Little Splurges, Once a Year

Every January I treat myself to some little splurges, thanks to the birthday money burning a hole in my pocket.  I always seem to have my eye on a few specific things throughout the year that I hope will still be there for my special birthday spree.  The funny thing is, my splurges (almost always) come from Anthropologie. 

It never fails… every year after trying on some delightful little numbers in Anthropologie’s dressing room, I end up walking out of the store with things for my home instead. I like pretty clothes as much as the next girl, but I love home décor more.

This past year, my eye was on The Noble Peasant Shower Curtain.  But yikes, the price!  I couldn’t justify it until January.  Did you know if you have their Anthro card (not a credit card), they’ll send you a 15% off  coupon for your birthday month?  That eases the guilt… a little.  So, the curtain is what I walked out with this year. 

It’s romantic without looking girly.  Does that make sense?  A lovely subtle damask design sweeps the top and bottom.  The fabric is a thick linen and is lined. 

It’s quite luxurious but looks hilariously out of place in our dreadful bathroom.  Here’s the current state of things:

Do I exaggerate?  No.  We won’t be finishing the bathroom renovation for quite some time.  As silly as it seems, it’s rather nice to have something pretty hanging amidst all the ugly. 

An additional perk of shopping at Anthropologie, is that their packaging can sometimes be as sweet as the product inside.  The curtain came packaged in a zippered linen pouch… perfect to make a pillow out of.  So that’s what I did:

Two gifts in one!

Board by Board and Never Again

 

700 square feet on my knees and never again.

 
I’m still brushing stain in my sleep, so excuse the pessimism. 

So here’s the nitty gritty:

We tried a pickling stain, but found too much yellow from the wood still showed through even after two coats.  Then we tried brushing on regular white wall paint, then rubbing off the excess, but that proved too thick and had a tinge of blue. 

So finally we settled on deck stain.  After trying out several different application methods on scrap boards, we found the best solution: 1 cup of deck stain to 1/2 cup of water.  After mixing, we applied with a paint brush. 

The problem we ran into with all of the above methods was demarcation lines.  That’s why painting board by board was the only way we could figure to do it. 

Since we thinned the stain with water, we didn’t have to worry about it drying too quickly before finishing each board.  But brushing even two boards at a time, we ran into it drying, showing those irritating lines. 

When the stain for the whole room was finally completed, we followed it up by sponging on three coats of polyurethane in satin.  That part was a breeze comparatively.

We  like the end result.   In fact, it’s exactly the look we were after.  But. “Never again!”

Although… those are the very same words I uttered after a very hard labor with my first baby.   And we all know how that worked out in the end.  Which probably means a lot more whitewashing in our future. ;)

Refresh

I always knew deep down inside that my wild-for-me bohemian bathroom would never last. 

And I was right.  It was just too, well… wild for me. 

Farewell fancy skirt, hello wicker basket.

The enameled “flower box” is now holding some seashells and mixed with the Dash and Albert rug, it’s all looking rather beachy.  Which must mean I’m ready for summer.

One thing I hadn’t shared before, was the copper pipe we integrated into the sink base. I love that we can see it now.  I think it adds a clean, industrial element.

A fresh change, for the time being.

Knock Off

If you are anything like me, you’ve probably drooled over the vintage inspired faucet line from Restoration Hardware.  But the prices!  That sort of craziness is not happening around here.  So, when it came time to replace the faucet for our new (old) sink, I went on a search for a Restoration look-alike. 

I found it!  

And I love it!

The knobs are delightfully chunky, and the spout comes  far enough forward for practical use (the one thing lacking in our last faucet). 

But best of all, it was cheaper than the off-the-shelf varieties at the big box stores.  I found it here at Overstock.com.  Just had to share!

Master Bath Makeover

Hello! I'm so excited to share our master bathroom makeover with you today! My goal was to spend as little as possible but with a big impact. I'm pleased with the results and hope you like it to.

Let's start from the beginning with the BEFORE pictures.

Just a standard bathroom that we have done nothing to in the almost 4 years we've lived in our house.

Our master bath is in the "new" part of our house. We have a new addition that was added probably 6-7 years ago by the old homeowners. They added on 3 bedrooms, master bath and basement garage. We heart our house.

Lots of wood begging me to paint!

And here it is today!

Good-bye wood! Hello calm and serenity!

Wall Color: Silver Setting-Behr

Trim/Vanity/Cabinet color: Delicate White-Pittsburg

Photos are pretty random. But I'll explain as we go.

I decided to make the knobs, fixtures and such silver in this room. I tend to go for oil rubbed bronze...but I thought I would change it up in here. I was inspired by the light fixture that was already here when we moved in. It's silver but there is some glaze work to it.

So I got out my magic paint.

And glaze...color is asphalt. I've had this for years and it's finally almost gone. A small amount goes a long way!

I got brass knobs and pulls from EcoStores Nebraska for 25 cents each. Cheap!

I gave them a good cleaning. Primed. Spray paint silver. Add some glaze.

I love the look!

I then added a sealer, just for a little protection in the moist environment.

I kept the old towel and toilet paper holder. They were a shiny silver before and did the same treatment as I did to the knobs and pulls. They are a spitting image of the light fixture finish!

For the mirrors, I decided not to put back the "builder mirror" that was there before. I decided to use 2 $1 each garage sale mirrors I got this summer.

Before

I primed them and then added Oil Rubbed Bronze.

We don't have his and hers sinks but now we have his and hers mirrors. :)

I love that they don't match.

The yellow was an unexpected accent color. I found this FAB shower curtain at Target on clearance for $7!

I love the paisley design.

To the cabinet and and vanity, I sanded them down and added Early American Stain for a little aging. I did spray them with the Sealer Spray as well.

The gap up top looked unfinished so we added trim around the area to make it look like it was part of the cabinet.

I used some thrifty frames for decor. They ranged from 19 to 50 cents. They originally came in all different colors: gold, silver, wood, red. I primed them and painted them heirloom white (I forgot to take a picture of the can).

I painted a simple pumpkin on muslin.

Very easy.

I got some scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby. This makes for easy and cheap artwork.

I love the color of this one.

An easy towel rack I made with 30 cent old trim and 10 cent hooks.

I added a little white paint to it after some cleaning and sprayed some sealer on it, just seal the chippy paint.

The plate was FREE!

Here's a close up the painted/distressed wood.

Even painted the door. It took several coats but well worth it!

I did most of the work myself but hubby did the crown molding. That was my biggest expense of the room but it added so much.

Details...the black box was from the Hobby Lobby Clearance isle for $4 I think. Kind of expensive for me but I like it. :)

I stole the vase from our other bathroom to add some more splash of yellow.

The curtain I made from 2 pale yellow napkins that I got on sale at Target. I used hot glue...my way of sewing.

The platter I got for $1 at a garage sale.

The bottles were $1 each at a garage sale.

I even painted the brass door knob.

I used these.

And that's our new bathroom. Besides getting a new makeover, it got a good cleaning from head to toe, so it feels brand new as well.

I hope you enjoyed the tour. Thank you so much for stopping by!

  










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