House & Bounty

Random Project Updates

FOYER: The foyer is “in progress” as I still need to put a veneer on the top of the console table. I received the Elm veneer last week but realized that 1) I couldn’t buy the glue to attach the veneer locally and 2) I couldn’t use two small pieces of veneer to create the size I needed (it’s not recommended with this type of glue/attachment method). Oye. I placed another order for a larger piece of veneer and the glue. I’m hoping that it will arrive soon and we can complete the table this week. We completely sanded off the old veneer, so the surface is prepped and ready to go. Small victories! 🙂

Here are a couple of sneak peaks of various pieces for the foyer.

TABLE: Remember that cute little table I was trying to refinish a couple of weeks ago? Well I’ve done as much as I could with a sander but I’m at a stand still with how to tackle the nooks and crannies. I’ve just bought a set of wire brushes, so I hope that I can apply some paint strippers and use the brushes to remove the last bits of paint. The table top is another conundrum. I’ve sanded the entire thing and it looks better but there is a lot of damage. I don’t mind the look of it–it definitely adds character but I would like to actually use the table, so the uneven surface would be difficult to write on. I’m considering just trying wood filler, and seeing how that looks. If it’s bad, I guess I could put a piece of veneer on top. Thoughts/suggestions?

NEW PROJECT: Since the foyer project will (hopefully) be coming to a close soon, Jer and I started our next project this weekend. It was mostly just demoing and prepping the room. Here’s a sneak peak of what we’re working on now.

The Look For Less

Sometimes I see dupes so similar it stops me in my tracks. Here are a couple that I’ve recently seen.

One Kings Lane, Hobby Lobby

This One Kings Lane lamp by Dana Gibson is so cute and whimsical. While browsing at Hobby Lobby, I saw nearly the exact pattern on one of their lamps. The duped version is much more petite, so it may not have that same statement piece effect, but it definitely can give the room the same whimsy vibes. It’s also on sale right now for $39.99. WOW!

Rejuvenation, Amazon

The rounded corners on these two mirrors give a more modern look. Both the Rejuvenation and Amazon versions come in similar finishes and sizes. The Amazon version has a recessed mirror while the rejuvenation one is more flush with the frame.

Living Room Tour

You saw a little glimpse of the living room last week, and now it’s time for the official walk through. The living room is in the front of the house and is right off the entry. It opens up into the dining room that sits behind it. It has two large windows and gets great light.

The room is on the small side. It’s only 14.5 ft x 11.25 ft. Below is the picture from the realtor listing, so this is a pretty accurate representation of what it looked like when we bought the house. I think the picture gives the illusion that it’s larger than it really is.

Major elements (carpeting, trim, etc.) have not changed, but adding in furniture and decor has helped the room feel more like us. When I was working out the floor plan, I knew I wanted this room to feel intimate with all the seating facing each other. I tried a couple of different floor plans, but landed on having a loveseat and two chairs.

The chairs flank the window and I knew we needed a table between them but the height of the table was really important. It needed to be short, so that it didn’t block the view. I remember searching for months and finally found a table at HomeGoods. This room also has no overhead lighting, so I needed to add a few lighting sources. The floor lamp behind the chair is the main lighting and really illuminates the entire room. It also has a dimmer, so it can easily be adjusted if needed.

Behind the love seat is an old console table that I’ve had since 2010. The wood is dark and I occasionally think about painting it so it fits in with “light and airy” feeling of the room, but part of me likes it. The console table has a shelf on the bottom with two large baskets that stores my son’s crafts supplies (among other things). On top of the console table is a lamp for more lighting and a collection of family pictures. I don’t typically love having a large number of things on a table because it can be distracting, but a few years ago I saw a tour of Kate Spade’s apartment on Youtube and she had a table of nothing but family pictures. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I decided to give a try. I do love it–mostly because this is one of the few places in the house with family pictures. I smile every time I visit the table.

The coffee table in this room (okay, maybe I should title this post: Jenny Loves to Discuss Tables) is round and has a gray washed finished. The round table really works for this small space and we use it all the time to play games. I don’t love the gray color (the tone is a little cooler than I thought when I purchased it online), but everything else about it is perfect. Maybe one day I’ll try to sand it down.

The chairs and love seat were purchased from HomeGoods and I love each of them. None of them match but they all have a similar tone and transitional design, so they work well together.

The chair closest to the entry (below) is actually a lazy boy recliner. My husband loves a recliner and I really liked the club chair look of this one, so it seemed like a great compromise. It doesn’t get used much as a recliner. I’m, surprisingly(!), the one who will bust it out to lounge and relax. I think because it’s more on the petite side and put in a corner, it’s not as inviting for my husband.

The view of the loveseat was a little more challenging to get straight on, so we did the best we could. The loveseat is probably my favorite piece in the room. It’s deep and has removable cushions (a necessity for me). It’s comfortable and stylish.

