Farmhouse Bathroom

I have had some requests to see any bathroom renovations we have done so here you go....

This is the only bathroom we have renovated so far. We did it three years ago with a budget of $1,000. We love to reuse and salvage as much as possible so we were up for the challenge. It was disgusting and oddly shaped and I had to just pretend it wasn't there for over two years until we could afford to gut it and rebuild it (that is what I am currently having to do with other bathroom at the time). The below picture shows how it looked from the outside (what is this area now), this is after I ripped down the paneling and striped down the bright orange moldy wallpaper which ended up being pointless because we tore this whole wall down anyways. There was a really gross shower behind this wall, I didn't even think to take pictures of it but now I wish I had.

We lucked out because right at the time we were doing this bathroom my sister was renovating hers and she was throwing out this vanity and mirror. They fit in the space perfectly and once I painted them white they looked 100% better. Neal made the vanity top with the wood that had been covering the walls of what is now our family room. It was rough cut and stained a dark finish, but a couple runs through the planer and we discovered that it was cedar! The dark stain had turned the under-layers a beautiful golden color. We bought a $15 enamelware sink from the Home Depot and I found a $30 faucet on Overstock and it all came together.

I put about six layers of semi-gloss polyurethane on the wood to keep it safe from water damage.

We tried to save as much of the original plaster in here as possible but we had to patch certain areas with drywall. I did layer after layer of skim coat to get it all to look like original plaster work and also so that the plaster and drywall would blend together seamlessly. The key is lots of thin layers and lots of sanding. Then I painted everything Behrs "Cottage White".

I bought a $10 antique transom window for above the door so that we could get some natural light in the bathroom when the door was closed.

The floor is done with the same cedar that we used for the vanity top. Which really worked out because there was no way we had money in the budget for flooring. I treated it the same way I did the vanity top, with many many layers of polyurethane.

By taking the old wall down and making the room a rectangle we were able to fit a full size tub in and then we subway tiled around the walls above it. The cupboard is one that Neal built for our first home and ended up fitting perfectly in this space, and it is just the right size to hold all of our towels. Eventually we plan to put a window where the mirror is.

Over in this corner Neal made a built-in cupboard out of a tall and skinny bookcase that he had built for our first home. He made a door for it and then covered the whole thing in bead board, it looks like it's always been there, which is always my goal.

Below is the same corner during the renovation process, not sure what Neal was saying when I took this picture but it looks like his "that is not possible" face. And I am probably saying "yes it is, I know it can be done", our typical conversation. Looks like I was right:)

Farm Signs

I have some very exciting news!!! My sister has started to make vintage inspired "Farm Signs" for my Etsy shop!!!

I think it so frustrating that it is so hard to find well done reproduction farm signs. My sister is super talented and always making little signs for her own house so I thought why not work together to provide people with the kind of signs that I am always on the hunt for?!

I was so excited when I saw what my sister had created! These signs will be hitting my shop this week! Each one is hand painted, black and white, distressed and a little bit different.

I will be keeping this little DAIRY one for myself:)

I hope you guys will visit my shop  and find one that is just right for you!

Ironstone Soap Dish

Well my cup runneth over this week as far as good finds go! Look what I found at the thrift store yesterday...

an ironstone soap dish free of cracks or chips, still with the strainer part inside for $2.99!

I have never seen one of these other than in my ironstone book, isn't it just beautiful?!

It looks right at home on my kitchen sink. I found some other great things yesterday too, like these matching ironstone platters.

I will be listing these in my Etsy shop early next week so keep a look out for them. And I have had some inquiries into the bread knife and cutting board that I mentioned in my last post. Just wanted to let everyone that was interested know that I listed them and they sold in under 3 minutes.

Another great thing I found yesterday was the twig basket below, I love twig baskets and this one is the perfect size for eggs.

I have a larger size twig basket for sale in my Etsy shop right now

and I will be listing this one sometime next week.

I also bought a small vintage mustard crock, the perfect size for when the hyacinth start to bloom. That is if it ever warms up enough for that to happen, it snowed all day yesterday so it doesn't quite feel like Spring here. But at least the sun is shining, HAPPY SPRING:)

Red Stripe Linens

Okay, I know I said I would start showing other rooms again but I just had to share my latest finds! I definitely had my treasure hunting fix satisfied today! I stopped at the local charity rummage sale that I always go to and when I first walked in I spotted this antique water bucket!!

 I was beyond excited and continued to make my way through the shop, I always go to specific areas first and the linens were next in my hunt. The linens are in big baskets and you have to pick through them. At first I didn't see anything good but then I spotted a red stripe....

and then I saw that it was this table runner, hand embroidered with red letters!!! I couldn't believe my eyes! I mean I have found some great things at this shop but never anything like this! And so I kept digging and I found another one with red stripes! I couldn't believe it!

I have been looking at red stripe linens on Etsy and Ebay a lot lately but just can't justify the expensive cost of them, not with all that we need to be saving for anyways. But I guess being good paid off because these were 25 cents a piece!

I found a couple more great linen pieces like the one in the bucket pictured below, 100% homespun antique linen, for  25 cents, it doesn't get any better than that for me!

Another thing I was excited to find was this wooden handled bread knife. I have never seen one like this and love its rustic look. I will be listing it along with a bread board in my Etsy shop today or tomorrow.

Earlier in the day I had thought I might take a ride to one of our local antique shops but with all I found at the rummage sale I had no need, I wasn't going to find anything better than I already had:)

Family Room Part Three

Well the stars finally aligned... I was home, it was sunny, and there weren't Lego's on every surface so I was able to take some more pictures of our family room and kitchen.

We ended up putting the doors back on the big Welsh dresser because I needed it for storage of some not so attractive things. We put our television on the left side and I had Neal make some folding doors to hide it when need be.

I hung an old mirrored cabinet that I picked up at a local antique store for $10 on the wall in the small space between the rooms.

I absolutely love our new family room and I especially love the fact that when I am in the kitchen, which is a lot of the time, my son is right there in the family room playing. I used to have run back and forth to check on him while I was making dinner but not anymore.

I haven't really made any changes in the kitchen but I thought I would take some pictures anyways. I have a new bowl that I am quite smitten with, I got it from Vintage Abbey Road on Etsy, it's one of my favorite shops. 

I repainted our kitchen cupboards last week, they were in desperate need of a fresh coat of white paint. I painted them the same "Swan White" in semi-gloss by Glidden that I painted the trim and ceiling. I changed the drawer pulls while I was at it, I bought the same ones I have on the other cabinets by the sink, they are from Lowes. 

Don't you just love the pig cutting board, I bought him at a thrift store for $1.00 years ago. That was the best thrift store ever, always full of antiques but it since closed down sadly. Everything I bought for our first house and lots of stuff in this house too came from that thrift store. 

Some new things in my cupboard are the cow painting I found at the thrift store and a cute little clock from Target. I don't know about you guys but I am dying for flea market/yard sale season to start, my mental "want to find" list is growing by the day! I know I said the same thing last Spring but this always happens to me this time of year, I start to go through withdrawal:) 

Okay I promise to start showing pictures of other rooms again:) Our next renovation project is the small bathroom off of the kitchen but that won't begin until late Spring early Summer. Neal is a lacrosse official and the season has officially started so he will basically just sleep here for the next two months. So any house improvements happening for awhile will be things that I can do all on my own. People Neal works with always say to him "doesn't your wife just hate lacrosse season"? The truth is I love it because it's the time of year that I can get the most done in a day! 

Speaking of getting things done I need to do about a million things today that I better get to...happy Friday!