Love, love, love it!

Two posts in one day... I'm on a roll! Actually, I'm just too excited to wait to share the finishing touches (minus a "no slam" toilet lid) to the hallway bathroom.

I had ordered an extra long 96" shower curtain and had plans to raise the shower curtain as soon as it arrived. Well, about an hour after my last post the curtain was delivered! I was a little anxious because I wasn't sure that the colors would mesh well. After all, I had purchased it online (extra long shower curtains are rarely available in stores... especially a 96" one) and you can never be too sure about what's going to be showing up on your doorstep. I aimed at not being too "matchy-matchy" for fear of being too boring so the colors are similar- but not the same. And thankfully, what arrived is PERFECT!

Here's what the bathroom now looks like with the new "high-rise" shower curtain:Why did I choose to raise the shower curtain? Well, I understand that it isn't everyone's cup-o-tea, but I have to say that I feel like it adds some dramatic height and a shot of luxury to the room. I really wanted this bathroom to be relaxing with a hotel feel (since this acts as a guest bath when we have them) and also wanted it to be a place for me to unwind (this is our only bathroom with a tub and I love me some bubble baths).

Here's a shot of the curtain with the wall color and new chocolate towels that I snagged:
See what I mean? The blue on the curtain is a bit darker while the browns are a bit lighter. It all still pulls together without being too bland. I also love the simple pattern on the curtain... it's not so busy that it hurts your eyes!

Here are a few other details that I added to complete the transformation:This votive wall sconce has been in my possession for a while- in fact it used to be black. But I got spray-paint-happy and painted it silver a few months ago but couldn't figure out where I wanted it. Problem solved- placing it over the towel rack balances out that giant void of wall space while at the same time contributing to the spa feel :)These are what will be our guest towels (as soon as we get our next guests) which I snagged on the cheap at Kohls ($4 each for over-sized towels? Yes please!).

Side-note: When I bought these I totally imagined how Monica Geller I felt. Anyone else remember the episode where the guys are quizzed on how many towel categories she has? Well, I only have four... so I guess I'm not as OCD as she was. Anyhow, off of my towel tangent and back to the bathroom reveal.I picked up this fun little "one-of-a-kind" dish at a fun shop in Long Beach. I take off my rings when I wash my hands (I hate the feel of water under them) but always felt freaked out about just putting them on the counter. What if they fell down the drain? Problem solved. I bought three of these dishes in different colors: one for each bathroom and one for by the kitchen sink.Last but not least is this little doozy. This has actually been in our bathroom for a few months now. My parents bought us this as a fun gift for Christmas- a kitty toilet flusher! Fun huh?

So that's the bathroom reveal! With the exception of a bath mat and a new toilet lid this room is DONE!

Fountain Mist

That's the name of the paint that I finally settled on! Phew- I went through a lot of different ideas when it came to paint. I went from greens to grays to blues and I finally settled on a brighter version of anything that I had originally looked at.

Why the change of heart? Well, paint is the least expensive way to update or upgrade any space in your home and I though that I could take a leap of faith and do something a little outside of my comfort zone. If all else fails and it looks terrible- I could just spend $20 on another gallon of paint and redo it again. Luckily, that won't be necessary! :)

Here's a reminder of what the bathroom looked like before I painted:
BLAH! Everything is white- but so was everything in this house when we moved in. But I'm sure it's better to be working with a blank slate than if we had bought a house with horrific (and hard to cover) paint colors and crazy decorating.

Here's what it looked like after I started painting all the nooks and crannies. I had to remove the medicine cabinet to get into the nook between the cabinet and the mirror. I just couldn't get my 1.5" angled brush back there without making a mess.
Also, notice that I didn't tape anything off. This might explain how this process took me two days to do two coats but I couldn't be happier with the results. When I was doing the rest of the house I taped everything off only to find that some paint still managed to bleed under there anyway.... so this way took longer but I think I'll be sticking with this technique with any future painting projects.

But, without further ado- here is the big reveal of our new beautiful bathroom:
I did my little happy dance when it was all completed and put back together- much like I did after I finished the vanity. Oh, we can't forget a close up of our new beautiful light fixture:Bye bye inexpensive, energy hog, make-up lighting! I LOVE our new fixture! So classy!

The bathroom still isn't completely done yet though. I ordered a new 96" extra long shower curtain and I plan on raising the shower curtain bar all the way up to the ceiling when it arrives. I'm still on the hunt for some inexpensive but still nice bathroom mats to go with the new decor. Who would have thought that bath mats would be so pricey! But they are! I also want to replace the toilet seat with one of those new "no-slam" toilet seats. I won't bother with posting pictures of that venture though- I really doubt anyone is interested in seeing me replace a toilet lid.

The Vanity Calamity...

It's over people. I have finished. The project that started with an abrupt crash and burn has been resurrected and the results are awesome- if I do say so myself ;)

A couple of weeks ago I had attempted to sand down and stain our hallway bathroom vanity.... and it did not work out so well (as I wrote about in a previous post). So after sitting on the idea for a while I decided to paint it. I picked out a rich coffee color (Roasted Coffee by Valspar to be exact) and set to work over the weekend.

Here's a reminder of what the vanity looked like on move-in day:
This is what all of the wood looked like throughout our house... the kitchen, both bathroom vanities and the hallway cabinets. We just wanted to update it all and make it more bold with rich color.

Here's a "during" shot of the cabinets....
And finally, here's the after with the new hardware put on:
Before, none of the cabinets in the house had any hardware on it except for the hinges (which aren't pretty). Slowly but surely I hope to fix this. Without hardware, I'm always hurting myself and breaking/bending fingernails when I try to pull the drawers open! Ouch.

Here's a close-up of the purdy new hardware I got complete with new brushed nickel hinges to replace the old, ugly brass ones:
I think it looks so awesome! It really is amazing what a coat of paint can do. I've already slapped up the swatch of the same color in the master bathroom to see if I can use the same paint on that vanity! But I have to be careful not to get ahead of myself. I want to finish one project before I move on- that way I don't have a bunch of half finished projects around the house.

That being said, next weekend I hope to get the bathroom walls painted.... then all that's left is putting up the new light fixture (which has been sitting behind our couch in a box for a few weeks now) and raise the shower curtain.

(Note to self: buy extra long shower curtain).