A BATHROOM REFRESH

allie • Feb 18, 2016

There were a couple things on my “nesting” list that had nothing to do with baby, but everything to do with wanting to get it done before baby came.  One was to get shelving in our toy closet located in the living room.  We didn’t touch it since we moved in, and used the existing shelves that were in there for the last 5 years.  Every time the kids tried to get one thing out an avalanche would occur.  I dreaded it everytime!  So one morning Ryan so sweetly appeased me and build wall to wall shelves out of old doors we had in the shed.  I would love to show you before and after pics, but I didn’t take before pics, and the after isn’t all that pretty either.  This was one project I didn’t care about the looks, I just wanted the function.

check check.

The other house project I had on my list was our main bathroom.  It was one of the first rooms I finished when we moved in, and it hadn’t been touched since, shocking for this girl;)

Here’s what it looked like before…

and although it was fine, it was just that. Fine. I had saw an inspiration picture that of course I can no longer find, but it had a wall treatment that was like vertical planking chair rail height. Obviously, I love planking and it’s so inexpensive and easy to do, that I had had it on the back burner for a long time. And finally, I got around to doing it. I started by painting one coat of white paint to the wall where the planking was going to go so brown didn’t show through when I hung it up.

And then I cut my planks 4″ wide.  I was able to use a lot of my scraps from planking so many walls, and only had to buy one sheet of luann plywood for the project, and at $12 that wasn’t bad!

The strips went up super fast seeing as though you can cut them all the same height.

I had to cut some small pieces behind the sink..

and there was one tricky cut for the toilet pipes, but other than that, it was super slick!  I did the same method I do on my horizontal walls, glue, level, and nail.  I used nickels again to get the spacing just right, which worked like a charm.

After the planks were up, I added 1×4 mdf at the top.  I also added 1×6 mdf at the top of the ceiling for my crown. I wanted to put crown up right away because this project isn’t quite done just yet..

I love how wide the planks are.  It makes more of a statement than beadboard and is way less expensive.  You want to make sure you prime this luann plywood first, otherwise since it has a red tint, over time a little orange hue fades through.  Trust me…I know from experience;)

I also moved the cafe curtain rod up 3/4 of the way up the window. It allows for a bit more privacy. I found the tea towels at Ikea, they look like old grain sacks.

So the reason I wanted to add the 1×6 mdf up top is because the plan is to subway tile the mirror and window wall, and possibly around the shower, this spring. I will add a dark gray grout so it will really pop with the black accents. I’m super excited because I think that’s going to really change the look, but using a wet tile saw in the middle of the winter is not my idea of fun! I’ll wait for the weather to warm up a bit;)

I also added this ladder over the toilet. It was one that was left here in the barn when we bought the place, so it definitely has character. Ryan cut out the bottom two rungs so it would fit over the toilet (which it just barely does) and then I screwed in some screws to hang the wire baskets from that I had previously.

The wall color also changed.  I had a 1/4 of a can left of the Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter from Tate and Becketts room, so I used that.  I love the color.  It is a soft “greige” gray/beige, and really lightens up the room.

The mirror was clearanced out at Hobby Lobby for $35, and while I like it more than the last one, I’m thinking I’m going to make one out of old barn wood once I get the subway tile up.

I’ve been eyeing this shower curtain at Target for awhile now…it’s a gorgeous linen. And once I started bringing more black into our farmhouse, I knew it would be the perfect fit:)

My favorite is seeing the new wall treatment from the kitchen. I love the layers it creates!

The most expensive part of this makeover was the mdf for the crown and trim. I think that cost about $50, otherwise almost everything else was leftovers from previous projects! The subway tile will be a little bit…but I think it’ll be worth it:)

So, if we take a trip back memory lane, this is how the bathroom looked when we first moved in…

to this…

to this…..

slowly but surely it’s getting there. But for now…check check!  Because if you follow me on instagram, you saw a few days ago that baby is about to come!!

I’m 38 weeks friday, and all my babies have been known to come a bit early, so fingers crossed we meet this little lady soon!

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