BATHROOM MAKEOVER- BEFORE
I wrote a Thursday Thoughts post yesterday saying how I couldn’t believe that we’ve been living in our apartment for almost a year and a half. I also mentioned that I’ve got some big and fresh ideas for our apartment to make it more functional for us. It seems to be my pattern to need to live in a space for almost a year before I really know what I want to do in it. If I want to change anything, paint anything, add anything, etc. I have come up with some ways to help make our bathrooms a little prettier and use the space we have to be super efficient.
I have always just known when a house or apartment was right for us. When we bought our house in Louisiana, I went to see it without Paul and knew right away that it was our house. I told him I thought it was the one, he came back for a second visit with me, and we just knew it was right. I sort of felt that with our apartment now, but it was in a different way. I knew we were going to move in to this apartment when we decided to move. It was a bit of a site unseen situation, but I knew I had to trust that it was going to be alright. When I finally did see it (just before we moved), I knew that it was right. It was smaller than what we were used to, but it was going to work for us.
Front Bathroom
I’ve had a tough time figuring out what to do in this space. Part of that was because I didn’t know how long we’d be here, and I didn’t know if it would make sense for me to do anything to it. If I wasn’t going to be here long enough to enjoy it, I’d probably not want to invest the time, money, and effort into making the changes. But as I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I am feeling quite happy here in this apartment. It seems to be the right time to customize the things we can and want to do, because we don’t plan to leave anytime soon.
The previous tenant had the bathroom walls repainted, but the job wasn’t up to my standards. I know that makes me sound like a snob, but there were paint brush hairs stuck to the wall. Nothing wrong with wanting to fix that. Also, I really wanted it to be bright and white. The beige color is a bit warm for my liking, so at the cost of a gallon of paint, I could really make this space over.
The Plan
I want to first say that there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING wrong with this bathroom. Everything works perfectly. I just wanted to make some changes that make it a little bit easier on the eyes…well, my eyes and that would make it function in the best way possible.
Here’s what I’m planning to do:
- Paint the walls, baseboards, and door bright white
- Paint the vanity black
- Change hardware on cabinet doors
- Add shelving above the toilet for extra storage
- Rug or runner
Things I’m keeping:
- Light fixture
- Faucet
- Shower curtain
- Flooring
- Shower/Tub insert
This will in no way be a gut-job. It’ll be a little mini-makeover. Like getting your hair and makeup done. 🙂
Here’s the inspirational photo that most accurately shows what I could do in my bathroom.
I’ll keep you updated on the progress. The colder temps deter me a little from painting because it doesn’t dry as well. I’m hoping it’ll be a quick weekend project, though. I’m looking forward to putting this in motion and showing you the results.
Have any of you done a mini makeover? How did it go for you? Let me know in the comments.
Have a great weekend, y’all!
I mean, could you just die?! That exposed brick…gets me every time. The hardwoods are just as beautiful as they are in my apartment, and I love the bead board wainscoting. So charming. You can see that it’s an open floor plan into the kitchen which is equally as charming. I’ll show you in a second. Here’s another view of the living area. 
This is looking at the front door. There’s enough space on either side of the door for a small dining table, much like our side of the building. A hallway to the two bedrooms and bathrooms is to the right and the kitchen to the left.
I just love the bead board. It’s such a simple detail, but isn’t it all in the details anyway? That’s what “they” say. And I agree. 
Come on…. I fall in love with this apartment even more every time I see this brick wall. Such a beautiful part of the history of this building. 
Who doesn’t love a white kitchen? It’s bright and get’s the BEST afternoon light. You can watch the sunset right through that window.
Plenty of space and great cabinets. Lots of storage here too. Also, to the right of the fridge is the door to the back porch we share.
Here you can see how open it is to the living space. I love this about my apartment too. I can cook dinner and not miss all those Hallmark movies that are always playing on my television this time of year. 🙂
This wine rack built-in is such a cute feature. I love this so much because I need this! Keeps them off the counter, because that’s prime real estate, people. 
Just off the kitchen there’s a laundry room. It’s very spacious and has folding doors to close it off.
There’s already a bed for you! And look at those windows! What a way to wake up every morning. So much delightful natural light in this apartment. Closet is a good size too. All of my clothes (and shoes…and purses) fit in a closet this exact size.
Four glorious windows, y’all. FOUR. The pictures don’t do it justice on how big the room is either. It’s so beautiful. 
I love the built-ins in the closet. This is a game changer in closet organization and maximizing space.
Large en suite with the cutest linen closet. (My apartment doesn’t have this, and I am jealous!) The guest bathroom looks identical to this bathroom just flipped around. Shower on the right, toilet and vanity on the left. The guest bathroom has those charming cabinets too. 
