The Teensy Weensy Bathroom Makeover

Hello Friends!

So, today's post will be about my kid's teensy weensy bathroom makeover. This small space is shared by my kiddos ages 4,9 and 14 as well as our house guests when they come to visit. I didn't want to decorate their bathroom in a kiddie theme, instead I opted to do something that is more modern and grows WITH them as they get older. In our previous home our children had the cutest colorful kid bathroom ever! It was THEIR space and it did not double as a guest bath because we had a guest bathroom downstairs. Now our home has only 2 bathrooms, verses the 4 that we use to have. (not complainin', just explainin' lol) Did I mention that their bathroom is the size of my daughter's walk-in closet from our previous home? I tried to find a happy medium by injecting my kid's favorite colors as well as their favorite things into the space while adding certain elements that I love. I still have some tweaking to do to the space, but so far we are off to a great start.

The Kid's Requests
my son (my 9yr old) wanted grey walls and loves the beach
my daughters both love green 
my oldest daughter (my 14 yr old) loves shiny nickel plated accessories 
my youngest daughter (my 4 yr old) LOVES the beach and flowers. 

Let's begin with the horrible before pictures. *FYI* I decided to take these pictures while emptying out the space, so please forgive the bare walls and lack of decor :)

 I'm sure you have all seen this shower curtain before. I loved the colors and actually designed the space around the colors in the shower curtain.

 Here is the teeny tiny counter space, and the mirror that drove me completely batty because it was way to wide for the space above the sink. The sign says wash your hands (when you have kids they forget to do this, so it's a nice reminder) That hideous brown light fixture got a small makeover. Did I mention how much I dislike that cheesy light fixture? Grrrr

 Notice the OOOOH-GLY (ugly) wall slat...one question. WHY????

Here is that "oooooh-gly" wall slat's evil twin. Double WHY?????

So, now that we have visited the before phase of this makeover...On to the AFTER (almost). 

Ready?

Set.

Go!!

POOF BE GONE! Ooooooh-Gly wall slat no more! I just used drywall tape and joint compound. I was so scared that this wouldn't work people...I'm talkin' shakin' in my boots scared! But to my surprise it worked like a charm :)

Here is the "twin slat wall" Smooth as butta! 

Buh Bye Rusty colored light fixture. I can't wait until I learn how to replace light fixtures completely! I'm sure it's not hard...

And here is the mirror that I decided to go with. I've always loved oval mirrors and this one is the perfect scale for this space. I got it from Ross for $20.00 :) Check out my bead board wall in the background. *swoon*

Here is the beadboard wall. You may notice that they are going vertical and horizontal, well there is a reason for it. I got this beadboard for free on craigslist, great right? Well, yes and no...YES, because it was BRAND NEW in the package and it's beadboard (which I have a major design crush on LOL) NO, because it was the short version and I prefer a more taller version. So, my solution to the problem was to install it this way. I thought it felt a bit busy, but honestly it doesn't bother me at all. AND I got the height that I was going for. AND, let's face it, it was FREEEEE! :)

Here are three white small shelves that I re-used in the space. They were once brown, I just painted them white. I LOVE the fresh clean look of them now. *S.N.* I decided to flip the shelves over (upside down) because I could not get them flush to the wall to save my life! They had a slight slant that drove me nuts!


Ready for the AFTER with Decor?


Well keep on scrolling down.....goodness is on it's way! LOL

 I wish I could give you the EXACT name of the paint color, but I have a confession...I made the color myself. I mixed the previous bathroom paint color which was Tropical Waterfall by Dunn-Edwards with black Behr paint. I just added the black paint little by little, stirring between additions, until I got the desired color that I wanted. In my opinion, the best greys have a small hint of blue in the background. The color isn't as true in the pictures, but I hope you get the idea.

