaning towards staining the cabinets a rich brown. I think GF Java would be too dark so I would go a little lighter.

Now I'm agonizing about paint. I've seen some light blue/green colors on google that look nice with peachy pink tile floors. Any suggestions for paint color? I'd like to get a few samples and try them on the walls while I work on the vanity.

I love pink and brown together. and I love pink and green together. Downton Abby's drawing room has a nice combo of pink and green that is lovely.

This May or may not help. It's a link someone gave me for working with pink/beige tiles.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pink beige

Thanks! That's very helpful.