Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Mini Bathroom Reveal

 
I am finally getting around to showing you the bathroom.  I call it a mini reveal because really, there just isn't that much to it. It's a small room and difficult to photograph because of the constrained spaces and low light, I'm really thrilled with the way it looks now though and I wanted to show you our low budget makeover.  You can see the before photo's here.  It's pretty sad when you are the creator of your own before photos. I liked the bath when I repainted back in 2009, but even though I still love color I am in the process of toning it down a bit and getting my color from accessories rather than in such large expanses as the walls. It's a calmer feeling and for this little cottage it seems the best way to lighten and brighten. 
This first photo is taken from the doorway. Yes I kept the toile curtain. I realize that a lot of people have moved on from toile but I still love it. The curtain was made from 5 yards of fabric I picked up at a garage sale for the whopping price of $5. I grabbed it, paid for it and ran before the seller realized she was giving it away:>) I have used that 5 yards for several projects over the years and this may be my favorite. The little grey wicker house is filled with toilet tissue. It was found at a garage sale and used to be green. I freshened it up with a coat of dark grey spray paint. I love the quirky little thing.
The floor in the bath used to be grey tile. We put this bath in when we added on over 25 years ago and within a short amount of time I regretted it. Grey goes with everything...but it was just too dull in this low light, north facing room. Since we had no idea what we were doing in our 20's when we put it in, it eventually started to crack and lift and we finally tore it out for this remodel and replaced it with Allure vinyl. I love it.  It is actually hard to tell the difference between the Allure and the dark hardwood we had installed in the room just outside the bath.  I would recommend this product to anyone.  You can also see the pretty antique window that we use for privacy. It was one of our splurges and I love it. We installed beadboard and you may be surprised that while I hated the grey tile, I actually painted the upper wall a soft grey. What can I say? I am an enigma wrapped in a mystery sometimes, but somehow the very light grey paired with all the white just seems so clean and much less noticeable than the dark grey tile that was on the floor. We still have dark grey tile in the shower. That may get replaced a little bit down the road, but for now I just close the curtain.
The thing I love most is the vanity.

 We went to Home Depot and Lowe's looking for vanities and I liked one like this...it's solid wood and costs $1,775.00. 
 
Instead, I hit Craig's List and found this lacquered black buffet with raised Chinese figures on it for $75.  Did I think to get a before photo? No. We were too busy scraping the raised figures off. We painted it white, stripped and sanded and sealed the top with marine varnish and removed the side doors in favor of baskets to hold everything we use every day.  My hot rollers and hair things are in one basket, hairdryer and curling irons in another, and various beauty products (one for me, one for Victoria) are in the other two.  The center drawers are now just dummy drawers because of the plumbing, but there is lots more storage behind the center doors and in the upper drawers on the sides.  And we saved $1,700!  Since we saved so much on the vanity we felt free to spend a little more on a fancy sink, which I also love. The pull out mirror came from Amazon and can not be beat for putting on make-up, plucking stray brows or shaving.  We removed the old light fixtures and put simple pendants on each side of the sink. Great light and so pretty. They were paid for with a Lowe's gift card I won from a blogger. I believe the mirror was also from Lowe's and I like the farmhouse feel of it.
I bought some soft aqua towels for a little color, but I think it needs a little more so I will keep looking for a bright accent color to add. The thing I love most is that I am free to add any color I like and change things up! The plain background has a nice farmhouse feel and frees me to change out towels and accessories at will. And that's it!  Progress on the kitchen continues to be made.  We are in the process of doing some painting and I hope to have it done some time this month:>)
Do you have any spring projects in the works?

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21 comments:

  1. This is just beautiful Kathy...I am so envious!! I have a small bath and would love to add the paneling like this. Just perfect, And how wonderful! Your sink is gorgeous!
    I too love my toile. I have blue toile in my bathroom and I refuse to part with it!
    Love,
    Sue

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  2. I am never parting with my toile items either. I craved them for years and I am keeping them as long as I want!!! Your bath came out so pretty, enjoy it!

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  3. So many tips in this that I started taking notes to include a demo of putting in Allure flooring at You Tube. ☺

    Completely charming room! And I am so glad that you kept the toile...I'm still loving toile and I'm also glad that you still have that sweet toilet paper roll caddy. That is the cutest thing!

    And I must say that what you did with the buffet is inspired. Just beautiful.

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  4. Kathy, I love every single thing you did in this bath! First I still love toile and always will. Still have it in the guest room. I love how you made over that piece of furniture to create that beautiful vanity!

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  5. I love it Kathy. I have two small bath redo's in the future and you have inspired me to get moving. We installed that same flooring in our main bath and in my craft studio and it has been wonderful. I didn't want to use hard wood in the bathroom or my studio because of moisture issues and I agree the high quality vinyl blends beautifully with the wood floors in the rest of the house. Great job!

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  6. I love how you redone your bathroom for a minimum amount of money. That surely feels good. That is something I have learned through bloggers is to repurpose and make do with little money. It's fun! And then you can do more! Spring projects ~ I'm getting all my many recipes that I've printed off before Pinterest came along and organizing them.

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  7. It looks beautiful. We are doing ours next year and you have given me some ideas for our bathroom.

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  8. Very nice Kathy...love the vanity from Craigslist smart idea!

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  9. Kathy
    It looks fabulous. I bet you sigh every time you walk into your new bathroom!

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  10. Your vanity is just awesome...you did an incredible job with it! Did I forget to mention that I love the whole room? Ha! I never would have thought to have looked on Craig's List. What a great idea. The mirror is perfect, too.

    I love toile. I have a pink toile shower curtain! And your floor looks terrific. The window is very pretty, too. All in all...love it!!

    XO,
    Jane

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  11. I love what you did with the vanity! Looks very expensive to me. Great soothing color and I love the toile! Good job!

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  12. Love, love, love it Kathy! Good to hear that you like the Allure - it's something I'm considering for our hall bathroom. Love the dresser turned vanity the countertop is beautiful!

    So funny to check out your old post and see that I posted a comment with my old blog! 2009!! where has the time gone?

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  14. Ooo! I know you are enjoying that! Very nice.

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  15. Ooo! I know you are enjoying that! Very nice.

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  16. Your 'new' bathroom is wonderful! I love the farmhouse look you accomplished on a low budget. Thanks for the info about Alure - we are about to put it in my creative room/office. I love the way it looks and I've heard such good things about it.
    ~Adrienne~

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  17. Wow your bathroom looks great. How did I miss this post? I still love toile too and don't blame you at all for keeping it. Love the beadboard and that bathroom vanity y'all made is wonderful! I really like that sink.

    Thanks for your sweet comment on my curtains. Did you know you are popping up as a No Reply Blogger now? I don't remember that happening before.

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  18. So beautiful! I don't think toile ever goes out of style. I love it!

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  19. What a beautiful bath...how did I miss that post? Well, glad to be here now.
    I adore your chest...just as much as the high dollar one..and I know you are more proud of it.
    I don't know if I'll ever get this new place like I'd like it..I know I won't until we get the living room painted...hoping to do it before winter. Going to hire it done...the tall ceilings, stairs and etc makes us a bit nervous.

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Thank you for taking the time to say hello :)