This picture is from shortly after we moved in, and some changes have been made like 
This fixture is apparently still available at some stores. I am not looking to change up any wiring or anything, so this one will probably stay the same, but I’m thinking of painting the wood accents black or antique bronze. I’ve not actually run this idea by my in-laws, so I’ll for sure be asking for permission there. I just think I would like it more, and it would complement the other fixtures I like for these open areas.
This is the dining room looking into the living room. These rooms are on the front of the house and get incredible natural light. We’ve had so many wonderful meals in this room. Many Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, birthday celebrations and Sunday lunches too. The room is quite spacious. Granny had some pretty substantial furniture in there, and there was room for everyone around the table along with her precious furniture.
Just off the living room is a hallway that leads to one of the bedrooms and a bathroom. The bedroom has a sliding-door closet and those pretty wood floors. It gets good natural light with two windows, too.
Leading into the dining room is the kitchen. If only I could taste my granny’s cooking again. You know Grandma’s cooking is the best! The room is actually a great size. I know the trend is huge islands and open floor plans, but this kitchen is a functioning space that has held 1-10 people at once. My grandparents also had a little table pushed against the pushed against the wall (out of frame) where they sat with my great aunt to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. There was still tons of room to move around in the kitchen, even with the table.
On the other side of the house, just off the kitchen, is a den, two bedrooms, and another full bath. This is the larger of the other two bedrooms. It has brand new carpet. The sliding door closet is actually a very nice size. My current closet is the same size as this one, and I have plenty of room with some to spare.
This is the third bedroom. It is a little smaller than the one just above, but this one has a walk-in closet. This room did have a full-sized bed, dresser, chest of drawers, and bedside tables.
Out back, like I said there is so much space. This is the storage house. It has a brand new door and is up to code. It might need a coat of paint, but that’s not a big job at all. It’s also really spacious. Granddaddy had so many tools from his workshop stored in there plus plenty more. And if you didn’t need any storage space, think about what a fun playhouse or art studio it could be! 
There you have it. It’s really a sweet house. That front porch is wonderful on those perfect spring and fall days when it feels so good here.
That was a big ol’ no. I spent $50.00 on the umbrella thinking it would fit our frame, then I thought I might as well just buy the new frame and stand, but that was $50.00 more, and I just didn’t want to spend that much. I can do better than that. (Just so you know, I’m still looking.)
Yep, that’s a snake skin. Now I’m paranoid about snakes being coiled up along with the hose. But to look on the bright side-at least it was just the skin and not an actual snake. Pretty sure I’d have told Paul to start packing because we were moving.
And then something just didn’t seem to be going right and here’s what I managed to accomplish: 
Oh boy…..
They just add a little bit of accessory to the white kitchen. I have enjoyed having them up. And enjoyed even more that I didn’t have to ask my mom to make them for me. 🙂 She was probably glad too.
I took the rug I was using at the back door and put it in front of the sink to replace the old orange one. 
After
Like I said, I don’t know if I love it, but I definitely like it better than before.
Jack wouldn’t move out of the shot, so I just told him to sit. At least he’s obedient. 
and was very excited to get this all started, but the more I thought about these curtains in my living room the more I began to second guess myself. I am all for mixing patterns, and I love bold fabrics paired with even bolder fabrics, but I couldn’t seem to make the leopard print work with 
I just felt like it was too much. The rug is huge and so are the windows, so there’s going to be a lot of fabric up there. And I just wasn’t feeling too good about it. CRAP!
I don’t remember where I found it. I think somewhere online like Overstock or Wayfair. But after learning more about the “rules” (that don’t really matter, y’all) to certain areas of home decor, I decided it was time for a bigger rug for our pretty-large living room. Enter the blue ikat rug that allowed my furniture to “float” like it’s supposed to. (It did look better, so that’s one rule I did decide to follow.)
And I don’t know if I was just feeling inspired or what, but out of no where I thought, “Your blue rug does not fit in your living room, but you still have that old one, and you should totally try it because those leopard curtains are going to look way better with that rug.”
I was a little obsessed with the dalmatian print that I was seeing all over Pinterest. I saw it as art, bedding, and lots of fabrics. I still see things upholstered in that print all the time. It’s quite beautiful and maybe even better in blue and also in pink. 🙂 So, this was one. And the other one……….
This bar cart was something my parents had on their back porch that wasn’t getting much use, so I happily took it off their hands. I had it inside at our house in Louisiana, but it lives outside here and clearly doesn’t do anything useful. That’ll be changing soon.
We’ve had this table set for nearly seven years, so it needs some love and sprucing up.
