Bathroom Vanity Chalk Paint Makeover: Part II

[NOTE: Missed out on Part I? Check it out!]

Between finishing our basement and the ongoing renovations on our main floor, I live for mini-victories like this one to keep me motivated (read: sane). It reminds me of the way I felt after my coffee table makeover and kitchen cabinet makeover. The common thread running through these projects? Chalk paint!

Yes, once again, I turned to my trusty can of Annie Sloan chalk paint to transform this vanity in our guest bathroom.

Before: Boring, blah, builder-grade.

Much like all of our other cabinetry and trim (which has since been painted), it featured an Oompa Loompa-esque stain.

Bathroom Vanity Chalk Paint Makeover: Part I

I am hereby naming our main floor renovation "The Snowball Project." What began as replacing floors turned into removing walls turned into painting trim turned into re-doing the kitchen turned into replacing light fixtures (not necessarily in that order)... Well, you get the point. 

The reason this renovation snowballed to include our hall bathroom is that the bathroom tile needed to be removed in order to install the new luxury vinyl plank floor. And that meant taking out the vanity and toilet. And that meant it was a prime opportunity to give the entire bathroom a makeover (except for painting, which I had done a few years ago and still really like the wall color). 

Still with me? Good.

Here's a look at our original builder grade vanity. 

The Perfect Neutral Area Rug... So Far!

[A little PSA for my blog readers: This year, Amazon Prime Day is on July 11, but they have great deals starting on July 10. Not an Amazon Prime member? You can sign up for a free trial here!]

While we have yet to find the perfect new living room furniture (hence the lack of seating shown in the photos below), I just had to share an update about the area rug we recently got to help define our living area. I wanted a neutral rug that wasn't too light (we have two dogs) but yet not so dark that it blends in with the recently-installed luxury vinyl plank floor.

After much searching online and in a few stores, we finally decided to go with this 7x7 Safavieh Hudson Shag Collection Grey and Ivory Moroccan Ogee Plush Area Rug. I really appreciated their variety of size options in both square and round. It was tempting to go with the ivory color for contrasting with our dark floor, but practicality won out and we opted for grey. 

The rug also had some pretty stellar reviews on Amazon, and now I can see why. It's super soft and plush, and the grey color has just a hint of brown which adds some warmth. The ivory pattern and the ever-so-slight sheen also make it contrast beautifully with our floor.

Main Floor Renovation: The Walls Come Tumbling Down

Where do I even start... Somehow, it's already been more than three months since my last post. But really, is anyone surprised by that? It's kind of been my track record for the past couple years.

By golly though, I'm determined to get this blog caught back up with all our ongoing home remodeling projects. Let's backtrack to something I've skipped over until now, but it's actually been one of the most integral parts of our entire main floor renovation.

It actually started last May. As in, May of 2016. This is when we took down some [non-load-bearing] walls. Actually, my husband and my father-in-law did most of this demo work one weekend while I was out of town (and I was okay with that). 

First, here are a few before pictures of the space with walls. As you can see, our living room and dining room were disjointed and a bit claustrophobic. (Although, we did do our best to improve the situation by creating this window opening when we moved into the house.)