Adding Some Interest.

Our master bath is a place that I barely share with you guys.  I literally had to hunt down the last post I mentioned the space in {which happened to be here}, because I could not remember off the top of my head.  Don't worry, you haven't been missing much.  Since the shower doors went up, there wasn't really much else that happened in there.  I knew it needed some attention in order to feel finished, but other spaces...like our living area or our bedroom...took precedence.

Well a couple weeks ago...wait no, it was months...as in, I did this right before Christmas...I decided to pay some much-needed attention to our bathroom.  It definitely needed "something".  My brain was telling me the answer was a wall full of tile, but my bank account was telling me that a stencil would work just as well. ;)

After conquering my fear of stenciling in our hallway, I was pretty sure I could handle a single wall in our bathroom.  So I hopped online and searched for a pattern that felt right.  I came across Cutting Edge Stencil's Retro Flame all-over stencil and I was sold!  It would be the perfect accent in our bathroom.  And since our 1950's walls are never level, the irregular zig-zags would help to hide any flaws.

Around 10PM on a random Sunday night, I got busy stenciling {like most normal people do}.  I removed the large mirror above our vanity, and hubby's towel holder {after I took the picture}.  I had a blank slate to start with.

I figured that stenciling around the back of the toilet would be the hardest part of this whole process, but I was wrong.  Since I could not figure out how to remove our beautiful light fixture from the wall {I even went so far as to Google the installation manual, with no luck}, I had to work my way around it.  Not the easiest task, but I managed.

In the process, I may or may not have melted part of my stencil onto a light bulb because a piece of it was laying on the fixture as I was diligently working.  {High five to my forehead!}

I used the same method as I did with the hallway.  I sprayed the back of my stencil with some Easy Tack spray adhesive and let it tack up for a couple seconds.  Then I stuck it to the wall and secured the corners with painter's tape {sometimes I didn't even need the tape.}  Then I used a small foam roller to apply the paint to the stencil.  Remember, when you are stenciling, less is more.  The more paint you try to gob on, the more it will bleed under the stencil.  You can "off-load" some paint by rolling your roller onto a paper towel before you paint the wall.

The way I got around the light fixture was cutting my stencil.  Yup, I pretty much knew it'd be a one-time-use for me because of doing this, but I was okay with that.  I knew I needed to chop it up into a couple pieces so I could fit around the light, and it worked.  Unfortunately, it makes the stencil less rigid in certain areas of the pattern, so painters tape came in handy to hold things in place.

It adds a lot more interest, don't you think?  Hopefully I'll get around to giving you guys a full reveal of our {almost} completed master bath that you may have peaked at during our house tour feature last week! :)

Master Closet...Check!

Even though our master bedroom isn't quite masterful yet...our ensuite closets finally are!

Remember when I described our master closet situation here???  Yea, well that was the last time I discussed that space.  I finally decided it was about time I switched my focus from the living areas of our home to the ensuite area.  Our closet systems have been installed since a day or two before Christmas, but that doesn't mean my belongings where put away properly or had a permanent resting place since then.  I have basically been throwing stuff in and out of there...and rearranging things as we spent more time in our new home.

And now that we have our Craiglisted furniture all painted and in place, I had no excuses left...I needed to get my closet finished and fully functional.

The process was a little annoying and involved a lot of trying on clothes and tossing the things that I didn't love or didn't fit into a donate pile.  Once I purged all that I could {I still have way too much haha}, I put everything on these slim hangers from Bed Bath & Beyond.  I love them.  They grip my clothing with their velvety texture and they take up minimal rod space.

