Bathroom Vanity Makeover

Our guest bathroom vanity and cabinet just got a makeover that we're excited to share! Instead of getting a whole new vanity, which is hard to match the footprint of the original and can be quite costly, we decided to paint it and replace the hardware.

 

Original oak vanity in downstairs and guest bathrooms

The original cabinet was dark-patterned oak. It's hard to get the grain to disappear with a light colored paint, so we went with the same rich dark grayish/blue color we painted our hallway banisters (Grays Harbor by Sherwin Williams in a glossy finish, so it's easy to wipe off). It gives the finish a sleek and modern look.

Bathroom vanity painted with new hardware

We found an 8 pack of contemporary handles reduced at Lowes because it was missing two handles. We also got new silver hinges.

 

Guest bathroom before 

 

Guest bathroom after

The floor-to-ceiling cabinet next to the vanity also got a makeover. For such a tall built-in, the dark oak made that space next to the door claustrophobic. To give it a more open feel, we removed the cabinet doors completely, turning it into open shelving, and painted the entire thing white (the same semi-gloss white we've used on all our trim). So much brighter!

It came out so well, we're planning to do the same thing to our downstairs half bath and the double vanity in the bathroom. 

Minted Master Bath

Have you ever started to paint a room then moved on to another project before finishing, leaving the room mid-paint job for an embarrassingly long time?

Well, that's what happened with our master bath. Technically, it's only part of our master bath. We have a crazy big vanity/sink area which is separate from the toilet and shower which is a tiny room of its own. We painted one wall of this tiny room last summer, then we moved on to more prominent rooms and left the bathroom a quarter-way done.

This past week, however, I felt motivated to finally finish the job. This small mint and gray bathroom on Pinterest served as my inspiration:

Inspiration

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/mollys-coloring-book-modern-apartment-house-tour-184045#gallery/42058/17

To get a similar effect, we went with Valspar Ultra Kitchen+Bath, Paint + Primer in Mint Gala.

Here are the before and afters:

Before

After

Before

After

Everything in the room is new—from the window itself to the valance (from Etsy) to the shower curtain (from Target) to the toilet (from Lowes) to the door knob (from Lowes). It only took me a year to paint all four small walls and finish the job, but better late than never!

Guest Room Finishing Touches

With Tommie's parents headed our way for Thanksgiving, it was time to put some finishing touches on the guest room and bath. (The color looks different in pictures--it's light lavender with a yellow accent wall.)

Some recent updates to the guest room include a yellow, gray, and tan chevron curtain bought for $15 at Target.  We also put a desk in the corner so people can set up a laptop if they need to do work.

I thought this floating shelf would be a cute way to display some reading material for guests, like local magazines.  (We're getting another small floating shelf to put above it to better fill the wall.)

The guest bath also has a couple new features like a chrome hotel-style curved shower rod (I don't know why, but I love how spacious these things make the shower!).

There is also a updated large silver mirror I bought for $20 on Craigslist, and a nice new chrome towel rack with shelves.

Our guests may have one of the best spots in the house so far!

Two Showers are Better than One

We finally have two functioning showers.

Actually, we started with two functioning showers but I messed that up by assuming I could quickly and easily replace a rusty shower arm in our master bath.  I watched a couple YouTube videos and set to work--only the old shower arm would not come off.  I tried WD-40; I had Tommie try; a handyman tried it and finally came to the conclusion that it was rusted in place.  He would have to cut out and repair a chunk of the wall to replace the entire unit.  He also found out it was leaking behind the wall--so in a way, it was a good thing I set out on this impossible task.

With the wall patched (now smoothed and new shower arm in place), I could install our new filtrated shower head.  There are so many options when it comes to shower heads I really didn't know where to start.  I recently read an article about health issues caused by breathing in too much chlorine and other toxins from our water which prompted me to look up filtrated shower heads.  I found this highly-rated one by Culligan on Amazon for only $25.  Seemed worth a shot for that price.  (Filters should be replaced every six months and they run about $11).

I also needed to replace the shower knob which was growing all kinds of black mold inside it (so gross!).  I hate these plastic pieces of crap, but until we do a big overhaul of the bathroom, it's best/cheapest to just replace the knob for $10.

(Nasty old knob.)

 (Easy new knob replacement costs about $10 at Lowes. Make sure the diamond or other shape matches up with your existing one.)

Feels good to get this project crossed off the list.  The next step in this room is paint (we're thinking mint and gray like this.)

Curtain Call: Act II

After being majorly underwhelmed by all the curtains at the chain stores, I turned to Etsy to see if I could find a shop that made curtains with more modern and interesting fabrics.  There is, of course, a price difference for going directly to the maker, but I don't feel so bad because I know it's going to a person, not a corporation.

(View from the foyer to the new and improved living room.)

The curtains we put up in our bedroom were a compromise from Kohl's.  They are kind of a champagne color with shiny leaf patterns running up the bottom.  

But for the living room, we wanted something cool and original.  That's when I discovered this pattern on an Etsy shop called Ella Seeh.  It happens to go exactly with the orange and gray we are painting the opposing walls (more on our new gray walls soon).  It was meant to be.

