Home Tour: Bathrooms

Here are some glimpses of our powder room & my kids’ shared bathroom.



We needed to use our small powder room as a spot for our kids to brush their hair & teeth in the morning.  We took advantage of the vertical space & added shelves above the toilet that store toiletries & extra bathroom supplies.







To see all the projects from this space, click here and here.



Upstairs, one of our full bathrooms is used by both our son & daughters.



The décor was inspired by the book Harry the Dirty Dog.



I painted the vanity black, framed the mirror, & added a black toilet seat to make this builder’s grade bathroom have a more custom look at an affordable price!



I hung a pair of striped curtains at ceiling height to create a more spacious feel & added art to the inside of the shower for the pretty factor.



Some framed pages from the book this look was inspired by fill up an empty wall.



Coral & white towels hang below the art.



Click here to see all the projects & sources for this space.



So, that completes the tour of finished spaces!  On Tuesday, I’ll share the plans I have for my son’s room with you.  Hopefully, I can add another room to the tour soon!

Perking Up the Powder Room

When you last saw the powder room, it was looking like this:



Although the wood shelves looked fine, they weren't really working well for the room.  The finish was rough & it was hard to wipe the dust & dirt off them.  I decided it was time for a quick makeover, so here is the room now:



The toilet got a new black seat (Home Emporium) & some new accessories (thrifted frames; candle holder from Target).



I painted the shelves white & gave them two coats of semi-gloss polycrylic.





The striped bins are from Target, as well as the faux succulents.  The bust (aka “pothead”) is from Hobby Lobby.

 

The ceramic shell is from Garden Ridge.  I believe the mirror is from Home Goods.  The perfume bottle is from Hobby Lobby.  The vase on the bottom shelf was thrifted & the sewing basket was my grandmothers.



I also grabbed a new hand towel & soap dispenser from Target.

I am really liking the brighter, happier vibe in here! Sharing here:

Stylish Storage

On Friday I shared the reveal of our half-bathroom makeover.  Today I am going to show you where all of our bathroom essentials are stored!

{Floating Shelves}

We stored extra toilet paper, toothbrushes, toothpaste, & feminine products in the basket on the top shelf.  The basket came from Garden Ridge a couple of years ago.

{Yes, I did just post that on the Internet for all to see!}

I hid the kids toothbrushes & toothpaste inside the shell bowl.  I found this shell for $9.99 at Garden Ridge.

{Shell Storage}

The blue basket on the bottom shelf was my grandmother's sewing basket.  I am using it to store extra toilet paper, flushable wipes, a hairbrush, detangler, & eyeglass cleaner.

{Hidden Storage}

I am so glad to finally have storage in this bathroom!  Having these essentials in one place will definitely save us some time in the morning.  

So, how do you conceal your bathroom necessities?

Sharing here:

i heart organizing

Organize It Party at Our Fifth House

Remodelaholic, At the Picket Fence, Be Different, Act Normal, Between Naps on the Porch, Blue Cricket Design, Crayon Freckles, DIY by Design, Evolution of Style, Miss Mustard Seed, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Serenity Now, Simple Home Life, The DIY Showoff, Thrifty Decor Chick, Somewhat Simple, Tatertots & Jello, Tip Junkie, Home Stories A to Z, Todays Creative Blog, House of Hepworths, The 36th Avenue, A Thoughtful Place

Handy Half Bath

Our tiny bathroom had no storage, & with three children to get ready in the mornings, I needed a place to stash their toothbrushes, hair supplies, & extra toilet paper.  On Wednesday, I showed you how my husband helped remedy this problem by building floating shelves in the recessed area above the toilet.  Today, I’ll show you how I brought style & functionality together to create a bathroom that finally works for our family.

  {Half Bathroom}

Here is what the bathroom looked like before the redo:

Before adding the shelves, I took down the large towel rack & filled in the holes.  Then I painted the walls Toasted Almond by Olympic Paints.  I love how much lighter the room is now!

We also changed the handle out on the toilet with a brushed nickel one.  It’s a great way to upgrade the toilet for a small amount of money!  The faux boxwood is from Michael’s.



