Warming Up My DIY Skills With The Bathroom

Usually when your mother-in-law comes to visit you don't get to do things like remodel your bathroom.  But she was the perfect partner in crime to help me get my way and get this project rolling.  

Here is another example of me forgetting to take before pictures until I was halfway through destruction.  

So let me give you a little backstory on this before photo.  When we moved in our house Mike told me, I better not come home and there is a wall down.  Ok, no problem! See that spot where there is no paint, that used to be a tall storage cabinet, a nice one, but it was a little crowded there when we were giving the kids a bath.  Since there is a linen closet in the bathroom I really did not see the need for it, so I removed it to another location.  Which would be fine, but what you can't see is that whoever installed this bathroom decided not to finish all the drywall behind the vanity and cabinet, leaving a big hole back there!  This was a few days after we moved in.  So when Mike came home I made sure to tell him that I did not take down any walls, then showed him what I had done.  Hehe.  I stuck a small storage self in front of it and lived with it for as long as I could.  

Here are some more for your viewing pleasure.  Man, bathrooms are pretty ugly sometimes!

                    

All we really did is add beadboard and change the paint color.  We don't want to do too much work, because right now it is a Jack and Jill bath between the master and main living area.  Once we redo the second even uglier bathroom it will become just the master.  

So it turned into a little bit of a challenge though because it turns out the walls and floors were not exactly even, so we had to get crafty with the trim work.  With just that little bit of work it made a huge difference and feels much cleaner in there.  We still need to do a few small little details like the lights and the light switch covers.  At the end of the day though, it's a bathroom.  

My swimming ladies are back! 

Don't tell Mike, but I think I am ready to take some walls down now!  

Chair from the Trash, Why My Walls are White, and my Favorite Pop of Color

I always forget to take before pictures until I am about halfway started with a project, but I pulled this chair from the trash down the street (I always get flack for doing this, but then when a project is complete it's a different story).  Anyway, it turns out it is the perfect chair to complete my desk setup.

Since my desk area is in the middle of our living space it had to be clean and pretty, so it was really hard to find a non-invasive desk for the space.  It took me at least a month to pick out this silly desk, and look how simple it is!  The white desk and white walls make a great backdrop for my favorite pop of color, a bright pool blue.  (I have long since lost the paint chip that has the actual color on it, so I would tell you exactly what it is but I can't.)  To tie it all together and the inspiration for the look is a photo I took while we were out on the boat.  I had it printed on a large canvas to hang above the desk.  The lamp on the desk, believe it or not is from PBTeen.  So hopefully it is complete for now, until I get another brilliant idea!

Dreaming of a Beach Cottage

Since I was a teenage girl, I have dreamed of living on an island someday, it was more like Fiji, but I will settle for the Florida Keys.  I also dreamed I would have a lovely beach cottage to call my own.  So here I am in my late 20's and I think I have gotten pretty close to that dream.  We have recently purchased our first home in the Florida Keys, and it is a canal front, ground level home with beach cottage potential.  

Outside is currently painted an ugly light brown, with an even uglier dark brown trim and a lovely(not really) gravel yard!  That same lovely color scheme had been carried in throughout the entire house!  So we painted the inside white on white right away! My husband didn't believe me when I said paint everything white, but am always right! He also didn't know there is more than one kind of white (this may be a long journey for us).  Anyway, what a difference the change in paint color, furniture and furniture layout can do for a home.  At least the color anxiety goes away after I walk through the door.  It is also getting a little easier to see the potential this home has now that it is more of a blank canvas.  My addiction to Pinterest, Pottery Barn, HGTV, and Coastal Living Magazine also helps!

So I am beginning this adventure and sharing it with you, as I transform this house into my dream beach cottage.  Here are some basic before and afters of what just changing the paint has done for this house.

Before


After

 

As you can tell these photos this is from before we moved in and immediately after.  I have rearrange the furniture many times,  purchased and sold a kitchen table, then purchased a new one,  and also fixed up and finished my son's room.  So there will be many more before and afters to come.  I can't wait to go completely Coastal Living Magazine on this place!  In the meantime, I will go back to pinning all my house ideas on Pinterest wondering why when I pin stuff it doesn't magically appear in my home and religiously stalking the mailbox waiting for my Pottery Barn catalogs and Coastal Living Magazine!