Half Bath Makeover

During a visit to see my mom a few months back, I helped her with a simple makeover for her half bathroom.

It had been pretty much the same (minus some fresh paint and replaced outlet covers) as it was when the house was built in the late 1980s.

We replaced the mirror, outlet covers, towel ring, toilet paper holder and light fixture. Away went the brass and off yellow to make way for the slick, modern feel of brushed nickel. The mirror frame and outlet covers are slightly different finishes, but have a similar trim detail which helps bring some consistency to the design.

The single brass light fixture was replaced with a double wall sconce also in a brushed nickel finish. Not only does it look more up to date, but the bathroom is much brighter now.

The makeover took about an hour to complete with the bulk of the time spent on the light fixture. If you want a fresh look in about 15 minutes, start with just the decorative items (mirror, towel bars, wall plates). Replacing those simple items can make a huge change in the look of a bathroom.

Cost breakdown: approximately $110 (all purchased from Lowes):
- Fallsbrook Bathroom Vanity Light
- Delta Windmere towel ring and toilet paper holder
- Brainerd pewter wall plates 
- framed rectangle mirror

For more bathroom makeover ideas - see the half bath and hall bath makeovers we've done in our foreclosure house as well as the built-in shelving we installed in the half bath in our first house.

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Small Coat Closet Makeover

We're fortunate to have two coat closets in our house. The larger one is at the back of the foyer by the kitchen and isn't as convenient, but works best size wise for our coats. The smaller is near the garage and laundry room, but is too small to hold all our coats and, honestly, has become a disastrous catchall since we moved in. Until this past weekend. While Dylan was off having fun with grandparents, Trent & I tackled several projects around the house including a full makeover on the small coat closet.

Rewinding to last week, here's what the small coat closet looked like:

See what I mean? Disastrous is the correct term. I had made little attempts since we moved in in September 2012, but mostly it was just a dumping ground where the door could close and we could almost forget it. "Almost" in that the shoe boxes on the top shelf hold my work shoes so I literally open this closet at least 5 days a week. No forgetting there was a mess in there.

We started by emptying everything out. I quickly got rid of anything we no longer needed such as some random empty shoe boxes. Then sorted and listed what I wanted to keep/organize. Next I measured the closet and, as with most of our bigger projects, sketched a plan so we could determine how it would all lay out and how much wood we would have to buy.

I knew I wanted one shelf higher. This would be a spot for something that we needed to store, but didn't need often as I have to use the step ladder to reach it. Turns out to be the perfect spot for the cat carrier. We keep this in the house vs the garage because, well, spiders. Eww. And having been through cat emergencies, I like it easily accessible and clean just in case. The step ladder is "next door" in the laundry room so it's not a ton of effort for me to retrieve the carrier.

The existing shelf I decided to keep for my work shoes - it's nice and convenient to quickly grab the pair I want before heading out the door. We had a couple of existing boxes that fit well in the leftover space so we can easily store other items we need but want out of "kid reach" - i.e., ponchos, shoe polishing supplies, etc.

Below this in the middle of the closet, I created an area for our pool/beach bags and towels as well as our yoga mats. I added a hook to hang the pool bag we use the least often. This left enough space below for our extra beach towels. The taupe bag is our "go to" pool bag and constantly packed with sunscreen, fresh towels and our pool key so we're ready to grab and go.

Toward the front, I added a hook on each side. One for Dylan's backpack and one to hang Baby Girl's backpack eventually (for now I'll probably use it for the diaper bag). I made sure to hit a stud for both of these hooks as, obviously, kids are tough on such things.

At the bottom we added two shelves. The upper holds the pool stuff mentioned above. The lower shelf holds two baskets. One for each child to contain their hats and gloves.

Finally, at the very bottom we added a large laundry basket to contain extra shoes. I store my own sneakers here. When searching online and in stores, I found a number of suitable options, but honestly, the price and durability of a laundry basket can't be beat. (The Target bag to the left is temporary - school supplies for Dylan's first day of kindergarten in less than 2 weeks. Eek!)

