My 9th-ish ORC and WASH Your Hands!

Racing for the finish line here at the last-ish moment!! 

This is my 9th-ish ORC and the smallest by far - just 65" square! 

You'd think I could have finished sooner :)

 

Our downstairs Powder Room. 

We were without a working sink in our only first level bathroom for the bulk of the Pandemic. 

Perhaps not the best choice but that's how we roll!

The before wasn't awful but now that this ORC is complete I realize it really did need a bit of a refresh and update. We were sheltering in place so I used what I had on hand and made only a couple of online orders and my husband, who was out and about being "essential," did two curbside pick-ups for me. 

This One Room Challenge presented the challenge of being locked down and getting creative with what we had on hand. Are there things that could have been "more" or better? Yes. But is our Powder Room better than when we started and are we happy with it? 

Yes. So, that is enough. 

And a valuable lesson too. 

It's nice to have a fresh look because we are spending still spending our time at home.

So, here we let's see what we accomplished...

It all started with the desire to use a gold/ochre color in this space and a partial bolt of fabric I had previously thrifted and then didn't use where I thought I might. It matched my favorite gold/ochre Sherwin Williams color - Anjou Pear. So we were off to a good start.

Is this the fabric I would have chosen if I had been in my favorite fabric store? 

Probably not but it is the color I wanted to use, has a bit of a chinoiserie feel 

and I had thrifted a large roll of it for $4.00. 

In the end, I love it in the room.

The biggest change, our only major expense, was a new vanity. Our old 80's cabinet was built into the corner and was large and clunky and the countertop and sink had been past their prime for ages. I had painted, faux marbled, done everything I could to make it appear far nicer than it was. 

We arranged a curbside pick up for a very reasonably priced, very plain base cabinet. Is this my dream bathroom vanity? Again, no, but in uncertain times being frugal seemed the best move and this one is perfectly acceptable and a vast, vast improvement over the previous one. 

And it was in stock and easily picked up from Home Depot. 

(The brass container I use as a trash can is old and has some wear but  is beautifully etched with a chinoiserie design)

We had a few demo/reconstruction issues and one was that the old base did not have flooring under it so we patched the hardwoods and I used paint on hand to create the floor treatment I had been wanting to do in there forever!

Black and white check floor. It is my favorite floor design of all time and is so versatile and classic. It can look chic, high end, Parisian, or farmhouse depending on what you pair it with. 

It is a lot of taping and dry time in between to achieve the crisp lines wanted but I think it's worth it and we love it.

Mollie was going to help pull tape when I finally(!) finished the floor

 but Cooper beat her to it!

Everything else (except the hand towels) came from shopping the house 

and using as is or doing a little DIY with paint and such. 

I bought the hand towels on a masked, socially distanced trip to pick up a needed prescription called in to the wrong place which happened to be Target! So while waiting for the prescription confusion to be sorted out I bought the extra hand towels. 

The vintage bamboo towel rack was thrifted before the Pandemic.

Never, ever underestimate the ugly lamp. 

I had been holding on to this monkey lamp for a while. 

I'm a firm believer that glossy white spray paint improves everything.

A couple of coats of my favorite extra high gloss white spray paint and a brand new fabric covered shade and the ugly lamp is a thing of the past!

The vintage bamboo shelf and artwork were in the Powder Room previously. The diffuser is by Better Homes and Gardens and came from Wal Mart. It makes the room smell like a spa and will be so nice when we have guests again!

Things on the bamboo shelf were gathered up from around the house and given a home in the Powder Room. I tucked in a little artwork from a trip to Turks and Caicos (remember travel??), 

a sweetgrass basket from Charleston and thrifted blue and white pieces. 

I'm not a fan of toilet paper holders that are mounted on the wall ( nobody replaces the roll anyway) so I decided to toss our TP in a big blue and white bowl on the bamboo shelf.

The vintage wicker suitcase conveniently hold more rolls.

The bamboo mirror was in the Powder Room previously as well. It was thrifted years ago and when we went to hang it up it was so tall that we couldn't have a light fixture above it. We installed an energy efficient, highly effective recessed light in the ceiling above the vanity. I generally turn on the lamp when we have guests and I like not having a light fixture that collects dust and is hard to reach to clean. 

I haven't missed having a light fixture in here at all.

The white garden stool was also in this bathroom previously. I did find the fabulous planter head on FB Marketplace a few weeks ago and I made a masked, outdoors pick up because I wanted her for this bathroom soooo much and we were ready for a little outing. It was perfectly safe and the sweet gentleman reminded me to use hand sanitizer when I got back in my car!

