Home Style Evolution Series: The Bathroom

NOTE: My apologies that this is being posted late. I had it scheduled to auto post yesterday at noon, but when I checked the blog today, I saw it hadn't been posted. Major fail, blogger. My apologies!!



One of the things that makes me giggle the most is how people tastes and styles evolve and change. Especially my own.

For example: as a child - like ages 7-12- I hated the color pink. Once I started growing into my teenage years, I became obsessed and my favorite color is still, to this day, pink. I didn't used to like broccoli. Now, I crave it nightly with whatever I'm cooking for supper.


I decided that a "Home Style Evolution Series" might be a fun thing to do the other day as I was walking through my house looking at all the things that have changed in the almost 5 years that we have lived here. So I will walk you all through my home, room by room, and show you how the house, and my style, has changed. And, in honor of TRANSFORMATION TUESDAY, all Home Style Evolution posts will be posted on Tuesdays! Hope you enjoy!


Let's get started....

The Bathroom. The horror. The horror. This room was the most challenging out of all 6 rooms in the house. I was completely knocked off my feet when I saw that there was genuine Mamie Pink tile in the bathroom. We rent this house from my Father-in-Law and he gave me permission to do anything -but add on or knock down- to this house that I wanted to do. My husbands oldest sister and her husband had lived here for a while previously while they were building their current home, and she'd been telling me that the bathroom was tile.... it didn't register in my brain that she meant VINTAGE tile.


Here are some before photos of the bathroom...

 

OVERALL, the bathroom was in good shape. 90% of the tile was still good, no cracks or chips that we could see. The toilet had been replaced, but the pink porcelain bathtub and sink were still intact, and functioning well. But the thing that left me scratching my head was how to get this obviously retro bathroom to "go" with my modern theme.

I grew up in a very "country" house. My Mom liked ruffled curtains and quilts and bright, light colors, and I thought I wanted to be the total opposite. I thought I was into the dark, modern clean lines, no ruffles thing. If you had showed me a floral print, I probably would have fainted.

I searched the internet (Pinterest did not exist at the time) and found that some people had painted the walls of the pink bathrooms dark and it had somewhat minimized the pink tile. So my wonderful Mom and I came up with a plan.



Progress....
 


We chose to paint the walls a very dark Maroon. I have completely blocked out the name of this color, but it can be found at Sherwin Williams. (And the biggest thing we did to this room, other than paint, was swapping out the wall heaters. This room is the perfect example of a room with a solid foundation that is updated with decor alone.)


And here is how it looked 4 days before we moved in...

Framed photos from Burlington Coat Factory

 

 

Not too horribly bad, I didn't think.  The maroon was a very pretty color. We chose brown towels and a brown shower curtain, and added stainless steel accessories.

Putting makeup on in this bathroom was a killer. NO light at all, had to pull the curtain back and open the window in order to put my face on.

Almost from the moment we got back from our honeymoon and moved in, I regretted my choice in painting the room dark. But, it looked ok, so I lived with it.


In June of 2013, I was fed up. Things in my home had been changing. We'd already "lightened up and countryfied" two rooms and added a few floral prints here and there, that maroon bathroom had to go.


After some serious planning, and budget shopping for a happier shower curtain and paint, my Mom and I attacked the maroon bathroom while my husband was at work one day.

The result has left me grinning like an idiot ever since.

Recognize these? Told you I didn't get rid of any of my decor.

 

 


The above photos were shot, with my iPhone, just after we finished getting everything hung up on the walls. This was an instance where I could only do this project if I stayed within a SUPER tight budget. I chose a paint color from Allen + Roth at Lowe's called "Pearl Earrings," (isn't that divine??) and it was the kind that had primer added in to it (very pleased with the result. 2 coats and the maroon is totally covered). It only cost $33! The "new" curtain over the window had been hanging in our kitchen but had been replaced by something else. (I never throw out or give away decor, I always re-purpose.) The clock had also been hanging in our kitchen, but had been replaced. The little white shelf came from a local consignment store and was a steal at $10. Everything else we already had, including the little glass jars - Family Dollar, $8 for a set of 4 - and all the decor on top. The only thing I indulged on was the shower curtain. Since my style has evolved so much, and I am now a Freak for Florals, I have become obsessed with all things Waverly Fabric. (It's a recurring theme throughout my little Honeymoon Cottage.) I found this Waverly shower curtain on Amazon.com - *gasp!* - for around $25. It is in the Cheri Grey pattern.


