I am so sorry, but I really love your bathroom! :) Atleast it has a "theme" to it, kind of Jetsons meets PowderPuff Girls...I think the key here is keeping your contrasting colors down, there's too much movement going on in the floor and the vanity to really allow the eye to take it all in...I would either go with a charcoal grey color about 1/4 the actual color on the vanity, or I'd go a shade or two lighter than the blue...you could go very neutral with a hint of grey in it and then use a really natural material that has the grey in it....I think the key to bathrooms is limiting your contrast colors to two and then using a lighter/darker shade of one of the two to complement, here's a blue bathroom that uses blues/yellow and lighter blues...
http://www.southernliving.com/southern/da/result/0,24880,783057,00.html?&Rooms=RoomsBathrooms&offset=132&tab=Rooms

I think it would be neat to paint it a lighter blue then use your shower curtains to bring in the vanity, a neat toile in greys..something solid like a textured cloth that will have highlights of silver thread or something...I wish I could draw it out for you, but hopefully something might click...
Tara

How cool to find that tile under the carpet! Tough colors to work with, but not impossible. I did some quick doodles for you. Not that I am recommending anything, just so you could see different color families on the wall and perhaps it would steer you to something you like. If there is a particular shade you'd like to see, let me know. Or, if you'd like to remove the shower curtain and rug and retake the photo, I can do these over to give you a better view of how paint and tile work 'bare bones', without accessories.

Coral

Creamy Gold

Spring Green

smoky periwinkle

sand

soft creamy yellow undertones

brighter blue

I wanted to see how a lime would look. This is a Nickelodeon color, the name is Atomic Vomit Green, LOL :-)

A blue nearer the shade of the tile

soft gray

WOW!!! That was great. I took some pictures sans all the bathroom decor and the shower curtain. Maybe it would be easier to picture the new color without all those distractions.

Work your magic!

Very nice choices...another idea is a violet tone...

I like the idea of a really pale grey - you do have a lot going on with that vanity with its lines. I have a similiar issue with peachy pink fixtures. I am going to go with a pale aqua to go with an accent tile in the wall.

BTW, there are sources for odd color matching toilets seat online. They send a whole rainbow of sample colors to check against the toilet itself. Let me see if I can find it...

Can you take down the dark shower curtain and replace with something white so the light can come through and the doors will be hidden? I would try to get a blue to match the vanity as close as possible and also paint the toilet seat the same as the wall color. That white clashes. Is there anyway thd vanity can be painted white? That would make a huge difference. I think it's the reason the white toilet seat stands out so much. Even painted black, I think it would look better than what it is now.

Post your photo's on the decorating forum. Those folks have tons of ideas.

OK, I have done a dizzying array of combinations. (To me anyway, started at 5 am. with no caffeine yet! So if I colored outside the lines, that's why ;D ) Just trying colors here and there, maybe you can find something that suits your taste/budget. That vanity could be funky looking painted a solid color due to its texture, but just for kicks I changed it to white and black. I also stayed with one photo that incorporates all elements (wall, vanity, tub, tile, etc.)

There are so many photos, I'll just post a few here, but you can see oodles at the entire album here. Click on a photo for full size. (Please let me know if you can't see the album for some reason.)

Any particular combination you want to see (e.g. white vanity and specific wall color) just let me know, it's all saved. Oh, almost forgot, in many photos I painted your toilet seat as close a match as I could get to the blue tank so you could see how that looks ;)
Black Vanity Lt Blue Walls

White Vanity Butter Walls

Original Vanity Lime Walls

Here is a link that might be useful: Many More Here: ellenj's virtual album

Oh my God! These are wonderful. I tried painting the wall opposite the vanity yesterday with a greyish blue. I'm still deciding if I like it. Can you try a chocolate brown? Or a taupe? That seems to be everyone's choice but it may be too dark.

I love the vanity painted but its not wood. Its formica. Gotta love the 60's! I tried painting a vanity in my ugly powder room (wood look) and it turned out OK but not the best. I'd be afraid the kids would be very hard on it and chip the paint, therefore making it look worse than it is!

What program are you using? Is it easy?

Having "vintage" blue bathroom (and also a pink one) this has been a fun read. The first thing I noticed in all the pictures with a white seat is the seat. The toilet would seem to be the last thing you'd want to call attention to. But the white does just that. Luckily, blue seats are still easy to find.