The large picture over the toilet is a print of a fern cyanotype from the Biodiversity Library. 

The images are free and I ordered the enlargement online from Walgreens. It was less than $15.00 for that amazing print. I didn't have a 24 x 36 inch gold frame at home but I had a black one and some gold spray paint on hand!

I don't have anything on the wall behind the door. I just couldn't make up my mind. I had a gallery wall of travel photos there previously. I wanted something visually simpler this time. I thought about another cyanotype of a fern. I love ferns and grow huge ones on the porch each Summer. But that just wasn't it. And then 2 days ago I figured it out! So technically, the room isn't finished. I'm waiting on an online order. I'll be sure to share on my IG when it arrives and is in the Powder Room!

Thank you for stopping by!!

Be sure to see all of the other finished spaces here.

Thank you to Linda for hosting the One Room Challenge. It is always great fun to participate in and so exciting to have a fresh, improved space at the end but this ORC was an especially welcome diversion during this pandemic induced lockdown.

We are thankful to have a safe, comfortable home in these difficult times 

and are aware that others do not. 

I did not enter into this ORC lightly.

My 9th-ish ORC and WASH Your Hands

Week 3 doesn't look much different from Week 2 where I showed you the wall damage from demoing the vanity.

I have been sanding walls and then cleaning up sheetrock dust. 

And then sanding walls and cleaning up sheetrock dust. 

The cabinet base is painted. I'm starting to paint the mirror. 

And the walls are getting their first coat of white paint. 

And even though I don't have a lot of firm decisions made, (partly due to the current shelter in place situation) and some decisions may change based on item availability and such, I absolutely love the cabinet paint color. It's Anjou Pear by Sherwin Williams and it's so rich. Perfect - not too bright or yellow-y and not too brown and mustard-y! Does that make sense?? :)

So sheetrock dust and watching paint dry. #week3

And while working on something else I did come across a few "before" pictures 

of this Powder Room after all. 

The wall opposite the vanity had a gallery wall full of art purchased on my travels. 

I'm relocating most of those so I'm beginning to think about what I want to hang in this space now. That's a lot more fun than sucking up sheetrock dust and watching paint dry!

And the other wall had this large Audubon Flamingo on it. It inspired the pinky-coral cabinetry. I think it might move someplace else but it or another Audubon might show up in here yet. Still looking at what I have and might move around the house. 

Can't get more #shoplocal than #shopthehouse! :)

I'm planning for the bamboo shelf to stay in here 

but I need to do a better job of utilizing it and styling it. 

Next week should be about more interesting things than sheetrock dust!!

All of the priming and painting should be behind me.

Please check out everyone else's progress here!

My 9th-ish ORC and WASH Your Hands!

To make a long (One Room Challenge) story short this is my 9th-ish ORC.

Working back from last Fall...

Fall 2019 - My Kitchen (2nd attempt) PS. I did finish my kitchen I've just never photographed and blogged it! Maybe soon!

Spring 2019 - My Kitchen (Another Incomplete, yet I keep trying!)

Fall 2018 - My Porch 

Spring 2018 - I took an Incomplete :(

Fall 2017 - My Entryway

Spring 2017 - My Guest Bedroom

Fall 2016 - My Master Bathroom

Spring 2016 - My Library  which has been my most viewed and commented on ORC 

and it got a little refresh here.

Fall 2015 - Mollie's Bathroom   

Spring 2015 - My Guest Bedroom  which was my very first ORC and a learning curve for sure!

That's why I gave it a second go in the Spring 2017 ORC.

Since I have a bit of a hit or miss record with this thing it seems only fitting that I attempt another One Room Challenge during a Pandemic!

Right?

And since the most important thing we can do in the midst of Covid19 is to wash our hands it is either very fitting and timely or completely nuts to refresh our downstairs Powder Room where we wash our hands a gazillion times a day.

We are still sheltering in place so items that I use must either be what I have on hand or available for curbside pick up or delivery from online ordering. 

(This has been a difficult situation for so many in so many ways and I am aware that participating in a non-essential decorating challenge could seem insensitive. However, we all cope differently and "busy" and/or being creative is my coping mechanism. You can read about our particular Pandemic situation here and here.)

I'm all for using #morecreativitythancash and shopping the house too!

 Our bathroom vanity top is just not in the best shape and has needed replacing for ages. I've painted and decorated around it but it is past it's prime. I priced a new top and basin but it was far more economical to get a cabinet/basin combo from a big box store and it gives me the opportunity to get something less bulky and fit it in the space a little better. 

