Mar 28, 2012

Designing on a Dime

I've been a little preoccupied lately with a "little" design project. Now that I'm just about done, I'm not ready to be done! I'm inspired to go all the way! So, I want to show you what I've done so far, how I've done it, and then ask your opinion about where to go from here! So if ever there were a time to comment - this is it!!! The project started this past Friday when my husband and I decided to finally paint our master bathroom with the paint that we purchased in July 2010! Yes, that's right - nearly 2 years ago!!! I bought the paint Valspar Paint at Lowe's using the $5 coupon that they sent me with a free paint sample. I waited until it was on sale for $18/gallon, so I was able to get a gallon of high quality, mold-resistant paint for only $13! Valspar is running this deal again through the end of March. They are giving away 750 paint samples and kits every day at 10:00 am (Eastern Time) - click here. You have to be super quick though! I'll apologize now for the quality of the photos! I'm obviously NOT a photographer, nor do I own a good camera!  Anyway - here are the before and after shots of my bathroom:
 Hopefully you can tell that we painted the walls blue! So, here's what we did: 
1) Removed all the hardware (including the mirror and light fixture): FREE ... just took a little time! 
2) Taped with Frog Tape (that's the green tape - and well worth the price) = $5
3) Used a Small roller brush that came with my free valspar paint kit, so FREE
4) Used a very fine 1" wide paint brush that I had from left over art supplies to do the trim work. I purchased this high-quality paint brush years ago when we owned a Center for the Arts and it has been my FAVORITE trim brush. I know that's not what it was designed to be and I'm sure all the artists out there are moaning at the very idea. But it works better than any brush I've purchased for trim work! 
Total spent on painting the bathroom: $18 and about 4 hours of work

What's left to do? 
1) We are going to add a wooden frame trim to the mirror. It's a huge mirror and I'd actually love to have a smaller framed mirror - but the sink is off centered. So I'd either have to buy two much smaller mirrors and center one over the sink and the other over the counter space - or get a new counter top that places the mirror in the center of the counter. Since neither of those fits into the budget, we're going to go to Home Depot and get some pre-trimmed pieces that we will simply stain (or paint) and glue to the mirror to make it look like it is a framed piece. 
2) Paint or stain the cabinetry. I'm unsure of what to do here. I hate painting wood, because I love natural or stained wood best. However, sanding and staining is A LOT of work! And, I've seen quite a few design shows where they've painted the cabinetry and it has looked really good! But what color??? Whatever we do (paint or stain), we'll do the mirror frame to match. 
3) New curtains. I've been looking on etsy for fabric inspiration and I'm really drawn to these patterns (the first is black/white and the second brown/cream):


Before you decide, here's the other piece to the puzzle: We had plenty of paint left-over, so we decided to paint a wall in our very bland-lots of wall space-bedroom (before on left, after on right).



We are thrilled with the change, but are inspired to continue. So we're going to paint all the walls blue, except for the wall with the curtains - and paint that wall a chocolate brown. The curtains hanging here are kind of blah looking right now, but when the wall gets painted the chocolate brown, it will really pop! It's made from a natural linen color drop cloth purchased at Home Depot! I got this idea from a design show! You purchase the largest heavy-duty drop cloth they have (which amounts to about 5-6 yards of fabric) for a total of $30! The curtains shown here are only 1/2 of the drop cloth and there is about a 12" hem on the top and bottom! I'm going to purchase another package and make a 3rd panel, and another package of rings. I'll get a lot more "drape" and it will be much more substantial and filled-out looking. I'll save the rest of the drop cloth fabric for another room. The coverlet on the bed is a solid white with embroidered flowers. I'll be changing the pillow casings at some points and am thinking I may use the same fabric that I use for the curtains in the bathroom. I bought the round antique bedside table (barely seen on the left above) for only $15 at a thrift store, and the blue wooden chair at the same thrift store for $10! So, for a total of an additional $27 (+ about $10 that I'll spend for adding another drape panel), I was able to give my bedroom a totally new and fresh look!
 
So, here's where I need your help!
1) Since I'm painting a wall in my adjoining master bedroom a chocolate brown, should I go with the brown/cream fabric for the curtains for the bathroom? Or do you like the black/white fabric better? Have another suggestion?
2) If I'm going with the brown/cream fabric, what should I do about the cabinetry and mirror frame? If we go with paint (which really would be the easiest/cheapest) - what colors do you suggest? Btw - I'm not too excited about white.
3) While I think it would all look very cohesive to be brown/cream - my shower curtain (which I love and have no intention of changing) is WHITE! Also, the coverlet on my bed (which, once again - I love and have no intention of changing) is also WHITE!
4) I would LOVE to change the light fixture in my bathroom - but don't have $100 to spend. Any ideas?

Okay - I think that's everything for now! Please help by posting your comments!!! Thanks so much!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

my two cents worth: brown/cream. Leave the cabinetry as is. Paint the frame for mirror and accent color that you can repeat in your bedroom. Don't worry about shower curtain until the end. Maybe something will spark as you go. A bath mat that has both white & cream might be all you need. Same for bed, pillow in cream & white and your new accent color might do the job. Check out Graveyard Mall online. We know someone who found some unbelievable deals on discontinued lighting. Have fun!! I'm hoping this will post. This is my second time to re-create this comment. I'm beginning to sound redundant in my head.