Bathroom Spruce-up: Sometimes Things Don't Work Out

 

So. . . Here is the story of my bathroom fail. Inspired by all of the amazing stenciled walls I have being seen around the internet I decided to FINALLY spruce our bathroom up and thought this would be a great, practical, and affordable way of doing it.
Okay, Hold on. . .let me back up. I have been at a loss on what to do with our bathroom since the day we bought our house. We have a one bathroom house but the room is large and strangely shaped. It is extremely hard to take pictures of the room as it is very long and narrow to begin with and then gets bigger towards
the back. 

  

Here is a pre-spruce-up shot. Please forgive the bad lighting. 

For some reason this room froze me with indecision. I guess I was use to living in places with either so little room that beyond towels and a shower curtain styling wasn't an option or they already had a strong focal point of color theme (i.e. the pink tile in our C. Springs duplex[still my favorite bathroom of all time]). After two years of staling I hatched my stencil plan. I decided gray walls with a white ceiling and white stenciling would look great with bright towels and a bright rug! And so I began. Last Friday I spent the day painting the ceiling and walls and things went pretty well.

 

Here is the gray walls waiting for stenciling. 

My plan was to take Jerod to work Saturday morning and begin the stenciling. I hoped to get half the room done that day before we went to a friends cook out late that afternoon. Five or so hours later about 1/8th of the room was done and not looking to good at that. We have freshly textured walls which I originally thought might be problematic for stenciling but I read/watched about a million and a half tutorials on stencils and textured walls and thought "I'm handy, I can make this work". I tried techniques using a small foam roller, a paint brush, and dabbing with a sponge. There was a lot of bleeding around the edges with all of these. I used adhesive, I used tape, I used my hands, it wasn't looking good.

 

 It looks better here than it really looked. I was still a hopeful though.

At this point I thought I was just frustrated and with a little touch up and sleep things would get better. The next morning I finished the area around our cabinet and sink and put the light fixture and mirror back up to see how I would feel about it when all was said and done, unfortunately, it just wasn't working. Jerod agreed. Jerod it very easy going about two things, my decor choices and food, if he dislikes either it must be really bad. And thus Sunday went from stenciling to painting the whole bathroom white.

 

And the cover-up begins.

It was so disappointing to paint over all of this work. But sometimes things just don't work out. The best laid plans. . .I guess. I was not this calm on Sunday.

I am holding off to show you all the white bathrooms as I have new plans that I think will work out. These plans do not involve any additional painting!!!! Expect some glamor shots soon.
I would like to say that I still think this would look great but. . .it just didn't work out for me. I bought our stencil through Cutting Edge Stencils and they got my stencil to me in a super timely fashion and it was a good quality. I just wasn't able to make it work with our walls and our space. I am going to hold on to it and hope that the perfect, non-textured stencil spot opens up in my life.

*It needs to be noted that I was not payed or perked for this post. My promotion or mentioning of these products or vendors is solely because I think they are cool.

All You Can Eat Buffet

Over the weekend I got busy sanding, painting and otherwise revamping the hand-me-down buffet we have been using for the last five years. This little guy was my grandparents (I've mentioned their/our other dining room furniture here) and has been painted at least twice, once blue and once white with varnish over the paint. The white version, with aged and yellowing varnish, is what we had kept it as up until now.

Aside from the discoloration of the paint it had a few chips, cracks and problems, both from us and it's tenure in my grandparents attic.

After sanding, painting and new hardware it is looking fresh and lovely!!!!!

This buffet make-over is also making me realize I need to do some work on the dining chairs. I will take some complete shots of the dining room after I work on the chairs. . . but . . . one thing at a time.

On Trend

I was pretty proud of myself when I saw this image and post on Apartment Therapy. If you all remember I had Jerod spruce up an old typewriter stand for us last fall (you can check it out here). Yay for being on trend . . . now I just need to be ahead of my time and get recognized for it:)

To Do List Update!

I did not even come close to completing my before Christmas/New Years to do list. But I did get a couple a things done or at least started. Over the next few days I will post pictures and updates on what I've been working on. Below is the list and where I am at on each item.

1. Knit Mittens-Done
2. Sew two dressed for work-fabric has been purchased...and that is all.
3. Make a plan for backyard-we have a vague plan but won't be able to do much until spring.
3. Secret knitting project-Done, post to come.
4. Surprise sewing project- Done
5. Secret knitting project-Done, post to come.
6. Knit a sweater-In progress, I will post a couple of pictures!
7. Finish bedspreads & bed skirts for both beds- One is Done, post to come. One is in progress.
8. Make new pillows for couch-In progress.
9. Paint and spruce up bedside tables-Done, post to come.

I, of course, will continue to add things to my list. . .hints the name of this blog. So, check the side bar for updates and additions. Also, one of my goals is to post a bit more frequently in 2011 ( I don't think I will add that to my to do list though).
Wish me luck!

Festivus For the Rest of Us

I FINALLY got our Christmas decorations up! I used a two room set up. . .adding some buntings and bits to the bookcase in the living room and put the tree and an adorable table runner in the dinning room. It is really feeling more festive around here. Now I just need to address the cards, wrap presents and do the baking (my favorite part).

Quick Change

Two weekends ago I was visiting my grandparents in north OKC. As always, they are wonderful and generous and offered to let Jerod and I use their old dining table. After some hunting in the attic we found all of the pieces (they had taken it apart to store) and hauled it back to Norman. Last week I put it back together and Jerod helped me get it in place. Below is a shot during the re-assembly and a shot of the full dining room with our lovely new to us table.

The table is in good shape and with a little cleaning, oil and Old English (for the scratches) it looks shiny and great. Unfortunately, the chairs are a different story. . . while we love the shape of them the once blue paint is looking a bit green and the originally sky blue and white upholstery has become faded and stained, after decades in an attic. Realistically, I will not get the chairs repainted until spring (I don't even know what color I want them yet) but we needed to do something to spruce them up...QUICK! Sunday (Jerod's parents came to dinner that night) I pulled out a cute cream, red, pink and green plaid fabric and set to re-covering the seats. While, I still will be repainting the chairs the new fabric added new life to old chairs.

As everyone knows I love "vintage" for it's character and uniqueness (my grandmother said they bought the table in the early 1950's) but it makes it even more special to have things that have been loved and used by people you love.
I can't wait to have more people over for dinner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hanging Around

I am a bit obsessed with things you hang from the ceiling (banners, mobiles, bunting, etc) and am trying to figure out a way to incorporate these into the decor of our house. Here are a few things I've seen that I wish I had a use for, want to copy, or are sparking an idea.

These papel picado banners seem like they would be more fun for a party than for everyday decorating but anyone who knows me knows these are right up my alley. Also, it is great that you can customize and personalize them for any occasion!
I have loved this bird mobile for ages. Luckily, Spool Sewing supplies a pattern. . .meaning these birds may find a home in the Gerfen casa sooner rather than later.













Bunting is always cheap and easy. Based on the cheerfulness of these images I may have to wait and put some in the backyard next summer!

How stinkin' easy (and classy) do these mobiles look! Obviously, the colors need to be brighter, to suit my tastes, but cute none-the-less.

I could go on and on but I'll leave it at that before I overwhelm myself and bore whoever is reading this.