Powder Room Redo

What better way to end 2009 than on a high note with a room redo!  This is the post that’s been in the making for oh… going on about 2 months now.  Admittedly, I still have some accessorizing work to do, but for now, I at least wanted to post some photos.

The scary, 1990’s honey oak, bleh-I-can’t-stand-it befores:

Ugly faucet, be gone!!

Getting ready to demo.  We saved the mirror, no breakage! 

And after demo, we had new hardwood floors laced in where there were none under the vanity.  This was done by a professional.  We removed the toilet during this process.  After the floors were complete, Mason and his dad installed the pedestal sink, a new faucet and re-installed the toilet just in time for a house full of guests for Thanksgiving!

We also hung new beadboard around the bottom half of the walls, and painted it black.

Then we cut all of the trim – both the chair rail around the top of the beadboard and also the baseboard with shoe, and installed it around the entirety of the bathroom and painted it with black semi-gloss paint + primer by Behr.  Love this product!

The top half of the walls were painted Aristocrat White by Behr.

We installed a new round mirror from Hobby Lobby, a chrome light fixture from Lowe’s above the mirror, and bought new chrome bath hardware from Target.

Then we applied these trees to give some interest and personality on the top:

A little birdie told Mason that he’s excited that the half bathroom is almost done. 

And here is the (almost) finished product!  Still need to get some accessories.  But I was just too damn excited not to post.  ;-)

The trees go around the whole bath, and overlap at some points.  You can see the trees on the wall opposite the mirror in the second picture below.

 

We went with a square towel ring, which I thought was unique.  That was Mason’s suggestion actually!  One of the things I like the most about having a black & white bathroom is being able to change out the towels to match the season or my mood!

Say today for instance.  Turquoise blue sounds fun.

   

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As soon as I get my accessories going, I’ll get more pics posted!  Happy 2010 all!

Costco Furniture

Anyone who knows us knows that we are Costco freaks.  I probably should start a fan site or club of some sort.  We purchased Mason’s wedding ring at Costco (it’s held up like a champ!)  We have been known to meet there for dates.  Love.  The.  Place.

I made a massive run to said warehouse store the other day, and was delighted to see that they’ve added a bit more furniture to the store!  Below are a few pieces I particularly liked.  I have to say – I was impressed with the variety and quality.  Most pieces require a little assembly, but not too much.  There are also a few couches, bar stools, tables and the like as well. 

Here are some of my faves.

Round pedestal table and four chairs, $499.  I want a round table for my smallish dining room and I think this would be perfect!  Of course, I may want to gussy up the chairs, or change them completely… ok, really I just like the table itself.   (Mason if you are reading this…)

 

Bookcase, similar to Ikea Expedit bookcase that we all know and love.  Price could not be found.  My guess is under $200.

Media Console, $399-ish (my memory is fuzzy from all the other Costco goodness)

Traditional Media Console, $499.  I love the shape of this, but hate that you’d have to have the doors wide open when you want to watch TV in order to change the channel.  Unless you store your cable box on top.  There is DVD/CD storage in the side compartments.

 

Loft Media Console, $399.  Eyeing this for our living room!  May require a change of knobs/pulls.

IKEA For The Masses

Since we're leaving for a major metropolitan area tomorrow to visit family for Christmas, naturally we are planning a trip to Ikea to pick up a few items.  When I surfed on to their site tonight, I was quite pleased to see that many more items are now available to buy online.  I know this will come as a delight to my Kansas City friends, since neither Missouri nor Kansas is deemed cool enough for the Swedish superstore.  Some of the new items available online include (most of) the Ektorp line, the Expedit line, and quite a few other items.  Their inventory is so huge, it's worth a hop on over there just to see what you can get online these days.

While we're there, we're planning to get some new cabinet hardware - mainly some drawer organizers and pull out shelves for the cabinets that hold our pots and pans.  We'll also be looking for a few things for Mason's home office as well as shelving for the garage and possibly, if I'm a good little girl for Santa... a loveseat and chair for the sitting area off of our kitchen.

Happy shopping and Merry Christmas to all us Ikea lovers!