Best of all, the floor is now clear and there is still some space left in this closet. I almost don't want to put the door back on. Almost. It is nice to know there is a beautiful, organized space hiding there now.

Cost breakdown: approximately $60
- wood for new shelving $37
- paint (already owned)
- nails (already owned)
- 4 robe hooks (only used 3 so far) $6
- 2 black plastic containers $8 (50% off clearance find)
- laundry basket $8

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Hall Bath Makeover

Early nesting? Perhaps. We've been slowly working through various DIY projects around this house since we purchased it in September 2012. Now with the baby on the way and my belly growing, we're kicking it into high gear and trying to knock out a few more things from our lengthy wish list before the fall.

Over the weekend we added fresh mulch to the front flower beds, mowed, replaced the exterior light at the deck, and gave the hall bathroom upstairs a much needed makeover.

As with other rooms in this house, the hall bathroom was functional. The walls had been painted prior to us purchasing in Sherwin Williams 'Kilim Beige'. It's a nice neutral, but a bit dark for the bathroom and, with a flat finish, every bit of splashed water and soap was leaving stains - similar to our half bath downstairs. The only changes we had made in here prior to this past weekend were replacing the shower head, necessary repairs to the toilet including replacing the seat, and installing a curved shower rod bar.

Here's a quick look at the before taken with my iPhone literally as we began clearing the room on Saturday in preparation for painting. Okay, but certainly nothing fancy.

As we are still using the shower curtain and towels from our old house, I decided to use a similar color I had painted there and liked. I just went a shade darker this time. It's Benjamin Moore 'Spring Blossom'. A fresh, light green color.

Dylan helped me and managed to paint everything within his reach. Even climbing our 2-step step ladder (with me behind him) to reach a little higher.

Next we removed the old makeup style light fixture and replaced it with a new 4 bulb fixture. Prettier and, honestly, I think it provides better lighting. Certainly not as harsh as those makeup bulbs.

We also removed the old towel bar (something else that I never liked when we bought this house) and replaced it with a new, more stylish option times 2. It's always nice to have extra room to hang towels when we have company so we bought two 24-inch long towel rods and stacked them near the tub/shower for easy reach. My mom has done this in 2 bathrooms in her house and I knew it was an idea I wanted to copy. She even provided me with the heights (67" and 37-1/2" above the floor).

The entire process took time on both Saturday and Sunday, but was completely worth it. Even Dylan commented to me how nice it looked now. A quick side-by-side comparison look back and it's pretty obvious the drastic difference those small changes made.

Eventually we will replace the faucets (for now they work so no reason to), update the toilet paper holder & hand towel ring to match the new towel bars, and I would like to frame out the mirror with trim or possibly replace. So expect future updates. It'll probably just be a while. We have other projects needing attention including the kitchen. Remember that one? We haven't forgotten. It's just taking time, but it looks like we finally chose a granite color so progress on that soon!

Cost breakdown: about $150
1 gallon Behr Ultra, color match Benjamin Moore 'Spring Blossom', eggshell finish $27 (after $5 rebate)
Hampton Bay 4-Light Vanity model #705207 $60
Round plastic electrical box (for light install) $2
2 Delta 24-inch Windmere towel bars $53

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Master Closet DIY Shelving

Our master closet has needed a little work from day 1. Overall, it was in good condition. Larger than that in our previous house. Plenty of hanging space, but only one skinny shelving unit. Next to the shelving, behind the door, was a leftover dead space with only a tie rack. We've discussed adding shelving here and finally, Trent got us started 2 weekends ago.

He took measurements and cleared the space. Then we headed to Lowe's to purchase 1x12 utility shelving boards.

Trent constructed the shelving in our garage. Dylan and I grabbed rollers and painted it glossy white to match the existing shelving. Our DIY house projects are truly family affairs.

Finally, Trent put it in place in our master closet while I completed the paint - painting the wall behind in white and touching up the shelving.

