A simple vanity update

When we first purchased our house, the bathroom was hideous.  We planned on upgrading it, but not until we did the other rooms first.

Just a couple weeks into living here, we just couldn't stand it anymore.  It looked like this:


It's very large for a bathroom, but there was just an ugly, inefficient wall mounted sink, a toilet that hardly flushed and there was no storage.  But the worst part was the peachy pink everything. 

We pulled up the pink linoleum and put down bamboo flooring, then put in a new white toilet and double vanity.

We added the large white kick panel to the base to hide the ugly plumbing coming up from the floor.  But the sink base always looked like it belonged in a hospital to me, it was so plain and sterile looking. 

Last week, we removed the panel. 

See the ugly pipe?  So far, the plan is to find a paint color close to the floor and paint it so it's not so noticeable.

I also replaced the drawer pulls for just a few dollars and that has helped the look a lot.  

I have more plans for updating the vanity, but this week (and probably next week too) we'll be installing new ceiling lights, patching the hole in the ceiling, making some vanity lights, painting and putting baseboard back up. 

Christina

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Dining tables in the kitchen?

It's been a slow week around here project-wise.  I had a pretty big project that I spent the last couple months planning and preparing for, all the supplies were purchased and a couple posts were even written already, because I couldn't wait to share it with you.  Unfortunately, the whole thing fell through.

I've been working on the new site over at WordPress, which is taking A LOT longer than I expected.  Because of that, I will likely have to take a couple days off from writing so we can get this switch over with.  So, I will not be here Friday, but I will be back on Monday. 

Oh, and don't forget that Google Reader is shutting down in two weeks!  So if you're following through that, you can switch over to: Feedly, BlogLovin (here is my RSS address if you use a different reader) or email delivery.

You can also follow on Twitter (I usually tweet my posts), or Facebook (I sometimes link my posts).

In the mean time, I've been seeing this a lot lately:

Jennifer Eisenstadt via Lindsey Adelman

Dining tables in the kitchen instead of an island.  Is this a new trend or have I just never noticed before? 

I think it looks great, but I'm not sure how practical it would be.  I would constantly have bruises from running into chairs.  What do you think about it? (And did you notice the white and gold Falcon stove?  So pretty.)

Christina

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Simplify: Turning photos into photo books

I love going through old photos.

But do you know how many times I've gone through these physical photos in the last 10 years?  You could probably count them on one hand.

They have been sitting in the attic just like this for the last 3 years, taking up space, and not being used.  We have digital copies of almost all of them.  But I didn't want to just throw away the physical ones.  It's so much more fun to look at physical copies than digital ones, isn't it?

Still, as much fun as it is, we don't do it.  I thought of a better way: take our favorites--the highlights from each year--and have one photo book made per year.

I used Blurb to make mine, and I do recommend them.  It was very customizable, so I got to keep it simple, and I even got to use my own fonts.

I started with 2006, the year we got married (and got our first digital camera).  I plan on doing a separate one for our wedding, and then one for each year since. 

I can't wait to get the rest of them done so I can toss all of these photo boxes!

The best part is that these books are small (mine is 7" x 7") and simple, and can be kept in the living room to browse whenever we want, and they will take up so little shelf space.

Disclaimer: I did receive the book for free, courtesy of Blurb, but I was NOT asked to do anything (like write this post) in exchange for the book.  I was already planning this project, so when the offer came in from Blurb, I took it.  If I wasn't satisfied with the book, I had no intention of recommending it on my blog.  But I love it!  So here we are!   

Blurb has given me a discount code for you as well!  If you'd like to make your own photo book by June 30th, go here and use the code BOOKSFORSUMMER for 15% off. 

Do you have boxes of photos around that you never look at?  Would you consider photo books? 

Christina

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Design, Basically: Style

Today, for the Design, Basically series, I want to encourage you to get familiar with furniture styles. You don't need to memorize them or be able to name a particular style when you see it, but it is important to become acquainted with styles.

Star Furniture | click on image to see an expanded graphic

It's so easy for us to dismiss rooms as not being our style, so we just stick to decor we already like.  I have future posts planned for discussing your personal taste and defining your own style, but before we get there, it's really important to know what's out there.  As Hazel and Julius Rockow said in my favorite design book New Creative Home Decorating:

In fairness to yourself, your taste should be based on knowledge.  It should be enlightened and reasoned, not based on whim or caprice.  You should come to know different styles of furniture.  You should know what these styles express.  You should also know which effects can be expressed, which cannot, with these styles. 

Chicago Appraisers Association

To most of us, studying furniture styles is not the most exciting thing.  But if you're interested in becoming a quality DIY decorator, it is important.

If we cannot have connoisseurship in the young decorators, I would settle for a few history lessons. There is so little awareness of classical Greece, the neoclassical period, the eighteenth century, and the first half of the twentieth century. Without a foundation the house will crumble.  --Albert Hadley

Your tastes won't change completely from studying other styles.  But, if you take a little time to introduce yourself to them--just like conversing with another person and sincerely listening to a point of view that's different from yours--it will only help to challenge, round out and balance your own style. 

Christina

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