Woodgrain tiles and industrial lights, be still my heart

(Note: While opinions are my own, this is a sponsored post, and may contain affiliate links)

The thing about buying a “fixer upper” that someone else is doing the fixing on… you’ve got to put a lot of trust into that fella.

Both Tate & I agreed, that since we were fans of the builders other homes in the area, we wouldn’t become those overbearing, nit-picky buyers who insist on choosing every single door know, window frame, and hardware accent.

That’s not to say a girl can’t dream though! Through this whole house-hunting process I’ve come to learn that, kitchens aside, one of the biggest ‘surprises’ always ends up being the bathrooms.

Especially in flipped homes, they can range from traditional (think: penny tiles, porcelain claw foot tubs, etc) to super modern (floating vanities, bright chrome accessories, stark white finishes). 

My tastes always fall within the traditional, boho styles. Tate's more of a modern, simplistic kind of guy. I won't indulge you on how many tiffs stemmed from a potential home's bathroom these past few months! I've spent a lot of time perusing the internet for mixes of our styles, and was pleasantly surprised when I came across all the great products offered by the online company, PlumbTile

I'm anxiously awaiting finding out what our new bathrooms will look like... in the mean time, join me for a little day-dream'y walk down what I'd love to see when they hand us the keys...

1) I absolutely adore this new style of wood-look tiles that are popping up. As a self-proclaimed "tile-hater" these have definitely changed my mind on the topic... 

2) A sink that holds true to the antique style of the house, such as this one. Not to mention classic hardware to go with it!)

3) Minimalist accessories, such as this towel ring

4) A simple mirror, in an unexpected shape.

5) An industrial style light to add some edge to the space

6) A teak bathmat, for a little bit of nature.

I'd add some bright colored rugs and towels, a bold paint color on the walls, and a few plants to really complete the space. 

What about your dream bath? What do you want to wake up to every morning?

Pretty new loo.

I've got an uncanny knack for never finishing stories on this ol blog.

Like the time three months ago I told you we completely tore up my bathroom

Fear not... I haven't been squatting in a bucket throughout the winter. That project actually came to completion and I have a functioning full bathroom again. I just did some other cool stuff, like go to Australia, and forgot to mention the "after" on here!

Shockingly, I have very few "before" photos to show you... this is the only one I could find (what, like you regularly photograph your throne room?)

This was shortly after closing on my house, I picked up a quart of a darker teal and called it a day.

Fast forward a few years.... I love it a LITTLE bit more now!

It just so much more inviting (can a bathroom be inviting? I kinda wanna hang out in there, even if I'm not using the facilities, little weird - eh?)

I still have plans to swap out the mirror for something else, and add more art to the walls, although I have THE hardest time settling on artwork for bathrooms. It's just such a weird place in my mind. Having actual photographs of people in restrooms freaks me out, and I absolutely hate the cliche seashell, ocean, or bath themed imagery. (Yea, that's a paint-by-number panda I scored at a local antique mall... I kind of adore him, the whole color scheme of my bathroom came from him to be honest)

On a whim, my dad and I decided to lay the (bargain!) floor on a diagonal.... best.decision.ever. I LOVE the little quirk it adds.

[ sink: home depot // faucet: overstock // flooring: local outlet (remnant) // rug, stool: TJ Maxx // basket, stool: antique ]

Crappy jobs.

The weirdest thing occurred to me last night as I was telling a friend I was spur of the moment ripping tile out of my bathroom... I learned that some people actually (wait for it) PLAN their home renovations.

Which just sounds totally foreign to me.

I mean I have been dreaming about redoing my upstairs bathroom since before even signing the closing papers (I mean, pale green floors, really?) But it was functioning, therefore the least of my worries. At some point during the HJ era we bought quick-fix peel and stick tiles and I redid that in some fit of "I don't need you, you cheating asshole" rage after we broke up. (This story is getting dramatic quick).

Everything was fine and dandy in a 'god I still hate this floor, and this toilet has been unlevel since I bought the house' kind of way until I realized my bathroom starting to smell last week. Which made my dad laugh in a "damnit, I've been saying for three years we would need to redo that bathroom and rip out the subflooring because your toilet is unlevel so naturally it probably has leaked' kind of way. And so we both shrugged it off because DAMNIT three years of tearing up my house is TOO DANG MANY!

And then yesterday, prompted by an impending house guest next week, I decided 'hey, what better time?!'

