Hanging with Mr. Cardigan

Remember when the TGIF line-up was the best part of your week?  I so do not miss the 90's.

So, yesterday we checked out the master-bath and our plans for it.  Today we are gonna talk about the adjoining room (can a closet be considered a room?), the closet.

Now, it's not the biggest closet in the world, nor it is the brightest, or even the sexiest.  But we are lucky in that it's a really good sizes for us (non-clothing-hording people that we are).  And we want to bring in some spiff-i-fication (I may trademark that word).

To refresh your memories, here is what our closet looks now (sans clothes):

And after dreaming and hoping and drooling all over my keyboard (pinterest) these were some inspiration pics that really spoke to me, and will also coordinate pretty well with our bathroom colors.

I really like the idea of having a stenciled wall, on at least the back wall there.  I think it will really add something special to what really could be considered an overgrown dresser you can fit your whole body into.

And (bane of my existence) the wire shelves haunt me here too.  Though I'm thinking up a solution to them.  Not yet sure if it's gonna work.  It involves covering the wire shelving though, since there is nothing wrong with the utility of them, just that they hurt my soul.

Now, lighting, as you will know, is also important.  I'd like a bit more light in this room, and the boob light isn't doing it for me (there are times and places for boobs, and the ceiling is not one of those places).  I purused the internets, and looked at some of my favorite sites for options that will coordinate with bathroom lighting and metal finishes.

This light (from shadesoflight.com) is actually the one I want.  However, as this is a closet, and this beauty is $250, it will have to be reserved for some other place in the house (wouldn't it be LOVELY in the foyer?  I thought so too!).

Searching more I found that HD is having a 20-70% sale (what a random range) and found this one.

Although it's not my favorite (see above) it still has some really nice feminine qualities that I am enjoying.  The best part is the price.  $35. Uh huh.  Marked down from $80.  And I think it will make pretty shadows.  Craig has given his grudging approval.

As for paint...well I'm leaning towards a muted dusty pink.  Then we will contrast with a lighter shade of pink, OR with a lighter shade of the gray that will go on the cabinets.  Or maybe we haven't quite decided yet.

I might even bring in a small rug for some more geometrics (chevron anyone?) like maybe this one from RugsUSA.com (which is not a chevron pattern I know):

So ultimately (with a little awful ms paint) we have something like this:

Thoughts?

I believe we will do bathroom first and leave closet for a little longer, but they will be done in somewhat-tandem.  And yes, the shelves will be removed for painting, maybe.  Or I'll just be lazy.

Turning our Attention to: The Master Bath

So as the Laundry has us in a bit of a decision limbo (do the cabinets? not do the cabinets? What would we even put in the cabinets?) it's off on another tangent!  (I excel at tangents, ask anyone).

Yesterday I even succeeded at getting Craig on this tangent.  And that, my friends, is the prerequisite to being able to start another project before I finish the current one!

HA!

So our Master bath is currently a little (a lot) bland.  It's all builder's basic with no upgrading in sight.  Here is a 'Before' to update your memories.

And here is a mock-up of the floorplan with my best estimation of scale without actually measuring.

Finding inspiration on other blogs and on pinterest, we have a lot of great ideas!

We would love to add a wooden frame to the existing mirror!

Wouldn't this color look amazing on our white laminate cabinets?  So rich, yet chic.  I'm loving that hardware too!  Craig is partial to the polished nickle, and I'm all about the bling-ing chrome.

This is such a cute idea to really add some personality to the space.

And HERE is what we've come up with for our inspiration, some minky washed out chocolate on the walls, a deep grey-bordering-on-bluey for the cabinets and a bright white molding around the mirror.

Here is our tentative checkilist:

• paint the walls (maybe minky chocolate?)
• paint the laminate cabinets (dark! grey)
• frame out the mirror in molding
• find a light fixture (*sigh...)
• DIY a window covering
• plan the coordinating closet revamp
• plan a coordinating fun extra for the 'loo' room

What do you think?  Too much?  Not enough?  How hard are those cabinets going to be to paint?  What about art?  What's in your bathroom?

Of course, since our closet is attached.  We couldn't leave it un-spiffified could we?  more to come! (Including maybe a stencil)

Laundry Room: Inching Along

Still hmming and hahing on whether cabinets are the best option in the laundry room, however we have decided upon a light.

We'd seen a lot of posts lately around the blog-o-sphere taughting the virtues of outdoor lights indoors.  And since the light was such a challenge (ongoing epic battle between budget and aesthetics) we decided to take a gander at our options.

Our verdict: Damn. 
a) a lot of choice
b) excellent budget friendly options
c) quite a lot of variety, especially in ceiling or flush mount options (and not a boob lamp in sight)

We were originally considering an Ikea pendant, but upon seeing our options in person, it just wasn't quite right.

After reviewing our online options , we had 2 final front runners:

We weren't able to find the lantern pendant (boo) so we went with the ceiling mount seeded glass fixture.  And I gotta tell you the display photo on HD.com does not do it justice.  And $30.  Wow.

The Install:

Here is the sad fixture we started with.  Poor laundry room was neglected.

Craig staring it down, tempting it to be contrary (which it was, maybe a little).

