A Designer At Home

Demolition, Spray Paint, Decisions Made – Bathroom Remodel Progress

October 28, 2015 by CORINNA HENDERSON

Hey Guys!
I’m checking in today to update you all on the progress of our bathroom remodel. There’s just two more weeks until the reveal and things are looking bleak. My bathroom is completely gutted!

If you’re just checking in with me, I’m sharing my adventure through a 6 week room design (actually a full blown renovation) as part of Calling It Home‘s One Room Challenge. I’m redesigning our bleh bathroom to a global and boho oasis with intentional craftsman touches. Today is week 4!

Today my contractor is putting in the new tub and will start reassembling the walls and insulation. Insulation was really important. I’m hypothyroid and I have arthritis so the cold is nearly intolerable. A good insulation is going in the wall to the outside and the wall between the bathroom and bedroom (simply for noise reduction).

This past weekend we scored a new vanity through Craigslist. It’s the Glacier Bay Artisan Vanity (the 36 inch wide one). It’s so much nicer than the one we were going to purchase (the one in between this one and the first one I told you about). I’m stoked to have drawers. And I only spent as much as I was going to be spending on the not as nice or big one- yay! I specifically switched gears to find one without a splash guard (I just learned what that was!) because of an ultra cool surprise I can’t wait to share. I’m painting the vanity blue or green this weekend.

86bf0eac-8eed-45e0-a48c-4324401566d9_400

When we arrived to the address, we found it was actually a small shop. He also had bathtubs so we purchased one then, too (and hubby’s truck was out of the shop just in time to pick it up yesterday!).

I started working on small projects a few weeks ago. The first one I’ve shared is the DIY leather tassels on a basket tutorial. It’s got video 🙂 Go check it out.

I’ve also started working on spray painting a few decorative pieces and the IKEA Ekby shelf brackets. There will not be any chrome or steel in this place. This is a cozy bathroom, not a sterile one.

A Designer At Home - How we chose and decided on wall tile for the shower bathtub combination walls - global craftsman boho bath wall tile

Global, Craftsman, Boho inspired bathroom remodel design

Get the look of global decor for cheap with this instant embellishment how to - leather tassels made with suede string, a video tutorial!

I ended up sourcing out the creation of the shower curtain to a coworker. She actually knows how to sew (I don’t) and she’s nice and reasonably priced and she knows how to make soaps. She’s also making custom soap for me because she’s amazing.

Oh! And we picked up floor tile. It’s going to look so great with the tub surround tile we chose!

I think I’ve remembered to touch on everything. I think. There is a ton of other stuff going on behind the scenes right now (do you like giveaways? then you want to be here next week, there’s 2 of them!) but I think that’s the only relevant stuff going on with the bathroom.

I hope you’re all having an awesome day 🙂

Choosing Floor Tile for A Bathroom Remodel

October 27, 2015 by CORINNA HENDERSON

The tile for the floor of our bathroom ended up being a point for us to save some money. With so many beautiful yet inexpensive tile options (especially for flooring!), it became the easy choice to scale back. I thought it would be fun to explore with you today what my wish list was, alternatives I found to coveted tiles and which tiles I eventually came down to deciding between. Choosing tile doesn’t have to be hard. Know what you want, check out what’s available and narrow it down until you’ve decided.

I had my heart set out on cement tiles. I still want encaustic tiles because they’re beautiful, interesting and reminiscent of tiles you’d find in places like India, Mexico, Morocco and more. I just didn’t feel like that element was essential to developing the global aspect for the theme of the space.

I toyed around a lot with the idea of going with a cement tile look alike. I found several from Home Depot that I really loved. The first one I found (shown below middle) was the closest thing available months ago when I first started looking. It seemed so dark and I didn’t feel like I’d get the vibe from it that I truly wanted. But recently I’ve found the Archivo Ornate tile (below right) and it’s very close to what I wanted. But the price tag kept tugging, I just knew there was something better suited to our budget.

699179de-70e1-4059-b3af-a1693c318c93_400

206c989a-9ea7-45ee-9f2a-117293647c89_400

And then there’s the aspect of resale value. If I sell my house in 5 years, will the majority of people viewing the house like the choice? Most likely not. So for the sake of practicality, I chose to wipe these options from the playing field.

