One Room Challenge: Vanity Project

Round 8 of The One Room Challenge!
(Need to catch up? Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6)
Pssst: Wondering if you missed Week 7? Nope! We just skipped right over that. June was jammed packed full of celebrations over here at Casa de Bowden, so our home improvement project(s) took a slight pause in favor of a different/sweeter version of DIY: cakes.

So this is it! Today is the BIG REVEAL of the ONE ROOM CHALLENGE.

And because I am fully convinced that the secret to life is managing expectations...allow me to suggest that you lower yours. That's right, folks....prepare to be underwhelmed.

Ta da!

OK- it's not that it's a bad end result...actually it's quite lovely in my opinion. But I've already shared so much of the room that this last piece- a painted vanity- doesn't feel quite as dramatic as it could. It seems a little "been there, seen that". BUT- Dustin did work really hard on the vanity, and it turned out beautiful, so enough talking it down, let's check it out!

 

Because of the lighting, it's a little tough to get a true color representation in photos, but the paint is Behr Dark Everglade (semi-gloss finish)-a deep kelly green with a bit bluey-teal. It coordinates beautifully with the green in the shower curtain, and is dark enough to feel nice and rich but with enough saturation to still feel fun. I'm always nervous about paint color selection but this one feels really right in this space, so I'm thrilled. There are a couple tiny areas that still need to be touched up, but after skipping last week, I wanted to share something this week, so I forced Dustin to get everything photo-ready, if not picture perfect. 

And quick reminder- the cabinets before were plain oak, no hardware:

So this change is actually pretty dramatic, even for being pretty simple upgrades.

The new hardware is from Hobby Lobby- clear lucite with metal "collars". I decided I wanted the metal to be silver, to coordinate with the faucet (which I don't hate enough to bother replacing) so we spray painted those "chrome" to match. I really love them- they're elegant without being too fussy.

 

And that's....it! 

You may have noticed that there's one pretty major change we didn't make to this space: the floor. Honestly...we just didn't get to it. But I'm almost glad we didn't, because now I'm rethinking our tile choice a bit. We had planned on doing a medium grey peel and stick vinyl (groutable, to make it look more like tile), but now I'm not sure. I'm worried it will all feel a little dark when paired the vanity color, and I think it could blend too much with the grey carpet in the adjacent bedrooms. I don't quite have an alternate in mind- so I think we'll take this pause point as an opportunity to live with things as-is for a bit and figure out something we'll love rather than just rushing through with something just ok. (who knows...I might still go with the tile we planned. But there's no harm in taking our time to be sure.) I'm toying around with the idea of terrazzo- to bring some more color and pattern. This vinyl paper option is super intriguing! But for now we'll just keep our old grey bathmats in place while we mull it over.

So...there you have it. The 7 week saga of a peachy-clean little bathroom. (HOW did I make it this far into the documentation process without using that pun?!) Overall- I give this whole project a 7/10. There are pieces I love...actually I kinda love all of the pieces individually...but for some reason it seems like it's missing something to pull it all together and make it sing. I don't know if it's because the floor isn't done, or if I'm still struggling with the various shades of white/cream (the floor really isn't helping that cause) but it just doesn't quite feel totally done here. But just because the challenge is technically over, doesn't mean my design process has to be. I think I'll keep my eyes peeled (oooh- bonus fruit pun!) for a new mirror (something with a natural element- like wood or rattan could really warm up the space) and keep exploring options for the floor. But for now, I'm pleased with where we are. It's a real peach of a space.

--------------------------------------------

Psssst....Want to get all the Bowdenisms news delivered right to your inbox? 

YES PLEASE! Subscribe via email and never miss an -ism.  xox.

One Room Challenge: (Shower) Stalling

Round 6 of The One Room Challenge!
(Need to catch up? Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5)

Remember when I said I'd probably have to stall this week? Well...could I try to work a "shower stall" pun in here to distract from the lack of progress? Surrrrrrrre.

We're still painting the vanity (the "royal" we, aka Dustin), and for no other reason than blind optimism, I fully believe it will be finished next week. Yes. I'm just going to manifest that. (It's easier, if less reliable, than you know...actually helping paint). 

So in the meantime: let's talk showers.

Oooooh. Ahhhh.

Is it pretty? No. Is it functional? EXTREMELY. 

It's a super standard set up, and while I don't love the look of the textured plexiglass doors, and all that chrome, I DO love the solid, grout-free surface inside. It's so low-maintenance; I never worry about the kids messing it up, or needing to clean it obsessively. It's just works. It's a shower only- no tub- which works great for the big girls, who at (alllllmost) 8 and 9 are just now starting to become independent enough to shower on their own (though they all still love sibling party bath in our giant corner Jacuzzi).

