I have been playing with the idea of adding wallpaper to the power room on one wall, but that stuff is expensive! Not to mention I have never put up wallpaper, but I have heard it can be a reason to file for divorce haha. So we decided to create our own design by simply using painters tape and paint. We knew we wanted a geometric design, as those were all the types of wallpaper we were drawn to. So we stuck different widths of painters tape all over the wall. Then added a silver grey paint by rolling overtop of the tape and wall. The result is quite dramatic, as you can see in the photo above. We still need to do a few touch ups as some of the paint bled under the tape (of course), but overall I think it looks good. You can't see it until you go into the room, so it's a bit of a surprise.

We are thinking of adding yellow/orange paint as well, that will match the picture of the scooter (seen below). We might paint in a few of the shapes on the wall or add extra lines in the new colour, we haven't decided yet. The colour that matches perfectly is called Behr Splendor Gold (seen below).

I'm really liking this effect! The wall was really plain before. This new pattern brings interest and brightens up the room.

We got some new accessories to go with our newly painted bathroom. I got a fun Moroccan print hand towel, and a new soap dispenser and toothbrush holders by Umbra from this collection. We still need a toilet paper holder for the wall and maybe some more art. I haven't found anything I like so far, but we are going to Ottawa next weekend to a couple of stores I really like, so maybe I'll find something there. Then hopefully we will replace the pink countertop at some point. 

We also picked up a tension pole shelf for inside the shower. I was getting really tired of bending down, and keeping everything on the floor. I especially could have used this while I was pregnant! Oh well, it will be useful now. 

I also got around to organizing under the sink. We picked up a bunch of storage boxes and containers from Ikea last weekend. On the sink side, we added a large hook on the wall for my hair dryer to sit, and some cute baskets from Chapters that hold everyday things. 

On the other side of the cabinet I added lots of boxes, small drawers, and bamboo containers for all the little things that need to be kept in the bathroom. It's definitely a lot more organized! 

The bathroom is painted! It is definitely a lot cosier. And will be even more so once we finish decorating. I'll be posting more about that after we are done. We are off to Ikea tomorrow for storage solution. 

In other news, the countertop is still ugly. I was thinking of painting it, just to have it blend in more. However, once we would have bought all the different paints needed it would cost about the same as getting a new inexpensive top. Plus it will be a lot less work to replace and will look a lot better. You can buy laminate countertops at Ikea for $60. Future project! Happy weekend! 

I can't believe after we are done painting the master bathroom, the only room left to paint in the whole house is our bedroom. The end is near! This past weekend I started in on the project. There is still lots more to do, but when it is done I think it will make the bathroom a lot cosier. I can't wait until the painting is over because then I'm going to tackle the decor and organization (my favourite parts). Since the cabinets we have are simply wide open spaces, I'm hoping to add some kind of compartments or drawers. It's funny to have wide open cabinets in a bathroom when all the stuff you need to store are small items. I think I can see an Ikea trip in the near future. 

The colour we ended up choosing was Behr Sliver Bullet. This grey has a purple/blue undertone. instead of the stair railing paint we originally tried on the wall, which had a yellow/brown undertone. It compliments the pinks in here instead of clashing. Pink still wouldn't have been my first choice but we need to work with what we have. Looking forward to seeing it all done, and having a more workable bathroom!

The bathroom project is very slowly coming along. We work on it a bit and then often find ourselves outside enjoying the wonderful weather. And I'm not even going to apologize for it, because we only get this weather for a short time, right? We have been enjoying walks, beach days, BBQs, and swims, and we have had a lot of great people visiting over this past month. So much fun! Just last night baby got to go for her first swim. She seemed to really like it. Can't wait to take her again!

Back to the bathroom update. We did manage to replace the sink. We took out the old one and simply swapped it with the sink from the powder room. As they are exactly the same so it didn't require moving the plumbing around. Even though we are essentially using the same sink, it is in much better shape, so it feels new to us. 

We also took all the various bars off the large wall and filled in the holes. We still need to get a new toilet paper holder, but that's all. I'm not going to to get a new towel rack, instead I'm going to hang our hand towels on the safety bar attached to the bathtub tiles. We can't take it out unless we want to leave giant holes in the tile. So I decided to use it as a towel rack instead of leaving the bar as an eye sore. 

Next we need to pick some paint for the walls. Originally we were planning to use the same grey as on our stair railing. However, after doing some test spots the colour actually looks tan in the bathroom, and we aren't sure if it really matches the pinks. So it's back to looking at paint samples for us. Hopefully we can get started on the painting this weekend (in between hanging outside on this gorgeous long weekend). Hope you have a great holiday weekend!

So we aren't going to get to ripping this bathroom out anytime soon. There are just too many priorities on the list right now. Like, as of last week our hot water heater is now sort of working, and the same can be said for our dishwasher and washing machine. It's starting to look like our laundry/furnace room might be up next. We are doing some research as to what new machines we might want in there to be ready for when they officially die. Since it's a small space we were looking into tankless water heaters. They seem like a great idea! However, back to the master bathroom. I came up with some little fixes to do in the meantime to make it a lot more livable. 

First thing that will be done is replace one of the baseboards that is missing a chunk (see above). This happened when we added a door to the bathroom way back when we moved in. We are going to replace that whole section to give it a more clean look, rather than simply filling in the little piece. Then we need to paint all the baseboards and window trim. They are in rough shape and are a cream colour. Soon they will now be white!