Early on in this process, I looked at slate tile floors. They’re incredibly beautiful. I have no reason not to like slate tile. It’s an option that I think would appeal to many buyers and the price isn’t outrageous. But I’m not a big fan of using grey in my decor. It wouldn’t follow the color story of the rest of the home so I scraped it.

I finally hunkered down and chose to go with a wood look floor tile. This actually made things even more difficult, would you believe it!? With so many different finishes and “stains” available, it actually made this the most difficult of all the decisions I’ve had to make. My husband agreed that the wood look tile would look good. We actually made the decision and purchased this past weekend. Can you guess which one we went with?

They’re all 6 inch x 24 inch planks. While the one of the far left is oh so dreamy, it came down to whether or not I’d be able to match a stain to our existing wood floors if we were to never have new floors put in. So I’ve got it saved on a Pinterest board for later, but for right now it was between the middle and right one.

I went with the one on the right. 🙂

At 1.78 a piece, that put my total to cover the bathroom floor (with extra for special cuts and mistakes) at $75ish dollars (I have the Lowe’s credit card so there was also a 5% discount).

And I like that it’s a very neutral color. The middle plank is beautiful but very warm. Against all the blue in the space I worried it would look flat out red.

More than anything, I did not want the boring ceramic tile look that you see in every single builder bathroom right now. I literally loathe those things, so any of these would have been such a massive improvement. But the wood tile is especially rustic and inviting and I’m really excited to have chosen it,.

And we bought it, so it’s happening! Can’t wait to pop in again tomorrow with an update on everything in the space. Yesterday I actually shared a small tutorial for leather tassels on a basket. You should check that out next!

I hope you’re having a wonderful day and that you’ve found this insight to my decision making interesting and helpful!

Please remember that this is how I’ve made my decision. Because it doesn’t make sense for me for that reason, it definitely doesn’t mean that you should base your decision on resale value. While I do think that resale value should be considered, it’s up to you what kind of play you want it to have.

How I Made It: Tassels on a Basket

October 26, 2015 by CORINNA HENDERSON

Hey Guys!

While I have no pretty bathroom to show you just yet, I do have a project for the space to share with you. It may or may not work for your lifestyle to have a laundry basket in the bathroom. But baskets work for a multitude of functions, like storing extra towels! And even outside the bathroom, giving baskets a bit of a facelift can add style to their purpose (like holding little one’s toys!). Today I want to share with you how I created suede tassels to make my basket prettier!

I feel like I’m not the greatest at DIYs. Some things I am super proud of, but most of the time I just want to embellish something to make it fit my style. That’s exactly what I did with this basket. It was in the clearance bin at Michaels for $5. Big baskets rarely show up for that price so I snatched it up. The basket would work really well for a coastal style home, but that’s just not really my design aesthetic. I wanted to add that boho global flair to it and I found a great way to do that with suede ribbon.

How To Make Suede Tassels & Attach Them To A Basket

Supplies:

Suede String in color of choice – My roll was white but the ribbon comes in so many colors!
Scissors – Fiskars are my favorite scissors by far. They cut through the suede like butter!

How To: I hope you’re enjoying the video tutorials. They’re much easier for me to make sure I capture everything versus remembering to take photos of every single step.

And that’s how it goes! Pretty simple but makes a great statement. I can already see in my head that this will be a great addition to our bathroom. I’ll make sure to come back sometime later and update this post with pictures of it in the space, but for now here are a few “glamour shots.”

I hope you’ve found this idea inspiring and helpful! Go put tassels on something, you’ll love it!

Rattan Vanity Bench Cushion Reupholstery

October 23, 2015 by CORINNA HENDERSON

Hey Guys!

I’m really excited to share with you this little reupholstery project I finished recently. If you remember a recent thrift score thursday post, I chatted about how excited I was to pick up this rattan vanity. It’s in good second hand shape, and the rattan bench seat was recently upholstered. But I’m not loving the fabric they chose. It’s clean and in good shape, but the color and texture just felt… “old?” I don’t know. I wanted to instill a bit of my style into the bench and thought a shibori patterned fabric would do just that.

I’m trying to film a few more of these simple kinds of DIYs since pictures can be a little hard to follow and it’s just so much easier to trim down the video than edit pictures. I hope you find that helpful, and if you do feel any kind of way about it- I welcome you to leave feedback in the comments below!

