Bathroom Updates

I was cleaning our main level bathroom this morning, and it occurred to me that I have never shared any of the updates we have made in this room since the initial updates we made shortly after we moved in. I decided it was time to snap a few pics and share. When I got on my computer to look up when I posted the initial updates I realized that it had been almost exactly 3 years....What? How in the world? I guess I should not be nominated for the "Slowest Blogger Award". Anyway, when we moved in we decided not to do a complete overhaul, but more of a refresh.

Bathroom Before We Moved In

Bathroom After Initial Updates 3 Years Ago

Initial Updates 3 Years Ago
removed wallpaper
prepped and painted walls
painted cabinets
painted the original hardware
added a newish faucet (used, but new to us)
added a newish sink (used, but new to us)
tiled the counter
added new towel rings and toilet paper holder
spray painted a new light fixture and had my handy husband hang that up for me

You can read more about the initial updates and see more pictures HERE.

We have only done a few really simple things since the initial upgrades, but they have made such a difference.

More Resent Updates
We added a frame to the mirror.
We added accessories.

That's it!

I'm not really sure why it took me so long to add the frame, but it made such a difference. The room really needed something to warm it up, so I chose to stain the wood instead of painting it to match the cabinets. I'm really happy with the contrast. Oh, and I think the wood cost less then $10. We already had stain and adhesive, so this was an inexpensive upgrade.

Accessory Source List
rug - Target
teal towl - Target
gold frames with mats - thrifted
peacock prints - peacock, peacock feather - printed on my printer with images from the graphics fairy
metal sconces - Target
plant and pot - gift
teal plate - Southern Living at Home

Sharing this post at these Link-ups

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The Office Nook Reveal

Waaayy back sometime last year, I started working on this office nook. I'm not fast when it comes to makeovers, but that is okay. I like to take my time, find good deals, and really think things through as far as how we use the space.

This is not the most stylish, up-to-date office nook, but it is very functional, practical, and realistic for our family. I'm good with that!

This little space is between our den and kitchen area. Do you see that counter on the right? It became a MAJOR dumping ground for anything and everything that comes into this house. Mail, papers, bags, groceries, random toys, everything! My goal has been to make  homes for these items so that things can easily be put away. They still generally land on the counter, but they don't normally stay there for too long.

This is where this space started. The desk was the same, and I had a nice gallery wall, but there wasn't much useful storage.

This was still way back in September of last year. I had added a new shelf system, but was taking my time when it came to adding containers.

I ended up painting the round hat boxes because the shape and size worked really well for what I am storing in them. The white boxes are just inexpensive photo boxes from Micheal's, and the black boxes are document boxes that I picked up on clearance at Target.

My favorite additions to the space are the things we added to the wall. The shelf above the desk was a scrap piece of plywood that I stained, and then mounted with cheap L brackets that I spray painted gold. I probably have $5 in that shelf. I re-purposed the clothespin memo board that I made and turned it into a bulletin board. I hated to take the other board apart, but I need something that faced the other direction. The wall files have been the perfect solution to keeping the paper clutter off of the kitchen counter.

I'm sure that I will continue to tweak this space some, but for the most part it is done. Sometimes I miss having a room dedicated to an office space, but really, I think having everything very handy is more practical for us right now. What about you? Do you have a dedicated office space in your home or do you have a small office nook tucked in a corner somewhere?

I will be linking this post to these blog parties:

What You Wish Wednesday
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House of Rose
Blissfully Ever After
Love of Home and Family

Making Home Base
Design, Dining + Diapers
Hit Me Me With Your Best Shot
Creative Ways - Posed Perfection
Creative Spark - My Paper Craze  
I Heart Organizing - Monthly Organizing Challenge
House by Hoff - Get Your DIY On 

Color Change - I Painted The Back of My Media Cabinet Again

I can't stop painting the back of our media cabinet! It's just too easy.

If you have been reading this blog of mine for any length of time, you may be tired of seeing this; I'm sorry. The good news is that I feel like I finally picked the right color and don't won't to change it. I do like knowing that if I decide to change it, it will cost less than $10, and it will only set me back about an hours worth of time.

Before I give you all of the details, let's take a look back at where this started, and how may transformations it took to get here.

When we first got this media cabinet from a family member, it is was sporting a glazed cream crackle finish with a cranberry back. It was pretty, but not my style.

 I finally found the time to paint this thing white and then painted the back blue. The blue was great with our tan couch, but then we got a blue couch and loveseat. The blue was almost the exact color, but was way too matchy-matchy for this girl.

