Last summer, my friend Shauna reached out about helping her give her living room a little pick me up. I introduced the project here and shared the inspiration and direction for the room. With such a cheerful, California Boho vibe it was a lot of fun to work on. It often doesn't require big expensive changes to freshen a space and this room is a great example of that. Rearranging some existing art and decor, a little paint, adding a few new and new-vintage pieces, along with some fresh greenery and I'm loving the result! I'm super excited that she sent some after pictures so I can show you all how it turned out!
Spring One Room Challenge | Powder Room: Week 2
It's week two of the ORC and crazily enough, it has been both a busy and slow week over here working on the bathroom! I was hoping to have more visual progress to show you, but some of the changes and challenges we encountered this week were important to get squared away early on.
It was love at first sight when I found the new vanity light fixture I wanted to use. I actually had it ordered a month and a half ago, before I had even narrowed down wallpaper selections. I knew there was a 6-8 week lead time on it but it was fine since I was ordering so early. The finish is called vintage gold and it is amazing!! It is matte, perfectly aged, and oh-so-classy. I ran into problems though when I began searching for a new faucet that would coordinate. All the pretty ones with perfectly matching metal finishes were way (like way WAY) out of my budget. It was out of the question to leave the existing silver faucet with the new light so I saved a few contenders that were close in finish and much closer to my budget.
| Source: Bellacor |
Both faucets I saved had a polished brass finish. One, a centermount with modern art deco lines, and the second, a mini spread with a very traditional look. My husband nixed the art deco one so I put the second one in my cart and heaved a sigh. It's hard to spend $100 on something you don't absolutely love.
| Sources: Art Deco - Wayfair | Tradtional - Wayfair |
That's when I had the thought, "what if don't replace the faucet at all and just choose a different light fixture?". I know, I'm a little sad too because that first one is so great, but I started looking anyway. And I found a darling light in brushed nickel that is perfect. It's a different look to be sure, but I really think I like it equally, though differently. The other bonus is that, not only does this save me some money by not replacing the faucet, the light itself is $100 less expensive!
| Source: Wayfair |
Along with lots of calculations related to the faux shiplap installation (where we want it to start and stop, where the cuts should be, what size boards to cut the plywood into, etc) I also selected the paint colors for the shiplap and vanity. I'm going with White Diamond by Benjamin Moore for the shiplap and Black Ink also by BM for the vanity. I thought for a hot minute about painting ceiling a dark, dramatic color but it's coated in a sand paint that I think would look funny with a dark color and I'm pretty sure it can't be scraped like some popcorn ceilings can, but rather would need a skim coat. Honestly, I moved on pretty quickly from the idea and I think a fresh coat of white will still do wonders.
Lastly, I fell in love with a piece of art from Minted that I decided to use in place of the one on the original mood board. (If you missed that post last week, you can find it here). I've updated the mood board to reflect these developments and I'd love to know your thoughts!
Be sure to follow along with the progress the other guest designers made this week by checking out this post!
Spring One Room Challenge | Powder Room: Week 1
It's HERE!!! The day I've been waiting to tell you about! I've decided to participate in a design challenge called the One Room Challenge, hosted by Linda at Calling It Home. The challenge goes for six weeks and the goal is to makeover one entire room in that timeframe. If you've ever tackled a home reno project, I'm sure you're raising your eyebrows right now. I know I did! Six weeks may sound like a decent about of time, but believe me, it will fly by! Each of the six weeks will feature its own blog post showing the progress, decisions, and tutorials involved.
The room I've decided to tackle is our powder room. This half-bath on our first floor has been a bit of an eyesore for quite some time. I have a hunch that the people who lived here before us "remodeled it" but there are lots of details that are kind of wonky and drive me BONKERS! lol.
Exhibit 1: Look at how close the bottom of the light fixture is to the top of the medicine cabinet
Exhibit 2: There is no trim or finished edge around the bottom of the vanity--just streaky glue lines where it looks like it was torn off and not fixed.