How To Reupholster A Bench Seat

Supplies: (I’ve included links to products so you can complete this project, too. They’re affiliate links, so any purchases made will generate a commission for me and will help cover the costs of running this blog.)

Staple Gun – this one looks much easier to use than mine, and is pretty cheap!
Staples – Essential to the whole operation I’d say.
Fabric – Get $25 off your order of $50 with my refer a friend link.
Scissors – these are my favorite scissors!

Minted provided me with the fabric for this project. This post is not sponsored. The idea for this project is my own. The process is my own. It’s no secret I love shibori. I’m committed to only talking about products I can honestly stand behind.

And this is how the upholstery job turned out!

It’s so simple and easy. I don’t know why I’ve put off trying this for so long.

Naturally I love a lot of plants everywhere in my home. Because this little corner gets pretty great light most of the day, I chose to put a ponytail palm and philodendron. They’re pretty easy to keep alive and I enjoy their presence when I’m playing with my cosmetics.

I have a drawer by my bed where I keep most of my makeup. Here I’m keeping the products I’m currently using, as well as a few eyeshadow palettes (I like having versatility!).

The mix of baskets really brings out the earthiness and global feel of the set up. I say pick a style and then choose elements that emphasize it for maximum impact. Make sure they make you happy and that’s all you really need.

I like the shibori inspired fabric here because it adds a small dose of color without losing the earthy element. It’s a grounded pop of color. And the pattern is organic.

I hope you’ve found this tutorial helpful and interesting. I know I can’t tell you where to find an epic vanity like this one, but I hope the basics are something you are able to take away for a project piece of your own! If there is anything else you’d like to see via video, let me know! The more I film and edit, the better I can get at bringing you video content 🙂

TST #86 Special Halloween Announcement!

October 22, 2015 by CORINNA HENDERSON

Happy Thursday!

You guys know how much the hosts and I love to save treasures from heading to the landfill and Halloween is no different! From costumes to decor, second hand finds are awesome. We want to challenge you to use your thrifty resources to find Halloween scores, Tag them with #thriftscorethursday on Instagram and we’ll be featuring our favorites for the next 2 weeks. We know how amazing you all are at finding true gems so I can’t wait to see what pops up!

My local thrift stores have been gearing up for weeks with a massive selection of costumes and loads of sweet decorative items to sort through. I especially adore that little piece of pottery with stars painted purple. It would be fun to use in a Halloween mantle display!

This week’s features are still the same ol’, but make sure you’re tagging your Halloween finds because those will be featured next week! EXPLORE THE #THRIFTSCORETHURSDAY FEED

I heavily gravitated towards these three photos with thrifted treasures. I love the boho vibes!

@design_it_vintage #vintage #folding #wooden #chairs #thriftyfindsthursday #thriftscorethursday #made in #Germany #slated #wood #frame #modern #mcm #ranchstyle #home #decor #pillows #style #love #plants #macrame #porcelain #planter #yellow #frogs #design #halloween #decorating ??✔️???

spiced_sweet_chilli#freshflowers from the #garden #bottlebrush and #orchards ??? — @spiced_sweet_chilli #freshflowers from the #garden #bottlebrush and #orchards ???

@brittkingery Pulled this trunk out of the trash pile at an estate sale yesterday. It might be a little past perfect patina, but I don't think it's ready for the curb just yet. What do you all think? #vintage #antiquetrunk #interiordecor #interiorstyling #eclectic #eclectichome #thrifted #thriftscorethursday — @brittkingery Pulled this trunk out of the trash pile at an estate sale yesterday. It might be a little past perfect patina, but I don’t think it’s ready for the curb just yet. What do you all think? #vintage #antiquetrunk #interiordecor #interiorstyling #eclectic #eclectichome #thrifted #thriftscorethursday

As usual, be sure to stop by my cohosts for more thriftiness! Click their beautiful faces below to head there next.

Bathroom Accessories + Bathroom Reno Progress

October 21, 2015 by CORINNA HENDERSON

Hey guys!