Actually its a nice bathroom, vanity and all. Your shower curtain and picture above toilet look nice, and of all the mock-ups I liked the blue walls best. Not as jarring as the others, thus making your vanity an accent.

Wish I'd been fortunate enough to find those nice tile floors! Sandy

hey ellen,
The software I used is Lowe's and Ben Moore. Lowe's is best for giving 'truer' colors and has a zoom feature when you're outlining what you want to paint. BM does not (unless they've updated and added a zoom). BM however, has lots more color choices. (There are no "true" reds or blacks in Lowe's, because it's only Lowe's specialty lines, such as Eddie Baer, Nick, Seaside Retreat, Laura Ashley, etc. Does not include their huge American Traditions line of colors.) Pittsburg also makes easy to use software with a wide color selection. Lowe's and Pittsburg run smooth on my PC, BM software wants to hang & crash. Maybe it's been improved, I've had my copy for a couple years. Oh, Lowe's is cheapest, $7. Paid $10 for PPG, and BM I paid $15 but later saw coupons for the software for free in home and gardening magazines around holidays (probably one out now for Labor Day).

OK, here are two of your requests, a deep chocolate and mid level taupe. The other three are posted at your album. I also did a deeper chocolate, a mid chocolate and a lighter taupe. (Like those colors, btw!)

Deep Choc

Med Taupe

Here is a link that might be useful: Ellen's album

I've been following your post and have been amazed to see all the wonderful possibilities that Moonshadow has come up with for you! I was leaning toward the blues and greys, but now seeing the browns and taupes, I've changed my opinion!

I like the medium taupe, deep chocolate, and I think Moonshadow had another one posted in your album called Coffee Bean, or something like that? To me, the browns and taupes look rich and really pull in the color of your vanity. And just having the two color families simplifies things in a small room.

I also vote for the last one (medium taupe) or whatever light brown/taupe matches your vanity. Nothing is wrong with the vanity color, why go into trouble re-painting it?

Moon, you are a magician!

I agree those are nice too. You've got nice choices for many paintings to come, whenever you want a change.

Moon, you really are a magician. Thanks from all of us enjoying this thread. Sandy

Just noticed on e-bay someone selling vintage pepto bismal bath tub, sink, toilet. Why don't you click in and follow. If you learn you can get a good price for your blue fixturs, you might be able to sell them and redo your bath in white. Just a thought.

Moonshadow -- By any chance, is the "smoky periwinkle" that you used a PPG color? Or a particular color in some other brand? I wasn't sure if you were using the PPG or BM color viewer for these. I'm trying to find a color like that for my bathroom. Thanks!

Hi nicole,
I used Lowe's software here, it just seems to do virtual colors better. 99% of the time I jot the paint colors in the photo name and this time I didn't do it. (They typically are not accurate to real life, best to find a color that works in virtual then find a real life swatch in that family and test it ;) I have PPG software and somewhere I have a PPG Fan deck (probably buried in my car somewhere, I've been working on a rental) and can verify for sure PPG software is not close to real life.

This is pretty dark but I did my (small) upstairs bath in PPG Heliotrope four years ago. It's a smoky mid-level purple. Probably much darker than you want?

If you'd like me to doodle around with your paint colors, you can post a pic here or email me one ;)

Moonshadow, thanks for your reply and for your offer to play with some colors for me! I'm about to run out now, but I'll either post some pics here or email you later on.

Heliotrope looks beautiful in your bathroom. I think the color I need is more blue though. I've been looking at Smoky Blue, Aster Petal and Twinkle Blue. Smoky Blue looks perfect except in the mornings...when it morphs into Smurf Blue. :) And none of these colors look anything like they do in the PPG online viewer. I worked from the fan deck. I'm not sure how to get away from that giddy blue that's coming out in the morning light. I tried the muted/greyed version of Smoky Blue (Aster Petal), but that makes the color look more green.

I'll post/send pics a bit later. Thanks again!

Thanks for posting this Nicole, and for all the help with the paint pictures, Moonshadow! I also have a blue bathroom, but in addition to the fixtures add blue tile halfway up the walls, blue tile floor and blue 'marble' resin countertop and sink! I definitely have the blues with that bathroom. Right now the walls are white but I have thought about butter yellow, your magic software really helped!!

I came across this picture on justgotabme's page and it reminded me of your bathroom so I wanted to post it.

Laurie

Here is a link that might be useful: blue/black bathroom

Could you remove the shower doors if you don't like them? I have a friend that removed his.

I think a wooden toilet seat would look better then the white one.