I shopped online and purchased the simplest, most clean lined vanity I could find. 

It's pretty basic and budget friendly but I knew I was painting it, changing the hardware and pairing it with a fabulous faux bamboo mirror already in the powder room. 

That was the utilitarian part of this project. Check.

The rest is the fun stuff.

I have had in my mind for a long time that when I redid this powder room I was going to use a mustard-y yellow color as my inspiration starting point. 

My plan all along was to paint the vanity and mirror a soft mustard. 

But I needed a fabric for the window treatment that would work with this color idea. 

My favorite part of redoing a room is wandering the fabric store aisles 

and falling for a fabric! 

Again, no open fabric stores so I had to go about this differently. 

So I started online. 

I looked and looked and googled 

and then I remembered a bolt of fabric I bought at a thrift store last year. 

I had thought I might use it for some pillows on the porch but it wasn't quite right after all. 

So I dug it out and it has a great colorway!

And the mustard-y background matches my favorite mustard-y, goldish Sherwin Williams color, Anjou Pear!! ( I used it in one of Mollie's college apartments!)

Yesss!! Hoarding Thrifting for the win!

A quick call to Sherwin Williams to order a gallon of paint for curbside pick up. 

I have the white paint for the walls because I'm basically never without white paint! 

I'm going to scrounge around but I'm pretty sure I have the paint for a fun painted floor project. 

The rest will just fall into place as I look around the house and decide about art and accessories.

I didn't really have any inspo pictures going in to this - just the color in my head but I found this on Pinterest and it pretty much sums up what I've been thinking (plus some blue and white chinoiserie, of course!)

lorenzocastillo.org

Thank you for following along, be safe and stay well and...

WASH your hands!

Looking for some distraction?
Be sure to follow along with all of the ORC posts here.

Bar Cart in Blue and White

I put together this bar cart as part of a fun and thoughtful challenge created by Lydia from the Party Wagon - her blog and IG feed are fabulous.

She gave a lot of IG friends a challenge to create a blue and white tribute to health care workers who wear blue scrubs and/or white coats.

Lydia suggested creating a tablescape but I thought that when this is over

 all of those doctors and nurses might like a nice long happy hour 

so I zhushed the bar cart on our screened porch.

If we were really ready to party then the bottom shelf of this vintage cart would be filled with liquor choices and bubbly chilling in a silver champagne bucket.

Mollie and I have been enjoying "mocktails" during the week and very fizzy mineral waters with fresh garnishes are our favorite. You can get pretty creative with the combinations of waters, fruits and juices, and garnishes.

In addition to fizzy waters and citrus garnishes I added a salty snack or two in cute bowls.

I ordered a set of dish towels from Amazon last year and it's fun to have all the gingham color choices! I pulled out the French Blue and classic navy.

The leopard napkins are from The Dollar Tree. (I know!) 

I bought a stack when I found them. 

The lemon and palm leaf drink markers (in the pineapple dish on the left) are from The Dollar Spot at Target (purchased last year.) 

Setting up a pretty drinks spot doesn't have to be pricey!

The thrifted tortoiseshell glass holds bamboo straws from The Grove. 

They come with a little brush to clean them with!

The lemon is perched in a little clay pot I painted to use as egg cup place markers at Easter.

#usewhatyouhave

All of the blue and white, the bamboo tray and even the pretty glasses were thrifted. 

The vintage silk painting is one of a pair and were a major score.

The camel lamp has a great before and after here.

Thank you to health care workers during this crazy Covid19 time. 
Thank you to Lydia at the Party Wagon for motivating us to post a tribute. 

And think about setting up your own bar cart to make relaxing 
during these stressful times a little more fun!
It doesn't have to be just for adults! Add fun straws and cups for the kiddos. 
Put out favorite soda flavors and a few treats. It would be perfect for movie nights or game night since board games are making a huge comeback while we are sheltering at home.

Stay safe and well.

What If My Kitchen Wasn't (All) White? - The One Room Challenge

I've been having these thoughts.

Late at night. While sitting in traffic. When I'm supposed to be doing other things.

I think to myself: "What if my kitchen wasn't all white??"

I know, right?

I love love white kitchens. 

I fought long and hard for my white kitchen. 

(Painting wood cabinets appalled my hubby. 

He's finally come around and I've painted all the trim, cabinets, etc.)

I'm not knocking wood cabinets and trim -  if you have them and love them

 then that's all good. 

I just wanted it ALL painted. And white. Definitely white. ALL white.

And now I'm having these thoughts. 

After thinking these thoughts for a while I finally said it out loud.

