Upstairs Guest Bathroom

It's black.

 Rebekah was a teenager when we painted the vanity area of her bathroom.

Actually, it was Jonnie's bathroom too, but it is just off of her room. 
It made sense to paint it to match her decor.

 When he moved out we painted the vanity white and added these fun old gilt mirrors.

 I've been holding off showing it to you because we need to make a change. 

  Our old plumber came to unclog the drain. (He has been replaced.) 
Well, he broke the drain in the bottom of the sink and just left it. I think he was hoping we wouldn't notice.
Bill tried to hook it back up but the old cultured marble sink is worn so he couldn't reattach it underneath. 

 We were going to order a quartz counter for this vanity but decided not to since we have to have our bathroom completely redone. It was going to be a shocking amount of money for one bathroom countertop. I'd much rather put that money in the bathroom that we use everyday.
Instead we are doing a complete DIY. I hope it will be cute and charming.

But I'm not sure the black walls will stay. 
I'm actually thinking about beadboard wainscot walls. 
I'm also thinking about a frame for the large mirror.

This room has been black for so long that I'm having trouble visualizing it another way. 
It feels old Hollywood glamour to me
and it's last room in the house with such a strong color. 
I think I will miss it. 
Bill damaged the wall this afternoon when he took out the counter so I will have to do something.

It will have to coordinate with the little potty and tub area. 
I'll let you know what I come up with.  
Sprinkled with glamour,
Katie
P.S. All mirrors were cleaned before taking these photos. 
They were all taken pre-blogging days. 
Linking with,
Savvy Southern Style  
French Country Cottage

Bathroom Vanity Finished, Finally!

Sometimes it seems like a project takes years to come to fruition. 

Such is the case with my powder room.

When we had our big flood in '06 we didn't have enough cash left in the budget for a new counter and sink.

We got a new vanity but we had to put the old cultured marble top back on.

This cultured marble top wasn't discolored but I was totally over the shell shaped sink.  

I spray painted the faucet last spring in a last ditch effort to live with it. It held up really well.

A few years ago, I spied a granite and sink combination that was 37 inches wide in stock at Lowes. It was about $200.00. 
Here is a link to similar tops. 
I never could talk Mr. Bill into it but I had some money saved and decided it was time. 
I was leaning toward a black one but Lowes didn't have it in stock anymore. They had standard size stone tops in tan and brown. Bill thought the tan granite was too speckled. But right next to it we saw quartz. This was new. 

For about the same price we could get a quartz counter with a rectangle undermount sink. 

The faucet spread is 8 inches.
Beautiful!
As much as possible I wanted to do this project myself. 

I turned the water off underneath the sink.

I unscrewed the water lines and took apart the drain underneath. Make sure you have a bucket to catch all the water in the bottom of the drain. 

I used a razor blade to cut the caulk along the side splash.  

The top lifted right off. It was heavy so Bill helped me. You can see that the side splash was attached to the wall with caulk. 

I pulled the new vanity top out of the box. I decided to put the faucet on before putting the top in.  
The faucet was easy to install. We bought a Delta faucet. The directions were very clear. 

I installed the faucet myself but Bill helped with the drain. I was afraid I was going to strip the threads on the new drain. 
Once the top was on we attached new supply lines. 
Bill put in new P.V.C. drain pipes.  

I needed a little shim to level the front corner and then I used clear silicone to put the back splash and side splash in place.  

                         

A few weeks ago in an attempt to update the bathroom further, I painted the vanity using CeCe Caldwell Chalk Paint.

Read about it here: 

After reading your comments on this post, I decided to go with crystal clear polycrylic to give it a harder satin finish. 

The finish is by no means hard but at least it doesn't feel like chalk.

 I'll give the vanity another coat of poly next week but in the  meantime I am wild about it and finally feel that the powder room vanity has a surface worthy our guests.
I have to say I was tooting my own horn with this one. I have wanted to learn to install faucets for a long time.

Sprinkled with quartz,
Katie
Linking with,
Feathered Nest Friday  
The Busy Bee  
The Brambleberry Cottage  
Funky Junk Interiors 
Treasure Hunt Thursday 

White Shelf For The Landing

I had this little shelf that I found at an antique shop a few years ago. 

 I planned to use it as an end table.

I'm not sure that it really was a shelf. I think it was an umbrella stand.

The shelves were made of plywood so I thought a coat of paint was in order. 

It is only about 6 inches wide which makes it a perfect fit for the landing. 

 

   I shopped the house for a few little accessories.  

  It is a perfect little bit of white at the top of the stairs. 

 Sprinkled with a little accent,

Katie 
Linking with,
The Brambleberry Cottage

Bright Pastels in the Kitchen

I love the bright pastels I have used as accents in the newly painted kitchen.

Before:

I thought I could put the same accessories back in the kitchen once the paint dried.
My intent was decorate it very farmhouse and even add a pop of red.

Instead I choose turquiose

and 

pink.

I have to say the inspiration for the accessories in the kitchen came from this painting done by my great grandmother.
I just love it and was thrilled to find it among my grandmother's things. To be honest I didn't truly appreciate it until I read Rachel Ashwell's books. 

I was in love with two crayons in my box of 64 crayolas as a child.
I loved the "sky blue" and "blue green" crayons.  
It isn't a shock then that I have come back to these tones often throughout the years.

 I read the other day that pink was a big color in the fifties because of Mamie Eisenhower. It was her favorite color and the nation went wild for it. 
Pink and turquoise were the "it" colors for kitchens for a while.
While I have no desire to have a pink fridge or a turquoise  stove, 
I love adding a pop of these two colors.   

 Finding something vintage from that era is a hoot. 
It brings cute and kitsch to a space.

 Turquoise transferware is very hard to find. These are the only pieces I have ever found at a price I was willing to pay. 

I found these tea cups at an antique store.

This canister is a recent find. 

I found this majolica platter at a garage sale for $4.00. I was thrilled to find it.

The ball jar is a find from Canton, Texas. I found it last summer at First Monday Trade Days. 
If you ever get to North Texas you have to go.
Read about it here.

I shopped the house to decorate the space.
Here is what it looked like before:

 After:

I love, love the white cabinets. 
It is a great backdrop for wonderful color.
Sprinkled with brights
Katie 
Linking with,
Funky Junk Interiors
French Country Cottage  
Between Naps on the Porch  
Savvy Southern Style  
Cozy Little House