Mini bathroom makeover

I was trying to think of what to write my next post about when I looked through all of my previous ones and realized I haven't posted about the bathroom yet. We've done no major renovations in here but it still deserves some love! This little room has gone through several different looks but I only have pictures of how it looked when we moved in and how it looks now. Sigh. So here is how it looked day 1:

Not a great photo but it's all I have. Basically this room has the lovely 50s yellow tiled walls (yes I'm being sarcastic because, who am I kidding, this isn't my ideal finish in a bathroom), a blue/ grey-ish tiled floor, and linen closet along with your basic necessities for a bathroom. Oh yeah, there is also a cute little built-in bookshelf in the wall where an old heater once lived. And that was my first house purchase on the floor- a bath mat that I absolutely fell in love with/ ordered from Anthropologie 4 years ago. I hated to part with it, but having 2 big dogs, the base color of it being white, and it being "dry clean only,"it very quickly lost it's awesomeness...

So while this bathroom doesn't have some of my favorite design choices and we're not really going to renovate, I've learned that sometimes you just have to embrace the vintageness- yellow tile and all. Here are some bathrooms that I ooh and ahh over:

This is a half bath but I love the floors, exposed painted brick, and sink

I absolutely love the wainscoting on the walls, especially with the thick ledge/ molding. Loving that bold color too! :)

When we first moved in we painted the walls a crisp white and brought in a blue and white patterned shower curtain. It worked for a while, but if you know me, you know I can tire of decor pretty easily. Next, we tried painting the walls a darker blue that had a grey tint- to coordinate with the floor. We kept it this color for a while- not because we liked it (I never thought it looked good and I picked the color) but because I really dreaded painting over it. It turned out to be more of a navy color and I knew it would be a nightmare to cover.

Well fast-forward to a few weeks ago. I finally got motivated to fix this bathroom once and for all. Now that it's over, I can say I'm glad I did it! After much deliberation, I, with a lot of input from the hubs, finally decided on the color Silver Dusk by Valspar. It's got just a tint of light blue and looks really nice with the yellow and blue in the tile.

I use the Valspar Signature which contains primer, and this is how it looked with one coat. Yes, it's definitely going to take more!

After 2 more coats of paint, for a total of 3, this is how it looked. I also hung a 96" white shower curtain and some curtains using oil rubbed bronze hardware and picked up this new bathmat from Target. The curtains were actually the previous shower curtain in here, but with the help of my crafty mom, we found a new use for the fabric.  

And here is the rest of the old shower curtain! I love sink skirts!:) They look great while concealing old pipes and they provide hidden space for a trash can!

Hanging on the wall is an old cabinet door that I found in the farmhouse where my dad grew up. I painted the surface with chalkboard paint and hung it on the cabinet hinges.

Here is a closer view:

There is also a linen closet in here that's adjacent to the door, creating a closed-off feel if you try to open both doors. I weighed my options for a while and finally decided to remove the door entirely to create an open linen closet. (Stay tuned to see where that door went) Yes, this means that I have to keep it super organized, but I'm up for the challenge:) Here's the unorganized version post door removal:

After removing the door in here, I used some wood filler to fill in the holes where the brackets once were. I let this dry for a couple of hours before repainting the molding.

While the wood filler was drying/ setting, I decided to go ahead and start painting the inside of the closet. I wanted to continue the light blue color on the walls so the first step was to remove all of the shelves and clean. It might be hard to tell a difference in these pictures, but it's a before/after shot.

Before- with white walls

After with light blue walls

I also decided to give the floor of the closet a fresh look- I didn't feel bad painting hardwood since it had already been painted white.

Before with dirty white floors

And now for the after pictures of the new organized, door-less linen closet!

I like that there's no longer a door right when you walk in :)

See the small wicker basket on the floor holding cleaning supplies- remember I scored that here for less than $1!

The last thing we Matthew added in here was a new light fixture. After finding one at Lowe's, I went to yoga one Saturday morning and when I returned home, he was almost finished hanging it! Talking about spoiling a girl- I didn't even have to ask him to spend his Saturday morning hanging a new light! :)  Sorry for the lack of a photo- just picture it with some clear glass shades.

So there is the mini-makeover of our hall bath. Stay tuned for more!

Change- when we least expect it...

