Josh's bathroom got a makeover last summer with fresh paint, neutral colors, some glitz, and a few new towels...so my bathroom was feeling left out.
Four and a half years ago when my mom and I and my friend Sarah painted this bathroom, I loved the intense, lime green color. In fact, I sort of prided myself on my fearless choice of bold paint colors. Looking back, I was maybe a little too fearless...the lime green, eggplant purple, and deep red I was so excited about have all been replaced with beautiful, creamy, neutral grays...
For those who don't remember...this is what my bathroom looked like when we moved in:
For whatever reason, I don't have pictures of my lime green and zebra bathroom in all it's glory...but I'll trust if you're spending time reading this, you've probably been to our house and used that bathroom a time or two. Even the lime green was a step up from what this room originally looked like. Geez. Cabinets and vanity were all painted black ASAP!
As I've been going through our house tweaking things....I've discovered that it's not that I absolutely hated the way I decorated and painted everything...it's just that I totally didn't know what my style was. I'd never had a house before and Pinterest and Houzz didn't exist...so how was I supposed to research and plan and create what I wanted each space to look and feel like? I just walked down an aisle at Target and registered for their cookie-cutter towels and curtains and bedding with color schemes, all sitting on the same shelf to be perfectly placed in a matchy-matchy coordinated bedroom or bathroom.
NO MORE OF THAT MALARCHY AT 422 13TH ST.
While I was spending Labor Day painting with my parents and my sister (and also shamelessly using them to accomplish random crafting projects I had been putting off) I was trying to decide what exactly I was going to do with this room once it was painted. All I knew was that I wanted it to be VLAM.
I was able to use the same, mis-tinted paint color I used in Josh's bathroom (meaning it essentially cost me $5/bathroom). Once that was on the walls, I basically had a beautifully blank, neutral canvas I could do anything with.
I thought I was ready to kill the zebra print...but as it turns out...I wasn't ready. I just needed to take a more subtle approach. So off I went. These were my priorities:
1. Glitter
2. Vintage
3. Silver and Gold
4. Zebra
5. Gray
6. Reuse Black/White/Zebra Towels
7. Chalkboard
8. Organized
9. Aqua Accent Color
10. Easy to Clean
I used to decorate our house with all kinds of 'rules'...some rules I still think are great (always decorating in odd numbers) and some I decided...I had no idea why I made them 'rules' in the first place. Why couldn't I mix silver and gold and gray and glitter and vintage and chalkboards and zebra towels all together to create a bathroom I loved? So that's what I did...
From Top Left:
1. I dug through my basket stash and found this large basket that was perfect for this spot. I picked up six new towels to freshen up my bathroom...the turquoise are DKNY brand from TJ Maxx and the gray and cream colored towels are from the Nate Berkus collection at Target. All the zebra and plain black and white towels in this bathroom were wedding gifts.
2. The 'Boersma' picture was taken last fall after we bought our acreage, before we painted all the floors black. I was kind of in love with those blue floors (and almost kept them that color), but the color in this picture didn't really fit anywhere in our house...until now! I just snatched the frame from another spot in our house and I found the little vintage glass container at my sister-in-laws garage sale...she said I could just have it! I use it for bobby pins, hair ties, and earrings that float around in my bathroom.
3. Those are old milk bottles my G'ma Rose had in her kitchen and I thought they just added a little bit of vintage height to this shelf. I found that little silver frame at TJ Maxx for $3.99 and thought it would add some sparkle.
4. I had those black candle stands in this bathroom when it was green, so I just swapped the lime green pillar candles with some white and cream ones I had on hand.
From Top Left:
1. I have a lot of really great storage in my bathroom, but sometimes it's hard to keep it looking cute and functional at the same time. I found this locker basket at TJ Maxx for $6.99 and it's perfect for keeping the hand towels and wash cloths folded and corralled nicely...and also handy.
2. I searched every single store in the greater Ames area before I settled on this shower curtain. It. Is. Gorgeous. And I think I will keep it forever. I wanted something that was neutral but glamorous...but not too bold. It was tough. I also hung the curtain rod a lot higher and farther in toward the shower to make the bathroom seem bigger. It makes the shower feel smaller, but that doesn't bother me. It's hard to see but I picked up a fresh shower curtain rod from Wal-Mart (the old one was getting dingy and rusty) as well as some new shower hooks that have big diamonds on the ends! The curtain and the hooks both came from TJ Maxx.
