Let’s see where did we leave off last? House Updates Part 2 last year with the flooring and kitchen updates on the main floor. Still loving both of those changes! We left off with still needing to get the entryway and stairwell paint and trim finished. I got the majority of the entryway paint and trim done and then we ran out of paint. Not long after, literally minutes, I ran out of motivation on the entire thing.
As time kept passing, it was on our to do list to finish, but we have been spinning in circles and it just didn’t have priority status. On top of that, I have ideas for the entryway that are more elaborate than just paint, just getting it done isn’t so simple. So, as of today, the paint is done, but the project I have in mind is still up in the air.
However, we did start to take on some other projects. Projects take priority by the amount of annoyance it brings me/us. Some big triggers for me are our bathrooms. They don’t stay clean as I am the only one who cleans them. Ontop of that, the cabinets are the original to the home and the flooring is well, cheap. I don’t mind cheap, but I do mind when after I have scrubbed the floor on my hands and knees and you can’t tell a difference.
So that brings us to bathroom number one. We call it the airplane bathroom (because it’s small like ones in an airplane…).
It is basically the same as it was when we moved in, with the exception of a mirror that was passed down to me. Not the worst looking bathroom in the world, but to me, it needed some assistance. The baseboards were coming off the walls, the flooring just never was my favorite, and you cannot tell but the walls needed some patch work. Beings that this is the bathroom any guest uses, I really wanted it to be a nicer place to look at. Something that was put together and matched the flow of the rest of the house updates. So the planning begun!
We stuck with the same Fired Earth color that is throughout the house, for the walls. Instead of the trim matching the walls (throughout the house the trim is this color), we opted to keep them white in this bathroom. Chris pulled everything out of the bathroom to make it easier to get everything covered properly. Then I got to work on patching holes and taping. Chris went in after me with the sander. Once that was done, I started to paint.
I knew I wanted some kind of focal wall with wallpaper. We decided to keep the mirror and pedestal sink, but we updated the sink’s hardware and the toilet handle to match. When I was trying to decide on the focal wall, I was stuck between 2 different ideas. A starry night themed bathroom (not like the VanGogh painting) or a floral bathroom. We ultimately ended up going with the floral wallpaper and I absolutely love the design. The pictures don’t do it enough justice. We changed up the floor with some peel and stick tile. It’s a cheaper and easier to install option and honestly it looks so good, no one has noticed that it isn’t “real” tile. I did the entire thing by myself in about an hour or so I would say. The end was a little puzzler for me trying to cut and piece together the tiny parts, but it all worked out in the end.
Once everything was finished, Chris started to put everything back together again. Then it came to the dilemma of the shelves. What placement did we like?
This was basically a weekend project and I just love the results so much!
The upstairs bathrooms, I knew were going to be much more costly as I want to get new vanities for them. So then we got to thinking about our project priorities once again.
It started with the yard. Without making this post 900 miles long, lets just say in order to get to where we want with our yard, we not only need a lot of money, but also other things had to happen in order for it to even be possible. Basically, we need to figure out new storage solutions for the stuff in our current shed. In order for that to happen we also needed to figure out a solution for the stuff in the garage. For that to happen, we figured we need to have a new solution mapped out for the storage in the laundry room. Unbeknownst to Chris, I made the laundry room my next mission, trying to help his sanity. He does the majority of washing and drying the laundry, I typically do the folding and putting away.
This before photo was actually taken after I had taken out the platic shelf system we had along the back wall that held a lot of totes and miscellaneous things (party supplies and things we don’t need all of the time). I went through literally every single item and made a large donation pile. Not pictured is our under the stairs storage area that is in the entrance of the laundry room. I was trying really hard to get all of the storage totes, including the ones from the garage, moved to under the stairs. I made a lot of progress and we managed to get everything rearraged to fit in the space and in a more functional manner. However, we still have yet to add the garage bins. We will get there, this is just where we are now.