I took photos while I was still waiting on the paint to dry completely. All but 2 shelves currently have clothing or toiletries on it. We're planning to store some linens for our room as well since, strangely enough, this house does not have a linen closet. Oh and we still need to rehang the door. It was easier to install with the door off as well as load the shelves while we decided what we wanted where.

Overall, I'm thrilled. It's simple, but Trent did a great job of matching the existing shelving. It's very functional. So nice to have this extra storage space! And to check one more "to do" off that long list.

Cost: under $60

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Valentine's Robot T-Shirt

I have a small surprise for Dylan next week - a fun Valentine's Robot T-Shirt. He knew I was going to make him a shirt and I asked for his preference between a dinosaur or a robot. He chose a robot. While the boys were out on Saturday morning, I quickly sketched up a design, cut it out of freezer paper using my X-acto knife (those design school skills pay off when you don't have an electric cutter!) and painted it in using fabric paint.

I kept the design simple and not too "Valentine's" minus the red paint and little heart so he can wear it beyond this month. I also bought the shirt a size larger with hopes that he'll be able to wear it next year too. Now to keep it a secret for another week. I can't wait to show him.

Do you have a special Valentine's shirt or outfit?

Supplies: Old Navy shirt - clearance $2.54; Tulip fabric paint; freezer paper

Linking up with Tip Me Tuesday at TipJunkie.com

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DIY Roman Shades from Mini Blinds

I mentioned in my currently post last week that new yellow towels had me thinking about paint and fabric possibilities for our master bathroom.

I've been leaning toward gray walls with a white/gray/yellow print fabric for the curtains. There are two windows. One over the tub in the main bathroom area and a smaller one in the toilet room. When we moved in, both had mini blinds. Ok. Sufficient. But blah. I kept thinking back to an idea I pinned a while ago about making roman shades using mini blinds. I ended up following a tutorial by Craft, Interrupted that I found more recently.

I originally searched online for fabric and found a print I liked. Then I calculated up how much I would need for the two windows - 3 yards. About $35. Reasonable, but I thought there had to be a way to do it for a little less. Then I remembered another Pinterest idea I had used in our home before - repurposing tablecloths from Target for curtains. Perfect. At about $16, I would have plenty of fabric from one tablecloth to make the two roman shades.

I found a tablecloth online that I liked and headed to Target to buy it. Then I actually saw it and stopped dead in my tracks. The colors just weren't working for me. What I thought was white/gray/yellow was white/gray/yellow and beige. It was a larger print and just … well, just felt wrong.

I reassessed. I looked at every tablecloth. No.  

I wandered down the aisle of curtains. No. 

I considered looking at the sheet sets. I did make curtains years ago from flat twin sheets that we used in both an apartment and our last house. But, again - no.

I found myself in the shower curtain aisle and suddenly I found options. 3 different designs (including one that was remarkably similar to that original tablecloth but in the right colors). I ended up choosing a pretty, silky feeling, white/gray/yellow paisley print. On sale for $18 it more than fit the budget.  And when I came home and compared it to our new "Mum" towels from JC Penney? The yellows were almost a perfect match. Yes.

At 72"x72" one shower curtain was had more than enough fabric for the two shades. I cut both out on Saturday night and yesterday completed the shade for over the toilet. The smaller of the two, I thought it would be best to start with. Honestly, the project went pretty quickly. The most time consuming part was being patient while waiting for the fabric glue to dry.

I plan to make the second shade next weekend. It should go together even quicker now that I know the basic steps and won't need to stop and reread through them multiple times.

Overall, I'm very pleased with how the shade turned out. From the ugly mini blinds to this beautiful custom shade - our master bath is looking all grown up (just wait until we get paint on the walls! Crazy ;) ). Also, this is the second time I've made a roman shade. The first was one I made for our kitchen in our last house using a pattern I saw online so long ago I've lost it. This particular idea was easier, faster and looks better.

