Frame your bathroom mirror. . .

When I think about remodeling a room, usually, my main influence is the bottom line.....how much is it going to cost?  Most often, I am working with a very minimal budget!

When I started remodeling my downstairs half bathroom, I knew that I wanted a change from the red, but I didn't have a lot of money to spend....

I started with a can of blue paint that my friend, Erin, had given me and lightened it by dumping exterior white paint into it.....not the most scientific of lightening techniques, but it worked and was FREE!!

Once I lightened my walls, I darkened my cabinet by painting it black...

I also added beadboard wallpaper to the doors and side of the cabinet to give it a different look....the cost for this??  NOTHING because I had leftover wallpaper!!

But the room was still missing something.....a cool frame for the mirror!  Months ago, I had seen a tutorial by Sasha at {show & tell} and I knew that I wanted to recreate it...cheaply!!

I went to Lowe's and bought two 4 x 4 pieces of MDF. Have you discovered MDF yet?  It's amazing!!  Handles like wood and reasonably priced!!  I think that I spent $9.00 for the two pieces.  You can also buy it in larger sheets, but MDF is heavy and I was shopping by myself.

I also had a $2.00 piece of crown molding that I had purchased at the Habitat Restore....it was a little moldy and gross, but I knew that I was going to paint it!

Because I've been slightly overworking my hubby in the basement, I called in reinforcements.....my dad!  It took him all of about 60 minutes to put this together!  He took measurements of my mirror, cut the MDF to fit and attached the crown with nails and glue....

Then, I painted the frame the same black as the cabinet and distressed it slightly with heavy grit sandpaper...

My hubby was away for the weekend and I was way too impatient to wait for him to hang it, so I went and grabbed some liquid nails off of his work bench.....

I love this stuff.....it's amazing!  But you definitely have to commit that whatever you are gluing is going to be there forever!

Ever the blogger, I grabbed my camera and took a picture while holding the frame filled with liquid nails....good thing I didn't drop it or I'd have a frame permanently attached to my head!!

I wish that I could get a picture of the entire bathroom, but it's very small and I don't have a wide angle lens....you will have to trust me when I say that the frame added the needed focal point.....it looks gorgeous!!

If you add in the $11.00 cost of the mirror, the total cost of my bathroom makeover is still under $30.00!!  

To be exact, the makeover cost $26.50!! 

You can see the breakdown HERE for the other costs!

I just love the difference that it makes....all for very little money!

Places I party.....

{31 days of Paint Projects}

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Old Book Wreath...

I just love the blog {show & tell}......Sasha's style is simple and beautiful.  It was her half bath that inspired me to get into gear and start painting my own!  I plan to totally and completely copy how she updated her bathroom mirrors....it's beautiful!  I'm just saving money to purchase the mdf.....


So when I saw her old book wreath, I knew that I wanted to do that in my bathroom, too!


Here is what I used:

As I was shopping for a book with yellowed pages at the Goodwill, a woman looked over and said..."Oh, I really like that author!"  


To which I replied....."Oh, I'm not going to actually read it, I'm just ripping out the pages for a craft..."


Then, I got the look......the "oh..you're kind've weird" look!




Now....I thought that I double-checked to make sure the book was "clean", but as I was ripping pages out, I realized that I needed to strategically fold......if you get when I'm sayin'!  That's all I need my guests (or sons!) to notice in the bathroom!

I had a bunch of straight pins leftover from another project, so I just used them.....I made a number of circles of pages to give it layers....

I had some old burlap leftover from another project and added a hanger with some hot glue and voila.....a $2.00 addition to my bathroom!  I may still go back and add some distressing ink to the edges to give it some dimension....if I ever have some "extra time."

I just love cheap and easy crafts!

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Finally....my half bathroom reveal

So I've been working on this project for a couple of weeks.... I've been interrupted by an earthquake, a hurricane, a rabies scare and another pest scare that I'll save for a later post......you don't even want to know, but it involved me crawling on my son's floor with a flashlight and magnifying glass...BIG *sigh*!


At some point in my "distant" decorating past, I preferred darker colors and a more country feel....recently though, I've been moving toward the light...can I get an "Amen?!"

I am just loving the lighter colors!! Look at that difference....

I can't give you the exact color of the walls, because I took a gallon of blue that my friend gave me and just started dumping white (exterior!) satin paint in it to lighten it.......yes, I was walking on the wild side!




I swapped out our light bar with a light that I purchased from the local thrift shop.....for $4.00!!

I gave it a coat of Oil Rubbed Bronze from Krylon and it was as good as new!

I spraypainted all of my hardware.  I sprayed my towel holder, the toilet paper holder and my light switches with Krylon's Oil Rubbed Bronze.   

If you'd like to know how I did the light switches, you can go HERE and read an older post on it.

While my walls went lighter, my cabinet went darker.....I got permission from the hubby to paint it and I chose this color black from The Lettered Cottage.

You can read more details about how I made over my cabinet HERE. All that I used was beadboard wallpaper, paint and a satin polyurethane sealer. 


If you look carefully, you can see that I added a $3.00 piece of trim on the back edge and floor to give the beadboard a more finished look.

I purchased the same trim as I used HERE in my kitchen remodel....the price just went up a few cents!

I am not completely finished.....my Roman shade didn't quite work, so I need to get some more tension rods and "fake" it and then get white blinds to hang under the material....

I also ran out of money with the cat expenses and I'm waiting to purchase some MDF....I can't wait to show you how I plan to trim out the mirror.....it will match the cabinet and add the final "pop" to the room!

Here's my cost breakdown:

Paint:  FREE....leftover from a friend

Cabinet paint*:  $21 after a $5 rebate
Spraypaint:  free...already had it

Candlestick:  $0.50 from Goodwill

Bookwreath:  $1.00 foam from The Dollar Tree 
           $1.00 book from Goodwill
Light:  $4.00 from Thrift Store
Curtain:  $5.00 for fabric from Joanne's
Accessories:  Free....pulled from other rooms!

TOTAL:  $32.50 but really, I only used about $4.00 worth of paint!
The true cost would be.....$15.50!!!

*I've been using the black paint everywhere so it was well worth the purchase of an entire gallon!

I just love how you can make BIG changes for little money.....

Don't forget to enter my UPrinting Giveaway!!

Places I party.....

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Standard Builder's Cabinet Upgrade.......with wallpaper!

I have been working like crazy on my bathroom re-do and I am most excited about this.....

I took a standard builder's bathroom cabinet....(these are actually my kitchen cabinets, but the bathroom ones look identical!)

I primed them with white primer and added a piece of beadboard wallpaper!

I was so nervous to do this.....what if I ruined perfectly good cabinets??? But, it was actually very easy to do!

I added another piece of wallpaper on the side of the cabinet.....then I painted it all a wonderful shade of black!

I'm still in the process of touching up and adding trim and a polyurethane sealer, but I just had to share a "sneak peek!" 

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Standard Builder's Bathroom???

{Transforming a standard tub...}

Do you have an average...ho-hum......standard builder's bathroom and tub that looks like this???

I've wanted to do something cool with mine, but couldn't figure out how to deal with those annoying cermic tiles that go partway up the wall.  I knew that my hubby would not be into ripping them off.......too much wall damage!  (and work!!)

Well....Angie at Thrifty Like Me has been working on a way to remodel her standard builder's bathroom and has incorporated the tile into her design!!!

Look at this!!

Isn't it beautiful!!!  She even built a faux front to cover the existing tile!!

For Angie's complete instructions head over the Thrifty Like Me!

Thanks, Angie......I can't wait to try this with my bathroom!



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