Guest Bathroom Reveal.....Finally!

Welcome! Want a tour of my guest bath? Don't worry, it will be a short  tour since this bathroom is quite tiny. Actually, both of my bathrooms are, but that's OK. Less area to clean. As usual, the hubby started gutting the bathroom before he remembered to take pictures, but trust me when I say it was ugly! The walls were a dingy off white color as were the fixtures. The vanity cabinet was a cheap pieced together typical mobile home vanity. It was BAD! I am so thrilled with how it turned out! We still have a couple little things to finish, but it is 95% complete, so here we go!

I have had a beachy theme in this bathroom for years. It gives me somewhere to put the shells I have collected over the years from Florida beaches. I also love the beach and beachy decor so I need one room that features it. Here's an view of my new guest bathroom from the door. I told you it was tiny!

We love the dark tongue and groove walls that we have in our living room, dining room and hall area just outside this room, so we decided to put them in here as well. The hubby loves working with this stuff as it is easy to install. You also get a lot of bang for your buck! This wood wraps around the room but the opposite wall has beadboard wainscoting. The white mirror, vanity, tub, and toilet really pop against the dark wood.

I had this little aqua blue shelf in the living room by the hubby's recliner but we decided to put it in the bathroom as it fit this space perfectly. I put the shelf that used to be in this room by his chair and he loves it. Anywho, I need to buy some new white towels but this is where I will store them. I want to pick up a new trash can for this room as well.

Everything I used to decorate in here I already had. I got rid of a lot of the old decor, reused the rest, and shopped the house for a few other items to decorate. This was one of them...it used to be in my living room.

I've had this handmade piece for years. it was a wedding gift from an old friend. I've been married over 27 years now. It is such a unique piece of pottery. See the seashell that is formed in the piece on the left side.

I also used this piece from my craft room. I purchased this at the Goodwill (I think) a couple years ago with intentions to use it in one of my bathrooms when we remodeled. It works perfectly over the toilet to hold some of my pretties. (Moving this is what led me to redo my craft room.....again! LOL! I'll share soon!)

Inside is a few treasures and a pretty new hand towel I bought at TJ Maxx. I bought two. The other one is on the vanity.  

And since I don't want to use it yet, I placed the handmade soap Karen from The Feral Turtle sent me at Christmas on a little seashell soap dish. It smells so good when I open the cabinet.

The top has old bottles, a jar of seashells and sea glass, a sand castle figurine.....

a few more old bottles, a print, and a coral colored seashell ornament I bought on clearance. I wanted a few pops of coral in this room.

The toilet tank holds a piece of milk glass with a fish scale like pattern on it with one of my Ikea plants inside. A vintage doily and a shell complete the vignette.

The only new items I purchased for this room were the two hand towels and a set of rugs. These were so pretty. I found them at TJ Maxx and they are a better deal than you can get at Wal Mart. I love the lattice design.

I moved that hung just outside the bathroom in my tiny hall area to the bathroom wall for a pop of color since it already had a coral ribbon hanger. I plan to put three towel hooks to the right of it with a picture of some sort over them when I find the right hooks and print. I have bought two different sets of hooks at Hobby Lobby and the hubby said neither one of them will work, so back to the drawing board! I'll share when I find the right ones! You can see the beadboard in this photo. It's really difficult to get a good shot of this wall.

This shot was taken before we finished the shower and hung the rod and curtain. I love my new bright white fixtures! It looks so clean! You can see the corner of the other rug in front of the vanity as well.

Speaking of the vanity, let me show you what sits on it. I have had this little lantern for years. It holds some blue vase filler pebbles and coral. Another old bottle and some scrabble tiles finish this vignette.

The other corner holds a large apothecary jar full of shells along with two smaller ones that hod q-tips and cotton balls. 

I love my mirror as well. I thrifted this a few years ago to use when we did this bathroom. It was such a nice mirror with beveled edges and I just couldn't pass it up for $5! I had to store it for a while, but it was worth it. It was a honey oak color so I painted it white and it is perfect! Excuse me in my PJ's...lol!

Here's one more view of the whole room. I am using the old shower curtain I had in here but I am really wanting a new one. I have a white one but it is too short and looks funny. I am leaning towards this one from Amazon. What do you think? I love large horizontal stripes and you all know I am crazy for aqua blue but I am afraid the blue may clash with the pale aqua blue rugs. I may just look for something at TJ Maxx next time I go. We'll see! But other than the hooks, a print, and new towels and shower curtain, this room is done! 

