decorating goals -- finally completed

Last summer, I posted a list of goals that I wanted to work on over the summer. A year later, I'm finally getting them all completed.

The first one on the list was painting this metal rack in our bathroom. As I noted in my earlier post, we found this rack on the balcony when we moved into our first apartment here in Murray. We need bathroom storage, so we put it to use. However, the metal was rusty in many spots; so while it was functional, it wasn't pretty. When we moved into our current home, the bathroom (again) was a tiny space and so we used the rack again. The bathroom has turned into a really cute space; it started off with this great green/cream toile wallpaper and white beadboard on the walls. Adding a simple white curtain, some baskets for storage, and a great striped rug and shower curtain really pulled the room together. I finally headed out to the backyard this week and gave the shelf a nice coating of spray primer and then a couple of coats of glossy white spray paint. Simple solution that looks sooooo much better. Wish I'd taken care of this sooner!

Here's a before shot:

And here's the after: 

Those baskets have been the best thing to put to use -- I like how they add some natural texture to the room (and pick up the brown/tan in the shower curtain) but also keep things somewhat hidden. The baskets with liners came from Walmart, and the longer basket on the top shelf is actually a desk organizer for 8.5x11 papers from Pier 1. It's the perfect size to hold all our handtowels. 

I use a couple of milk glass pieces for storage (this one holds the girls' ponytail elastics); I wish I had a little more display room so I could add a few more pieces.

There used to be a round handtowel holder that hung right above the sink. It was completely useless, and so we took it down, but it ended up leaving a big hole in the wall. My solution was to pull this wooden postcard out of my leftover scrapbooking supplies (it came in a kit from ScrapInStyleTV, one that Kristina Contes put together); I loved it but had never found anything to do with it. Add a simple wooden frame and it makes the perfect cover for that spot, plus it adds a touch of art to the room.

Here's a shot of the final room. Of all the rooms in our house, this one is the closest to being complete (well, as complete as things can get in a rental). The only thing remaining that I'd like to do is replace the set of mini-blinds with a roll-up rattan shade -- I think it will do much the same job as the baskets do: introduce some additional texture and play up the browns in the shower curtain.

Comments

[Winfred Eibach]

I love what you did to your bathroom. The white window makes the emerald wallpaper appear gleaming during the day. You don't have to turn on the light every now and then since, through the window, the white allows more sunlight to go inside the bathroom.