I knew we needed a better storage system, especially for items I didn’t want hidden in totes. I decided to order 2 large cabinets, wallpaper, a hanging rod, decor, and new laundry baskets (ours current ones were as old as our relationship and they were falling apart). The wallpaper was a serious pain in the rear this go round. Quality matters! It took a lot of patience, but I finally got it done. I decided not to paint anything as the color didn’t bother me and it matched the whole idea.
After wallpapering, we spent an evening building the cabinets. These were actually really easy to build. Or maybe that’s just because we have built so much in our relationship that our experience comes in handy now. Either way, I’ll take it! Once they were built and put in place, Chris hung the rod. He was actually excited I thought of it because he had been using a bar from the ceiling to hang clothes from. (You’re welcome). He also wound up doing some electrical work with the lighting, brightening it up in there.
It looks so much nicer. The cabinets aren’t even filled, so I am hopeful that once we get around to going through the garage totes, we can make it all work!
Knowing that the yard has moved down the list of priorities, left me contemplating on the upstairs bathrooms again. I had spent far too much time cleaning them, especially the floors, just for them to continue to look dirty. Once again, unbeknownst to Chris, I made our master bathroom my next project.
I have the vanities I want picked out, but for now I can wait. I am more annoyed with the floor and baseboards. I also realized the overall style stopped serving me feelings of joy and I wanted something new.
Originally I wanted to use the same wallpaper that we used in the airplane bathroom to be a focal point -replacing the green painted walls. After thinking about it, I decided to go an entirely different route. Something brighter with a hint of color is what I was thinking. It started with a shower curtain search on Target. I tend to go to what draws me and most of the curtains I saw, I had zero interest in. Then for some reason I came across this one and thought, “ahh yes, peaches! Bright, but also funny with the innuendo!” 🍑
Of course that lead me to pinteresting for peach bathrooms. I found my inspiration, ordered supplies, and waited for my 2 day prime shipping delivery 😉.
I decided to go ahead and repaint the vanity instead of spending a thousand dollars on a new one. $40 verses $1,000 – it wasn’t a hard choice for me right now. First thing was first, that carpet underneath had to go! I went with Country Chic’s chalk paint in Sage Advice. I kept the hardware as it was still new and then I used contact paper on the inside of the drawers and cabinet.
Once all of the messier jobs were done, it was time for the flooring. Start with the parts that make messes before you change the flooring. That way, incase you have any permanent misshaps, it’s not an eye sore forever. I also removed the toilet for this part.
Once again, I used peel and stick tile. It is just so easy and affordable! Ontop of that, I also snagged some more, you guessed it, wallpaper! I really wanted this to be a solo project that I did to surprise Chris. However, he also gets the amazon notifications and it didn’t take long for him to know something was up. It turned into a 2 person project.
It wasn’t long after this photo was taken that we realized we really didn’t like the wallpaper. It also was not very good quality. [Luckily I was able to recoup some of the costs]. I ended up ripping it all off, putting everything back on the walls, and then went to bed to sleep on the whole thing. This “sleep on the whole thing” lasted far too long, literally weeks. Finally, I decided I needed to get it finished as I was tired of seeing it in the state it was in.
I decided I really wanted more of the “moody” aesthetic for the master bedroom and bathroom. That meant I needed to rethink the whole bathroom theme. I ended up finding a shower curtain version very similar to the wallpaper from the airplane bathroom that I absolutely love. I decided, what the heck, let’s do it! I ordered paint for the wall and repainted the vanity AGAIN. I also ended up buy some cheap peel and stick paper for the countertop just to make everything flow. I really don’t mind being cheap while changing the whole aesthetic (especially when the vanity I want is at least $1000).
I didn’t expect it to be such a process. At the same time, once you get your dwelling to a place you can enjoy, it makes all the difference – at least for me.
🏠 jenn
Reclaiming My Sanity 