...and when it's out of our control. It's hard to believe that it's been over 2 weeks since my last post. So much has been going on around our town and state that blogging was the last thing on my mind. All of you probably know that on April 27, tornadoes ripped through the state of Alabama taking lives and leaving many without their home or belongings. It is a day that no one will ever forget- especially if you live in an area that was damaged. Our beloved Tuscaloosa was one of these areas along with Hackleburg, in Marion County. I have yet to see Hackleburg in person, but throughout high school, we traveled here for ballgames and to see the pictures of what is left of this small town- hardly anything- is just unbelievable and heart-breaking.

This day of severe weather struck as close to home as it ever has. Matthew didn't work that day because a series of morning storms blew 2 trees on his office and left it with no power. I'm so glad he was at home with me. These morning storms also knocked out our city's warning system- that's why we didn't have a warning sounding throughout the city. UA did not close early and since I work non-traditional hours, I took my "lunch break" around 3:30. That's about the time that James Spann said a nasty storm was headed toward Tuscaloosa.

I got home in time to watch a little bit, although we were thinking it might go toward Northport instead of where we live. Living in an old house, built in the 50s, we don't have a basement or storm cellar like we do at my parents' house. We thought about designating our "safe place" in the hallway since that's the only room in our house with no windows. However, we have an attic fan in the hall which probably weighs a ton, so maybe that wouldn't be the best idea. We finally decided on the bathtub. So while we're watching the news, I go ahead and put some blankets and pillows in the bathtub, just in case.

I guess it was right around the time that James Spann said for everyone that lived in the city of Tuscaloosa to get in a safe place, that our power flickered for a few seconds and then went out completely. So we head to the bathroom, put the dogs in the tub, and then we get in. And just so you remember, Dodger weighs about 90 lbs. and Waylon is around 35 lbs. so it was a pretty tight fit in the tub! Then we just waited. Luckily I was getting texts from my 2 sisters who were able to watch the news and send me updates so I kinda knew the general direction it was heading- too close to use.

After this day, I can finally say that I've heard a tornado- not that I've ever wanted to be able to say that! When people would describe it as sounding like a train, I would usually think to myself, a train?? But yeah, that's exactly what it sounds like! We are so fortunate and blessed that our house/ neighborhood received no major damage. While this storm went by pretty quickly, it left a trail of heartbreak and devastation.

A house in our cul de sac

Holt area

Holt again

Intersection of McFarland and 15th Street

Again...

Devastation

Oak trees at Snow Hinton Park- across from our house

These are just some of the photos I took on my phone- by far these are not the worst! I spent last Saturday in some of the hardest hit areas- Forest Lake and Rosedale Court- but could not bring myself to take pictures of other people's misery. Alberta City is being considered ground zero and I've yet to see it in person.

It's amazing to see how this town and state have come together in volunteer efforts- we cleared debris on Saturday with someone who drove up from Dothan and delivered MREs, water, and toiletries to the Rosedale area. However, this is going to be a long process so volunteers will be needed for weeks and months. My heart goes out to anyone who suffered any type of loss on this day.

I do plan to continue my blog as normal, but I had to first describe the heartache and devastation that is present in our state.

Stay tuned for your regular scheduled program :)

Foot Stool Transformation

So if you read my post yesterday, you know that I picked up this beauty in Savannah last week for 25 bucks!

I debated for a few days about what I wanted to do with it and where it would go. I finally decided that I want to put it at the end of the hallway for now, but probably move it to our office/guest room once we get our daybed- which I've ordered but is sadly on back order until June :(

I was first thinking of using burlap fabric for that natural look, and maybe paint the base white. But once I got the burlap on, I thought it looked a little too drab. Luckily it was only $4 for the fabric so I didn't waste too much moolah. So back to Hancock Fabrics I went, and found exactly what I had in mind.

I did this the same way as the headboard. Staple first at 12 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock, and 9 o'clock. Then fill in all around while pulling fabric tightly.

Tada! I love this print-it's grey with white lines and squares outlined in orange

So I had the cushion finished; now it was just a matter of deciding whether I wanted to paint the base. Here is how it looked with the original wood base and new cushion:

I finally decided to paint the base white to bring out the white in the fabric and I'm very glad I did! First, I sanded the wood just to make sure it was ready for paint. Then I painted 2 light coats of Ivory Dust in a satin finish. This wouldn't be my first choice of finish, I would rather use a semi-gloss, but I had it on hand from a paint sample I bought when picking out a trim color. Yay- this part was practically free! Here's how it looked after 2 coats of paint:

Almost finished! All I had to do now was put on a coat of poly to make it shine, or so I thought. I used the same can of poly for a previous painted-wood project and it worked perfectly. Next time, I'll be sure to read the fine print on the can BEFORE coating it on painted wood!

