Master Bathroom Makeover: Painted Card Catalog Cabinets

We are so close to being at the end of this bathroom makeover tunnel.  I'm seeing the light and it is glorious!  There are just 2 items left on my to-do list, and I can stick a fork in this room.  Okay, that figure of speech doesn't work at all in that context.  But you get it. (Update:  You can now see our full bathroom reveal!)

One huge step for this space, which I had been putting off for too long was painting our builder grade cabinets.  To be honest, I was scared.  This wasn't like a piece of furniture that I could take out to the garage and strip a bad paint job or give up on altogether if it didn't go well.  These were cabinets.  There was no turning back if my DIY went awry.

But you know what I realized?  I had nothing to be afraid of!  It was all in my head.  And if I royally messed it up, at least they weren't our kitchen cabinets.  (Hence why I considered this practice for that big space one day.)  Robert and I are the only ones who see these cabinets so no pressure.

Here's how they looked before.

I'll admit; they really weren't bad at all.  And they were at least on the more high end of the builder grade scale.  But they had a reddish tint that drove me nuts.  Red and I don't get along usually.

I didn't document every single step on this one since this was my trial run, but now that I'm the "expert" (definitely need quotations there), I'm sure you'll be seeing one at some point.  For now, you can check out this really thorough one about how to paint cabinets that Laura from The Turquoise Home posted.  I didn't follow her method completely, but it had some great tips.

I did learn a few things along the way that I know I'll do differently next time though.

I chose some label drawer pulls that are the same ones I used on our faux planked coffee table in black.  

I love how they can instantly give a piece that vintage flair; they help organize odds and ends; and best of all, they're cheap for less than $1 each!  Everyone's happy...or at least I am.

Since our bathroom cabinets usually end up with grime on them from makeup or hair products or drips from face washing, I decided to laminate my labels with these Scotch laminating sheets that I picked up in the office supply section of Walmart.

Now they'll be protected from all that messy business.

For our cabinet doors, I bought these hammered black ones that already have that aged, worn look I love.

For the paint, I chose Winter Gates by Benjamin Moore in semi-gloss.  

I admit, I was nervous when I painted on the first coat of this color because I was worried it was too close to our wall color, Pediment by Sherwin Williams.  But I like that it's not dark so it brightens up the room.

Our bathroom feels so much bigger now!

That jewelry organizer I shared yesterday fits right in.

And the labels really help to organize our drawers.  Although, we still have a two year-old who likes to do us the favor of rearranging it all for us.  Ya know, just to keep things interesting.  That little booger.

I still want a rug of some kind for the floor to break up all of the gray.  It's nice having this peaceful space to get ready, even if getting ready in the mornings can be chaotic.

I need another glimpse at the before shot of our bathroom from last year.  

Definitely not as plain anymore, huh?

You'll be seeing a little more next week with a full reveal and source list coming soon.  

What do you think so far?  Have you been brave enough to paint your cabinets before?  Do you have any tips for tackling bigger cabinet spaces like a kitchen?  Are you a card catalog pull junkie too?

If you liked this project, be sure to check out this one too: (Just click the image.)

Blessings,

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Walking the Plank: Master Bathroom Progress

Back in the fall of 2013, when Robert and I were all dreamy eyed as we poured over the limitless builder options in the blueprint phase of our house, there were two things that were absolute must-haves for me- a pantry (that is now ridiculously organized) and a big garden tub in our master bathroom.  

We've definitely gotten our upgrade's worth out of our pantry...our tub, well, guess how many times I've used it.  Twice.  

But I think that's all about to change now that it looks like this!

For 6 months though, we'd been looking at this:  

(Side note- I'm amazed how far I've come in my photography skills in that amount of time too. Sheesh!)

We ran out of paint when we tackled this bathroom back in August and knew we'd be putting in a plank wall anyway, so eh, whatever.  Well...we thought we'd get right on installing that plank wall.  We should have known better.  We DIY at a snail's speed, if snails could DIY.

Last week, I shared with y'all how I made some weathered wood stain and the planks ended up the perfect color I was going for.

But, the thing is, if you're going to install a plank wall in your bathroom, where it has to handle lots and lots of moisture, you have to seal it.  Otherwise, the wood can swell and warp and do all kinds of wonky business you definitely don't want.

I happened to already have half a quart of polyurethane, so I brushed on two coats.  The poly changed the color of my planks so that they had less of that gray tone that I loved.  No biggie but an itty bitty downer.

The whole process was really fast, and Olivia oversaw the whole operation, so you know it came out awesome. ;)  We owe it all to her fine management skills.

There are like 34,875 plank wall tutorials out there, so here's the gist.  

Nail your plank into studs.

Space the planks out with nickels or quarters.

Repeat as necessary.  And you're done!  See?  That wasn't so hard. 