Cost: $18.29 for shower curtain

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Framed Pin Collection

I returned from England in November with 2 souvenirs for myself. One was a pin from the Hard Rock Cafe in London. Confession, I have a collection of these pins that goes back at least 17 years(?). I even have a couple that were gifted to me from my father and sister from various trips. Unfortunately, they have just piled up in a drawer all this time, until I saw a simple idea for framing pins on the 3 R's blog here.

I was hoping to get to Ikea (next month maybe?) to pick up some Ribba frames to duplicate the idea. In the meantime, I stumbled across a 3 pack of similar shadow box frames at Michaels for under $10 using my coupon. I cut foam board I had on hand from the Dollar Tree to fit the back of each frame. I played around with placement a bit before deciding on one I liked and actually sticking them in place.

The newer ones have small, short, straight pins that made it easy to push directly into the foam board after removing the plastic backs. The older ones have the long pins that run from one end to another and end in a small clasp. Those I inserted carefully at a slight angle and then pressed the clasp into the foam to help hold in place. I used a small adhesive foam square on the clasp of a couple to further secure them.

So far, I've only filled the one. Debating what I might do with the other two (other buttons/pins? Future Hard Rock pins? Something completely different?).

And, if you're wondering what my second souvenir was, I also purchased a tumbler from Starbucks with "England" on it. A practical souvenir. Something I was already planning to buy as I have one I love and wanted another but here was the added bonus that it reminds me of our 10th anniversary trip every time I use it.

What sort of souvenirs do you bring back from a vacation?

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NYE 2013 and the DIY Union Jack shirt

The past few New Years, our friends have thrown a smashing good UK themed party with a countdown and balloon drop at midnight GMT (i.e., 7pm our time so easy for the kids to "stay up" and celebrate).

Last year wanting to dress Dylan in theme, I found a Beatles t-shirt and purchased a 5T. So far we've gotten 2 years out of it and it still is a little big so I'm thinking it might make at least one more appearance.

I decided last minute (as in Monday afternoon) that I wanted something fun to wear too. Somehow while in England in November, even while looking for a Union Jack flag for Stacey to hang at the party, neither Trent or I thought to get ourselves a shirt! So, after picking Dylan up from preschool, we swung by Michaels where I bought a plain light gray t-shirt and small bottles of red & blue fabric paint.

I resized a template from Beehive Bits and Pieces blog to fit my shirt (find it here). Printed and traced it onto freezer paper. Ironed the paper and painted it in.

The result was a fun, festive shirt I'll be able to wear for year after year.

Happy New Year!

Cost: about $7 using 50% coupon for t-shirt

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Kitchen: Pots and Pans Organizer

We have a reasonably long "to do" list for the kitchen in our house. Nothing overly pressing. Mostly wants. One of which was conquered over the weekend thanks to a Christmas gift.

The pots and pans cabinet has always been a frustration. Even in our last house. Pots stacked inside one another would get stuck and scratched up so we tried to stack larger on top of small which made an odd tower. Our pans and lids were also stacked as well. We were forever knocking some over or having to pull most out to reach the single item we wanted without sending others flying. Seriously, first world problems here, but something we could change.

After searching online for options, I came upon the Rev-A-Shelf 2 Tier Metal Pull Out Basket at Lowes. Yesterday, the boys installed it (ok, technically Trent did the majority, but he did get a little assistance from Dylan).

Before the new organizer could be installed, they had to literally break out the shelf in the back of the cabinet. We had to do the same thing in our last house when we installed a set of tray dividers in a base cabinet for pan storage. This time we had an assistant that fit perfectly in the cabinet and wanted to help put out the remaining staples.

The main installation and organization were completed by Trent while the rest of us were at the mall for a couple of hours. And when we came home? We found this:

Just looking at it makes me happy. No more awkwardly stacked pots and pans to rummage through when cooking. And, no more worrying about pots getting stuck inside one another and getting scratched up. Now we can easily access any single piece.