I choose to swap out my bathroom decor seasonally now. I use the browns and the darker colored items in the fall and winter and have some bright and happy things to replace them with for spring and summer.

 

For info on how I did a DIY on this candle stick and the picture frame please refer to my post "The Power of Spray Paint at 2am." 

 The shower curtain is also a Waverly Fabric product. It was around the same price as the other, also from Amazon.com and is in the Rolling Meadows pattern.

Does my husband mind the super pink bathroom? He doesn't seem to. He is also well aware that you gotta work with whatcha got. And what we got is a pink tile bathroom.


So I hope you enjoyed seeing how my bathroom has evolved around and around in the past 5 years! I'm very happy with how it has turned out!

Hard to believe that this is the same room!!

Check back next Transformation Tuesday for a peek into our bedroom!

I have no financial affiliation with Lowe's, Allen+Roth, Amazon.com, Sherwin Williams or Waverly Fabrics. Ok, yes I do. They have all my money, lets get honest here. ;)

Home Style Evolution Series Introduction!

Hey everyone! Check back every Transformation Tuesday at noon to get a sneak peek into my home and how it has evolved and changed in the 5 years that we've lived here!

This will be a 4 part series showing you the main areas here in my house. I'll walk you through from the very beginning, when we first got the key and started ripping up countertops, up until today, when everything is starting to really look like "us," and show you how with just a few adjustments you can completely change the look of your home.

Plus lots of tips on how to decorate on a serious budget will be included in each post!!


I'm so excited to get to spend my Transformation Tuesdays with you, here on The Simple Life!!


Check back next Tuesday at Noon for a peek into one of my most dramatically evolved rooms, my bathroom!


See you then!

Save Money; Skip Fabric Softener

*gasp!* But Missy, I like my fabric softener. I like for my clothes to smell nice.

And I don't??? (that's sarcasm, by the way:)

 Seriously, is there any body out there reading this that DOESN'T like for their clothes to smell nice?

What I'm about to share with you may ruffle some feathers, and may not be well received by some, but trust me on this, it works, and every dollar you save adds up.

This post required a little online research on my part, because I haven't purchased fabric softener in years, and today is Monday, clothes laundry day (who am I kidding, every day is laundry day) at my house, so I figured today would be a good day to share!


So, here's my tip. Ready? Ok. Take a breath, it'll all be fine.

Heinz White Distilled Vinegar

Skip your fabric softener. USE VINEGAR.

Yes. Vinegar. White, distilled vinegar.

Eeeew! I don't want my clothes to smell like vinegar!  It's a valid argument. You would think, as strong a smell as vinegar has on its own, that washing your clothes with it would cause your clothes to smell like a deviled egg. But it doesn't.



I use the same amount of vinegar as I would fabric softener, and add it in at the beginning of my wash cycle, in the same place I would put my fabric softener. The smell is completely rinsed away, my clothes are softer, my towels are out of this world fluffy -even my cheap dollar store towels. I do use the Downey Unstoppables in my laundry, but I am in love with the smell of those wonderful little things, and I buy them (and my laundry detergent, couldn't get the knack of making it myself) in bulk at Sam's Club. So I'm saving some more cash there!

It seems that the vinegar helps keep my white clothes whiter (I don't sort anything, everything gets washed on the cold water cycle and I've only had an issue with color bleeding twice in the 10 years since I was 15 and started doing my own laundry), and my colorful clothes brighter. Reds are redder, blues are bluer... you get what I'm sayin'.

 Vinegar gives you the same effect as fabric softener, and is greener, and cheaper (but I'll get to that. Hang on a titch). I'm not a "green" freak. I'm not into all the environmentally friendly stuff, I probably should be, but I'm not, sorry. 

Vinegar -as some of my coming posts will tell you- is a household necessity in my home. I clean something or wash something using vinegar EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. And it works better than anything I can buy at the store.


So let's do a little price comparison, shall we?