So when we started to plan this bathroom, I knew we wouldn't be touching this shower. It doesn't seem smart to rip out something so functional just to replace it with things that require more care and upkeep. Plus, any fancy-shmancy tile and glass enclosure we'd want to do would be more expensive than a kids' bathroom really deserves. I was totally prepared to just live with the look of it, until I saw a bathroom reno by @thosebyrnesgirls. She updated her bathroom on a similar budget (meaning as close to $0 as possible) and just put a shower curtain in front of the doors to cover them up. 

Um, what? Why did I never think about that? 

For some reason I had it in my head that if you had doors you had doors. It didn't occur to me that I could just put a curtain in FRONT of them. Keep the functionality, but add an aesthetic layer!

I had also been thinking about doing wallpaper in this space. I thought it would bring in some color and pattern, and give the room personality. But, it was going to be pretty time intensive and expensive. The curtain brings in all the brightness and the fun, for a fraction of the price, plus it's temporary, so if we want to swap it, we can easily change the look without having to embark on another project.

We just popped up a tension rod (bonus- we already owned it but didn't have a need for it in this house) and we were good to go. (you can actually see it in the "before" pics because I was experimenting to make sure it was going to work). I had an old white shower curtain that I layered behind the peaches to give it a bit more fullness and make it more opaque. When it's closed you'd never know what's behind it, and it easily scoots out of the way for access to the shower. (In case you didn't know how shower curtains work. Why do I feel the need to explain in such excruciating detail? Do I get paid by the word? Do I get paid at all?!)

So there you have it. An epic-ly drawn out story about a $30 bathroom upgrade. Now let's just give you the 87 pictures you likely scrolled directly down to anyway.....

And now- for a little vignette that I swear not to belabor with my long-winded yammering:

This wall was blank, and we desperately needed someplace to hang towels. I feel passionate about hooks vs. a towel bar (especially in kids' rooms...they cannot seem to hang things up no matter what, but the hooks at least make it semi-possible for them to clean up after themselves, if still very unlikely). These little wood + white hooks were the perfect natural accent, and provide more than enough spots for me to hang the multitude of towels it apparently requires to dry tiny, lazy bodies.

 

The art piece is one of my very favorite things in the room. It's a photograph, but is SO realistic. It just makes me happy every time I see it.

So.....with all that said, maybe I should check on Dustin and the vanity. Surely after all that rambling, he could be done by now?

See you next week!

Sources:
Shower Curtain
Shower Curtain Hooks
Towel Hooks
Flower Art  
Flamingo towels- old, but similar here

--------------------------------------------

Psssst....Want to get all the Bowdenisms news delivered right to your inbox? 

YES PLEASE! Subscribe via email and never miss an -ism.  xox.

One Room Challenge: Seeing Green

It's time for Round 5 of The One Room Challenge! 
(Catch up here: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4)

Week 5?! That means we're over halfway through this challenge! But alas...I'm not sure we're halfway through the work. Honestly, we're more or less in the same place we've been since the jump- the details are all done and ready to be shared, while the two major projects remain. 

But at least this week I do have a true progress update- the vanity is in the works! 

When it comes to the main fixtures in this bathroom, we're working with what we've got, so the existing vanity will stay- it's just getting a fresh coat of paint. We chose a deep green: Behr Dark Everglade, in a semi-gloss finish. It's a pretty straightforward project, it's really just a matter of finding the time to make it happen. But now that school's out for the Summer, Dustin and I get to remove our "teacher" hats, so we're feeling absolutely FLUSH with free time (I kid. We somehow still have just as much to do as ever...time is slippery that way). The good news is- this challenge is doing exactly what it was designed to do, providing some motivation and accountability to keep things moving. And I've been doing exactly what I was designed to do: nagging Dustin to make (more of) my dreams happen. So he has been escaping to the basement/"workshop" now and then over the last few weeks to appease my arbitrary timeline anxiety.

I'm always nervous about choosing a paint color. I'm incredibly picky about color, and super sensitive to undertones etc. I've pretty much never loved something on the first try, so at this point I've just come to terms with it. I figure with something like this, we can always consider the first round a primer, and try something different on top. 

But fortunately- I'm really loving how this is turning out. It's a bit hard to tell because it's still in the beginning stages (ignore the streaks and uneven coverage) but I think it's going to look really rich and pretty when it's done.

But just for a moment- let's keep it real, by showing you the current view. Based on the number of toothbrushes strewn about at any given time, you'd assume we were running a sorority house, but nope...this is just the trail left behind by two elementary school girls.

I can't very well end on that note, so let me give you a little sneak peek of what's to come....(A future blog post I will try very hard not to title: Stop! Handle Time.)