I ordered them a tad small to save money which is my only regret.  There is some slight gap-age going on the very sides when they close, but otherwise, they look great and the high quality material is light yet durable.

Lets not forget the thick drapes and 100 pound valance we started with:

Valances have got to be some of the ugliest things on the market, so knowing that we needed one for privacy in our upstairs bathroom, I picked a fabric I liked from the same Etsy shop and ordered a custom size valance with this modern flower fabric.  What I like most about it is that it provides the privacy we need but it's still light enough to let the morning sunlight through.

Pictured below is the original curtain made of 90% dust and 10% lace, equaling zero privacy.

Lighten Up

I was itching to update some of the brass and glass light fixtures in the house.

 (Original lights in the foyer and the eat-in kitchen.)

This black chandeleir was the display piece at Lowe's, so when it retired to the clearance shelf we picked it up for $23.00 (marked down from $79.00).  It was missing the mounting bracket so it's a good thing we had a handyman take care of hanging it.  Otherwise, I'm sure it would have fallen on our heads by now.

(New light in the eat-in kitchen.)

Tommie and I did manage to change out the fixture in our foyer to this glass bell jar light with an edison bulb (also from Lowes).

(New light in the foyer.)

Another quick fix was updating the glass covers for the light over one of the bathroom vanities.  They were $1.50 each at the Mission Thrift Store in Durham and with less flowery curves than the originals, they help modernize the fixture.  I'm also planning to spray paint the base silver.

The old fixtures were donated to Habitat for Humanity's Restore shop.  We still have plenty of brass and glass to part with, but this is a start.

All I Can Think About is Toilets

When my friends and I were teenagers, we went to a camp and got in trouble for flirting hanging out with the cute maintenance staff.  One night, while presumably rebeling again, we were watching shooting stars with the boys on the beach.  We all pointed to the sky, mesmerized as multiple stars flew across the sky every few seconds.  Then, during a quiet, peaceful moment the camp's go-to plumber boy let out a frustrated groan and remarked, "All I can think about is toilets!"  That's how I felt a few weeks ago when we decided to update two commodes in our house that were original to the house.

I don't care if a toilet still works, if it's more than 20 years old, it's nasty.  And nasty they were.  I'm pretty sure a giant cockroach was holing up in the one upstairs until we clubbed him with a shoe.  And the inspector told us that the downstairs one had a leak.  The seller was supposed to fix this, but he neglected to tell us that the floor below had rotted out and the pipe was cracked.  It was our first surprise snafu as homeowners.

Before installing the new toilet downstairs, we hired a contractor to replace the rotted subfloor and add supports, then we had to get a plumber to fix the cracked flange.  It was an unexpected few hundred dollars but in a way it's good we tackled it right away--better than falling through the floor in the middle of a "moment."

(Old, leaky toilet above, new toilet below)

We got new American Standard space-saving and energy efficient toilets (Cadet 3), but truthfully, I don't love them.  I love that they look better and no longer serve as a science experiment for growing mold, but the flush is finicky and the lid is super thin and will probably break in a year.  Also, I'm all for energy efficiency, but there is hardly any water in the bowls and that grosses me out.

I am happy, however, with the deal I got on toilet paper holders.  Updating from dirty brass bars to these sleek, silver modern fixtures was a bathroom breakthrough.  And I got them on clearance at Lowes for $3.95 each when they are normally between $12 and $16.

With all that out of the way, I'm done thinking about toilets.

Home and Body Repairs

I'll be taking a brief hiatus from house projects to recover from hernia repair surgery on my left and right side.  Luckily, it wasn't the move to the new house that gave me this trouble--it's a pain I've been coping with for a year until finally being diagnosed and cleared for surgery.  Hopefully I'll feel better and be able to take on more tasks once I've had time to heal.

In the meantime, here's an update on some of our spaces since moving in...

LIVING ROOM

Done:
Painted two opposing orange accent walls.
Painted half the trim white.
Wet/Cleaned the fireplace stones.
Replaced beige outlets with steel plate covers.
New windows installed.

To Do:
Hang art.
Paint the opposing walls grey.
Finish painting the trim white.
Get sofa with chaise delivered.
Hang curtains.
Get a new fan/add light.
Replace the doors...eventually.
Box-in fireplace, create built-ins, and craftsman windows...eventually.

MASTER BEDROOM

Done: 
Removed wallpaper border.
Hang curtains.
Painted room.
Replaced beige outlets with white covers.

To Do:
Hang art.
Look for furniture (dressers, nightstands, a TV perhaps) that better fit the space.
Create seating area by windows?
Get a new fan/light.
Replace windows...eventually.

EAT-IN KITCHEN

Done: 
Removed valances.
Painted the trim white.
New windows installed.

To Do:
Update light fixture.
Finish painting the trim white.
Figure out how to paint over painted wallpaper.

SECOND BATHROOM

Done: 
Removed old curtains.
Removed some cabinet doors for open shelving.
Removed bronze soap, towel, and toilet rods.
New shower curtain.

To Do:
Paint vanity and cabinet and replace knobs.
Update faucets.
Update light fixture and mirror.
Replace window.
Install new shower rod and towel hooks.