My Bathroom Makeover

About 2 years ago I was fed up with my bath and decided to change it.  I was just beginning to experiment with decorative painting so I wasn't sure how everything was going to turn out but felt anything was better than what I had.

Here are the before pictures. Okay, when I look at these BEFORE pictures I ask myself, "Did it really look this bad?"

Phew, I still can't get over how horrid it looked!  Where was I?

Okay, so I started the makeover, it didn't "POP" as my sister Sharon would say, but it was a big improvement.  My biggest mistake was the paint.  I had purchased it from the "oops" section read more here about that.  I didn't like the color of the paint but to keep expense down I opted to use whatever paint I had on hand.

I painted the door frames cranberry & off-white.  The cabinet was painted off-white and then stained. The ceramic tiles above the vanity were painted using a combination of colors - brown, egg-shell & cranberry.  I'm not an artist so felt something abstract was my best bet.  Once the tiles were painted I started working on the counter top.  I primed, then used a high enamel brown paint.  Then the fun part, I took some thread and a tiny piece of sponge and started dabbing colors.  It took me several hours to get the look I was looking for but eventually I was satisfied.  I used polyurethane for the top coat.

I didn't like that the mirror was plain so decided to do a raise stencil to give it a little more definition, I also changed the faucet. 

For the second portion of the bath I wanted a nice elegant lighting fixture, but of course, money was tight so I decided to put my on thing together.  I found some trim at Home Fabric and decided to wrap it around the fixture using a glue gun.

I was quite pleased with my mini chandelier :-)

And then the closet.  My closet is extra tiny and I wasn't sure how to handle it.  After looking around the house I remembered a small bookcase in the guest bedroom that wasn't being utilized.  Decided my shoes would go perfect on it and painted it.  I moved all of the junk from the crates overhead, found two long pieces of metal and converted it into a shoe rack.

Crates stacked to station shoes & purse

This was a major makeover compared to earlier but still it didn't "Pop", I wasn't happy with it.  I'm not naturally creative so it takes a while for me to decide on what I want or how I want it.  So I decided to wait.

And wait....

Finally, a whole year later it hit me.  It was the color. I hated the color, but at the time I used what I had because I had purchased gallons of 'oops' paint that I was trying to get rid of.  So, I started skimming through magazines to identify a color I could relate to something I would be happy with.  Eventually I found it... Turquoise, I fell in love with turquoise.

Getting started all over again...

I knew I had to change the light fixture, I was proud of my mini chandelier but with a small bath I needed something a little more dramatic. Here's the new light fixture.

Plus I needed a window treatment that could make a statement.  I found some fabric from Home Fabric, the width for 110".  Bought 2 1/2 yds; cut it in half lengthwise and hung it over the rods I purchased from Kelly's.  The sheers were extremely long but rather than cut and hem (I'm extremely lazy at times) I folded it in half.  Love how it has a little pounce.

The brass vase on the tub was an afterthought.  I think it adds elegance to the whole thing.

I liked my counter I had painted, so I knew I wasn't going to change it but I decided I wanted bronze fixtures.  I looked all over and couldn't find what I wanted (or couldn't find what I could afford).  So, when I was explaining my dilemma to my sister she simply said "Why don't you paint it?" I don't need to tell you about the bells and whistles going off in my head... lol

I Primed...

 Then I painted...

I Primed

Then I painted

I decided to add detail to the door frames to make it look like wood carvings

 The stencils on the mirror were painted bronze

So, here's my bathroom and every time I look at it, it Pop's!  :-)

If you don't have money for fancy towels, you can still add some pizazz to them by using napkin rings.  I found these at Kelly's for $7.99.

 Sometimes a soap dish hanging over a tub can look, lonesome.  My son had given me a bath basket sometime ago so I decided to hang it over the soap dish and fill it with some stuff I had left over.  I like how it looks picturesque.

How many of us have a toothbrush holder that we no longer use?

I decided to dramatize it with this... yep, it's the cardboard from toilet paper.

This was my biggest problem, some years ago the plumber explained he couldn't get the shower fixture on properly for some reason or the other...

I found some trim and wrapped it around.  When you think about it I'm the only who takes a bath in my tub so who else will notice????

There wasn't very much I could do to my closet.  I repainted the crates, then added a plant to give the ceiling some height.

And then I moved my shoes from the end of the closet to the middle of the closet.  That helped to separate my clothes and keeps the closet from looking clustered.  My next step is to change all of the hangers to black.   :-)

Well while I was doing all of this I looked at my door and realized something else needed to be painted.  Yep, you're right my door knob.  The silver clashed with the bronze.  When I check out the price for a new door knob the cheapest was $20 and that was for the 'yilkie bright gold'.

 Isn't this much better?

What did I learn from this?  If you don't like something (like the paint) don't use it because you're saving money; in the long run it's your time that you're wasting; and sometimes, it's okay to take your time before making a decision.

Now, if I can do this, so can you, go LET YOUR CREATIVITY FLOW!

