Bathroom Overhaul

When I moved into this house after college,the main bathroom had soft pink walls, rose pink carpet, and came with the washer and dryer the previous owner left behind. In the time that passed between moving in and marrying Ryan, my Dad had done the first phase of renovation of this bathroom.

This took place back when Angela was my roommate and this was her bathroom. She chose a paint color called Oatmeal that I felt never fully covered the pink...Dad ripped out the pink carpet and laid a tan flooring...and ripped out a little half-wall that separated the toilet from the dryer. That in and of itself made a huge improvement to the place. But this year, we kicked it up another notch.

The main goal of this overhaul was to make this bathroom a bit more manly - since it is Ryan's bathroom. I cringe when I look at the before pictures and see what I asked him to move into when we got married. I'm sorry, Baby!!

Before:

After:

We changed....

* The paint color on the wall {no more pink undertones - YAY!}
* The medicine cabinet - updated it to this century. And no more flowers.
* Painted some color onto the vanity.
* Gave the counter top the same treatment we gave to the kitchen counters.
* New shower curtain {no more purple!}
* New rug...but you can't see that in the first picture

Before:

After:

We changed...

* Changed out the towel hook
* Removed the impractical decorative towel holder and added a practical {and cute} cabinet
* Again - the shower curtain and the paint.

Before:

After:

We changed...

* Hard to see it here, but we put up a new curtain at the window
* Painted the door
* Painted the ceiling and walls
* Changed the washer and dryer for a stackable one to open up the floor space. HUGE change.
* Added floor storage to match the cabinet above the toilet
* Different wall art {no more pink and purple!}
* Curtain to pull in front of the laundry area

Now for the details:

Ryan picked out almost everything in this bathroom - which I love, because it is, after all, his bathroom, and I wanted him to feel absolutely at home in there. We worked on it together, but I love it that he took the initiative in the choosing!

* The medicine cabinet still said "Sears Roebuck and Company" on the inside. Time to upgrade. We were limited in what we could choose because the light was INSIDE the old cabinet and to redo the lighting in there would have meant busting out all the tile and we didn't want to do that. So he chose a more modern version of the same cabinet. At least it's not all yellow-y. 

* And in the mirror, you can see the new, more manly shower curtain we found. Our tub has glass doors {which I HATE!} - so we cover them up with this curtain.

 * Ryan replaced the faucet {the good ole faux glass knob situation} with this more sleek version THAT I LOVE. We also did the counter top treatment to give it a granite look and painted two colors on the vanity just to spice it up. Since we bought the counter top paint for the kitchen, that overhaul in the bathroom had zero cost attached to it, and we used paint we already had for the vanity. We got the faucet on sale - so not a lot of cost attached to a really good change!

 * Ryan found this hook when he was cleaning out a drawer - someone gave it to me as a gift. It had a picture of a high heeled shoe in it, so we just covered that up with a picture of us {can't imagine why he didn't want to stick with the shoe!!} and he LOVES this hook!

 * After we visited Doug and Lynne's house back in July {the night before we were in the parade} - Ryan decided he wanted a cabinet similar to the one Lynne had in her house. The bathroom doesn't have a lot of storage and we don't have a linen closet or anything, so we have to be creative. He found this cabinet and loved it, so it went above the toilet in place of the non-functional decoration that had been there.

* Also at Lynne's, he found the idea of using glass jars to hold supplies like Q-Tips and Kleenex, so we found a couple of nice square jars for 50 cents each at Goodwill! Added a photo of him skydiving last summer - in a frame I already had - and the cabinet was done!!

 * Well. Almost. On top of it we added a picture of us last fall at the Colts game {another frame I already owned} and he found this little lawn ornament Colts football that he LOVED, so I told him he should get it to complete the shelf. I think it works very well. :)

 * That was supposed to be the end of the overhaul, but one day...I mentioned in passing that I'd had the idea several years ago to get a stacked washer and dryer to open up room in the bathroom. Those appliances took up literally half the space. Ryan's mental wheels started turning and before long - we had a stacked washer and dryer!! Of course to put those in, we had to knock out some storage shelves, so then he got this cabinet to match the one on the wall - so he could store his towels and things.

 * Little tiny lamp for ambiance, a frame from our frame stash with a picture of us, and a section of burlap to make a runner....and this space is ALMOST done. I'm thinking maybe a plant in that empty area??

 * We got a second shower curtain and Ryan's aunt altered it to fit the window. We still have material left and it kind of matches our color scheme in the pirogi...so I'm thinking pillows are in order sometime....

 * And last, but not least, some sale priced {from Hobby Lobby!} wall art to go over our new laundry area. We got one panel of a regular curtain and had Ryan's aunt hem it to the proper length so we can cover up the laundry area and all the pipes and such. This hangs above it. The "check your pockets" sign is very appropriate as we have ruined MULTIPLE loads of laundry washing Ryan's chapstick and ink pens. Those things HIDE. I'm serious. Thank goodness for stain remover or we would be broke buying new clothes every week!!

We ADORE our new bathroom and Braeya has adopted it as her personal lounge. You might have noticed her food dish is now in there {easier to clean up from tile than carpet} - and the washer has become her personal TV. We call it Braeya-vision. She camps out to watch every load as it washes.