After all the baseboards are done we are going to take down all these randomly placed bars (seen above), patch up all the walls, and paint! We plan to use the light grey paint we used for our stair banister. I thought a soft grey would best match with the pink theme that is happening in this bathroom. The colour is by Behr called Ashes. It should really warm it up in here because right now it feels very stark. 

The walls are in rough shape so it will be great to get those holes filled in and painted over. We are also going to change out the venetian blinds for something that will let more light in but still be private. Perhaps something similar to the ones we put in our bedroom that can open from the top as well. 

The last thing we are going to do for now is exchange this sink for the one we took out of the powder room. They are exactly the same except the powder room one is in better shape, and you can actually use the plug. We might get a new facet as well for this sink just to modernize it a little bit. Also, I might get a new toothbrush holder and soap dispenser, which we then will be able to use after we fully renovate. I will keep you up to date on the progress. Can't wait for this bathroom, that we use the most, to look a little nicer! 

It's finished (for the most part)! It has taken us weeks to get this done, mostly because there has not been much time to work on it. I'm loving the new vanity we created. So simple, yet very modern. It was created by sawing a piece of pine to size and staining it! Here is all about our process. 

First step was to rip out everything we didn't want in the bathroom anymore. This included the mirror, towel rack, toilet paper holder, all art, lighting, and of course the sink and vanity. After all of that was out we cut open the wall, where the plumbing was, in order to be able to move the pipes for the new floating vanity. 

We marked out in pencil on the wall where the sink would sit, so that we knew where the new pipes would have to be placed. Then my father helped us cut out the old plumbing, and inset the pipes in the right spots for the new sink. This included sawing out the old pipes and soldering the new ones in place. 

Under the old vanity was simply the subfloor, so we needed to put tile down. Luckily we found a few extra tiles under our stairs to use for this corner. These are not my favourite tiles, but as they continue out into the kitchen we will keep them for now, and perhaps replace them all one day. We also ended up using the grout we had bought for our fireplace project, so it didn't cost us anything. The tiles needed to be cut to fit along the sides, then we added a layer of glue to the floor and spaced out each tile. The glue took about 48 hours to dry. Once dry we added the grout, washed down the floor, and waited for that to harden. 

We also had to replace the baseboard where the vanity was. Which consisted of painting it with a coat of primer and then a coat of white paint before they were on the wall. Then we nailed them to the wall, covered the nails with compound, and then added the last layer of white paint. 

Next we created a support structure for the sink to sit on out of wood. We screwed the wood supports into the wall studs and added brackets to the outer corners. Then we added a cross support (as seen in the third photo above) for help as the sink was really heavy. The sink then just simply sits on top of the supports. We actually ended up gluing the back of the sink to the wall, as well to keep it in place, using silicone chalking. 

Next we had to finish connecting the plumbing to the new sink, and then replace the dry wall. 

Next we took down the old lighting and added the black track lighting seen above. We also repaired all the walls with compound and painted!

We new vanity is simply two pieces of pine cut to size and then sanded and stained. They butt up against each other at the corner of the sink and are simply screwed into the support system we created. Simplistic, yet modern! Last step for the sink was to add a boarder of silicone chalking between the sink and the wall. 

After everything else was up we then added the towel rack, toilet paper holder, and art! We also took the mirror that was there originally, turned it on it's side, and added small mirror clips to hold it up.

I'm so happy with the results! A new, fresh powder room, all done without too many huge changes. One more thing I would like to do in the future is paint large horizontal stripes across the wall that holds the towel rack. Maybe in a soft silver/grey. Still trying to convince Jeff of that one, but that wall definitely needs something. Overall we are very excited for the new powder room!

Everything that's going, has been torn out of the powder room. Now it's time to build back up. More progress to come this week! 

Things have been moving a bit slower around here house wise, as we have been busy with lots of other summer activities, like working in the garden and visiting with friends. House projects have been on hold these days, but hopefully soon we can get back at it. We have some plans to work on a couple of projects this weekend, so maybe I'll have lots more to report next week! 

In the meantime, I have been doing some more brainstorming on our master bathroom layout. I've come up with a really dramatic plan for this room, which may or may not work. Here is a (not to scale) plan for our bathroom.

One of the main reason I have split up the room, is because it would be great to both be able to use it at the same time. If one person is having a shower the other can still brush their teeth. I would also like to make the back part of the room a wet room, and bath area. Something like the idea in the photo below, perhaps with frosted glass.

I have placed a wall in the middle of the room which will hold the sink on one side and the shower head on the other. Below is an idea of the sink on one side then behind is where you would enter for the shower/bath area. Of course, this one is huge and very extravagant, but you get the idea I was going for. I'm not sure if these plans will work out in the end. We still need to look into the logistics of it, along with moving plumbing around, but it would be a pretty neat bathroom!

We finally got a mirror for the downstairs bathroom! It was actually really hard to find one that would fit well, and even this one we were planning on hanging it length wise, but it ended up looking better upright. Not to mention, as Jeff is tall, he said he couldn't even see his head when it was placed the other way. Despite this we are really happy with the new mirror!

It has a rustic look, and was made from reclaimed wood. I feel like it goes with my subtle water theme, and looks a lot better then the previous mirror. And now our guests will have the luxury of seeing themselves when they are visiting too.