Once the old light was down, it was time to read through the installation instructions and figure out our game plan.  It was pretty simple, even from my 'assisting' vantage point.  (I operated the lamp once the power was out and held the fixture up to the ceiling while wires were being attached).  The wire shelf still taunts me.

And fixture done!  It makes that popcorn ceiling look good!  Well, as good as a popcorn ceiling can look anyway.  And a close-up of the seeded glass.

All told this part of the revamp cost us $30 and 20 minutes of work.  WOO!

5 Minute Fix: Vent Cover

We are of the opinion that projects around your home don't have to be expensive or time consuming to be valuable.  You can do something as simple as changing out a light fixture, a electrical outlet cover or a vent cover and make an impact!

We have a lot of dingy white metal vent covers around our place and wanted to start bringing some bling to our travertine. 

Here's what we started with:

Builder's grade and kinda dusty (oops).

And another angle.

We had a few vents we could have started with, but figured the foyer would be best, after all it's the first thing you see.  We invested in one vent cover to see if the metal color would work with the flooring.  This one is Decor Plates Oil Rubbed Bronze from Home Depot.

Here's Craig doing the install.  Eww, what do we have living down there?

Instructions for installation: Pop Off, Pop on.  Seriously it's exceedingly simple.

And here is the finished product:

So easy.

What's your favorite 5 minute fix?

IKEA: No longer the best place on Earth

Well to be honest, I hadn't liked the place for a while, but that's besides the point.  It's where we decided to go to get cabinets! and a light! and butcher board countertops on the cheap for our laundry room re-do.

Shopping list made, and we were off to IKEA. 

So...don't go to IKEA on a Saturday at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.  It's just a really really bad idea.

And also, for my Canadian friends, the Atlanta IKEA is about 3 times as big as the Calgary/Edmonton/Vancouver IKEAs.  5 floors.  IN.SANE.

We were there for th cabinets from our inspiration moodboard:

as well as uber reasonable butcher block and to peruse the lighting section (Hubs is not sold on the light above).

Through the mass of people we went, marginally successful in keeping our sanity, we reach the kitchen department.

Cabinets: Sold Out
2nd choice of Cabinets: Back Ordered
3rd Choice of Cabinets: A bit blah in person
Countertop: Sold Out
Cabinet Pulls: Success!
Light: Not what we expected

BOO. 

So a 45 min drive, 30 min parking adventure and 30 min store-navigation-nightmare (and even I know all the little shortcuts) and we are back at square one.

But the baseball game was good!

Now we are thinking either ONLY shelves, or getting discounted cabinets somewhere else.  *sigh.  Though, perhaps with the money we save we can splurge on a nicer lighting fixture?

Forgot to mention we did check the shipping cost when we got home.  It's more than the cost of 1.5 cabinets.  Grr.

How to Make an Upholstered Backsplash

As a part of the ongoing Laundry Project I have bought and DIY-ed a few accessories for the room.  One of them being a no-sew upholstered back splash.  Well, I guess really it's a fabric covered corkboard, but I'm calling it an upholstered back splash.  A headboard for the laundry, if you please.

Here is our finished product:

And here's how I got there.  For supplies, you will need:

3/4 - 1 yard fabric of your choice

corkboard (we got 2 that were also magnetic!)

Fabric Glue

Lots of Pins

Scissors

Measuring Tape (this time I used one)

Step One:

Measure out your corkboards, just look at the package for dimensions or eye-ball measurements by placing the corkboard over top of the fabric

Step Two:

Add the depth of the corkboard to your measurements on all sides + about a 1/4 inch.  Pin along your measure line.  This will now be the cut line.  Lay corkboard on top of fabric to ensure you measured right.

Step Three:

Cut the fabric along the cut line made in Step Two

Step Four:

Lay the fabric on top of the corkboard, ensuring your repeating pattern is straight and even.  Use the pins on the top 1/2 of the corkboard to hold the fabric in place.

Step Five:

Flip up the bottom half of the fabric and apply fabric glue.  Not too much.

Step Six:

Gently but firmly smooth the fabric down onto the glue.  Start from center and work your way out to the sides ensuring all ripples and lines are smoothed.  You do not want to push so firmly that the glue comes through the fabric.  If you feel the fabric getting slightly damp, this is the feeling you are looking for.  Use pins to hold the glued fabric in place.

Step Seven:

Flip the corkboard around, remove the pins from the non-glued side and repeat the Step Six.

Step Eight:

Carefully run a bead of glue along the edges of the corkboard.  Then run another bead along the very edge of the back of the corkboard to catch the extra 1/4 inch you measured.

Step Nine:

Let dry.  Admire your handiwork.

*Tip* If you are making more than 1, ensure before Step Five, that the fabric on both corkboards line up straight and even.

What-dya think?  I had a lot of fun doing this.  And when I wasn't taking pictures at each step in the process it only took about 10 minutes.

And it's a pretty cheap!  Here is the cost breakdown:

Corkboards: $5.70 each (30% off at Michael's)

Fabric: $6.99 (50% off at fabric.com)

Glue: $2.79 (Michael's)

Pins: Owned

Scissors: Owned

Tape Measure: Owned

So only $21.18 for a customized upholstered back splash!  You could use them in your office, your kids rooms, even bathrooms or kitchens if you wanted to!