Any other challenge participants moving at a snail's pace?
Any other decorators chronically doubt their color choices?
Any other moms feel completely overrun by bathroom clutter? 

I see you. I feel you. I salute you. 

Until next week, DIY warriors!

--------------------------------------------

Psssst....Want to get all the Bowdenisms news delivered right to your inbox? 

YES PLEASE! Subscribe via email and never miss an -ism.  xox.

One Room Challenge: Let's Take a Shelfie

 Round 4 of The One Room Challenge! comin' atcha! 

 (Need to catch up? Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3)

This week is a "picture is worth a thousand words" kind of post (aka: I'm tired, so you're spared my typical rambling). Keeping our focus tight, and sharing a little shelfie!

The girls' bathroom is pretty small, so I didn't have a ton of wall space I need to solve for...but I wanted to do something more interesting than a typical mass produced art piece. And when I stumbled upon this quirky shelf in the Target kid's section, I knew I had found my perfect pear. (I'm never too tired for a pun).

The only question: What to put on it? Shockingly- the girls don't actually need much storage in their bathroom...yet. The vanity has a cabinet and 3 drawers, plus they have a (hideous but functional) medicine cabinet) so for now it holds all their stuff (toothpaste, hair ties, a truly insane collection of temporary tattoos) without issue, so the shelf is purely decorative. I was honestly a little stumped...this room get no natural light, so (real) plants are out. And I didn't want anything breakable (they don't get wild in there...but kids + water + glass just seems like a bad idea). So that narrowed the options a bit. 

But I promised not to belabor the details here...so let me just skip to where we landed:

Ta-Da!

Sources: Target
Seriously, all Target. The candles, towels, cups, shelf. All Target. (Plus two fake succulents from IKEA to add some Scandinavian style to all that Minnesota charm.)

We'll never burn the candles.
We'll never use those towels.
We'll never have to water those "plants". 
The kids can't even reach those cotton swabs.

All form, no function. Super fun.

See you next week...when we'll hopefully have some progress to share on the vanity. (But- at the rate things are going, will likely have to stall some more with some pictures of the shower curtain.)

--------------------------------------------

Psssst....Want to get all the Bowdenisms news delivered right to your inbox? 

YES PLEASE! Subscribe via email and never miss an -ism.  xox.

One Room Challenge: Hit the Lights

We're back...with the third installment of The One Room Challenge! And this week we're keeping things light! (and punny!)

There are few things I love more in this world than a good deal. (except maybe a good deal on good cheese, but while that's true, it's also a bit niche, and not at all the topic for today...Good thing I also love a good tangent...and parenthetical statement...and use of ellipses. Where was I?!?) 

 DEALS. right.

 So I said the plan for this bathroom was "cheap and cheerful" which means that we're going to make the most of what we got wherever we can. Yes, I'd love to redo this room top to bottom with new tile, and fixtures...the works (ok, actually I'd really love to have someone else redo this room top to bottom because OH, the work) but that's not in the (credit) cards right now, so we're getting scrappy. And what's scrappier than Facebook Marketplace? (Maybe the right term is: sketchy?) Well hold please, for how that platform becomes the protagonist of our decor story.

The "bones" of this room are pretty decent. The layout is fine, and the fixtures are at least unoffensive in their blandness. But I feel with any "builder-grade" bathroom, one of the main eyesores is the lighting. It's just always SO BAD.

Behold: 

Ok- this isn't really fair because this picture doesn't even do it (un)justice. Turns out I didn't even really want to take a close up photo of the "before" light, because it didn't deserve it. It wasn't hideous, per se...it just wasn't...good. At all. It was functional, but other than literal light, it didn't add anything to the room.

So I was on the hunt for something with a bit more personality.

And between the saggy old (metaphorical) couch cushions of Facebook marketplace, I found it!

Not what you were expecting? 

Well- I had a vision. If we nixed the heavy glass shades (it did in fact come with all of them), and painted a bright white...maybe it would be modern? and fun? and whimsical? (ugh...I hate that word...but I kinda like the concept) After "investing" only $20 on the light, it was worth a shot- or a spray:

Let there be (pretty) light!

Annnnnnnd, I love it. I love how non-traditional it feels now, especially considering how traditional it started. And I sure don't hate the price. (We did spring for new glass shades, which totaled more than double the fixture itself...but it was worth it to have a one-of-a-kind experiment go right).

And kinda like how a new haircut motivates you to do your makeup (is that a thing? it could be...) the fresh new light confirmed the mirror was also in need of an update. Again- I didn't hate it...the size was actually perfect, so it didn't seem worth it to get something new, but the metal frame just wasn't the right vibe. So (more) paint to the rescue!

Brighter and (literally) lighter!