Ladies and gentlemen, I think we've just broken the record for the shortest tutorial ever on Bless'er House.

I'm going on strike against winter, but apparently, our weather forecast didn't get the memo that it's still January because it was sunny and in the high 60s today!  

My spring inspired wall decor only seems fitting then.

I plan on putting a little something on that bare wall above the faucet, but I haven't gotten to that point yet.  I'm thinking maybe a pretty sign that says something like "This is my happy place."

I picked up this pretty wreath from Target to give the wall some extra oomph and it smells amazing.

This little caddy and jars came from the dollar store of all places!  I just filled them up with bath salts, body scrub, and lotion for a little pampering sesh.

Even though I know these won't last long with Olivia playing with anything in her reach, my madeover Goodwill candle holders are lovely here too.

I wonder if I'll even be able to part ways with my Audubon prints when fall rolls around in 8 months.  Probably not.

What do you think?  Does this space say builder grade to you?  Or are we finally getting somewhere on this quest for creating our cottage?

As usual, one thing led to another in here, so I'll have even more to show you later on.  We're only halfway there.

I think a bubble bath is in order for tonight (for only the third time ever).  Maybe now I'll at least get more use out of it and make it my escape.  Any parent of a two year-old needs a little oasis sometimes, right?  

Have you done anything to jazz up your builder grade bathroom?  Or maybe attempted a plank wall yourself?  Is it totally bizarre to you that the plank style is coming back after growing up with it 30+ years ago?  Totally figures.

Blessings,

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The Most Natural, Inexpensive Way to "Stain" Wood

There was one particular type of day in high school that was always the best.

It wasn't pizza day at lunch or free day in gym or even movie day in English class. (Why in the world did the Demi Moore version of The Scarlet Letter have to have so many bathing scenes in it?)

Nope.  The best day of all was science lab day.  We built bridges and made a hovercraft and even constructed potato guns...ahem...I mean vegetable accelerators, as my physics teacher had to clarify. (Apparently making potato guns was already a regular pasttime for a lot of boys in the backwoods of our small town.) 

Ten years later, I still have my own science lab days, except without the use of tuber artillery.  Yesterday, I conducted a little experiment of my own on our upcoming bathroom plank wall project.

And I discovered that I am never going back to staining wood as long as I can help it.  This method rocked my world, y'all!

I'd heard about several variations of wood oxidation before, so I put them to the test to find that perfect barnwood finish.  

It took all of 30 minutes of "labor", was really easy clean-up, didn't require the use of any harsh synthetic chemicals, and only cost me $2 since most of what I needed was already hanging out in my pantry.  Boom, baby!  That's what I'm talkin' about.

Going into this little experiment, I knew I was looking for a rich wood tone with a little hint of gray.  

On a scrap piece of wood, I tried all kinds of combinations of mixing steel wool grades and types of vinegar, and discovered that 0000 grade steel wool is the best for the impatient DIYer who doesn't want to wait an entire week to do this.  

Apple cider vinegar gives a more gray tint than the white distilled kind.  Brushing wood with coffee brings out more of the brown tones of wood while black tea brings out the gray.  

In the end, this was the winning method for me.  

On my 13 1x6 pine boards, I used:

• 2 cups of boiling water
• 4 family size tea bags (I used Luzianne.)
• 1 steel wool pad of 0000 grade
• 16 ounces of apple cider vinegar (White House brand to be exact.)
• 2 cheap chip brushes

To prep it, I let the 4 tea bags steep in the 2 cups of boiling water for 24 hours to make it really strong (I left the tea bags in the entire time).  For the oxidizing stain, I combined the steel wool pad and vinegar in a bowl and let it sit overnight.  

Then the fun began!

To pull the tanins out of the wood, I brushed it all down with the tea and let it sit for an hour.

(Below) The left 3 planks are plain and the right 3 planks are brushed with the tea.

After the hour mark, I brushed the wood with the steel wool / apple cider vinegar mixture, and it instantly turned gray.  I was nearly jumping up and down with excitement. (I get excited over things that many "normal" people would probably think is crazy.)

5 minutes later, the color deepened and I knew it was going to be gorgeous!

After 15 minutes...

...and 30 minutes...

...and 1 hour, I had my perfectly aged wood.  Insert fan girl squeel!  

There were a few spots I had to go back over and apply a little more of the oxidizing stain that left a few blotches, but I'll sand them down a bit to even it out.  And I think the imperfections give it a more realistic barnwood look anyway. 

It almost reminds me of that glorious wood from my in-laws' "magic barn" that I'm a bit infatuated with.  I'm so ready to get this plank wall up in our bathroom now!  I might have to celebrate with something crazy like a science lab rocket launch. ;)

If you're fan-girling this method too, be sure to check out these:  

(Just click the images to see the posts.)

Blessings,

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