My Favorite Christmas Present

We’re traveling to Chicago this year for Christmas to spend some time with my family.  Whenever we go out of town for the holidays, Mason and I try to have our own Christmas at home before the crazy loud one with all the relatives.

Last night we turned on Charlie Brown Christmas, mixed up a few hot toddies, and got our gift on.  Here’s my favorite:

Fuschia leather 11-pocket tool belt.  Isn’t this thing bad ass?!?!  I love it.  I’ve already test fitted it to see where my tape measure, pencil, Sharpie, electric driver and maybe my set of needlenose pliers will go.  

Mason also popped this little lady in my stocking – I think it will come in quite handy.  The Magnogrip:

It’s a wristband that has two magnets in it so you can stick nails, screws, nuts bolts etc. to it when you’re other hand is tied up with another tool or what-have-you.

So there you have it!  A very tool-y Christmas. 

Yay!

Please hop on over and check out this new blog, brought to you by Miss Erin - one of my besties from the college days!

Yay DIY

Erin and I have quite a bit in common -- not only the DIY stuff, but we're both not likely to turn down an alcoholic beverage in any form.  This is evidenced by one of her first posts, the winedeer!

Enjoy, one and all :)



 

Design On My Favorite Show

For those who know me in real life, it’s no secret that Mad Men is my absolute favorite show on tv….. maybe favorite show ever.  That Don Draper makes my heart go thump thump!

I was on AMCtv.com tonight watching a few clips and the one below was of particular interest to me.  The set designer talks about the redesign of the Draper living room in season three.  One of the best qualities about Mad Men is their frequent use of early 1960’s period-correct props, furniture and of course, wardrobe.  Check out this clip as the set designer describes how she re-created the formal living room for the show.

 

And just for fun, here’s some eye candy:

Yes please!!

All that sparkles

Hello fellow bloggies!!  Ok, it’s official.  I’ve been bitten by the Christmas bug this year.  Alright, alright…. I’'ll be the first to admit that in years past, I haven’t been all that gung ho about Christmas decor.  But maybe it’s all the inspirational blogs I’ve been stalking lately… I just can’t seem to go to the store and not stop by the Christmas section.  I’ve practiced some restraint, but definitely have a higher level of interest this year.  So much cute stuff out there! 

First let me share one of the most gorgeous displays I’ve seen this season out in blogland.  I have seriously been obsessed with this display since I saw it the other day.  This comes to us from Censational Girl.  She is such a talent!  I have her on my reader and just love her updates.  So – check out this sideboard display that is absolutely DRIPPING with Christmas goodness.  So beautiful in pink and bronze!

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!  Isn’t it delish?!

And a closeup of some of the deets:

As I blogged about before, I am totally addicted to TJ Maxx.  When I stopped by this week, I couldn’t resist some of the great deals they had on ornaments and pretty glass containers/apothecary jars.  The dining room in our house had been untouched by Ole St. Nick so far this year.  (Speaking of – the dining room is currently my least fave room in our house.  It needs some work and design magic.  I just haven’t gotten there yet with all the other things that have been keeping us busy.  We’ll get there… but at least for now it needed a little touch of Christmas.) 

I found three glass containers, and 5 sets of purple and gold ornaments at TJ’s this week for a song.  You can’t beat a set of 28 ornaments for only $6!   I picked up a few boxes. One of my favorite things about all the ornaments that are available these days is that you can usually find some multi-packs that have a variety of different finishes.  Matte, glossy, different shades of color, etc…  For example, my purple boxes had 4 different finishes, and the gold ones had two different finishes.  The different finishes are a great and inexpensive way to add texture to displays.

The nice thing about the containers is that they can be used over and over again, for decor that goes with any season.

Price breakdown:

2 boxes large purple glass ornaments (28 per box): $5.99 each

4 boxes small purple and gold ornaments (27 per box) $5.99 each

Slender glass apothecary jar: $7.99

Fatty apothecary jar: $12.99

Glass Urn:  $5.99

Gold Runner (just a curtain folded into thirds): on hand

Total for decor: $62.91