Now, it's on to the porch which we have been wanting to start for a couple years! I am so excited! I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Mine was too short, but it was good. My sister and I spent the night with her girls and attended a bridal shower for her oldest daughter. My niece, Shelby is getting married in March. I am doing the decorations for her church shower Friday night so my evenings this week will be spent making banners and other decor. I'll try to post part 5 of my Prague trip if I can find the time. Thanks so much for the sweet comments you all have been leaving. Each and every one brings a smile to my face. Hope you all have a wonderful week.

Until next time.....

More Mobile Home Renovations!

Hello friends! I am happy to report I survived my first week with students. This week I only had 4-6 per day on Tuesday through Friday, so it was pretty easy! Starting Monday, they will all be there and I will be totally exhausted at the end of each day for the first few weeks. It takes some time to get kinders to learn all the rules and procedures. For you non-teachers, procedures are those things you have to train the kids to do...like how to enter the room and where to put their things, how to push in their chairs and sit on the rug, how to act properly in the bathroom, how to walk in line without touching the person in front of you, and about a million other things...;) So, while I still have a bit of energy, I thought I would share the part of the renovation that I gave a sneak peek of on my blog tour on Monday. 

Several months ago, my sweet blog friend Magali  shared this project she did in her cottage. I fell in love with it and immediately knew I would do something similar when we started our renovations. Here's a photo of Magali's wall with built in shelf. You can read her post here. If you don't already know Magali...I highly recommend you pay her a visit. She shares updates to her little cottage, photos of her sweet kitties, yummy recipes, and she takes you on trips around France. I so enjoy my visits with her...:) Thanks so much Magali for giving me this idea.

Here's my opening with my shelf. While mine is not just like Magali's, it is very similar and I just love it! My shelf drops down around 12-14 "...can't remember for sure, and the hubby is gone to the races so I can't ask him. I never liked this big opening between my living room and dining room, but now I love it! The photo below is taken from the dining room side. You can see my front door and the plank wall on the right with my entry area. That white spot on the door is a reflection from the entry mirror. You can see a peek of my new curtains in the living room as well. 

This is taken from the front door. You can see the same curtains in my dining room. I have two windows in there, one on either side of my china cabinet. I will share more of that room soon. We still have a few things to finish in there, like trim and hanging the chandelier. I also haven't found a table I like and we may end up building one. Anywho, the arrow in the photo points to where we stopped with our bead board. When we remodel the kitchen one day, we will be tearing out everything and starting over from this point. The bar will be bumped out closer to the window with a wider overhang for bar stools. I have lots of plans for the kitchen, but that reno will have to wait a while. We still have to reno our master bathroom and bedroom first. See the little black table on the right? 

I don't think I shared it and this area yet. The little table holds my phone charger and purse and is where I drop my mail for a few days until it makes it to my desk in the craft room. The gold chalkboard is a mirror that used to hang in my living room and was painted turquoise blue. I just took the mirror out and spray painted the backside with chalkboard paint. That way, I can still use it for a mirror when I get tired of this. I am really into gold lately, so the turquoise went away and I love how it turned out. 

Here's a shot of the opening from another angle in the dining room. You can see that my new built in bookshelves are to the right of it. 

I love the cast iron brackets I found at Hobby Lobby. I had a 40% off coupon and a $20 gift card, so for two brackets and a cast iron anchor for my gallery wall, I only paid $1.20 out of pocket! Great deal! The brackets were just over $8 each which I though was a really good deal even without a coupon. 

Here's another little update on my plank wall. We hung my print and clock to the right of the TV stand. We really want a larger flat screen and are hoping to get a good deal during the holidays. It may be mounted on the wall, but I haven't decided yet. 

So, that's it for today. We are slowly finishing things up, but are having to save a bit to totally finish. That's OK though since I have been so busy with school. We were also getting a little burned out on all the work, so it's been nice taking a break from it for a bit. The hubby has enjoyed having time to piddle on his race car and clean and organize his shop. It had been neglected for weeks. I'm off to finish up a few things for school and enjoy my night at home alone. I can watch what I want to on TV and just relax in my pretty new living room. I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. 

Until next time....

Mobile Home Makeover: Built In Bookshelf Edition

Hello and happy Wednesday! I am so excited to be sharing the project the hubby and I have been working on for the past week or so. I have long been wanting (and needing) a large bookcase to house all my books.

I love to read and I love to collect books. I saw a bookcase similar to the one we built on The Thrifty Decor Chick's blog a while back and knew I had to have one similar to it. So....let me show you mine.