A 51 oz bottle of fabric softener (about 61 loads) costs $3.99 at Target. I do at least 1 load of laundry a day, most of the time two. So 51 oz would last me around a month, maybe a month and a half. In my online research I found up to a 170 oz. bottle for $15.31 on eBay. They say it will last up to 197 loads, doing a load a day that will last you about 6 1/2 months. Or like me, two loads a day, around 4 months.  WOW, that's a deal! Let me go to eBay right now!!! I'll buy it in bulk!

STOP! Wait! I'm not done! I purchase a 128 oz bottle of white distilled vinegar for $2.37 at Save a Lot (typically the big bottles of vinegar are on the bottom shelf at the grocery store, I buy one every time I'm at the store, whether I need it or not, I'm hoarding vinegar.) And how many loads of laundry does it do? Well, as I do around 2 loads of laundry per day, every day, without fail (I wash something every day, clothes, rugs, bedding, curtains, dog beds... my washer runs constantly. I'm a clean freak, what can I say?) my 128 oz bottle that I purchased for less than $3 lasts me 8 months. Yes. 8 months.

(I'd like to add a disclaimer here. I use one bottle of vinegar for laundry and laundry only, and use another bottle to mix my DIY household cleaners etc.)

I saved $12.94 cents and have enough product to add to every single load of laundry for 2 months longer than the 170 oz bottle of fabric softener. $12.94 is a huge amount of money to save, to me anyway! Even if you buy the 51 oz bottle of fabric softener at $3.99, buying the vinegar still saves you $1.62. Either way, you are saving money! And we all know how HAPPY that makes me!!

The best part of this, to me, is that it's hypoallergenic. I have eczema and dry skin so badly on my shoulders and arms and so when I was growing up my Mom was only ever able to use certain kinds of laundry products (I use ALL detergent, because it, too, is hypoallergenic. My husband likes the kind in the blue bottle with the orange top because he says it smells like candy. I say he needs to see a head-shrinker.), or otherwise deal with me scratching my arms and back until I bled. When I started doing my own laundry at 15, we had settled on a brand of detergents from Amway. I used them up until Aaron and I had been married about 2 years, and after a while, with money being tight, I chose to stop using the Amway products because of their expense. I fiddled with different kinds of detergents for a few months until my mom suggested I start using ALL and Vinegar. BOOM! I haven't had an issue with my detergent or fabric softener making my eczema worse in the 2 years that I've been using these products together.


So whether you want to save $13 or $2, whether you have eczema, or whether you just wanna see if it'll work, give the vinegar a try. It WILL save you money and it WILL NOT smell up or hurt your clothes, towels, rugs, bedding etc.


I swear by this method. I will continue to use vinegar as my fabric softener for the rest of my life. It is wonderful, and inexpensive. And who could ask for more?


Thanks for stopping by today!
Happy Laundry Day! (I'm headed back to my mountain of laundry right now!!)

In posting this, I mean no ill will toward any company that produces a fabric softener. I simply have learned to adapt to what I need in order to not itch like a crazy woman, and look like Baloo from "The Jungle Book" scratching up against a tree. The ALL Laundry Detergent company is not perking me for mentioning their product, and neither is Heinz, or Amway. I pulled the photograph of the vinegar jug from Google. Thanks Google. I use whatever off brand of vinegar I can find, because it is cheaper and vinegar is vinegar. Also, vinegar does not expire or go bad. So stock up on it!

The Power of Spray Paint at 2am

I tend to be a very impulsive person. If the notion strikes, I go with it. If it doesn't, tasks that I think I may want to do get put on the back burner for an indefinite period of time, which also classifies me as a procrastinator. (As if my shameful lack of posting on this blog wasn't enough evidence for you.)

Yes, I've got a chandelier in a box sitting in the corner of my kitchen waiting to be put up. Yes, it has been sitting there for a week. Yes, I've got two light bulbs out on my car port that I've been meaning to change for a while. Sure, I could probably stand to clean out my office closet.... you get where I'm heading with this? Yeah.