3. I'm not usually a person who likes to decorate with 'nik-nacs'...but this little owl...he was too cute and glitzy and cheap to pass up. And I think he fits in perfectly with my mix-mash VLAM theme. He was only $2.99 at TJ! I've been wanting a mirror like this for a while so I can use it to check the back of my hair instead of using my tiny make-up foundation mirror. I believe I found this for $12.99 at Wal-Mart.
1. I dug through my basket stash and found this large basket that was perfect for this spot. I picked up six new towels to freshen up my bathroom...the turquoise are DKNY brand from TJ Maxx and the gray and cream colored towels are from the Nate Berkus collection at Target. All the zebra and plain black and white towels in this bathroom were wedding gifts.
2. The 'Boersma' picture was taken last fall after we bought our acreage, before we painted all the floors black. I was kind of in love with those blue floors (and almost kept them that color), but the color in this picture didn't really fit anywhere in our house...until now! I just snatched the frame from another spot in our house and I found the little vintage glass container at my sister-in-laws garage sale...she said I could just have it! I use it for bobby pins, hair ties, and earrings that float around in my bathroom.
3. Those are old milk bottles my G'ma Rose had in her kitchen and I thought they just added a little bit of vintage height to this shelf. I found that little silver frame at TJ Maxx for $3.99 and thought it would add some sparkle.
4. I had those black candle stands in this bathroom when it was green, so I just swapped the lime green pillar candles with some white and cream ones I had on hand.
1. I have a lot of really great storage in my bathroom, but sometimes it's hard to keep it looking cute and functional at the same time. I found this locker basket at TJ Maxx for $6.99 and it's perfect for keeping the hand towels and wash cloths folded and corralled nicely...and also handy.
2. I searched every single store in the greater Ames area before I settled on this shower curtain. It. Is. Gorgeous. And I think I will keep it forever. I wanted something that was neutral but glamorous...but not too bold. It was tough. I also hung the curtain rod a lot higher and farther in toward the shower to make the bathroom seem bigger. It makes the shower feel smaller, but that doesn't bother me. It's hard to see but I picked up a fresh shower curtain rod from Wal-Mart (the old one was getting dingy and rusty) as well as some new shower hooks that have big diamonds on the ends! The curtain and the hooks both came from TJ Maxx.
3. I'm not usually a person who likes to decorate with 'nik-nacs'...but this little owl...he was too cute and glitzy and cheap to pass up. And I think he fits in perfectly with my mix-mash VLAM theme. He was only $2.99 at TJ! I've been wanting a mirror like this for a while so I can use it to check the back of my hair instead of using my tiny make-up foundation mirror. I believe I found this for $12.99 at Wal-Mart.
This might be one of my favorite projects ever. This was a frame that had some saying about shoes printed inside and was headed to the 'Donate' pile when my mom (not the most creative/crafty woman) asked, "Are you sure you can't keep that and turn it into something else? I just really feel like you could do something with that, Mollie."
So I designed this project but delegated it to my mom and Jamie since they were so bent on me keeping it. :) We took it apart and they headed to the garage to spray paint the frame silver with some paint I keep on hand. Then they spent the next few hours applying four layers of chalk paint to the glass. Once everything was dry, I put it back together, found this simple bathroom saying on Pinterest, and hung it up. People get a kick out of this sign. My plan was to change it up during holiday's and when we host parties...but I really like keeping it like this. :)
I'd been keeping my Coach bag to use for something clever and creative and decided the white bag and gold logo would fit perfectly into my "Everything-Mollie-Loves" bathroom. This space is between the top shelf where I keep towels and the bottom shelf with the towel basket and the owl and the mirror.
I went to Hobby Lobby when frames were 50% off and found this one for $8...the only problem was the detailing was RED on the white frame. Lucky for me, I keep Gold Sharpies readily available in our house and made quick work of that problem. Josh hammered a nail into that tricky spot and now I have this fun reminder of our 'Three-Generation Girl Trip' to Chicago from last spring break.
NOT PICTURED:
I forgot to mention my inspiration behind picking aqua as my accent color...I found this book at Urban Outfitters when I was at the MOA with my sisters this summer for the Katy Perry concert. It's the most unique, hilarious book I had ever seen and I wanted it, but didn't know how to tie the aqua and gold into my bathroom...TADA! NO RULES! IT MATCHES PERFECTLY! I also knew I could buy it for cheaper on Amazon, so when I got home and started planning my bathroom re-do...that's what I did! :) It was a big hit at Thanksgiving...Josh's G'ma Junice even wrote on a page!