I decided that my new accent color would be coral. I tried several shades of coral, but could not find one that worked with the lighting in this room. There were times of the day when it look great, but other times is was way too bright, and orange. (as pictured)

I finally decided on a shade of green called Swiftly Green, by Valspar. I will be the first to admit that during most times of the day it is way more yellow than green, but I still really, really like it. I think if it had been more green it would have been too much.

Most of the accessories are the same, but some have been tweaked, and some have been moved.

There are a few more updates to this room that I haven't shown yet. We added a a leather ottoman from Target (found on clearance) to replace the too small wicker cube, moved the wicker cube to the left of the media cabinet, and added a fiddle leaf fig tree to the right side.  Oh, and I can't forget about the ceramic rhino. I found him at Ross for $6. The boys thought he was cool, and I really liked him, so we brought him home.

Do you have a spot in your home that you have painted over and over?

*Don't forget to link your posts up tomorrow for What You Wish Wednesday!


I am linking this post to these blog parties. Please go check them out.

What You Wish Wednesday
It's Overflowing
Liz Marie Blog
House of Rose
Blissfully Ever After
Love of Home and Family

Making Home Base
Design, Dining + Diapers
Hit Me Me With Your Best Shot
House by Hoff - Get Your DIY On

Breakfast Room Updates

 

I feel like we have a brand new breakfast room. Before I dive into the what, when, and hows -  let's take a look back at where this room started.

1. Shortly after we moved in. The only thing that had been done was that the new tile floors had been installed.

2. First Set of Updates
 - copper blinds were removed and replaced with curtains made from clearance table cloths from Target
- chandelier was swapped for the one in the dining room and spray painted oil rubbed bronze
- wallpaper was painted (We chose not to remove because the walls were paneling. The grooves had been filled and then wallpapered over. We weren't sure what kind of condition it would be in if we removed it. )
- new table

3. Second Set of Updates
-new bar stools
-new curtains (This time the curtains were made from $2 Ralph Lauren fabric scored at a yard sale.) 

I wasn't really looking to change this room, but then a series of events happened, and one thing led to another.

It all started back in December, when Asher started building our new dining room table. I had initially planned to sell our old dining room table, but then I decided to see how it worked in the breakfast room without the leaf. The bar height table was nice, but it was really small, and not very comfortable to sit at for very long. I thought we would live with it for a few days and then make a decision. Ha, it didn't take that long. We move it in, sat down, decided it was perfect, and sold the bar height table and bar stools on Craigslist the next day.

The old table was gone, so the next step was to purchase new chairs. I used the money that we made selling the other table and bar stools to put towards ordering these, and have been been really happy with them. I had planned to paint the table white, but the longer I have left the table black, the more I like it in this room. My kitchen cabinets are more off white, than white, and our tile floor it really light. I feel like the table would just kind of get lost if it were white. 

We swapped the breakfast room and dining room chandeliers with each other. I was over the red, and decided to paint the chandelier Ivy Leaf green before putting it back in the breakfast room. The pop of fun color was just what this really neutral kitchen needed.

I could have called it done at this point, but I really wanted to update the curtains in this room. The first 2 sets of curtains were really cheap, better than what was there, but not what I wanted forever. The curtains were also not functioning exactly like I wanted. The ones over the  kitchen window would get splattered on while washing dishes, and when I washed them the colors kind of bled together in a few places making them look splotchy. I replaced the curtains over the kitchen with a bamboo shade, and then moved the brown chevron curtains into this room to see if I liked them in here, or if I needed to find something else.

The chevron curtains were perfect in here. Ok, so they weren't perfect. They were about 4" too short.  When I purchased the fabric I did not pre-wash, I just left them really long and never actually hemmed them. I thought I left plenty of extra fabric to allow for shrinkage, but I was wrong. Really wrong. My plan was to just cut them and have short curtains in here, but then then  I decided that I really did like the long length in here. I did the next best thing. I went to Hobby Lobby and found a green fabric to extend the curtains. It was simple, and I really like the added color. Shrinking the curtains turned into a happy accident.

I still want to add bamboo shades to the window, but it is just a matter of having the extra funds to do so. It will come with time. Homes take time.

What do you think about the changes?

The room is so much prettier, but my favorite change is that we actually enjoying eating in this room now.


I am linking this post to these blog parties. Please go check them out.
It's Overflowing
The Pearl Blog - All Things Pretty Part-ay
Liz Marie Blog
House of Rose
Blissfully Ever After
Love of Home and Family
Tatertots and Jello
I Heart Nap Time
Lil' Luna
Somewhat Simple
Today's Creative Blog
Suburbs Mama
Making Home Base
Design, Dining + Diapers
Frugal Friday - The Shabby Nest 
House by Hoff - Get Your DIY On

Big Boy Room - Progress

This room has been in the works for a LONG time. Like, a really long time. This room was initially Cade's room when we first moved it.

