Friday, December 31, 2010

Back to the Start

The very first room we made over in our house was actually the master bathroom, with it's never come clean toilet and it's rotten vanity, it had to go.  It went so fast that we didn't even take before pictures. But trust me, it was horrible.  I vowed to never use that bathroom as long as it was in that condition.  So, naturally, I used the guest bathroom.  


After a weekend away, I came home to a brand new, clean toilet and then we made a trip to Lowe's for a new vanity. The demolition of the old vanity was pretty simple, as the entire piece fell apart at the first little tug.  


We installed the new vanity and I decided that the horrible wall color (I can't even tell you what color it was) had to go.  So, I thought a nice blue color would look great with the new white vanity and countertop.  Well, let's just say, I think from that day forward, Alan will always question my color chooses.  Dang it! It's really true, he questions them every time!  


You can't blame him, I painted our bathroom the EXACT color of a Smurf. I kid you NOT! That little bathroom can not take a color as bright as what I chose.  And, why did I choose a color that bright in the first place? Don't ask. I don't know why. 

We made a trip back to the store for many, many samples to get the color I actually MEANT to paint the bathroom. Here is what we came up with. It's still a bit darker than I planned, but all in all, we like it. It's definitely livable, unlike lil 'ol smurfy. Because it was still pretty dark in the shower, even with our light colored curtain, Alan installed the recessed light you can see in this picture. 


We also added a new, beautiful light fixture to replace the old rusted fixture and I sanded and painted the mirror white, from the formerly ugly state that it was in in the guest bathroom when we moved in. 



If you can't already tell, this bathroom is pretty tiny.  So, naturally, storage became an issue.  The new vanity helped out a lot and we also installed the cabinet above the toilet to use for medicine, band aids, etc. 




For even more storage, we decided to hang a shelf above the door, since that was the only other place to store towels and washcloths.  Well, we have had the shelf there for probably a year now, and only Alan can use it effectively.  I am far too short to reach it, so in order to get a towel down, I have to stand on the toilet, then move over to the vanity and reach as high as I can without falling.  It's not very fun.  


After a trip to IKEA, and some inspiration from an episode of Sarah's House. I had the perfect additional storage solution for our bathroom. With very little counter space, there isn't room for all those little things that need to be stored close to the shower: extra soap, washcloths, etc.  So, with these hanging vases we now have everything we need within reach of the shower and sink! 


And, finally, during a trip to Target, I was browsing the bath aisle because they always have new, beautiful shower curtains (that make me want to redo entire bathrooms just to match the curtain).  Well, I came across this warm, brown curtain that had the same color that we already had in our bathroom! Perfect!
Now, anytime we are feeling like the bathroom needs a little brightening up, we can put the blue and white striped curtain back up. But, for now, the brown is warm and cozy for the cold winter months.  


Eventually, we would love to totally overhaul our bathroom, installing a tile shower, etc. But, while we're saving up our pennies, we can definitely live with our little blue bath.


Smurf image found here

7 comments:

  1. OK, I just LOVE the little holders from IKEA, so cool and your bathroom really looks awesome in these pics !!!!

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  2. Gotta love IKEA, wish our was closer than 3 hours away in Cali!! LOVE your style Amanda and love your handy guy! XO

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  3. Ours is about 3.5 hours away, which is probably for the best, because I would probably go weekly if it were close. haha

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  4. I agree with mom... the hanging vases! I think I will be clipping this and adding it to my list of ideas to use in a future house of my own! And PS love that you are making use of those awesome pics from Cancun! Mine are in my cube at work! :)

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  5. So cute! I'm totally stealing that hanging vase idea.

    Since the shelf over the door is tough to access, have you considered putting your towels on top of the shelf above the toilet?

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  6. Great bathroom! What color did you end up using and are the vanity/cabinets/lights all from Lowes? We are planning a redo in May and yours looks awesome!

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  7. Thanks Shannon! I will have to get back to you on the paint color, but yes! pretty much everything in the bathroom - toilet, vanity w/ countertop, light, and the cabinet are all from Lowe's. Thanks so much! We are pretty happy with how it turned out.

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