 Notice my small light fixture makeover? Told you it was a small one, but it looks much better now :) The shelves were flipped upside down, I think it gives them a little more pizzazz. Notice that I added in some beach elements with the starfish and sand dollar photos that i got for $1.99 at a discount store in my city, they were originally $15.99 ( from Bed, Bath and Beyond). All of the nickel plated accessories are from Ross; the Shell shaped one was $5.99 and the Coral style ball on the top shelf was $3.99. The vase on the countertop was $2.99. It's sitting on an old candle holder that I painted black.

 The other two pictures with the green font were done on my computer.

 I added 3 pictures of the kids playing in the sand at the beach, along with hooks for each of their towels. The silver frames were $.99 from Ross and the matte's are really place mats that I purchased from Target for about $1.00 each. The shower curtain is also from Target for $10.00 (on clearance) *S.N* The door and  vanity cabinet will be painted black. I will also be adding beadboard to the side of the vanity.

We still need to add crown molding and replace the shower curtain rod with a nickel/chrome one.

 Painters tape is still on the wall because the vanity will be getting a makeover soon.

 Still have to touch up those nail holes with paint.

Before

After

I hope that you enjoyed my Teensy Weensy bathroom makeover. I'll post more pics once this space is complete. Enjoy your Wednesday :)

Linking to:


My Uncommon Slice Of Suburbia
Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesday
Thrifty Decor Chick-September Before and After Party
DIY By Design-Sizzle Into Summer
Coastal Charm-Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
The Shabby Creek Cottage
Domestically Speaking - Power Of Paint Party
The DIY Showoff -Project Parade

Just Thought I'd Share...

Hello Friends!

I have had such a busy weekend! But I LOVE to keep myself busy, especially when I'm doing something creative. I made a few of these cuties (which I'm sure you've all seen before):

This Diaper Cake comes with 100 size 1 diapers, and is STUFFED with lots of "baby goodies" inside. I prefer more of a "Boutique Style" Diaper Cake, as do my clients. I think the other styles (where they attach all of the "baby goodies" in more visible fashion) are fun too, but I'm drawn to the ones that have a more clean look :) I had to make 5 of these for baby shower centerpieces, and the mommy-to-be was so happy when I delivered them to her that she cried! (and so did my cry-baby self...what can I say, I'm a cry-er lol!) It was special to her because due to the fact that her father was unable to make it to her baby shower, and instead of me taking the opportunity to shamelessly plug add my business name somewhere on the cake, I added a cute poem from her father, and when she read it she cried and thanked me :) It was sweet...

I enjoy making these! They are so much fun! Which brings me to this;

Don't you agree? Hope you all had a wonderful Weekend!

A "taste" Of My Kitchen Makeover-Budget Savvy Style

Hello Friends!!

I have a few pictures that I would like to share with you of my budget savvy Kitchen makeover. Honey chile let me warn you, the before pictures are a hot mess! Quite terrifying if you ask me. LOL! We are FAR from finished with our Kitchen, but I wanted to share with you how something as simple as a can of paint can take an atrocity of a room, to fabulosity all in the matter of a couple of hours. I am so indecisive when it comes to choosing paint colors for the walls, so I have yet to decide on a color for the kitchen, so please bare with me. Also, I still need to decide on:
a blacksplash
countertops
new light fixtures
purchase new stove
purchase new above range microwave
purchase new dishwasher
And install wainscoting in the eating area
Remember, I am going for a Coastal look in my home, so I want to execute it right. For now here is a start to our transformation. I hope you don't have nightmares due to my horrific before pictures (lol). You might have to sleep with a nightlight after viewing these (haha). Enjoy!

 See, told ya! Hotmess.org! LOL

 My kitchen lacks storage, so hubby and I are going to add either a peninsula where that iron bakers rack is to extend out the counter tops and add more lower cabinet space, or add another pantry cabinet.