There are others boo boos, but you get the idea. And in all fairness, the gross yellow color on the walls was all my doing. I had the paint leftover from my kitchen (the color didn't look much better in that room) and just threw it up in here when I patched some holes in the wall and didn't have the original color to touch up.
SO, the high level to-do list:
- Paint Vanity
- Faux Shiplap Bottom Portion of Wall
- Wallpaper Top Portion of Wall
- Replace Light Fixture, Mirror, Faucet, and Vanity Hardware
- Add New Towel Bar and Paper Dispenser
- Add Artwork
This isn't a gut-job because A) we can't afford that right now, and B) I think the big things are salvageable and will look okay with the other changes we're going to make. I'm all about making big changes in a budget friendly way and getting a dramatic look without blowing the bank.
The one thing that I would love to be able to tackle is the floors, but because the same tile flows into our entryway and kitchen, there's no way that can happen right now. In the meantime I tried to select finishes and details that don't clash with the floor but are still things I love on their own.
I made a mood board to show the overall look I'm going for. A little bit traditional, a little bit coastal, and a tiny bit of mid century flair. I'm super excited the mix of styles and I can't wait to get started on the room!
Be sure to follow the projects of the 20 featured designers as well as the other guest participants for incredible design inspiration and DIY ideas!
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Patio Roundup: Pillows and Chairs
So here on the east coast we got hit with a pretty crazy snow storm last week. The word blizzard was even used. I know that I should know better, having lived here my entire life, but I had let myself be tricked into thinking spring was here because we had a few glorious days where the temperatures reached the 60s and the sun was magical. In that brief window I may have ordered some patio furniture. (Target, WHY must have you have such great sales when we all know winter isn't over here!?)
The table I ordered actually got delivered today and unfortunately, I still have quite a bit of snow on the back deck. If you live where you are already enjoying warmer weather, you can go ahead and laugh when I tell you I considered shoveling it off so I could unpack this thing. If you still have snow too, I'll trust you totally understand.
Anyway, while browsing I came across a lot of good stuff that's out this season and decided to pull together a round up of my favorites. This week I've gathered some of my favorite outdoor pillows and chairs.
Phone A Friend: Bathroom Tile for Shower
I'm excited to announce a new blog post series and I think you're going to be excited too! I know that occasionally we all get stuck on small but frustrating design dilemmas. They're the type of thing that make you wish you had a friend who was a designer and that you could just call up and run the problem by them. Well, I want to be your friend!
No, really! That's why I'm launching the "Phone A Friend" series. If there's something you're stumped on, shoot me an email (sarah@5oclockdesign.com) with some photos and a note about what's going on. Every month I'll choose one email to answer in a blog post! Be sure to use "Phone A Friend Submission" in the subject line of your email. I can't wait to see what you're working on!
To kick it off, I reached out to a client whom I've worked with in the past to see if there was anything I could help with. I've got to tell you, Paula has a great eye and is turning her farmhouse full of boys into something straight out of a magazine. When she said she was stumped on choosing a tile for the shower in her bathroom reno, I was excited to help. She had all the other details picked out and they are SO GOOD! If you love the modern farmhouse vibe you are going to want this bathroom for yourself.
Here the before pictures she sent:
And this is the inspiration image she included:
| Source |
These are all the details she already has picked out (see, I told you they were good!). This graphic print tile is huge right now and I love the modern punch it throws into the farmhouse aesthetic.
Budget Tip: If you love the look but don't have the budget for new tile, here are two DIY blog posts on how to PAINT (stencil) your current ceramic tile! Painted Tile One and Painted Tile Two
And so without further ado, to answer Paula's "Phone A Friend" question, these are a few tile combinations that I think would look great with the other finishes she has chosen.
Option 1: White subway tile with grey grout on the shower walls and gray slate tile with dark grout on the shower floor.
Option 2: White subway tile with white grout on the shower walls and white hex with dot mosaic tile with dark grout on the the shower floor.
Option 3: Green ceramic subway tile in the shower walls and marble hex tile on the shower floor.
Which option gets your vote!? Comment below and let her know!