Truth be told, though the plan white looks great with the wall color and matches the trim, I'm still struggling a little bit with how it plays off the creaminess of the counter/toilet (they're both slightly off-white). But I'm sure not investing in replacemnts for those, so we're going to let this ride for now and see how it all comes together with the other updates in the room. I know changing the color of the cabinet and the floor will make a big difference, and hopefully some colorful accessories in the space will liven things up and let the fixtures recede a bit more. (You're already getting a sneak peek of some peachy-goodness...more of that to come next week!)

Thanks for stopping by! Oh- but before you go...share in the comments- what's your best DIY bargain find? I love a good deal-spotting story! 

--------------------------------------------

Psssst....Want to get all the Bowdenisms news delivered right to your inbox? 

YES PLEASE! Subscribe via email and never miss an -ism.  xox.

One Room Challenge: The Plan

Alright...you've seen the before...now it's time to see the FUTURE!
Not the "after". No, we're not ready for that. This is a sneak peek into the possible.

I'm actually going about this whole room design in a wonky way...I didn't really have a vision before I started. Oh- and is now a good time I tell you I have, in fact, already started? I'm not sure if this whole "One Room Challenge" is supposed to be in real time (it doesn't have to be...but I think that's sort of the spirit behind it) And actually the room is about 1/2 done already? Well- we did all the decorating but none of the major "DIY" parts. 

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Again. What I'm trying to say is, I didn't really have a vision before I started. Sometimes I have a ton of inspiration collected, with a plan for what I'm going for and how it's all going to come together. And sometimes...I just start doing stuff. (In either case the follow through is typically in fits and starts, so in that way we're right on schedule with this one!) This bathroom was definitely the latter. I pretty much just knew I wanted to update the room, found a thing or two I loved, and let the whole thing unfold from there. So now that I'm sharing my "inspiration", it's a little retroactive. Most things on this board are just documenting what's already been done/purchased, but there are a few "up for discussion" items left. 

 

What we've already done (spoiler alert!):

• Painted the walls and trim 
• Hung a shower curtain
• Painted the existing mirror frame
• Swapped out a light fixture
• Hung art, hooks and a shelf

Things we still need to do:

• Paint the vanity
• Update the floor

So...that to-do list isn't long, but it's definitely the most time consuming part, so I'm thankful for this challenge to motivate me to actually tackle those components of the transformation. We finally bought the vanity paint and started prepping the cabinet doors, so we're inching towards real progress here!

Next week I'll share the work we've done so far. Even the simple changes have already made a big difference!

Sources:
Vanity paint color: Behr Dark Everglade (inspiration collage image is via google- meant to represent the color I'm imagining, more so than the actual full look of the fixture)
Wall paint color: Sherwin Williams Worldly Grey
Shower Curtain
Groutable Vinyl Tile
Towel Hooks
Flower Art
Light fixture inspiration
Pear shelf

--------------------------------------------

Psssst....Want to get all the Bowdenisms news delivered right to your inbox? 

YES PLEASE! Subscribe via email and never miss an -ism.  xox.

One Room Challenge: A Jill & Jill (and Jill) Bathroom

After one year in our house, we're still tackling some projects here and there but our progress has slowed quite a bit. The literal dust has settled from the flurry of renovation when we moved in, and we've stagnated around "good enough for now" in a lot of spaces. So when I saw The One Room Challenge was starting up again, I thought that might be just the thing to give me a little kickstart. (If you're not familiar with ORC, it's a design event encouraging designers/DIYers to transform a space in eight weeks.)We're all better with a little bit of community and accountability- so I decided to dive in!

The space I'll be working on: The girls' bathroom. 

We have a "Jack and Jill" bathroom connecting two bedrooms upstairs- our big girls' room, and our toddler's room. So technically it's a Jill & Jills bathroom? It's fully functional, but also fully boring, filled with builder-grade basics, and no personality.

The (Way) Before:

(the only picture of the space as-is when we bought it)

 

 

See? Not terrible, but certainly not exciting...(or pretty, or modern, or...anything, really). 

Before we moved in, we had the entire house painted (walls and trim) so that helped ease some of the beige-overload, but that's about where our effort stopped with this room.

 

The Before:

 

 

 

As you can see...not a lot has changed, other than it is significantly messier, due to three humans actually using the space. We hung up two pieces of art from the kids' bathroom in the old house. And....that's it.

 

 

 

My plans for this room are pretty modest...it's mostly going to be some "cheap and cheerful" cosmetic updates to give the space a bit of personality without going all out with a "real" renovation. C'mon back next week for a peek at what I'm planning, and some updates what we've done so far!

--------------------------------------------

Psssst....Want to get all the Bowdenisms news delivered right to your inbox? 

YES PLEASE! Subscribe via email and never miss an -ism.  xox.