I conspired with my mom how to trick my dad into coming over to help me work on my house yet again. By 8pm we had removed the toilet, sink, vanity, a layer of tile and a layer of subflooring, and called it a night.

The saddest part of this whole story was that the only thing I really did was shut off the water main and drain the toilet.... and pull up tiles. Me and crowbars and upper arm strength just don't really mesh well.

THANKS DADDY! 

(And no, I have no clue what flooring I'll be putting down, nor what sink/vanity I will be replacing the old one with. So there's that.)
 

A love affair with ampersands

I think it's a pre-req as a graphic designer to have an odd appreciation for ampersands. There is just some sort of quirky beauty that hides in them.

As I was stuck at work on Christmas Eve, with no real work to do I started sketching ampersands with my gold paint pen.

 One turned into two, and two grew into six, and an idea formulated in my head.

Armed with a half a dozen ampersands I ventured into the craft store to pick up some frames. $27 dollars later I had six 14x14 picture frames and a giddyup in my step. (They were having a REALLY good sale!)

After much debate I decided they should grace the wall of my downstairs bathroom. I had auditioned a bazillion art pieces there, but nothing seemed to fit. And these, these little gilded ampersand beauties... they fit. Perfectly.

Call me a geek all you want, I love them!

(UPDATED: After much adoration, I have decided to offer these in my Etsy shop -- you can now own your very own set of custom gilded ampersands!) 
 

DooDoo Doodles

This morning I had a revelation. Yep, as I was standing in the kitchen filling up my coffee maker with water, doing the potty dance... because every morning I still forget to pee before making coffee, and without fail, end up doing the potty dance and then running to the bathroom.

TMI? Sorry.

Anyways, as I was perched on the toilet of my downstairs bathroom I realized I have never shared with you what might be my single greatest design feat in my house.

The chalkboard. Not the one in the kitchen (perhapsI have a chalkboard addiction?)

The one in my bano. The downstairs potty room. The one that every guest to my house usually visits at least once. To say this chalkboard gets some action would be an understatement!

Unsuspecting boys usually don't even notice the first time... they just comment on the box of chalk above the toilet (I really need to come up with some other cute way to hold the chalk, don't I?! Note to self - work on that) 

Oh but the ladies... the ladies notice. It's at the right height & distance from the porcelain throne that you can doodle to your hearts content. And the fellas join in on the fun once they figure out what's going on behind them!


I've had a few visitors remark that it might be the most fun idea for a bathroom that they have ever seen.

And yes, I have noticed that people tend to spend a bit more time in there, finishing up their quote or masterpiece of a drawing. Or maybe that's just their excuse for the extended bathroom time.

Anything you can do, I can do better

Elenore, my house, decided she wanted to beat herself up a bit this weekend and left me to wake up to a lovely added water feature in my *newly finished* downstairs bathroom. After a couple trips onto the roof and a GOODMORNING/HELPDAD call to my papa, I sat down and pouted.

My dad spent SO much time working on that bathroom... he just got the drywall all put up and mudded like a week ago, and then we spackled the ceiling. And then Ellie had to go and f it all up.

Apparently a gutter upstairs had separated from the house and basically water was backing up and going behind the siding and right down into the bathroom ceiling. It sucks. The paint is peeling right off the wall, taking the primer and even parts of drywall with it. Every time I go in there I want to cry.

But don't worry, I pulled a trick out of her own book later that night and tore out her ceiling in the sitting room.

If you get to tear things up, so do I Ellie, so do I.

Bathroom duty

The full bathroom is at the top of the stairs, directly viewable (is that a word?) from the front door. Making it prime real estate for showing off my impeccable taste in decor! (ha!)
Unfortunately, someone before me decided to follow the yellow brick road and add gold flecked tile and golden swirl accent tiles all throughout the throne room!

In an effort to not create more work for myself now, said golden adornments will remain in place.
Hey, it could be worse right?!

As I showed in my Color Me Pretty post, the walls above the tile are getting a nice deep teal to hopefully help neutralize some of the gaudiness of the gold!

Now I just need to decide on accent colors and a shower curtain (which, by the way, I'm having a terrible time finding a cute, reasonably priced one!)

Today as I was staring at yet another cocktail menu (oh the joys of the House of Booze) I began to toss around the idea of navy blue and white.

Something like this... (like my attempt at creating a gold color swatch!?)With some sort of fun shower curtain such as this one from Anthropologie


Feedback? Other suggestions for accent colors and/or shower curtains that don't cost half my paycheck are welcomed and greatly appreciated!