Finishing the Basement Bathroom: Part I

 She's baaa-aaack!

Well folks, it's been one year and ten months since my last blog post (cedar chest chalk paint makeover). That might be a new record lapse for me. Rest assured though, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I know everyone was worried.

Let me just get right to the big news around here lately. After more than 14 years in our little house on the corner, we finally got the bathroom in our basement finished! Let me clarify... we finally decided to hire someone to come do it for us. After the countless DIY renovations we've already done, this was a project we were willing to just fork over some (okay, a lot of) money and hire it out. After all, they'd have the bathroom done in two weeks when it would probably take us 6+ months. Also, the idea of us trying to do a fully tiled shower and backsplash wall with no tile experience? Hard pass.

BUT, before I get to the reveal (which I'm going to save until my next blog post, #sorrynotsorry)... here are some photos of what the bathroom looked like in the "before" stages. We did all the framing ourselves way back when we framed the rest of the basement. Luke also did most of the drywall, along with the electrical wiring and plumbing hook-ups. 

Oh, and if you want to take a walk down memory lane with me, check out this post from 2011 about how we had to tear out the concrete floor to re-work the location of all the plumbing and drain pipes... That was such a traumatizing fun experience, I had almost forgotten all about it.

It's a very small bathroom, but the layout we designed accommodates a 36x42" shower, a 30" wide vanity cabinet, and of course a toilet. We also planned for a large niche in the shower and one in the wall next to the sink to help maximize functional space.

All the materials have gradually been purchased over the past year or two, with the exception of the vessel sink which we bought about 10 years ago (yes, seriously... back when we had the ambitious idea of finishing the bathroom ourselves). This bathroom was really our first experience with picking out all the materials for an unfinished space, rather than just figuring it out as we go, which has been the case with some of our other DIY renovations. That was a little overwhelming, just because decision-making in general is tough for me, along with trying to envision what it would all look like together.

The price of the sink was pretty reasonable, but some of the other fixtures (such as the Pfister Kenzo line of faucets and coordinating towel bars) were a bit of a splurge, considering our typical penny-pinching shopping behavior. 

Sink 
Kingston Brass Parisian White Vitreous China Vessel Sink

Wall mount faucet
Pfister Kenzo Wall Mount Bathroom Faucet, Brushed Nickel

Shower faucet
Pfister Kenzo Tub & Shower Trim Kit, Brushed Nickel

Shower wall tile
Carrara 12x24" Polished Porcelain Stone Look Tile

Shower floor tile

Carrara 10x12" Ceramic Hexagon Mosaic Tile

Mosaic picket tile (for niches and vanity sink wall)

Cienega Springs Mixed Glass Mosaic Tile

Pendant light fixture

James Allen Tyrell Single Light 9-1/4" Mini Pendant w/ Glass Shade

Towel bars, etc.

Pfister Kenzo 24" Towel Bar, Brushed Nickel

Pfister Kenzo 18" Towel Bar, Brushed Nickel

Pfister Kenzo Toilet Tissue Holder, Brushed Nickel
Pfister Kenzo Robe Hook, Brushed Nickel

Stay tuned for my next post to see how it all came together! I promise I won't make you wait another two years. 

Cedar Chest Chalk Paint Makeover

Before yet another month slips away from me, I wanted to share this quick post about a recent DIY project. Over the New Year's weekend, I decided to give a makeover to an old cedar chest I'd acquired several years ago. While the inside of it is obviously cedar, it had laminate (I think) on the outside which was looking pretty rough. And the overall color isn't exactly our style. Oh, and one of our dogs had chewed on a corner of it a long time ago. Yikes. 

But all aesthetics aside, this was a nice solid cedar chest which I didn't want to get rid of. Enter my favorite makeover magic — chalk paint! I figured I had nothing to lose by painting it, just like I've done with so many other pieces of furniture and cabinetry in this house. Not wanting to spend much (read: any) money on this project, I rummaged through my existing stash of chalk paint and decided on Annie Sloan Graphite (the same color used on our lower kitchen cabinets). 

All I did to prep the chest before painting was give it a quick wipe-down to remove any dust. Yep, that's all. One of the many reasons to love chalk paint. I guess I did also have to tape off the back side and the underside of the lid, which took some extra time. 

Then, I thinned the paint with a little bit of water (helps with smoother coverage) and started brushing it on. I decided to do random brush strokes everywhere rather than trying to paint in straight lines, thinking it might add a little "crosshatch" texture to the piece once done. You can't really mess this stuff up either way. (Another reason to love chalk paint!)

It ended up taking three coats of the Graphite paint to attain sufficient coverage, which is about what I had expected. Once the final coat was dry, I applied the clear wax to it. Then a day later, I buffed it with a clean, dry cloth to give it a buttery soft sheen. 