So here's a quick little backstory for ya! For the past 4 years, in our bathroom, I've kept all my daily used products in a mirrored tray sitting on the vanity. Things like my night time face routine and my eye cream, my BB Cream lived there along with our can of hair spray and my daily lotions. But it always felt cluttered and not very well organized to me. I'm an OCD clean freak and I was constantly having to clean the tray and what was on it to keep from stroking out. Plus in the mornings my husband would use the hand towel and, instead of hanging it back up, he'd toss it down on the vanity, on the tray, and therefore knock everything down into a big jumble. I hated it. We have limited cabinet space in the bathroom, and I've used every method of organization I can think of in there in the past 4 years, but there was never a good place for me to have my every day things that wasn't on top of the vanity.

This is an old photo from when we first repainted the bathroom, like the paint was probably still wet here. You can see the tray on the vanity. Also, be aware that now we have a green  curtain hanging over the window and a pink and green floral shower curtain for spring/summer. We use the brown in the fall/winter.

Until....


So about a week ago, it's 2am - I'm an extreme insomniac, I don't sleep more than 3 or 4 hours nightly. - and that's usually when I'm forcing myself to get sleepy. My husband is in bed, and I'm in the living room with the iPad going through Pinterest. We'd been to my sister in law's house that night for the SEC Championship Basketball game (our team lost, we were devastated), and she had just finished redecorating her kids/guest bathroom. It had been a lime green beachy paradise with surfboards painted on the walls and tiki style accents. But now that her kids are both teenagers, they wanted something more adult, so they chose to paint it all a really nice blue.  Long story short, she had only a large picture frame and a tall candlestick with a blue candle sitting on the vanity top. I loved it. In fact, I went upstairs to use the bathroom during the game instead of using the one downstairs where we we all were, just so I could look at it again. ;)

So at 2am, I'm looking for a large candlestick and nice decorative picture frame like she had, because I simply loved it, and the idea struck!! I knew I had an old, yucky gold picture frame somewhere, so I quickly dug it out.

 

Ah, yes, most hideous. This was maybe $5 from Family Dollar a while ago. But I love the scrolling around the edge of the frame and just knew it would look good painted! 

So next I dug out my candlestick. I bought this in a set of two from Big Lots in 2009 before we got married, and I don't remember at all how much they cost, but they were super inexpensive.

Excuse my copy of Wuthering Heights to the side. And my Germ-X. ;)

 Next I came up with a game plan. The look my sis in law had was very distressed, and I looooove that look. My personal, home decor style has evolved so drastically in the past for years, it's funny to think about it. When we moved in everything was crisp and modern and dark colors, and now I'm all about light, and floral prints and "old stuff," as my other sister in law once called it. The good thing is, spray paint works on almost anything!! I decided against actually spraying the paint, 1) because I was working on my kitchen counter tops, and 2) I had better control over the "distress." Just so happens, as well, that I keep a stash of spray paint in our utility room for when a 2am craft session erupts. 

I chose Krylon's Ivory in a satin finish. So I just sprayed a little on top of my Frog Tape container and used a little paint brush and started dabbing away at my picture frame and my candle stick. No sanding, just step one, dab.

And here is the frame after one go-round. I put two layers on it, just to be on the safe side. Now, instead of an ugly gold frame, I have a cute, scrolling farmhouse style frame! And I didn't have to spend a blooming nickle.

Below are the finished products after they were placed. The paint dried SUPER quickly, so I had them set in their new homes before I went to bed that night-- ok, that morning. All it took was a little creative thinking on my part and I found a home for everything on the tray, inside a cabinet, drawer or closet in the bathroom, making way for my pretty new additions on the vanity top.

The picture of us was taken a year before we were married in October, 2008! We were newly engaged!!

Also, while I was at it, I decided to paint my accent lamp that I keep in our kitchen. I miss my Mom's under-counter lights. This lamp was a wedding gift, and I'd always LOOOVED the shape of it, and how tiny it was, but it was the same color scheme as the candlestick, and it simply didn't "go" with my house anymore. I'd been wanting to paint it but I'd kept putting it off and putting it off. For this one, I did actually spray the paint on. I just rigged up an old bath towel across my step-down into my utility room and sprayed away. No overspray on ANYTHING. The lamp was dry in minutes!

 

Shop whatcha got people! I'm so proud of my handiwork every time I walk into the bathroom or turn the little lamp on! Instead of spending any money, I put a little thought into it and turned things I already had into what I wanted. Do it yourself, you will love it all the more when you are done!

Happy DIYing!

Missy

Thank you, KRYLON, for making spray paint!