The Bathroom Brainstorm

So, my first official big time project that I would like to tackle this year is...... the hallway bathroom. This is the bathroom that I use the most (I like the tub) and the smaller space makes for a cozier feel than our master bathroom. On top of everything else, when we have company this is the bathroom that is used. So it only makes sense that I would choose to tackle this bathroom before any other minor reno I may want to do anywhere else in the house.

Here's a reminder of what it looked like on move-in day back in June '10. It's a narrow little bathroom so the first shot is taken from the shower and the second shot is taken from the doorway (just to get you situated).
I wanted this room to look like a complete remodel without having to completely remodel it. New paint, new shower curtain, new cabinet hardware, new light fixture, new accessories.... in other words new! Using our newly acquired Home Depot gift cards (one of our awesome Christmas present from my 'rents) we are now on the lookout for a light fixture.

We have the paint color selected (as seen below) and since I'm going to have to take everything off of the walls anyway I thought we should try to find our new light fixture before I even get started with painting. Seems like a waste of energy to put a fixture back up after painting when we wanna eventually give it the heave-ho anyway. (Sidenote: this paint swatch is not true to life. Try as I did, I just couldn't get an accurate picture of the color.... but think sorta minty. The color shown below it is kind of wasabi-esque... so a shade lighter than wasabi I guess! The color is actually called "Wind Breeze")
Here's the light fixture we're working with now. It's a crazy energy puller- not efficient like we would like. And with us now living in the desert, efficiency is essential. It's not aesthetically pleasing and we don't particularly care for the Hollywood make-up chair style. These houses were built quick and cheap- and this fixture is a perfect example of cheap. They were selling these puppies at the stores for about $20-30 brand new. We want to find something that's inexpensive but doesn't look as cheap as it may actually be. (P.S. Like how we have two different types of bulbs in there? We didn't want to buy more junky light bulbs so we've just been working with what we could find in the house already.)
After I removed the shower doors a couple of weeks ago, I took a step back to really get an idea of what we would like. Bathrooms can be super traditional or crazy modern. We tend to lean a little bit more on the contemporary side of the spectrum and decided that it would be okay to have a little bit more fun with the bathroom. So we went out to look for lighting ideas. We scavenged the likes of Home Depot, Lowe's, and The Great Indoors. Here are some of the styles we kind of liked.The one on the bottom is the one that we liked the most. But before we actually purchase any sort of fixture I have to remove the old one to see what exactly we're working with back there. Also, before we take the plunge and buy from the store I've gotta do my research and see if I can wrangle up a better deal online.

Stay tuned :)

P.S. We're still on the fence about what we want to do with the vanity- paint, stain, or leave it alone.

Bye Bye Shower Doors

Ever since we bought our house I haven't been the biggest fan of the shower doors in the bathrooms. In the master bathroom the doors are necessary since there is no bathtub (so we can't just whip on a shower curtain), but in the hallway bathroom that wasn't the case. The doors are in good working order and everything- they just aren't our style.
I tried using a razor blade to scrape off the flower designs to see if that would make it more appealing- but those things just didn't want to come off. So we've been living with the bathroom as is for now.
Until today.... I was struck with a burst of energy and the need to get rid of those things pronto! They aren't pretty (not to us anyway) and they just kind of get in the way. They make it harder to clean, they make the space feel closed in, not to mention how many times I have bruised my foot on the outside of the tub because I didn't account for the extra couple inches that the slider requires for clearance. So I got to work and removed the door.
All in all it only took me about an hour. I've still got some goo-removal to do and I need to get some caulking to fill the screw holes on the sides but it feels so much better now! Plus, I won't kick the darn door anymore (added bonus).
It may not look so picturesque at the moment- but with a new coat of paint going on soon it'll make a world of difference. I've attached a copy of some of the paint swatches that are up on the wall now- that will be the next big project :)