Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Shabby Chic Bathroom

Functional, but not very pretty!

Total Remodel of a manufactured home bathroom.


This is not an actual picture of our bathroom. For some reason I never got a picture of it before it was remodeled, but this bathroom is pretty much identical to what it looked like, minus the ugly green carpet. 

I kept putting off doing anything with the bathroom because I just wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. 
As it turned out, that was a good thing, because 3 years later, we realized there was a leak in the tub that was creating unseen damage. It had apparently been going on for a while, we just didn't realize it. 

We contacted a contractor to get an estimate to fix it, and he asked us if we realized our insurance would pay for the damage. Nope, we did not realize that! 

Our insurance company was super good about this and approved the repairs very quickly. The plan was to pull out everything, replace the floor and 2 walls before replacing the  tub, and reinstall the sink and toilet..

Since the insurance company was paying for the work, we decided to buy a new toilet, sink/vanity and corner shower rather than have items we really didn't like reinstalled. Instead of the carpet being replaced, we chose tiles for the floor. 

Once they were done, I was left with a very pretty bathroom, but also very white and plain.. It took me awhile to decide what I wanted to do with it, but after about a year, I got busy decorating it. 


This is a very small bathroom, and I have a lot of stuff that goes in it, so storage space was the most important thing to figure out. 



 I put tongue and groove 3/4 high on 3 of the walls, painting it and all the trim country white (I love the creamy color of country white), and wallpapered one full wall and the top 1/4 of the rest of the walls. 

John helped me with this shelf by connecting 5 crystal door knobs from the back of the shelf.. These things are so securely attached, they will never come loose, and I can hang everything from towels to my pj's on them. 




 I had one roll of this rosebud wallpaper that I'd purchased at Lowes when they discontinued selling wallpaper.. I think I paid $2 for the roll.. I loved it but hadn't had anywhere to use just one roll.. I got online and tried to find another roll, but it was a discontinued style.. After a lot of searching, I was able to locate one roll on ebay, which gave me JUST enough to finish the room.. 

I had purchased the border years before somewhere, but never had the perfect place to use it, till now.. 


We picked out a curved corner shower unit, which saved a lot of space.. It has glass doors, but I added the lace shower curtain just because I thought it looked much prettier than a plain old shower door. 




I  collect Chantilly Perfume..
Chantilly was launched in 1941 and I love all the different bottles it's been sold in since then. 
Unfortunately, today's Chantilly is not yesterday's Chantilly. It smells the same, but it's so watered down, the scent only lasts for a short time.. The old Chantilly had a fragrance that lingered all day long.. 

This little alcove created by the shower is the perfect place to
display all my pretty pink chantilly. 

The cabinet they sit on holds clean towels, cleaning supplies, toidy paper, etc.. 


This pretty curved vanity and sink was exactly what I was looking for, and we were lucky to nab one on super clearance from Lowes, as it was the last one..
We had purchased the faucet quite a few years earlier, when we still lived in Southern Michigan. It was a high end faucet on super clearance at Mernard, so we had bought it.. I was excited to have a place to finally use it. 
An unexpected bonus is that the handles on the faucet match the new toilet handle perfectly.

Although I really love the way this vanity fits in with the shabby chic theme, I have to admit, I would never buy a bathroom vanity with a black top again. 
It is so hard to keep this thing clean. 
I'm constantly wiping it clean.





The vanity came with little gold knobs, but I replaced them with shabby pink glass knobs.. I also added two tall, narrow cabinets on both sides of the toilet, topped with a shelf for more storage space.. I used the pretty pink knobs on those units, too... 
 I wanted to cover this shelf with something rather than paint it, but I couldn't find shelf liner in the color I wanted. 
I made my own with pink gingham fabric and an iron on product called Thermoweb Iron On Vinyl . I purchased it from Amazon because it wasn't available locally, but I'm sure they probably carry it in fabric stores or Hobby Lobby.
It was simple to do.. I washed and dried my fabric, ironed it and the applied the iron on vinyl according to the directions.. I can wipe it down with a damp cloth and it's tough! I haven't had it rip or tear anywhere. 


 I love decorative boxes and have collected them for a long time. They hold headbands, hair bands, barrettes, my makeup, makeup brushes, vitamins, Q-tips, Aspirin, all kinds of things.. 

I love Bath and Body Work products, and this shelf is a great place to keep them, and display them, because their containers are always so pretty!
The mirror that was in here was just a plain square mirror. I found this beautiful oval one at Home Depot for about $30... With the curve of the vanity and the shower, the oval shape fits in beautifully. 
 The doors in the house were all those hollow doors with the wood grain fused on paper.. We replaced three doors on the other end of the house because we disliked the fake woodgrain look so much.. 
I wanted to replace the doors on this end, too, but we just hadn't gotten around to it.. I noticed that a tiny little edge of the fake woodgrain was peeling towards the bottom of this door.. I took ahold of it and pulled, and a large piece of it ripped off, much like wallpaper. I just kept peeling and before I knew it, I had peeled all of it off.. Then I started on the other side of the door and went to work on the closet door in the hallway.. It all came off perfectly clean.. I washed down the doors, then painted them country white.. What a difference! Wish I'd figured this out before we went to the bother of replacing the 3 doors early on. 

I picked out these coral ceramic tiles from Home Depot and the carpenters laid them.. I was worried about the floor being cold in the winter, but it really isn't an issue.. 

I found two little quilted rugs on ebay from a lady who makes them by hand.. I think they're really pretty. 


Many years ago, John brought this container home from work.. It had housed some sort of cleaning product inside a plastic liner, so the container had remained completely clean. It's very thick cardboard with a metal bottom and metal rim along the top. 


I bought a large round piece of wood from a craft store and then painted the whole thing with acrylic paints. I finished it off with a clear acrylic spray for protection and added a clear glass knob on the top.. I use it as a clothes hamper, and have done so for years.. It's held up better than any hamper I could have purchased at the store and it's very unique.. 
I have a lot of stuff in this little bathroom, but it works! 
It stays very organized and it just feels very girly and frilly..  I love my perfumes, lotions and bath products, and it's fun having a shabby chic bathroom to keep them all on display.

It feels like my own, private, pretty little sanctuary!

2 comments:

  1. I just found your blog and I absolutly LOVE the remodeling you've done in this bathroom! The sweet touches you've added makes this bathroom feel super cozy! Thanks for sharing.

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