I didn't just have a hard time finding a shower curtain...deciding on a rug was a challenge too. I wanted it to be neutral, but not plain gray and also not too light because it would get dirty fast. I wanted the rug to coordinate with everything but not be too 'matchy-matchy' with everything.' I ended up picking a smaller square rug that matches one of the towel colors I chose. I try not to get too obsessed with color names because I think that can blind people into picking colors based on how cute they think the name is...but Creamy Chai is the name of my rug and two of my towels and I sort of love it.
Since this little project happened approximately six months ago...I've added a few things, but still tried to keep everything simple. A small vintage tray has been added to the back of the toilet for my perfume. I found a small, square aqua city-scape canvas at Hobby Lobby that I've hung behind the toilet. The colors fit in perfectly. I've also decided I'm going to change out the towel rack for hooks so more people can come visit and have a place to hang their towels. I'm tired of towels on the floor,;hanging on the backs of door knobs; and never getting dry hanging on top of each other on the towel rack. So that's a small Josh-Project that will be happening soon.
One last note...I still have not found fabric for curtains in either of our bathrooms. Since the paint colors are the same, and both bathrooms are already heavy on patterns...I'm hoping to just buy two yards of the same fabric and make it work for valences in both bathrooms...That's a project and a blog for another day though I suppose. :)
So there you have it...my 2015 debut back to the blogging world.
So I designed this project but delegated it to my mom and Jamie since they were so bent on me keeping it. :) We took it apart and they headed to the garage to spray paint the frame silver with some paint I keep on hand. Then they spent the next few hours applying four layers of chalk paint to the glass. Once everything was dry, I put it back together, found this simple bathroom saying on Pinterest, and hung it up. People get a kick out of this sign. My plan was to change it up during holiday's and when we host parties...but I really like keeping it like this. :)
I'd been keeping my Coach bag to use for something clever and creative and decided the white bag and gold logo would fit perfectly into my "Everything-Mollie-Loves" bathroom. This space is between the top shelf where I keep towels and the bottom shelf with the towel basket and the owl and the mirror.
I went to Hobby Lobby when frames were 50% off and found this one for $8...the only problem was the detailing was RED on the white frame. Lucky for me, I keep Gold Sharpies readily available in our house and made quick work of that problem. Josh hammered a nail into that tricky spot and now I have this fun reminder of our 'Three-Generation Girl Trip' to Chicago from last spring break.
NOT PICTURED:
I forgot to mention my inspiration behind picking aqua as my accent color...I found this book at Urban Outfitters when I was at the MOA with my sisters this summer for the Katy Perry concert. It's the most unique, hilarious book I had ever seen and I wanted it, but didn't know how to tie the aqua and gold into my bathroom...TADA! NO RULES! IT MATCHES PERFECTLY! I also knew I could buy it for cheaper on Amazon, so when I got home and started planning my bathroom re-do...that's what I did! :) It was a big hit at Thanksgiving...Josh's G'ma Junice even wrote on a page!
I didn't just have a hard time finding a shower curtain...deciding on a rug was a challenge too. I wanted it to be neutral, but not plain gray and also not too light because it would get dirty fast. I wanted the rug to coordinate with everything but not be too 'matchy-matchy' with everything.' I ended up picking a smaller square rug that matches one of the towel colors I chose. I try not to get too obsessed with color names because I think that can blind people into picking colors based on how cute they think the name is...but Creamy Chai is the name of my rug and two of my towels and I sort of love it.
Since this little project happened approximately six months ago...I've added a few things, but still tried to keep everything simple. A small vintage tray has been added to the back of the toilet for my perfume. I found a small, square aqua city-scape canvas at Hobby Lobby that I've hung behind the toilet. The colors fit in perfectly. I've also decided I'm going to change out the towel rack for hooks so more people can come visit and have a place to hang their towels. I'm tired of towels on the floor,;hanging on the backs of door knobs; and never getting dry hanging on top of each other on the towel rack. So that's a small Josh-Project that will be happening soon.
One last note...I still have not found fabric for curtains in either of our bathrooms. Since the paint colors are the same, and both bathrooms are already heavy on patterns...I'm hoping to just buy two yards of the same fabric and make it work for valences in both bathrooms...That's a project and a blog for another day though I suppose. :)
So there you have it...my 2015 debut back to the blogging world.