I really liked this room when it was Cade's. The room was pretty classic with a little bit of Super Hero thrown in. We never did get around to building the day bed for the room before he inherited the
furniture from his great-grandmother that was the starting point for switching rooms. The new furniture would not fit in this room. The layout just wasn't right.

Right after Cade's room was done I had plans to work on Henry's room, but when he switched rooms with Cade I really didn't want to redo the room that was just finished. Henry was excited about it, so it stayed like this. Ok, so it wasn't exactly like this. Henry has a long dresser, so the bed didn't stay centered on this wall, It was moved to the left and the dresser was on the right. It stayed like this for way longer than I care to admit.

Back in December I was looking through one of the local buy, sell, trade sites on Facebook, and came across someone selling a car themed quilt, sheets, lamp, bank, curtains, wall canvas, curtain panels, a sham, and 2 car shaped pillows that were from Target.  There was also a striped potter barn rug. I showed the picture to Henry just to see if he liked it. He liked it, but I wasn't sure that was what I wanted to do. Well, it turns out the every single time I asked Henry what he wanted for Christmas, his  response was, " I want the car room stuff." He left me no choice, I had to scoop it up. I was just thankful that it was still available. I wrapped every bit of it up and put it under the Christmas Tree. It is still his favorite thing that he got.

He didn't let me waste any time putting it in his room. Before the day was over his bed was made and the curtains were hung. I was still procrastinating on extending the rectangle to a stripe, but I tackled it this weekend. It ended up being really easy, and didn't take very long at all. I'm not sure why I put it off so long.

via instagram

The headboard was a Craigslist find.

The angry bird is Henry's personal touch. He made me cut it out of a candy box.

Henry's reading corner is one of my favorite spots. The little red rocker was my mom's when she was a little girl. Henry had always been a rocker, so she wanted him to have it. Before she passed away I wanted to have it recovered, but now I'm not sure that I can do it.

This spot needs some updating. It won't be anything major, but I have a few changes in mind.

The room is mostly done, but there are still a few things on my to do list.

To Do List

-art for above the bed (diy?)

-art for above the dresser (diy?)

-update the accessories on the wall shelves

-exchange the light/ceiling fan for a new one

 

The most important thing is how much this little man likes his "car room".

Entryway Updates

Let's take a look back at where this entryway started.

When we moved in to this house about 3 years ago, the entryway looked like this. (This is after we painted the walls, tiled the floors, replaced the green shaggy carpet, and added a shade to the odd light fixture.) The interior side of the front doors started out white. The white was pretty dingy looking, so I painted them the same blackish, brown that I painted the exterior side. I was already painting, so I just went for it. It was a nice change, but it made this dark entryway even darker.

In December, I was finally ready for a change, so I decided to paint the doors a medium gray. I knew that a dark gray or black wouldn't help the the room feel any lighter, and I knew that I didn't want white or a bright color. I have to fess up, though. The doors still need a second coat of paint. The weather has been terrible for painting. I need a nice pretty day, on a day that I can actually stay home, so that I can finish this.

I don't know how this works at your house, but one change usually leads to a series of changes at our house.  I began feeling the need to move all of our artwork around, and when I say all, it really did end up being most of the artwork in the main areas of our house.

 This is a canvas that I initially painted to go above the love seat in the living room. I decided that this entryway needed a nice dose of color, so I moved it here. The artwork that was here got moved to the dining room.

Hopefully, you noticed the new light fixture. One of my friends was changing out some lights in her new house and passed this one on to me. I was pretty excited about it. It was exactly what I have been wanting to go in here. 

 I also added hooks and a framed print. You can read all about that change and find the free printable here.

What do you think about the changes? These updates cost me less than $2! I had the paint for the doors from another project, and everything else was stuff that I was given or already owned. I just had to print the "Home Sweet Home" print.

Have you done anything to brighten up a space in your home recently?


I am linking this post to these blog parties. Please go check them out.
A Bowl Full of Lemons
The Pearl Blog - All Things Pretty Part-ay
Liz Marie Blog
House of Rose
Blissfully Ever After
Love of Home and Family
Tatertots and Jello
I Heart Nap Time
Lil' Luna
Somewhat Simple
Today's Creative Blog
Suburbs Mama
Making Home Base
Design, Dining + Diapers
Frugal Friday - The Shabby Nest 
It's Overflowing