Cost: free - Christmas gift (thanks, Mom & Charles!) but to purchase your own, budget for about $125. We actually had been talking of buying it ourselves soon. It seemed a worthwhile cost to save our sanity and keep from further damaging (and needing to then replace) our cookware.

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DIY Numbered Burlap Basket

While redecorating our laundry room, I was searching for new baskets/bins to tidy up the look on the open shelf. To give the room a more peaceful, completed feel. I managed to re-use two fabric bins from our old house and quickly found a nice handled basket at HomeGoods to store all our Swiffer products (yes, we have a lot of those!). But I couldn't find another like it. I wanted either a match or something that would coordinate nicely with what I had and tall enough to store all our lightbulbs. Yes, I did just say I was searching for a bin to store our lightbulbs.

My most recent search led me to Marshall's where I discovered a burlap basket in the clearance section for $7.50. The size seemed perfect so I scooped it up immediately with simple plans to alter it.

Going along with the trend of numbered decor and still excited about how easy & well my freezer paper stencil sharks turned out at Halloween, I decided I could do the same to the basket. I already had all of the materials.

First, I measured the distance from the handle to the bottom of the basket to determine a height for my number. I then used Photoshop to select a font and size the '1' (you could easily do this in Word or Google Docs, etc).

After printing the '1' onto regular 8.5x11 paper, I traced it onto freezer paper and cut it out using my X-acto knife. Then determined placement on the basket.

The ironing was a tad tricky only in that the basket has soft sides. I held it carefully and ironed lightly to tack it before moving it to the end of my ironing board so I could press down. I used the cotton setting and pressed it firmly twice.

Once I felt confident the freezer paper was secure, I let it cool and then painted it with fabric paint and a foam brush. I personally like the cheap foam brushes - easy to blot & dab the paint on.

After painting, the directions said to let it dry up to 4 hours. I didn't. I cheated. I was painting it in my bathroom anyhow so I got out the hair dryer to speed things up! After a minute or two, it seemed dry and I pulled away the freezer paper.

Literally, this project took me maybe 15 minutes start to finish. It helped that I had my idea, had experience with the freezer paper stenciling (really, so easy - if you haven't tried, go for it!), and used the hair dryer to speed up drying. The result is a fun new basket for our laundry room.

And, yes, it really was all for lightbulb storage.

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The Painted Yellow Dresser

Our guestroom has been in need of a dresser and I wanted something unique for it. Ideally real wood and not too costly.

Our "new" yellow dresser.

Hence my search on Craigslist. I looked off and on for several months before spotting what appeared to be the perfect find. I emailed and, according to the seller, was the first interested person to show up. At $15 and solid wood, it was a deal.

It was also in rough shape.

Before: a diamond in the rough.

The hardware was part original, part replaced and damaged. There were scratches and scuff marks galore. The bottom drawer was barely together and literally fell apart during my drive home! I laughed and rejoiced over my find. I knew it could go from rough to gorgeous.

After a good cleaning, sanding and priming, I painted it in a golden yellow color.

Then added all new bronze drawer pulls.

New bronze pulls on the lower drawers.

Something I hadn't originally planned was to line the drawers. When I bought the dresser, it had a weird solid blue contact paper liner in every drawer. I managed to pull it out, but some areas remained a bit tacky. Rather than fighting it further or paint the insides, I purchased new liner and added it to the drawers. It's a bit fresher of a print and adds a nice fun surprise when you peek inside.

Top drawer with liner.

One of the top drawers currently holds the TV and satellite remotes while the lower drawers have extra sheets and towels. The one thing our new house was missing is a linen closet. The yellow dresser in our guest room now tackles most of that duty.

Side by side before & after shared on Instagram.

The entire project cost under $50. For a unique, custom solid wood piece - I'd say that's a win.

Looking for more painted furniture inspiration? Check out my master bedroom Nightstand Revamp and the dining room's Refinished Cabinet where we hide our cat food bowl. 

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