Friday, February 26, 2010

The Bathroom Reveal...

This was one of those projects that just seems to take forever.  It was suppose to be a QUICK weekend project.  Well, about a month later, it is for all intents and purposes complete.  There are some areas I need to touch up the paint, and the towel bar needs re-installed (I think one of my kids tried to do pull-ups on it and ripped it out of the wall!)  But done enough that I can post some pictures of it...

Just to remind you what the bathroom looked like before starting this project...
(Before)

 Before I give you the big picture, I want to show you a few of the small items that have made this room.  
The soap and lotion dispensers were cheap $2 dispensers from Wally-World.  I had these vinyl decals made for them by Leen the Graphic Queen.  I did a rough sketch, and she made them look awesome.  You will see lots more of her work coming up.  The toothbrush holder was a gift from a friend.  She too is doing lots of work in her house this winter.  She spotted this when she was at the store looking for stuff for her bathroom, and picked it up for me - Thanks Jenny!  The bathroom cup is an old enamelware mug I picked up years ago and it just looks so cute in there.

All the doorknobs in your house are the cheap, ugly, 60's bright polished brass variety.  It is one of those things I look at all the time, and think I need to do something about, but the thought of spending $20 per knob set (when I would need 14 sets for the entire house ~ $300!) just didn't seem like a good spend.
(Before - ugly brass)
So I turned to my old trusty friend - "Mr. Spray Paint", in an oil rubbed bronze variety, and here is what the bathroom one looks like now...
 (after - Oil Rubbed Bronze)
Not bad, huh?  I am very happy with how it turned out.  If the paint holds up on it, I will be painting all the knob sets in our house!

My $20 Craigslist faucet, that took a whole day to install...


Another small detail that has really made a big difference in the room is the trim...
(before - ugly trim)
(after - metallic silver!)

The flooring also made changed the whole look of the room.  When you have, what I am 99% sure is old vinyl asbestos tile in your house, you have some challenges when it comes to changing the flooring.  If asbestos tile in in good shape (as ours is) you are best to leave it alone, and not take it out.  However, when it looks like this...
you may not want to keep it visible.  This same ugly tile is not only in our bathroom, but a hallway and the laundry room.  We were not ready to change the entire area for a variety of reasons, so we had to do something of a more temporary nature with it just in the bathroom.

So a $17 piece of black of indoor/outdoor carpet, and some double stick carpet tape and a cute silvery grey bathmat, and you get this...
(please ignore the white flecks on the carpet - I forgot to vacuum before taking the picture!)

Lighting also helps to completely change a room... We went from a fixture centered over the toilet with 3 - 40 watt bulbs to one centered over the  mirror with 2- 100 watt bulbs (we put a dimmer on it so that you didn't burn your retinas when you got up in the middle of the night to use the facilities!)

Well, I've kept you waiting long enough, here are the rest of the pictures, of this tiny bathroom in its full glory...

Aren't these vinyl wall decals the best!  Leen made these custom paisleys and polka dots for me.  She did an awesome job - they really complete the room.

And this is the mirror that I designed, had the glass custom cut, had hubby cut the plywood backing, and then I assembled!  I LOOOOOOOVE how it turned out!
Hope you have enjoyed the trip around our 6' x 8' bathroom...

One last before and after comparison...
         Before                                                                             After
Shared on Funky Junk's Saturday Night Special

Shared on Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap Up Party

I am participating in the Thrifty Decor Chick Before and After Party


Linked on Make it Monday at Cottage Instincts

14 comments:

Leen said...

It looks even better than I imagined! It's fabulous, you did a great job!!

Rachel said...

Looks amazing sis!

gail@My Repurposed Life said...

wow! it looks great! I'm learning that everything takes twice as long and costs twice as much money. :)
gail

Lori McDonough said...

J, it looks just fabulous. You put a lot of work into this. I love that it was your original design. You are so creative!!!! Can't wait to see it in person!
xo

Missie said...

I love all the black and white paisley! You did a wonderful job and I'm sure it was all worth the extra time.

Amanda @geekdetails said...

OMG love it! It looks so much better now and the paisley mirror is neat!

Be Colorful Coastal said...

In a word? Delightful.

jen @ the inspiration studio said...

Your bathroom turned out great! I love all the paisly vinyl! Such a great idea.

And I am totally with you on spray painting the brass doorknobs. We have the same brass ones in our house and spray painted them too. We just made sure to do a couple coats and then 1-2 coats of poly-eurathane over that to make sure they would hold up to the constant usage. We did that about 2 years ago and it has worked great! The only ones you can really tell we painted them on are the ones we didn't let dry long enough!

Unknown said...

Wow, that is great. Quite an update!
I have spray painted my door knobs also, they have held up great. I even did my front entry door handle 2 years ago, still holding up.
Thanks for sharing.
Brooke

Es said...

Looks GREAT!! I LOVE the paisley!

Jessica Zee said...

I'm so curious how the doorknob holds up--it looks fantastic and I've got a few gold ones here that I haven't wanted to replace (they're still perfectly functional) but would love them not to be gold anymore. That you did the hinges too makes a really big difference (and looks great!). It looks really, really lovely, and I love the way you worked with what you had!

::cottage instincts:: said...

What a change! Awesome....that mirror is way cool :)

thanks for linking to Mi4M!

Jen @ tatertotsandjello.com said...

Wow - what a great transformation! It is so fun and happy!

Thanks for linking it up to my party!!!

XOXO
Jen

Anny said...

Without a doubt the mirror is the most dramatic change but all the small details are sweet and add so much to the room too :)