And then to the surprise of some who know me well and my love for buckets of glossy white paint, I started looking at my paint fan deck.

I even bought a sample pot one Saturday.

I started looking for inspiration pics. 

There are tons of fabulous looking non-white kitchens out there!

I knew this and many years ago (previous home) I painted my kitchen cabinets glossy black. 

This is not my first non-white kitchen rodeo, y'all. 

Then I started a Pinterest Board of non-white kitchens. 

(That's when you know it's serious!)

(Look at this DeVol kitchen!! It's what kitchen dreams are made of.  If I had these ceilings and this light I'd definitely go for black cabinets again. But I do not.)

So, I'm going for it!

This One Room Challenge (Number 8 , for me) 

is going to be the:

What If My Kitchen Wasn't (ALL) White ORC!

I'm going to add some color to my cabinets and freshen up a few things.

(Another DeVol Kitchen. This is more the type of color I'm going for. In the same range as fingerprints, dirt and dust!! But classy looking! )

 This is NOT a kitchen reno by any means.

 NO new appliances, countertops, moving of cabinets or anything major or expensive.

 It's just a subtle color change and some small projects here and there. 

 I do think a freshen up can be just what you need to make a space a little better, more exciting, when it's been the same a looooong time!

It wasn't awful before. But it's time to repaint the cabinets 

and I'm tired of a few things so now is the time to make some changes. 

(It's only paint. I can always go white again!)

This recently thrifted cabinet is getting a paint job and headed for the kitchen.

And the bamboo kitchen table and chairs that I talked about here are staying.

These coral cheetah fabrics and this SW  paint are on my ORC radar, too.

Follow along here on the blog each week and on my Instagram account for little snippets of (hopefully) progress along the way.
See what everyone is up to on the ONE ROOM CHALLENGE website.

If you want to check out my previous One Room Challenges:

1.My Guest Room - when I took a deep breath and gave ORC a try!
2. My "Black is Back" Library (formerly our Dining Room)
See last week's Library Refresh here. The rug story is pretty amazing!
3.My Master Bathroom (Still love it!)
4. "Half the Time Project" - My Guest Room 2nd go 'round! (Confusing, I know)
5. My Entryway
6. ORC Fail :(
7. My Screened In Porch - Lucky No. 7

Christmas Tour-ish!

I hesitate to use the terminology "Christmas Tour" of my home considering some of the blogger tours out there!

So I guess it's a tour-ish! Sort of a tour...

Really just some peeks into our Christmas decorating...

We have a new (to us) greeter guy by the front steps.

I decided to cozy him up with a plaid scarf and Mollie gave him some sparkle with a "bouquet" of shiny ornaments in the shell he holds.

We are pretty smitten with him.

Just inside the front door is our most recent One Room Challenge project - our entryway.

It was fun adding some holiday touches to our "new" room.

The ceramic Nativity lights up but doesn't photograph well that way. 

I have been putting it on that chest for longer than I can remember.

I put a $4.00 pink poinsettia in a cachepot and added magnolia branches and evergreens to make it full and look good reflected in the mirror.

I'm a pink or white poinsettia gal all the way.

On the opposite wall in the entryway is my fabulous Brighton chair and table thrifting find from a few months ago.

To the left of the entryway is our Library.

 Formerly the Dining Room, about 10 years ago we started adding bookcases

 and morphing it into the full blown library it is today.

It is the only room that doesn't have white walls - they are high gloss black 

(Sherwin Williams Tricorn).

The Library is all about the blue and white chinoiserie ornaments on a mini tree. 

Oh, and wearing our furs. Faux, of course.

I hinted on Instagram last week that I was making a few changes in our downstairs powder room in preparation for a holiday brunch that Mollie and I jointly co-host.

It was supposed to be a quick paint job to  switch the green mirror for a different bamboo mirror I found the week before and paint it and the tan cabinet a bright cheery coral-y pink to coordinate with my flamingo print and add some pizzazz to the powder room.

We love the bright color (and by "we" I do not mean my husband) 

and it really adds a lot to the room even if I ended up not being able to use the "new" mirror after painting it and then having to repaint the first bamboo mirror from green to the new SW Grenadine pinky-coral color. 

This is why one should not start a project a few days before one has 20 women for brunch and why one should try mirrors to see if they fit before one paints them. 

Just sayin'

(And the towel is crooked. But isn't it cute?)

You can see the big tree on the screened in porch peeking in.

 A few pink bottle brush trees and some shiny ornaments for the bamboo shelf 

and we are set in this little room.

That concludes Part One of our Tour-ish. 

More to come soon.

I hope.