And, voila! Weekend project finished. We moved the chest from our office upstairs into our basement, and it's used for storing board games and other miscellaneous items. I have to say it looks sooo much better in this graphite color! And bonus, chewed-up corner is hardly noticeable now. Another chalk paint win in the books, folks.

And lastly, a couple "before & afters" for the full effect!

Master Bathroom Makeover Part II: The Reveal

I thought this day might never come, but I'm finally ready to share the official "reveal" of our DIY master bathroom makeover. It's been months in the making — a weekend here, a weekend there, you know how it goes. The polished chrome towel bars still haven't been switched out yet, but who knows if I'll ever get to that.

So, is this my dream bathroom now? Well... no. But, it's a vast improvement and much-needed freshening up. All in all, we achieved a big transformation with a fairly small budget (I think we stayed under $1,500).

Keep on scrolling for all the photos and more details!

Before: Dark & Drab

After: Lighter & Fresher!

To be honest, it all looks much better in person. There's no natural light and our bulbs are on the warm side, so it's challenging to get great photos. And, my camera phone was struggling to focus and capture the detail on the distressed cabinets. (Excuses, excuses...) Anyway, here's a brief rundown of the updates which have taken place over the past few months:

Painting all the trim white

Painting the walls Colonnade Gray by Sherwin Williams

Chalk painting the vanity and soaker tub panels

Tearing out the old grouted tile countertop and backsplash

(and destroying some drywall in the process)

Patching the drywall, spraying the texture and repainting

Installing a new solid white countertop with integral sinks

(73" Camilla Cultured White Vanity Top with Double Basin)

Installing new faucets

(Kraus Arlo Bathroom Faucet in brushed gold)

Though it was a fairly tedious project, painting the vanity instead of getting a brand new one saved us a good chunk of money. Another cost-saving decision was keeping our existing mirrors, light fixtures and cabinet hardware, since they mostly still coordinated with the new updates. Also, we obviously didn't replace the flooring either — that was just way more than we wanted to get into at this point.

Neither one of us was too familiar with the Kraus brand before this, but it turns out these faucets are really beautiful and high-quality. The brushed gold is almost more of a champagne color.

This shelf has been here for years, but now the vases and canvas print stand out much more against the light gray walls. 

I'd love to hear what you think about the new paint colors and other updates! If it were your bathroom, how would you have transformed it on a budget?

Entryway Makeover with Hanging Wall Planters

 The wall behind our front door has been long overdue for a makeover. Like, it was really bothering me every time I looked at it. The color scheme in our house has gradually been transitioning to a lot of aqua accent colors, so this green/orange/purple combo just wasn't working anymore. And in general I just get bored of things and am always looking for an excuse to make a change.

Step One was to refinish the console table with chalk paint and dark wax, which you can read more about here. As you can see I also did some "shopping" around the house and found some beach-themed decor for the table.

Step Two was finding something to replace the three medallion mirrors. I knew I wanted to incorporate plants somehow (either real or faux), so I began searching Amazon for hanging wall planters. After too much time spent deliberating between all the options and styles, I finally decided to get these unique white ceramic flower planters.

Well, that meant I had to find something to hang them on, as a regular nail wouldn't do the trick. But I also didn't want a big bulky hook. Hello again, Amazon. Another search led me to these gold decorative wall hangers. (They also came with anchors and screws.) I was pleasantly surprised with the quality once they arrived. It was a set of four, even though only three were needed for my purposes.

 

After enlisting hubby's help with installing the hooks, the planters were ready to hang! 

As I'd hoped, the three planters fill out this wall space perfectly. They're not too big, and not too small. The back side is also flat so they don't stick too far out from the wall which was an important consideration. I dig the leather strap and brass screws, don't you?

Surprisingly my existing craft stash didn't include any flowers that worked well for these planters, so a quick trip to Hobby Lobby was in order. (I actually haven't been there in a very long time.) Luckily it happened to be the last day to get 50% off the floral category. Originally I thought I might get some succulents, but in the end I decided on three dahlia (?) stems for a very budget-friendly total of $12. Each large stem had three flowers on it, which I cut and arranged in the planters. Easy peasy.

You could get really creative with floral/succulent arrangements in these planters, but obviously I took the quickest and simplest route for immediate gratification. Also, in case you're wondering, there's no drainage hole in them. But according to the product description, adding a handful of small rocks and or charcoal to the bottom is an easy way to give excess water somewhere to go to prevent live plants from drowning.

Finally, the makeover is complete! All the pieces and parts came together quite nicely. Not only does it look more cohesive, it feels more sophisticated too. (As an added bonus, our front door wreath also ties in well) The overall cost for this entryway makeover was only about $50 for the planters, gold "hooks" and faux flowers. I purposely got flowers that will look appropriate year-round, but it would also be easy to switch them out for Christmas stems or other seasonal decor. Versatility is always a good thing in my book!