A Controversial Color Made This Bathroom Feel Like “A 5-Star Hotel"
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Ava Russo and her fiancé Danny updated their all-white bathroom with deep auburn paint, patterned wallpaper and brass details, while keeping features including the clawfoot tub and hexagonal floor tile. Russo told Apartment Therapy the finished room feels like a luxurious hotel, though the project’s cost and exact completion date were not reported.

Ava Russo and her fiancé, Danny, transformed their plain, all-white bathroom with deep auburn paint, patterned wallpaper and brass finishes, according to a before-and-after report by Apartment Therapy. Russo said the darker, Victorian-inspired design makes the room feel like a luxurious hotel, offering a personal example of how color and selective updates can change the feel of a bathroom.

The couple’s bathroom had little personality and no natural light, but it already included features they wanted to retain: a clawfoot tub, marble-top vanity and hexagonal floor tiles. Russo said she favored warm colors and moody rooms, and wanted the space to feel more like an experience than a purely functional room. The makeover aimed for a dark academia and Victorian look.

They added wainscoting and painted the wide beadboard panels, chair rail and window trim in Sherwin-Williams’ Dark Auburn. The vanity base was painted in the brand’s Cocoon shade. The couple also installed peel-and-stick wallpaper, replaced the window film with a leaded-glass-style version, changed the overhead lighting and switched silver fixtures to gold and brass. They resurfaced the tub and changed its plumbing while leaving the existing floor tile in place.

Russo said putting up the peel-and-stick wallpaper proved harder than she had expected. She described repeatedly removing and redoing parts of it when they did not look perfect, then said she came to see some imperfections as part of the project’s character. The couple completed the work in three weeks, according to the report, though it did not provide a project budget or a calendar date.

At a glance
reportWhen: Reported by Apartment Therapy; the orig…
The developmentApartment Therapy reported on a bathroom makeover in which DIYers Ava Russo and Danny used dark auburn paint and wallpaper to create a dramatic Victorian-inspired room.

Color and Existing Fixtures Shape the Result

The makeover illustrates one homeowner’s alternative to the common advice to use light colors in a small, dark room. Russo told Apartment Therapy she felt the opposite approach suited her taste: the deep auburn paint and layered patterns gave the bathroom the dramatic character she wanted. That is a personal response to this room, not evidence that dark colors make every small bathroom feel larger or more luxurious.

Keeping the tub, tile and vanity top also let the couple focus their work on surfaces and details that changed the room’s style. Their project shows how retaining usable fixtures can contribute to a redesign while limiting the amount of replacement work. The report does not give a cost comparison, so the scale of any savings is unknown.

A First Major Home Project

Russo described the bathroom as the couple’s first big home project. Their plan took shape around features already in the room and the style they wanted to create. The original clawfoot tub suited the Victorian direction, while the existing vanity and tile offered a base they could update rather than remove.

Apartment Therapy presented the work as a before-and-after project and noted that the couple had three weeks to finish. Russo said she later wished they had painted the ceiling too, extending the dark palette, but felt rushed to complete the job. The source does not state when the renovation took place or whether it was part of a larger home remodel.

““The goal was to have a dark, moody bathroom with a lot of character and personality to make it more of an experience than just a bathroom.””

— Ava Russo, speaking to Apartment Therapy

Budget and Project Date Were Not Given

Apartment Therapy’s report does not state how much the makeover cost, when the work was completed, or whether the couple hired help for any part of it. It also does not provide measurements or photographs in the supplied source material, so readers cannot assess the room’s dimensions or independently compare the before-and-after appearance from those details alone. Russo’s hotel comparison describes her own reaction; it is not an outside assessment of the room.

No Further Renovation Plans Reported

The report does not identify a scheduled next phase or say whether Russo and Danny plan to continue renovating the bathroom. Russo said she would have liked to paint the ceiling if the couple had taken more time. For now, the reported project is presented as complete, with the auburn-painted trim and paneling, wallpaper, updated lighting and brass details defining the finished look.

Key Questions

What color did the couple use?

They painted the beadboard panels, chair rail and window trim in Sherwin-Williams’ Dark Auburn. The vanity base was painted in the brand’s Cocoon shade.

Which bathroom features did they keep?

They kept the clawfoot tub, hexagonal floor tile and marble vanity top. The tub was resurfaced and its plumbing was changed, while the vanity base was painted.

How long did the makeover take?

Apartment Therapy reported that the couple finished the work in three weeks. It did not give the project’s calendar dates.

How much did the bathroom project cost?

The supplied report does not state a total project cost.

Source: rss

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