 I don't understand for the life of me why the builder chose to add those GAH AWFUL tiles above the microwave. (UPDATE: Those tiles are now painted out black to blend in with the rest of the cabinetry. My OCD  eyes couldn't take seeing that horrible rectangle of awkward tiles anymore)

 I forgot to snap a before shot of this side of the kitchen. Trust me you aren't missing anything, it was just as horrific as the other before pics. (UPDATE: Big Bertha (What? You don't name your 'fridge? lol) finally kicked the bucket so she is no longer with us. We miss her late night weird loud noises  songs that she use to sing to us while we were trying to sleep. And she was such a jokester, she would chill our food one day, and the next day she would take a break from work. Honey chile, she did this for about a week. So we had to part ways with her. Her attitude was a mess! We now have one of those cute 'Fridge-on-top-freezer-on-bottom style refrigerators. The only thing is...it's white! My little heart was set on stainless, but since those are special order only for the size we wanted, and I couldn't wait for 2 weeks for it, I had to take what was in stock (*insert sad face*)...OH well, work with what you have right?

 I added the lights just to see what it would look like, but I am going to purchase a more slim under cabinet lighting, and also add trim around the bottom of the upper cabinets to hide the under cabinet lighting. I also added a china cabinet where the iron bakers rack use to be. It will live there temporarily.

I want to knock down those upper cabinets to the left to open up the space a bit more, but I'm starting to think I should take off the doors and do some cool open shelving to house my purrrty dishes, or have glass put in the center of the doors, or perhaps chicken wire. I don't know....we'll see what I come up with.

I hope you enjoyed my budget savvy Kitchen Makeover.

Design Crimes - Bay Window Molding Fake Out

Hello All!


Welcome to my Blog. This is my VERY FIRST post and I am (EEEEEK) excited! So, today's post will be all about a Crime I committed. Not a REAL crime silly, a Design Crime. What's a Design Crime you ask? Well, a Design Crime is when you break the rules of Design by cutting corners, and think outside of the box to make the design work for your pocketbook you! For example, making a Capiz Shell inspired Chandelier out of Wax Paper- this totally breaks a Design rule and is totally thinking outside of the box, not to mention it's EASY on the pocketbook. See how it works? This installment will be the 1ST of many more Design Crimes that I'm sure I will be committing while on my quest to transform my "cookie cutter" home into a crisp and airy Coastal Bungalow. Oh, did I mention that my favorite color is black and I live in the desert? Yes honey chile, the scorching hot desert! I am surrounded by Joshua Trees, tho I long for the shadiness of Palms. A girl can dream can't she? lol.  I'm sure that we are all guilty of committing Design Crimes, I hope that you will share some of yours, but for now on to mine.

I adore Molding! Especially nice chunky molding. Well, my pocketbook wasn't feeling so chunky considering I had just finished tackling the ever popular "Board and Batten" treatment in my hallway, living room, dining room and not to mention a complete makeover in my kid's bathroom. (I'll be sharing those photos with you soon) I was left with a few pieces of door casing from those projects so I thought it would be a great idea to beef up the bay windows in my kitchen. Wanna take a walk on the wild side and commit this Design Crime too? Well, here's what I did:

 Step 1: Cut Door Casing to desired height. In my case I want my windows to appear taller than they really are so I cut mine 2 or 3 inches taller than my window. I attached with liquid nails and a couple of nails (countersinking them) 

 Step 2: Repeat on the other side.

 Step 3: Measure out each window section and attach the casing on top of the casing piece from (from step 1) and work your way over. (be sure to level)

Step 4: Attach your last piece, and then step back and admire your work. (hehe) I allowed this to dry overnight, and then painted it the next morning. When you paint it out it gives the illusion of taller windows with beefed up molding. Now I am no expert, and I do not know if this is the correct way of doing this, but I am pleased with the results! I still have a few nooks and crannys to fill in, but for the most part I am satisfied. 

(You won't believe the condition this FREE table was in when I rescued it. I'll save that for another post. I'm on the hunt for fabric to recover the seats and YES I joined the "paint your doors black group" HAHA! I LOVE it)

What do you think? Will you try this in your home?


Hope you enjoyed my 1st installment of Design Crimes.