Drum roll please.......

We built this on one of our dining room walls. Originally I have planned to use one end of my dining room sectioned off for a library, but after we removed everything from the room and opened it up, I decided to include the library in the dining room. I googled library dining rooms and found some gorgeous inspiration pictures, so I knew I wasn't the only one to decide to combine these two rooms. 

My unit is a little over 8 feet tall and 9 feet wide. I may someday give a tutorial on how we built it, but for now I will just say that we started with three upper kitchen cabinets to use as the base and built up from there. We installed lighting in the top which is so pretty when turned on. 

I have three 36" sections. The first and third sections have approximately 12" shelves, and the middle section has two 12" sections and two taller...around 19" sections to house bigger things. 

I am truly in love with this piece. I literally had tears in my eyes thanking my hubby for making my dream come true. He worked so hard on this project. He has worked hard on everything we have done so far. He works outdoors in the Florida heat and humidity every day and then comes home and puts in another 4-5 hours each evening in the house. I am so blessed!

Some day I will take some close ups and share the items on the shelves. They are full of memories and a few things just for fun. I love style and design, but I am a sucker for sentimental things and I hope my home reflects my love for both when I am finished. I think so far it does. 

I love the handles I ordered from Overstock. I have ordered many things from them over the past few weeks and am very satisfied with the deals and service I have gotten. These handles are so pretty...they remind me of fancy old silverware. Best thing is they came in a set of 10, so I have four left to do something fun with!

I also love the lighting we chose. All the hardware and curtain rods, door knobs,  lighting, etc, are nickel finish. I got a great deal on these at Lowe's. The folks at Lowe's should know us by first name...lol!

My camera doesn't take the best pictures, but here it is one turned on.

Another feature of my bookcase that I love is the cabinets at the bottom. They are a blessing! I had very little storage before, but now, I have room for all my junk dishes, glasses,  and serving pieces.

I have caught myself just standing and staring at my new bookcase more than once. It just makes me smile knowing the love with which it was built and that it is filled with so many memories. It is perfection to me...from the aqua blue wall, to the white painted shelves, the dark walnut stained shelf on top of the cabinets and the trim on front to frame it out,  the cabinets, the hardware,  & the lighting. Perfection! 

And....I can just see it at Christmas....:)

So, what do you think of my new built in bookcase? 

I hope you are having a lovely week my friends. I'll be back to share more soon. We are getting things done, but I won't do full room reveals until we finish the trim and that is very time consuming. It is all coming together though, so keep checking in!

I'm partying at the following blogs.....

French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

Redoux Interiors for The Handmade Hangout

Kathe for You're Gonna Love It Tuesday

Marty for Inspire Me Tuesday

Until next time.....

Before & After Times Two!

Today after work, I felt like being creative. I decided to get in my craft room and see if I could get inspired to do something crafty. I started with painting this ladder that I have had for over a year now. I have just been using it like it was when I bought it, but decided today to give it a little makeover. Here is the before and after....

It is a pale shade of aqua. After it dried, I distressed it a bit and called it done. Here it is back in place in my craft room. Much better now...:)

After I painted the ladder, I decided to tackle the little drawer unit that I shared yesterday.

Here it is before and after.....

It was very cute before but not quite my style, so it got a coat of black paint. The drawers are decoupaged with pieces of wrapping paper. I added the washi tape and numbers after they dried.

I placed it on my desk and the drawers contain office supplies.

The desktop got a little tweaking to make it fit. You can also see the wicker tray I shared yesterday on the right side.

Here's a close-up. I gave it a fresh coat of jade paint which happened to be the same color it already was. It looks much better now. I love this color!

One more thing I wanted to share was an update on the box I shared a few weeks ago. I decoupaged some letters on the front to spell embellishments. It turned out super cute! I also added a vintage globe to the top of the shelf too. Love the colors!

My craft room is such a happy, colorful space. I know it is a little busy for some, but it is a small space and in order to hold all my stuff, it's going to be busy! I love it though and it makes me very happy! It is the perfect place to be creative in. It is always changing and it will continue to change over the years. I have a couple big changes in store for the future that I am excited about! 

That's all I have to share for today folks! I'm so glad you stopped by. Have a wonderful Tuesday!

I'm partying with these awesome ladies....

Kathe from Kathe With an E for You're Gonna Love It Tuesday

and

Marty from A Stroll Through Life for Inspire Me Tuesday.

Until next time.....