What Ana Does

One of my best ideas for the Girls' Bathroom Reno was to demo out the pooky closet and add a "towel nook."  The more I thought about this bathroom, the more I wanted to focus on getting everything I could out of every corner of this small space. The closet, hidden behind the door, was one of the spaces I wanted to exploit. Not the first closet I've demo'ed out of this house (you know I hate when door clash), I was happy to do away with this one.  Once I found this photo on Pinterest and knew that's exactly what I wanted to recreate the space to be.  Here's the stupid closet before. Yes, I painted it some ugly colors, but I thought it would be temporary. Also, yes, we considered enlarging the shower but the cost of moving plumbing didn't justify the job, so we kept everything the same. No regrets.  Also worth mentioning the attic access is in the ceiling of this little closet and it's nearly impossible to shimmy in and out. Even for me. So I had so...

The Girls' Bathroom Reno Project turned out better than we could have hoped!  Here's a quick summary of how it went:  It took about 12 days, 2 days over the estimated.  We only ran out of the subway tile, so I had to place a rush order on those. (I hadn't calculated in tile around the window, but once Andre suggested it, I wanted it.)  I originally was looking at glass doors for the shower, but both daughter vetoed, as they are both in the bathroom at the same time and glass doors would provide ZERO privacy. So we went with a budget-friendly shower curtain, which adds pretty texture as well as privacy. Win win!  The vanity light was a miss -- we should have put that junction box higher so we flipped the lights and they look weird. I have a new light coming.  The color pink we choose ("Rachel Pink" from SW) came out perfect. Not too Pepto Bismol and not too nursery pink. I love it. I think even Dave likes it, but he'll never admit it.  I was away in Spa...

 Here we go again!  Our girls' bathroom has long been the last room on the checklist that sorely needs a renovation.  The current pictures tell it all; the vanity is outdated and faucets are leaking, the shower has plastic tile and a dangerous angle in the tub that I've nearly slipped on. The shower head also doesn't turn off all the way and leaks often.  It's dated and dumpy.  And here's a breakdown of our goals for the renovation: updated tile that's bright and pretty. A new vanity with lots of storage and two sinks for our two daughters. A larger mirror for maximum users.  A walk-in shower is going to be key. Not only for the older guests but it will just look better. We have a new tub in our bathroom, in case you're thinking "what about resale?!" Which I don't normally consider. Everything is pretty much staying where it is, no major plumbing or electrical is going to be involved, just getting refreshed and working properly. This Fall!  ...

I love painting rooms ... until I have to do a bathroom. Sure, it's usually less wall area to paint, but I'm not a fan of obstacles. And contorting around a toilet or over a shower isn't my idea of a good time. Suffice it to say, I've been avoiding painting the girls' green bathroom because of this. Well, no more!  I needed a WIN this weekend and knew that bathroom was just the thing to get my home-project-heart pumping again.  Here's what we started with ... green and dirty walls, an old and ugly light fixtures and a mirror no one liked.  By the end of the day, we had creamy (yup, Swiss Coffee by Behr) walls and two new scones not covered in dust and grime.  I even hung some shelves, so they have more room to hang all their products (they love shopping at Ulta or Sephora).  I just need to incorporate more hooks for towels and hang the new/old mirror. They're taking the Target mirror I got a few years ago that's currently hanging in my bedroom -- a bit o...

It's kinda amazing what $150 can do to a space. For the time and effort, I'm happy with the results. So I painted the walls using leftover paint from the master bedroom ceiling angle. Then I used peel-and-stick wallpaper on the wall with the vanity. Last, I used vinyl floor tiles for the flooring. All knowing that in a few years, this bathroom will be gutted and updated -- once we don't have young teens. They are slobs! To finish it up, I just need to pick up a few bathroom rugs for the space this weekend. Here's the BEFORE picture again: And more of our After pictures ... The floor tiles were NOT PERFECT. If you look close, you can see where the patterns don't come together. I struggled with this at first, you can rotate the tiles to try to get a better match. But it was futile. And from afar, it looks awesome. So, I'm pretty happy. It didn't need to to be perfect. Here you get a view of the new light fixture that I didn't budget fo...

This bathroom makeover was only supposed to be $150. But, I had a small accident and now it's just a bit more. In Progress: Watch Out For Falling Lights! Peel and stick wallpaper isn't sunshine and roses to hang. It's sticky and doesn't like to be straight. I've done it twice before and I knew what I was getting myself into. So, this time I bought the smoother tool and an exact-o knife, so I was well prepared. Luckily, this pattern I chose DOES NOT NEED TO LINEUP PERFECTLY. It's glorious. You can't see the seams anywhere. It made life easier. What didn't make life easy, was the vanity light .. I was standing on the vanity, uninstalling the light and trying to figure out how I was going to run the wallpaper behind the light fixture when it CRASHED and SHATTERED to the top of the vanity ... were my bare feet were. GAH! I feel so lucky I didn't end up in the emergency room with glass coming out of my feet. Yikes. But, unluckily, it added...

Now that the laundry room  and master bathroom have been made over and are looking lovely, they are no longer the ugliest rooms in the house. That honor now goes to ... the kid's bathroom! Take a bow! It's certainly on my "gut job" list, but, given the preteen slobs that currently use it, I don't think it's a wise investment. Maybe when Alice get to high school? But, I DO think I can throw $150 dollars in there in the meantime and upgrade the look at bit. We have family visiting at the end of December and using this bathroom, so I'd like it to look less like a catastrophe. Here's the current room -- I didn't even tidy it up. This is what it looks like in all it's glory. I think this filter is doing it A LOT of favors. It's pretty grubby. My issues are many (!) but, as I learned from the laundry room project , a new floor goes a very very long way. So that's what I'll start with. Given my tiny budget and DIY skills, I...