Bathroom redo

I've started working on my spare bathroom to get it together before the holidays.  Nothing fancy because I don't have the funds ;-) just some nice clean lines.  Presently the wall tile is soft yellow & beige; the soap dish & towel racks are yellow; and the walls were sponge painted an apple green.

This is what you don't see


      Cracked tile

Soap on the ceiling - when my son was much younger he swore he didn't know how it got up there.

Rust forming at bottom of tub

Here's what I want to do:

• Paint the wall
• Paint the wall tiles
• Paint the vanity
• Frame the mirror
• Put caulking at base of tub
• Change the faucets & lighting fixture
• Scrape soap off the ceiling
• Change window treatment and accessories

I decided to keep the walls green but went with September Song, a very light green and for the tiles I decided on Glacier Ridge a creamy white.

I purchased a gallon of September Song for the walls, but for the tiles I decided on making homemade chalk paint ("HCP") so I only purchased a quart of Glacier Ridge.


I painted the tiles with 2 coats of HCP.  It's kinda humid over here so I gave it two days to dry completely and then waxed it with minwax finishing paste wax.  The hardest part was waxing the tiles, the tiles are white and the wax is white which made it difficult to see what areas were or weren't waxed, however, I'm happy with the end product.  Simple, clean and refreshing!

tiles painted white with homemade chalk paint

walls light green/tiles painted white with homemade chalk paint

Tiles painted white with homemade chalk paint

The towel rack, soap dish, toothbrush holder were all painted

tiles painted white with homemade chalk paint

tiles painted white with homemade chalk paint

I caulked all of the cracks before painting

    Before

cracked ceramic tile

   After

Complete

• Paint the wall
• Paint the wall tiles
• Paint the vanity
• Frame the mirror
• Put caulking at base of tub
• Change the faucets & lighting fixture
• Scrape soap off ceiling
• Change window treatment & accessories

I'm working on my vanity now, however, it's so humid here, it's taking forever for the paint to dry.  So until next time LET YOUR CREATIVITY FLOW!

No more Borders!

Most of my rooms had borders put up some years ago, so although the rooms were in need of an upgrade just the thought of taking all of those borders down tired me.  Thankfully, when my son was home he relieved me of that duty.... Not only did he take down the borders he also caulked, primed and painted the moldings for me.  Ummm, perhaps next year I can coax him into putting up some crown molding.  This was a lot of work and I don't need to say how happy I was that he took on the chore, it's amazing how much brighter the rooms look.   

Bathroom w/borders

          Bathroom w/o

Now ready for an upgrade

Living Room w/borders                        
(I know, maybe I should have waited to paint my brick wall)

WORK IN PROGRESS

It's amazing how much he can knockout with music blasting in his ear (smile)

Everything looks so much brighter; pondering new window treatment

Dining Room w/borders

I'm sure you remember my chandelier from my last posting

Now I can begin working on my "Imagine the Impossibilities Challenge"

 

When I did my foyer some years ago, I loved this finish!  What was I thinking?

    It's all primed and ready to drink up some fresh paint!

Now, all of my walls are without borders, that is with the exception of one, and who knows, maybe by next year I can actually say "I HAVE NO MORE BORDERS!"

Have fun and LET YOUR CREATIVITY FLOW!

I went overboard buying paint

If you’re not careful, although you’re trying to save money, you may find yourself spending more than you expect.  That happened to me….  

After completing the two foyers I was so thrilled with the transformation a can of paint could make I went on a paint spending spree.  My sister had told me about the “oops” paint, paint that was returned or not purchased and I found myself going to Kelly’s, Sherwin Williams and AID looking and buying “oops”.  It wasn’t until I took inventory of my stock that I realized I had purchased three gallons of paint that was almost similar in color - three different shades of light green, then there was this other color I purchased I didn't even like, I bought it because it cost around $15 I regrettably used it in my Master Bath thinking it would look better on the walls then it did in the can....  So remember “oops” paint is okay only if you’re looking for a particular color and you're ready to paint.

Another difficulty was determining the types of paint to buy.  At the time I only knew about two types of paint high-gloss and flat.  For my door trims I purchased two gallons of high gloss (a maroonish & evergreen) when actually one quart of each would have been enough.  I'm a little better now, but I still struggle, the important thing is research.  There's a lot of information out there to help us out, we just need to look for it.

Here’s an interesting video that helped me out. 

And you can try this paint calculator if you're unsure about how much paint to buy.

Paint may be reasonable in the U.S. but in The Bahamas paint can be expensive.  Two gallons of high gloss cost approx $60 per gallon.  The “oops” paint that I purchased cost me somewhere around $10 - $20 per gallon, so at the time it wasn’t a cost saving.  But now as I work on projects I seldom have to purchase paint, so I guess I’m beginning to see a savings, but it’s a pain trying to store it.

Painting can be one of the cheapest and easiest ways to improve your home, but wait until you’re ready to paint before buying paint, determine the color and type of paint you’ll need, check your inventory and most importantly don’t rush, take your time deciding on the color, paint might be cheap but it’s a lot of work and sweat having to paint over your work – believe me, I’ve done it plenty of times!
LET YOUR CREATIVITY FLOW!