New Bathroom Vanity Reveal

Once we installed the vanity and put the mirror up our bathroom is….still in progress!  The vanity is just the first steps to what will probably be a slow-ish paced bathroom upgrade.  But the vanity switch-er-oo has added a ton of storage to our little bathroom and has updated the look so much that I can’t help but smile each time I walk in! We also added some wooden blinds from Ikea to freshen up the space. 

The sink has got to be one of my favorite parts of the vanity.  Initially I wanted to find and repurpose a piece of furniture about the size of our vanity and add a square vessel sink.  Ahhh I love that look.  But alas the search for a piece of furniture that width/height/dept etc. was not successful.  However this little beauty has a slanted top sink for a more modern and unique look than traditional vanity tops.

Ahh here is another shot of my bestie the sink.  I love the way the top just slants down into the drain. *Sigh*  When installing we had to be really careful that the sink was exactly level otherwise water would pool up on one side and not drain properly.  Score one for the hubby because we have not had that problem yet!

Actually tied in first place for my bathroom bestie is the faucet.  I love the unique vintage/country look it brings to the space. 

This is the best whole bathroom view I could get.  Sorry about the sun, sometimes it just brings out the urge to take pictures and then all my pics get sun shadows everywhere.  The most distracting part of this picture is the yellow.  A paint job is in the cards in the near future!  I think that will also change up the whole feeling of the bathroom.  It might clash with the existing floor tile until we finish the floor, but maybe a mat or rug could remedy the problem? Also the mirror will probably be replaced.  We were pretty disappointed with the quality - it looks nice in the picture, but it is really a piece of mirror glued on top of a board.  But we're not complaining it was 100% free with the vanity and will do for now! 

I was completely uninspired for the bathroom colors/décor until I saw this picture from The DIY Showoff.  Then it hit me like a ton of bricks…..duh!  The bathroom should fit in with the rest of the décor and flow of the house.  Navy blue (like I originally wanted) would be too bold and make the little bathroom stick out like a sore thumb.  The décor in the bathroom should be eclectic, vintage, country, etc. like the rest of the house!

Then I started searching and fount pictures like this one here that made me go “oh ya….pale blue would fit sooo perfect!”  

And the inspiration kept going with this picture…..

And this picture…..

and this picture!  All beautiful, gorgeous, shades of subtle light blue. 

Now it’s time for the Budget Breakdown:

Vanity: $120 from Home Depot

Faucet: $80 from Home Depot

Mirror: Free with Vanity

Caulk: $3.00

Misc. Plumbing Supplies: $13.00

Wooden Blinds: $20.00 from Ikea

Grand Total (So Far): $236   

Fall Decor Ideas

I can no longer deny it.  Fall is here....big time.  So as the leaves are starting to turn various shades of yellows, oranges, and reds, I have begun to think about how I am going to decorate the house to make it fall friendly.  I thought I would share some inspiration photos I have been gathering along the way. 

I love this idea from Pintrest the pale yellows and greens are a great monochromatic alternative to traditional oranges, browns, and blacks.

I love this Better Homes and Gardens simple idea of clipping some colorful branches and putting them in a vase.   

Along with that, I also love this BHG idea of putting clipped berries in a cylinder vase.

 

The Lettered Cottage always has great inspiring ideas.  You could add letters to you decor in fall themed words such as gather like the Lettered Cottage did.  I also like their use of hay and I love, love, LOVE that they used an original photo to unify the theme.  This is a great inexpensive way to personalize your decor. 

I couldn't resist sharing this BHG take on fall place settings.  How cute!

Marsh Madness had an inspiring idea of numbering her pumpkins instead of painting them.

The Lettered Cottage recently shared their fall display for this year.  The use of natural elements such as nuts and wheat is great!

 

Decorating From The Heart shared this picture of a monogrammed pumpkin!

Lastly, I love this unexpected twist on a fall wreath from Burlap and Blue.  Hope you enjoyed all the fall decor eye candy.  Hopefully it will inspire you to make your own twist on the fall season.

Microwave Cart/Island Inspiration

As we gear up to start making and designing our permanent microwave cart (which I want to look more like an island so from here on out it is a microwave island - are you with me?) I thought I would share some of my inspirations for the design.  You can see our temporary solution here, and even though we love it I am craving something that looks built in and customized for our kitchen.  However, I am SO GLAD we tried the temporary stand for a while because we have learned several important things:

1. We love the amount of space a bigger surface gives us as opposed to a cart that only fits the microwave.  I envision myself rolling out chickadils or pizza dough with ease and I am loving the idea of extra counter top space. 
2. The dimensions of the stand go great with the flow of the room.  The stand doesn’t look too cumbersome and we haven’t bumped into it yet – so the size is a go!
3. We want a microwave island with an open airy feel that our current one has.  We originally envisioned something closed off with tons of hidden storage but soon realized that it would make the space too heavy and weighed down and we want the space to have a nice light flow to it.

After browsing the internet for some time to hone in the style I envisioned for our new island I was inspired by these photos:

What I like about this island from Better Homes and Gardens is the rustic butcher block countertop, detailed ball feet, and open storage underneath.  Plus it is white...awesome!





This island (also from BHG) has the same white-island-with-butcher-block-countertop theme going on, but I love how the spices are stored in those great jars for easy access.  I am in love with spices - there I said it - and I eventually envision streamlined spice containers in an open storage concept like this somewhere in the kitchen. 

This island was DIYed by Dana from House Tweaking.  She is an amazing DIY designer with fabulous taste and she gives a step by step tutorial here of how she DIYed her existing island to create this lovely beauty.  Again I love the built in storage on the side of the island.

The last island I found inspiring (again from BHG - can you sense a theme?) is probably the closest design to what we will attempt to DIY.  It is open and airy, uses baskets (like our current microwave island) to add storage and has the white-island-with-butcher-block-countertops that I obviously love so much.  However, on the microwave island we are designing we are going to have two shelves (as opposed to only one in this picture) that will allow us to hang our pots and pans like on our current stand. 

Our original idea was that we would just buy the butcher block countertop from Ikea where they have great prices and dimensions that fit our vision for the stand.  However last time we ventured over to Ikea they told us that all butcher block countertops were out of stock due to a “wood shortage”…whatever that means.   Soo....we have decided to DIY the butcher block countertop.  Could this end in disaster? YES! Do I trust my hubby enough to try it? YES! We will be updating as soon as we begin our adventure.