I’ve mentioned before that the design theme for the space is Global meets boho with craftsman inspired details. It’s tricky to choose accessories for the space because I’m trying to appease many different decor styles at once. One way I’ve decided to approach this is by mixing metallics. Mixing metallics is not only fun and visually interesting, but it’s a good way to marry different styles in one uniform space. The metallics I had chosen to work with were oil rubbed bronze and brass. That’s now changed to copper and oil rubbed bronze (I’ll explain later). There’s a lot of white in the space with pops of blues and teal and the combination of those two metallics will really set the mood for the space.

Because I’m a glutton for punishment, terrible at making decisions, and can’t commit- I have nothing to share today for the Calling It Home One Room Challenge besides purchases (Well… I did clear out the medicine cabinet and the cabinet above the toilet but that’s not exciting and I should have done that months ago).

It was brought to our attention during one of the contractors estimate visits that the faucet to our bathtub is original to the house. And that means it has no scald guard. I had a plan for incorporating them into the new design, but I knew it was the right thing to do upgrade this piece and that’s why we went with MOEN’s Ashville Shower/Tub faucet set. It has a large shower head and that old world feel. I think it’ll balance with some of the modern touches to the space, making it complex but pleasing to the eye.

The way I’m working in the copper element is through smaller pieces. The shelf brackets will be copper (I did start spray painting those, does that count as progress?), the vanity knobs and the cabinet above the toilet’s knobs will be copper. Another small dose of copper I’ve found are these copper bathroom accessories. I picked up this soap dish (I love handmade bar soaps) and this toothbrush holder.

I actually had prepared to admit I was still on the hunt for a mirror, but the Kichler wall mirror from wayfair was breifly back in stock with limited supply (I just so happened to be chcking in to purchase the copper bath accessories- how lucky!) and I pounced with free 2 day shipping- ALL I EVER DO IS WIN WIN WIN NO MATTER WHAT (not at all… but that song came to my head when it all happened). It is now the wrong color (the irony!) for the space, so I’m playing around with ideas for the finish.

Why I switched to copper? It turns out the towel bars and toilet paper holder that we received from MOEN have a hint of copper in the “worn” details. I loved the way it looked against the oil rubbed bronze and it was really that simple.

I also had a chance to do some online shopping at Anthropologie.com. Anthro is easily my latest addiction. I managed to pick up one of the Kana Footed Candles before they became no longer available. The one I picked up is in the scent red berry amber and it’s easily one of the most amazing things I’ve ever smelled! I also picked up one of the Adelaide Kitchenware pieces in the small canister size. The pattern and color will work perfectly for the bathroom. I’m thinking a DIY bath salt may end up being stored in here? And I just couldn’t pass up the Indigo Garland Bathroom Collection’s Tumbler.

I’ve also got a few more bath accessories: shower curtain rod (it’s a double rod and curved- it seems so luxurious since I’ve only ever experienced that in hotels before!), two towel bars to hang on the back of the door (I chose 18 inch bars so the door handle wouldn’t get in the way), curtain rings and toilet paper holder. Moen has provided these items to us for our remodel, but that doesn’t change my honest opinion that they’re beautiful and make me think of nice hotels.

I also took the plunge and ordered the “engineered global” and “threshold paisley” body towels and the “stitched stripe” hand towel from Target I mentioned in my towel decisions post (seriously- Target’s towel game is on fleek!). There seems to be a bit of a problem with the store pick up with my Target so I don’t know when I’ll get them.

Originally I wasn’t going to be replacing the tub, but my dad made a few valid points and it looks like we’re also getting a new bathtub for the space. So that’s a fun change, i.e. $$$. Here’s to hoping this all still happens within 6 weeks!

Part of why I am behind on this is because we decided to switch contractors last minute. My introverted self just learned that my neighbor is a contractor (we’ve lived here 3 years- it’s pathetic). So we’ve gotten a 4th quote from him and it looks like we’re going to work with him instead of the other company we had looked into. I’ll still put together that resource post for those of you who mentioned it would be helpful to know how we found the contractors we spoke with (it’ll just be after the challenge since I have a ton of catching up to do!)

Oh! I almost forgot. I made tassels. Can’t tell you why yet because it’ll spoil an adorable surprise, but I did and they’re cute and that’ll be coming soon! And I chatted about fabrics for DIY shower curtains yesterday! They’re seriously all so beautiful, I highly recommend you check that out!