I enjoyed shopping the house & a few stores for accessories for the shelves.  I bought the basket on the top shelf from Garden Ridge a couple of years ago.  The gold bowl on the second shelf was from a flower arrangement my mother-in-law gave me years ago.  I saved it because I loved it, but this is the first time I’ve been able to use it in my décor.  The silver tray is from Dollar Tree & the succulents-I-will-never-kill were about $10 from Target!  The candle holder & shell bowl on the third shelf were both from Garden Ridge.  The bottom shelf holds my grandmother’s sewing basket & tiny kitten figurine.  The mirror is from Marshall’s.



I’m kind of in love with this matted peacock print from Hobby Lobby.  It was originally $15.99, but I got it for half off.  I think it adds a little quirkiness to the room!  The frame was about $12 from Wal-Mart.



The sink portion of the bathroom was a little harder to photograph.  We replaced the large towel rod with a smaller towel ring & changed the toilet paper holder to match.  I also added a new soap dispenser.  It’s not my favorite soap dispenser ever, but I needed something that was plastic, since my five-year-old loves to play in the sink…urgh!  It came from Target & the hand towel is from Marshall’s.

Here is another shot of this side of the room:



I just love looking at this room now!  On Monday, I’ll show you where I hid the toilet paper, wipes, toothbrushes, toothpaste, hair accessories, eye glass cleaner, & more! 
 

I’d love for you to follow along as we upgrade our builder-basic home!  You can follow Designed to Dwell through Google Friend Connect or receive posts through e-mail.  Have a great weekend!

Sharing at some of these great blogs:

Remodelaholic, At the Picket Fence, Be Different, Act Normal, Between Naps on the Porch, Crayon Freckles, DIY by Design, Evolution of Style, Miss Mustard Seed, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Serenity Now, Simple Home Life, The DIY Showoff, Thrifty Decor Chick, Somewhat Simple, Tatertots & Jello, Tip Junkie, Home Stories A to Z, Todays Creative Blog, House of Hepworths, The 36th Avenue , Stuff & Nonsense, A Stroll Thru Life

Adding Storage In A Tiny Bathroom

The most-used bathroom in our house is also the smallest.  I would say the size of our half-bath is comparable to that of a coat closet!  Since we spend most of our time on the main floor, this bathroom sees a lot of traffic & needs a lot of storage.  We needed space to store extra toilet paper, toothpaste & toothbrushes (It's just easier if the kids brush their teeth downstairs after breakfast.), hairbrushes, & more!  With no room for a sink vanity, we decided to use the vertical space to fulfill our storage needs.

{Built-In Floating Shelves}

We decided to build these shelves in a recessed area above the toilet tank.  After deciding how many shelves we wanted, the amount of space between each shelf, the thickness of the shelves, & the amount of space needed above the toilet, my husband nailed a half-inch strip of wood along the three sides of wall to act as bracing for the shelves.  (If you are attempting this project, don't forget to make sure the braces are all level!)

{Shelf Braces}

Next, Mark cut the wood for the shelves.  We wanted our shelves to be 1 1/2 inches think, so we bought 1/2 inch thick sanded plywood.  He cut the top & bottom of each shelf to size & then cut & routed a molding strip for the front with a 1/2 inch bit.  

{Top, Bottom, & Front of Shelf}

After I stained (Minwax Early American) & applied polyurethane to each piece of wood, they were ready to be installed.  Mark nailed in the top & bottom of each shelf to the braces.

{Shelves Before Front Molding}

Finally, Mark added the front strip of molding to complete our custom shelves.

{Finished Floating Shelves}

Here is another view of the recessed area:

{Floating Shelves}

Here is what the room looked like before the shelves:

{Before}

I'm so glad to finally have space to store all the bathroom essentials!  Friday I should be back to show you the finished room!  I've been having a good time styling the shelves!  See you then!

Remodelaholic, At the Picket Fence, Be Different, Act Normal, Between Naps on the Porch, Blue Cricket Design, Crayon Freckles, DIY by Design, Evolution of Style, Miss Mustard Seed, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Serenity Now, Simple Home Life, The DIY Showoff, Thrifty Decor Chick, Somewhat Simple, Tatertots & Jello, Tip Junkie, Home Stories A to Z, Todays Creative Blog, House of Hepworths, The 36th Avenue