River Rock-ing Out

When we were searching for a new home, one of the things I honed in on was the half bathroom.  Admittedly, it’s not something that would've been a deal breaker or anything, but I definitely did have a few preferences in mind on what I’d love.  So when we first viewed our house, I was really pleased with what I saw.  The size and placement were just about perfect.  Too small makes you feel squeezed in, too large makes it feel like a waste of space, and wrong placement within the home’s layout can just make it feel straight up awkward if it’s not private enough.

Here's another 'before' shots we took during our inspection visit (with the previous owners’ items):

It’s a highly used space since we spend the majority of our time on the first floor, so I was anxious to do some quick and inexpensive projects to put our spin on it.  (You can see my full to-do list for this room down below.)

On move-in day, we quickly noticed the sun had faded the wall paint surrounding the floral picture the previous owners had which resulted in an unattractive rectangular pattern that grabbed our eyes each time we entered the room.  It was then I had a light bulb moment – why not use the leftover Behr Silver Screen paint I had from the dining room project to add some pizzazz to the half bath?!

I also took this as an opportunity to bid ado to the river rocky/glass beady mirror that held court in the room.  I definitely like to try to reuse as much as I can, but I couldn’t envision a way to make that happen with this bad boy so it was added to the donation pile.  Also joining the ol’ donation pile was the brass towel bar that hung over the toilet.  As I’ve previously mentioned with the boys’ bathroom paint job, I side with Team Towel Ring as much as possible.  So I busted out the screw driver, removed it, and patched up the holes.  I took care of a few other nail holes in the room in the step as well.

When everything removed and patched, it was time to get to work with painting.  Since it was a light color initially – a yellow-ish beige – I didn’t prime and went at it with the Behr Silver Screen.  One coat was all it took.  I also followed the same ceiling painting philosophy I did with the boys’ bathroom paint job and painted it same color as well.  

Once the paint was dry, I put up the new crisp white mirror (from Lowe’s) and enlisted Eric’s help installing the new satin nickel towel ring (from Target).  I go back and forth with leaving the mirror as is (bright white) and painting it a fun color.  Until I’m positive which color, I’m sticking with white for now.  We’ll save that for another day!

I figured it was high time for some artwork in here as well.  And while sauntering through Target one day, I walked by the stationary section and stumbled upon a collection of journals, notepads, and clipboards that had a design I fell in love with.  For a total of $15, I grabbed a few pieces to create my DIY art. 

 

With a 40% off coupon from Michael’s and a sale they already had going on, I found a good deal on some white frames of varying size and orientation to kick off my first art project.  

Once back at home with my items, it was this simple:

• Using scissors, carefully trim the covers off the notepads and journal.
•  For the clipboard, I removed the paper block, measured and drew a line with marker indicating how much I wanted removed, and had Eric use his saw (not sure which one he used, sorry!) to cut off the metal clip on top.  I think I could have used an exacto knife, though, for those that might not have access to a saw. 
• With my four pieces of material ready, I just played around with positioning them on the floor to see what I liked best and once finalized, inserted them into my frames. DONE!   

To make my life easier with hanging them, I used a trick I read about.  It goes a little something like this:  

• Lay your frames on paper and trace out their size.  It can be any paper – craft, newspaper, catalogs, etc.  As long as it’s big enough to fit the entire size of your frame, you’re good. 
• Once you have your frames traced on their papers, carefully cut them out and tape them up where you think you'd like them on the wall. 

• Once you're happy with your arrangement, grab your pencil, hammer, and nails.
• Carefully measure (or eyeball if you don't need it super precise) the location of where the nail for each frame should be and then hammer it into the actual piece of paper on the wall.
• Once the nails are in, then remove the taped paper and magically place your pictures.

With the walls painted, a new mirror, new artwork, ditching the old towel bar and adding a new towel ring, this is how we’re looking today. 

 

 

Total Project Cost: $85 

Paint: $0, leftover from dining room

Spackle: $0, already had it

Mirror: $31

Towel ring: $18

Picture frames: $21

Artwork materials: $15

And now the side-by-sides:

I apologize for my before & after shots not mirroring each other similar angle, same orientation, etc.  I had to do some cropping since I have some of other super secret projects already in the works going on with the lighting and vanity so I had to remove those objects from the after shots.  

The moral of this story is that there’s still a LOT to do, but she’s getting there.  Here’s the running list of what we’re thinking for this room:

• Paint walls and ceiling
• Replace mirror
• Remove current towel bar
• Install new towel ring
• New toilet paper holder
• New artwork
• Do something with vanity; paint?
• Install new vanity hardware (pulls, hinges)
• New vanity top
• New faucet
• Do something with light fixture; replace or update somehow
• Paint interior of door white
• Paint baseboards white
• Paint porthole window frame and crossbars white
• Add crown molding

Has anyone else done any DIY art projects lately?  Did you love it, find it a pain, or somewhere in between? 

♥,
Anne