My Study (Computer Room)

Usually when my son is home for holiday or summer break he will help me out with painting.  First let me say, I dislike painting, but I enjoy decorative painting. So, when he's home this is a big help.  The one room I wanted to paint but was never sure about the color was my Study (Computer Room).  My biggest dilemma for this room was that it's very small but I wanted to use a dark color on the walls.  My decor for this room was to be chocolate and green.  After toying with this color combination for a few months, yes it does take me that long to decide on paint colors, I decided to take the plunge.

BEFORE

I can't believe these walls were so boring

THE WORSE PART WAS SCRAPING THOSE BORDERS OFF; IT TOOK ME  1-1/2 DAYS, AND THEN I HAD TO CAULK.

I wanted to texture the wall behind the sofa to look like concrete; I used a combination of joint compound and taupe color paint and then stippled it on the wall.  I then decided this was going to be my family wall, so I loaded the wall with family pictures (the large picture in the center is a picture my son painted in the 3rd or 4th grade).  I love that I have space for more pictures for my family.

Chocolate was added to the other two walls

This is a view of my Study leading to the Dining Room

This view leads to the Foyer

I like the contrast between the Foyer and my Study.

My biggest fear was thinking my Study would be too dark, but it had just the opposite affect, there appears to be more light and it's roomy.  Sometimes it's good to LET YOUR CREATIVITY FLOW!

My Sisters

Let me introduce you to my sisters.  Last year during the Thanksgiving Holiday we got together to play Mafia Wars ('MW').  Yeah, we're MW freaks.... well, we use to be.  Sharon doesn't play as often and I'm sometime-ish (is that a word?) Buy my older sister Teresa has become a veteran.  If you don't know anything about MW think about the Godfather, we go around robbing & fighting all day, it really helps to relieve the stress. We also gave ourselves fictitious names - Teresa is "Blast"; Sharon is "Boss Lady"; I'm "The Silencer".

Both videos were done at my sister Sharon's house - see if you can get a glimpse of her walls - not a white wall in sight.  She inspired me to get into painting. The other person I would like to introduce you to is my son Lamar he's the narrator for one of the videos.  He's been my headache for 21 years (lol).  

WE'RE JUST SETTING UP IN THIS VIDEO

VIDEO NARRATED BY LAMAR

My older nephew doesn't understand why we play MW, this was my best explanation "Most older women sit around the table playing Bridge all day; we're mafia fanatics we prefer to wipe people out!"

Moments like this don't happen often so when they do we should cherish them.  My family is my treasure; my son is my jewel.  Don't forget to take a moment to hang with your family and LET YOUR CREATIVITY FLOW!

Video of Kitchen

In my earlier blogs, I talked about my kitchen hutch and how I made over my kitchen counter and added molding to the cabinets.  Other then some minor details, and that back splash I talked about here, I think my kitchen is complete..... nah let me retrace, when you're exploring with paint and learning to become a DIYer nothing is ever complete.  So, I guess what I should say, for right now, for this month, my kitchen is complete.  When I start browsing through magazines I'll come up something else.

• If you want to see read how I did the hutch click here.  

• If you want to see the kitchen make over from the beginning click here

Here's my kitchen - the video's a little shaky; I suggest you take an aspirin before viewing to avoid a headache.  :-) 

LET YOUR CREATIVITY FLOW!

My son's room transformed

When my son was home for winter break, he asked me to decorate his room.  Well, this was a big challenge for me because neither he nor I could agree on a color scheme.  He said he wanted to draw a mural on the wall and I said fine, but as teenagers often do, he procrastinated.  After three or four days of nothing I decided to take it in my hand.  My biggest weakness is 'before' pics, I forgot to take them, but here's a short & humorous video clip I had did of us a year prior.  Get a good look at his room...  If you look hard you'll see peaks of the foyer when the walls were 'boring white'.

Hoped you enjoyed the humor... here are the after pictures:

We decided on stripes, maroon and light gray.  Because the room is small I felt stripes on all four walls would have made the room look like a jail cell, so the front & back walls are striped and the two side walls were dry brushed.

My biggest expense was the comforter set.   I bought the comforter set from Cost Right and it was selling for approx $60. I wasn't completely satisfied with the comforter, I wanted something with a little more gray, but I wanted the room completed before he left to go back to college and that didn't leave me with very much time (we were painting around the New Year Holiday)  my son was flying back to college the day after New Year.  The black lamp was around $30. I had a $50 gift certificate for Cost Right so I spent approx $40.  Kelly's generally have the best selection of blinds and thankfully they had the color I was looking for.  I love their paint selection, so I purchased my paint from them as well.    I can't locate my receipts, but in total I think I'm safe saying I spent approx $200 that would include 2 gallons of paint (gray & maroon), blinds, comforter set, lamp, paint brushes and pillows.  I'll be using my paint brushes and left over paint for future projects, so there will be some money savings later.

If you look closely at the top of the wall you can see where I stenciled straight across.  I figured that would help to add a little more interest to the wall. My son is obsessed with caps, so we decided to use his caps as the center piece for his dresser.

There are still one or two details I want to add to the room, i.e. change the white ceiling fan and perhaps add something more to the window treatment.  But still the room was completed before he headed back to college and we were both pleased with the results.

LET YOUR CREATIVITY FLOW!