Hi, my name is Lisa and I’m a hand towel-aholic.
LAME. SO LAME. It’s always the first line of these blogs that baffles me the most…but, the rest of the words flow like the salmon of Capistrano.
BUT FOR REALZ…the hand towel is easily the “throw pillow” of the bathroom and I don’t mind that one bit. Usually I’m drawn toward patterns and vibrant colors but this time (and possibly the only time) I opted for neutral. When Seth and I first looked at this house we were underwhelmed to say the least and this main bathroom was no joke. BROWN BROWN BROWN! It came fully loaded with a fiberglass shower/tub insert, oversized mirror hung so low that it cut off the top portion of your head, 70’s fixtures (and not the cool kind), and cabinets covered in mouse poop (WOW!) I’m really laying it all out on the table with that one! Side note: The house was vacant for over a year so a few furry friends moved in and called the place home until the Fishers arrived and said “ughh uh! Get your furry little cabinet pooping butts outta this house!”…I’m actually a huge animal lover great and small so this was quite the ordeal for me. ANYWAYS, needless to say the problem was solved before we moved in…now back to the bathroom.
EVERYTHING HAD TO GO! We gutted the entire bathroom until all that was left were four walls and a hole where the toilet used to sit. I gotta tell you guys, there is nothing more exciting and utterly terrifying than realizing that you are going to move into a house in two months while starring at an empty brown bathroom with a hole in the ground. I could be a real life model for Rogaine after all the hair I lost from stress during this time (Rogaine if you are reading this, hit me up! Seth could do a cameo too…can someone say hashtag couple goals?!)
The most exciting part of renovating is starting from scratch. It’s like a big treasure hunt... and HOT DAMN! I found me some treasures! By far, my favorite treasure in the bathroom is our antique cast iron claw foot tub. It was sitting in a field rusting away till my “handsome hoarder of a brother” Jake got his hands on it and gifted it to us. We found a local powder coating company in town and had them blast the inside of the tub and give it a fresh powder coat of white. We decided to leave the orange rust on the outside of the tub and I’m so happy we did! Here is the cold ugly truth…aka before pictures. Let’s get it all out and never look back.
CLEANSE YOUR EYES SUGAR…on to the good stuff!
My Second favorite piece is our vanity. Did you know you can make basically any piece of furniture into a vanity?!?! The possibilities are endless! HERE is a pin on Pinterest that I found helpful. This wooden piece was actually a free standing island in my sister’s old house. It’s worn, rustic, and chippy teal paint perfection. We ordered THESE porcelain vessel sinks and THESE oil rubbed bronze faucets to complete the vanity. “Chack” had a rough go at installing these but YouTube saved the day. Hhmmm, maybe that’s why he’s balding? all these projects. Maybe I’M the reason he’s balding?!?! OH DEAR, either way he’s my smoking hot handy man.
Since some of the pieces felt a little rustic and more masculine I wanted to lighten the bathroom up with a few feminine details. We replaced the old light fixtures with some fun and eclectic mini crystal chandeliers that were on clearance from Pottery Barn and I scored the cream lace shower curtain in the clearance section at Anthropologie. Like I said… a straight up treasure hunt! In addition, we made a cute little shelving unit and hand towel racks from pieces of copper and galvanized pipe…Such a fun and easy project that anyone can do! I change hand towels like i change diapers these days so even though they are neutral today…tomorrow they could be rainbows for all I care! That’s the JOY of it all! HAVE FUN!!!… And that’s it peeps! That’s the grand tour of our main bathroom! In sharing this my hope is to inspire you to tackle a new project at your house…believe me, if we can do it, anyone can!