REFRESHER WEEKEND

Since Murph and I got engaged we've been working through the house tackling some of the previous owners insane tastes. We've replaced light fixtures, worked over the back yard (which is out of control this summer), painted the laundry room (post to come, you wont believe the original paint job), painted and furnished a guest room (post to come) and this weekend we tackled our attached master bath.

Let me say our master bath is small and I love product. Hair, makeup, lotions, nail polish I love it all and Sephora is a happy place for me, but our bathroom was not functioning when it came to storage of my stuff. Murph has all of 6 things in this tiny room and I took over the rest, and most of it landed on our tiny counter. Thanks to my mom I HATE stuff on counters and this room was no exception. So I began collecting ideas on pinterest and we went for it this weekend.

Our home is from the mid 90's and thus is filled with golden oak everything. Golden oak trim, golden oak cabinets, it's a golden oak fest along with almond fixtures. While I love wood furnishings I am not so much a fan of the golden oak and I personally despise almond but we weren't looking to completely demolish our bathroom so I did my best to live with it. Here are the embarrassing before photos.

You get the idea builder grade everything, crap everywhere. What you can't see is that the previous owner went caulk crazy, then painted that caulk blue, then Murph tried to paint but the blue stuck out everywhere on the caulk. Erg what a pain these people were. Please my friends I beg you don't paint the caulk! Anywho, here are my inspiration photos. I loved the concept of the floating shelves rather than a medicine cabinet, the clean lines and crisp colors make my heart pitter patter. 

We started by taking out everything, every towel bar (the one above the toilet drove me crazy), the shower rod, light fixtures, vent fans etc. We pulled all of the old caulk out (cursing the entire way), took down our builder grade mirror, replaced all of the almond outlets and light switches with white, spackled and sanded. We painted the ceiling, painted the walls a cool putty brown/gray, re-caulked (Murph did a fantastic job at this), spraypainted all of the old lighting oil rubbed bronze and hung floating shelves, hooks for our towels, a curved shower rod for a bit more room for the elbows and bought a new mirror! None of it would have been possible without the stud finder (we couldn't hang anything on one, they never were in the right spot) or the laser level (my new favorite tool).

We went to town and were exhausted, but we are so happy with our little refresher. All of my goodies are stored in the long brown baskets and jars clearing off the counter top. The wall color pulls out the brightness of our almond fixtures and I don't hate them as much now. Our vanity is still oak but I think I can strip and stain it darker if that's a route we decide to go. We've also looked at other models as an investment for the future. The rust red, and deep brown match our bedroom, while the little bit of yellow is a fun pop. Our tiny space isn't something you'd find in House Beautiful, but it is practical and works for us, and that is most important! Afterall a pretty bathroom is great but what is the use if it doesn't solve your problems.

More photos to come as we hang the mirror and add other finishing touches. Hopefully I can find a better way to capture our tiny space in better photos! I love making this house Murph bought 6 years ago into a home with him. We are learning so much about each other as we work on these projects and the fact that we were able to hang 3 floating shelves equidistant and centered over our toilet this weekend without throwing a hammer at one another is cause for celebration!