Ever since I finished my closet, getting dressed in the morning is as easy as can be.  It helps a lot to have all my clothing organized and displayed right in front of me.  I mean, I still have the "I have nothing to wear" moments quite frequently...and then I want to Gibbs head slap myself because of the amount of clothing I own haha.  {That was a NCIS reference...anyone else out there watch that show?!?!?}

To help me trim down my wardrobe in the future {aka - keep me from hoarding junk I don't wear}, I'm implementing a technique.  All of my hangers face the same way on each rod.  When I wear something, I will flip the hanger the other way.  This will help me to wear more pieces, and it will also help me to keep track of things need to go into a donate pile.  {I read somewhere that we only wear 20% of our wardrobe...yikes!}

So enough babbling on my part...here are some pictures {yes, without the doors on} of my closet.  Please, don't judge too harshly.  I'm painfully aware that my closet is so boring and stark white.  I have dreams of jazzing it up with some paint and possible stenciling, but that project would involve a crazy amount of time, patience and taping.  Perhaps I'll tackle that after alllllllllllll the other projects on my to-do list. :)

The only thing missing in here is my jewelry.  That just wouldn't fit...so I have something else planned for accessory organization.  More on that project when I actually get around to doing it!  {The weather around here has not been suitable for spray painting lately.  Booooo!}

Hopefully my "mission organization" attitude continues, and I can tackle our nightmare-ish hall closets ASAP!  Anyone else organize something lately?!?!

Shower Glass & Birthday Wishes...

Our main bath wasn't the only place that received some special treatment over the past couple weeks!  Several weeks ago our master bath finally became a true bathroom...when the shower glass was installed.  And shame on me for not sharing the install pictures with you all!!  I don't know how I let that slip!

So here we go.  Our shower went from this...

To this!  {Yes, the blue tape is from the installers.  It needed to remain on the glass for 24 hours.}

L-O-V-E!!!!  Even though our master bath isn't the biggest space, it feels so open and airy due to our frameless shower.  When I designed our bathroom, I was quite nervous about how much our custom glass would cost, but it totally helps to make the space and was one of our smartest splurges!!

There is still so much to do for this space in the way of decor and personal touches.  {Realistically, that needs to happen to every room in our entire house...so baby steps people haha.}  I even want to add a piece of cabinetry in the corner next to the shower.  I found one that goes with our vanity, but it's very pricey {between $489-$500...yikes}!

Most likely, I will be hunting around for a similar cabinet that costs MUCH less, but hopefully looks just as great.

And I can't end this post without announcing that it is someone special's birthday today!  This little guy is the big 0-5 today!

I can't wait to treat this cute fluff ball to some kitty-like birthday cake {aka - tuna...his favorite}!

One Last Look...

Today is a big day.  Our floors are getting some much needed TLC.  I stopped at the house after work last night to make sure everything was moved off the hardwoods and to take a few “before” pictures...you know, so we could remember how awful our floors used to be. ;)

It was crazy to see how open our house looked {minus the fridge in the dining room} because we’ve had so many boxes, random furniture projects, supplies and tools all over our living area for months now.

{Warning: my camera flash was NOT cooperating with me during these pictures…so most of them are entirely too yellow and don’t show the true colors of the house. :(  My apologies…and, I promise I’ll try harder next time.}

View from in the kitchen. {Yes, I know we need to paint all the drawers still.}

And again.

One last time.

View from the living room.  {Yup, those are outdoor porch chairs that have served as seating in our house thus far.  Hey, we gotta work with what we got haha.}

Another shot.

View from the dining room towards the kitchen.

And again.

One last time.

View from the fireplace down the hallway to the bedrooms.

And into the kitchen.  {The bar counter supports are only primed...they need to be painted to match the wall color still.}

View from the hallway towards the living area.

Hallway corner towards guest bedroom #2 and the master bedroom.

Horrible lighting, but view into the master bedroom.

Our awesome new fandelier (chandelier + ceiling fan).

Such a pretty glow.

Another shot, with the high hat lights turned off.

Lighting is still not right in this picture.

This is the best depiction of the true wall color.

And back to bad lighting in my pictures.  Grrrrrrrrr.

View from master bath towards the master bedroom.

Some master bath lovin'....just because I love how it's turning out.

Towel bars.

Master shower...just needs some glass!

All shower trim is now installed.

Our shiny, new faucets.

Guest bedroom #2 with fan/light installed and paint colors on the walls.  {We taped off our vents for when the floors get sanded.  We already had our air ducts cleaned, and we didn't want to have to do it again.}

The floor of my closet....old and new hardwoods.

I really can't wait to see what kind of impact the newly stained floors make in our home!   I can't wait to share some "after" pictures!