If you look closely toward the bottom of the can, it reads "Oil-based stains, paints, or coatings applied under Polycrylic may amber normally." Well apparently, the stain on this stool was oil-based because it ambered all over! So my work was ruined :(

I mean, it just looked awful. Talk about learning from your mistakes! I'll definitely read the fine print next time. So I had to wait a few hours for the poly to completely dry before re-sanding. After lightly sanding it, I put another coat of the white paint on and it covered up all of the amberness (don't think that's a word but you get the idea)

Then it was just a matter of letting it dry overnight and then attaching the cushion. I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out! Remember, this is how it looked when I found it:

And this is it now:

 

Total cost for this project = $35

     stool: $25

     burlap fabric: $4

     geometric fabric: $6

     staple gun and staples: already owned

     paint and paint brush: already owned

Not too shabby... What do you think?

A true southern city

A week ago, I returned from an amazing trip to Savannah, GA. I just love that city and am so glad my mom, sister, and aunt were able to experience it's beauty as well. Most of the trip revolved around which meal we were going to eat next and which restaurant we would eat it at. Good thing it's a walking city because I definitely needed to walk after all of that eating! While we weren't eating and walking, the next best thing to do was, of course, shopping! We shopped antique stores, vintage stores, and boutiques. I found a good selection of items, both old and new, for both myself and our house.

Something old, something new

 In the above picture, from left to right, is a foot rest I picked up at an antique store for $25. The current fabric is not what drew me to this piece, haha, but it's got clean lines, it's very sturdy, etc... I definitely want to freshen/ lighten it up a bit and change out the fabric (I've actually already done this but I'm behind on posting). I also picked up a vintage map of Africa and I'll give more details on it when I decide what I'm going to do with it:) The long brown wicker basket was a find at a second-hand store for 75 cents! I'm collecting brown wicker baskets for an upcoming project so this was the perfect, cheap addition! I also got some bath stuff at nour-ish, which sells natural bath products. 

 

Above are some super cute shoes I picked up at a vintage shop, along with a tree of life necklace in a matte gold finish.

This is the natural bath soap I picked up from nour-ish. If you like natural, eco-friendly skin care products, you should definitely check out their website here. I got an eco soap bag with a bar of "kiwi sunsweet" soap- it was hard to pick just one as they all smelled (in my best Outkast voice) so fresh and so clean, clean! I also picked up some loofah seeds- I'm gonna try my hand at growing some loofah sponge. I'll let you know how that turns out, haha:)

 

 This is the short, vintage black dress I got with the multi-colored sandals. It's hard to tell anything about this but, trust me, it's adorable. :)

That's all for now but stay tuned for my foot stool transformation!

Oops I did it again...

Well maybe not again, but I did forget a few things in my last post for the guest room. First of all, remember those bookends I scored for 5 bucks from the thrift store a few weeks ago:

well they got a fresh coat of teal paint and they currently live in the guest room (that may change but that's where they are for now)

I also forgot to mention the nightstand that Matthew & I found at ReStore in Birmingham, for $25!

And the fact that it's storage, which is always a plus in our house, makes it that much better! We're just keeping some extra blankets in it for now.

Here are some accessories that I picked up from Urban Outfitters (love. that. store)

Hoo doesn't love owls?!  (corny I know but I just couldn't pass that one up, haha!)

 And the handy "Stuff Every Woman Should Know" book. There's some pretty good stuff in this little read. 

So that's all for the guest room for now!

On a side note, when I'm working on all of my projects or just cooking and cleaning I'm usually listening to my favorite tunes, i.e. The Avett Bros., Mumford & Sons, Needtobreate, with some Coldplay and John Mayer mixed in. But I now have a new favorite album, Adele- 21. If you haven't checked this out yet, you must! I liked her last album but this one is just awesome! She's so soulful...

So thanks to all of my favorite bands that keep me motivated to work on projects, thanks to Adele for her new album, thanks to Brittany Spears and her catchy song that inspired this post, and thanks to you for actually reading this!

That's all for now! :)