Monday, June 3, 2013

The Great Bath Caper (Or..a Mini Bath Redo!)

When we moved into our sweet cottage, it was for the most part finished. Needed (needs! We're still working on it and just spent a whole day in the yard yesterday. Pulling weeds, getting rid of a year's worth of leaves and mess in the flowerbeds, trees, everywhere..) some TLC and attention here and there, but the bones of this place are amazing.

We didn't love the bathroom and this is our main one. It's small, but cozy. You'd think having gone from a house with three bathrooms, with one being attached to our bedroom, I'd be bummed. But I'm not. I love it here. Everything is well appointed, made to last and the house feels like love. I recently found out the main family who lived here was here for 50 years!




The bathroom before: I am not a lover of white walls in Minnesota. Due to the general craptacular weather, it always seems alarmingly stark to me. We also had NO storage. If you wanted to brush your teeth, you were left holding everything. I am not that talented. Loved:  The beadboard. The pedestal sink. The floor tile.





Oddly enough, I did end up liking the windows just as-is. You get complete privacy (unless you open the window while bathing or peeing!) and we have a view of our beautiful tree from the top of the windows. All of the homes in this area are cottage-like or tudor, so there's no chance of anyone high above seeing in our biffy.



Decent, but plain.





After! Thank you, Ikea! The glass shelf is from Ikea. Not more than $12 which was a steal as they were at least twice the price elsewhere. The wall cabinet- our friends at Walmart. The wooden "thing" above wall cabinet: Ikea! It's a bath tray and I'm in love!  Brad painted the walls a light blue, filled in the cracks in the beadboard with caulk and painted with a new coat of white. Shower curtain: Ikea- less than $15! We saw the same one at Bed, Bath and Beyond and it was $40. I'm thrifty. The silver curtain rod was from Home Depot? I can't recall, we made a lot of trips. The point is it's one of those rounded ones that gives you extra space in the shower. Love it. Can't say enough good things about it. The best part: You install it with the tension of the rod- no screws in your wall or in our case, the tile!

Glass: Free! Well, kind of. An old jelly jar I've upcycled. Flowers: Free! Thank you, God AND woman who lived here previously who did an amazing and loving job with the gardens and all plants. There are plants coming up everywhere! Ferns, bleeding hearts, tulips, phlox, sedum, rosebushes..



This pic doesn't do the room justice- it's an after. But you CAN see that this is Miss Daisy's new fave spot in the home. Why, I don't know. It's cool. She likes good design. The tiles are pretty. She growls when we try to use it so we gently "invite her to leave" and oftentimes she gets mad. Sweet, soft rug is normally CLEANER, but she's been in and out and it's rained for nearly three weeks (minus the last day! Yahoo!) so it gets dirty after a day. I will not launder a rug every other day. 

Should I buy a darker one? Probably so. I'm thinking gray or some kind of blue.


I have upclose photos of the tiles that I love so, but I'm out of coffee and I'm feeling on the EDGE!!

Have a beautiful Monday!

xo

T

5 comments:

Tina@WhatWeKeep said...

You look all set up now! Is the floor tile blue? I can't tell. I love the beadboard. I love the tulips even more! I have never understood a dogs love for sleeping in the bathroom- must be the cold tile. Henry does it, too. Bruce likes blankets and Sophie prefers a rug or the wood floor.
I'm thrilled to hear you so happy in your cottage, TOT!

rachel said...

Looks good! And it could have been worse. It could have been pink!

You can't hold everything while brushing your teeth? Amateur.

Unknown said...

You did a great job, love the white cabinet, glass shelf and the flower just adds a nice pop to the room.

Shannan Martin said...

I really dig the new digs! And your attitude and heart, natch. :)

Mama Picture This said...

Looking good. Glad to see you are slowly finding your home decor... I need you to come find mine. 2 houses ago I totally decorated our sweet little (and I do mean little) house and got great compliments but now with kids and dogs and stressed out work etc. I need to take everything from my own shop and throw it up on the walls! They are mostly bare!

Thanks for the shout out on my wedding signs! Chat at you more soon. Love seeing your dog and your place.