When you first enter the house, you get a glimpse of the living room on the left. The sight lines are nice from this point of view and the DIY XL Art is a big focal point.

Most of the major pieces of this room are in place (furniture, rug and now art), but there are still some other big changes that need to happen along with a handful of small ones. The major changes include changing out the carpet for hardwood floors, upgrading the trim to thicker and bulkier pieces, and possibly opening up the wall and exposing the staircase (not sure if this is even possible, but a girl can dream). The little things include changing out the outlet/switchplate covers, hanging the curtains higher (and hemming them if needed), replacing the blinds with a roman shade, adding some color by replacing the pillow covers, adding a tray and replacing some frames on the console table.

In many ways this room is exactly what I like. It’s neutral and comfortable. When I’m in it, I’m happy and relaxed. I know it’s not the most adventurous or design-heavy room, but this room just feels right.

Entry Progress: Update & Refinishing the Console Table

The entry is coming along. I’ve purchased everything for the room and I’m just waiting on a three items to arrive! I’ve also made progress on the console table project. I briefly mentioned last week that I ordered this entry table but wanted a natural wood finish instead of a painted one. Overstock sells a wood-finish version of the table but it’s been sold out for months.

I was nervous about sanding it down–how would it look? To my great relief, the finish sanded off easily and revealed beautiful natural wood. The drawers really caught my attention. The elm wood REALLY stands out!

The front of the console cleaned up nicely, too!For this project, I used the Black & Decker Mouse Sander with 60 and 80 grit sandpaper. I purchased this variety pack of sandpaper from Amazon. The sandpaper is slightly larger than the Black & Decker brand, but it works perfectly fine and it’s more affordable.

I was pumped with how everything was coming out, but when I started sanding the top I realized that the center portion of the table was actually a veneer and sanding exposed particle board. If you look at the picture below, you can see the particle board exposed at the corners of the center piece. At first, I just tried to be really light when sanding hoping that I could salvage it, but it became clear that I was going to have to come up with a way to fix it.

I emailed the manufacturer of the table and asked if I could purchase the veneer from them. They wrote me back and said they don’t use veneer on this product. Okay…so I checked with a few local hardware stores and none of them sold large pieces of veneer. After searching online, I ordered raw Elm wood veneer from a store that is run by a husband and wife. I’ll share all the details after I received it. Honestly, I’m pretty nervous about this part of the project, but I’ve done my research and I have a plan. Fingers crossed.

Besides installing the new furniture and hanging things on the wall, we need to change out the outlet covers and switch plates. Just like in the bathroom, I ordered these white metal covers. The light switches and outlets are currently an almond color which has yellowed over the years, so they look a little gross. I hope by next week the table is ready and the outlets/switches are updated, so we can put the room together! Fingers crossed.

Chinoiserie Lamp Roundup

I always loved the blue and white patterned jars and vases that I saw in magazines but they felt more traditional than my typical style. Recently, I’ve come to embrace this and wanted to include some pieces in my house. I don’t know much about chinoiserie, but I found this One Kings Lane article is a nice introduction if you’re interested in the history.

I knew I wanted a chinoiserie-inspired lamp for our entry and when I started looking I found so many good options at all different price ranges. I thought I would share my favorites here!

  1. Jonathan Y Gretchen Ginger Jar Lamp |$59.63 : The jar shape of the lamp makes it feel special and the floral pattern is detailed and interesting.
  2. Decor Therapy 20-inch Blue and White Ceramic Lamp | $38.92 : The pattern is fun and layered. Plus the price point is great!
  3. Song 21.5 in. Blue/White Ceramic/Crystal Chinoiserie Floral LED Table Lamp|$82.93 :This lamp has a floral design with stripes added to compliment the look. The acrylic base is nice and disappears into the decor, so the lamp pattern shines!
  4. Blue and White Hand Painted Ceramic Table Lamp|$90.53 : The dark blue background gives this lamp a little more drama and dimension. Plus the pleated shade is on trend.
  5. Jonathon Y Georgia Chinoiserie Table Lamp|$49.99 : I love the bird and branch pattern on this lamp and the brass base adds a nice contrast.
  6. One Kings Lane Open House Winnie Table Lamp|$59.99: The ball like shape is so fun and makes this feel both modern and traditional.
  7. Blue and White Flower Porcelain Mini Table Lamp| $114.00: I love the large swirly floral design. The dark base makes it feel a little heavy.
  8. Foo Dog Table Lamp | $1,419.00 : This is a splurge but it also seems the most quintessential chinoiserie of the round up. Plus I haven’t seen a lot of lamps with the foo dog.
  9. Blue and White Porcelain Temple Jar Table Lamp | $89.99: This lamp has floral curly q’s in a darker blue.
  10. Caitlin Wilson Square Gourd Lamp | $330 : I like everything that Caitlin Wilson does, so it’s no surprise that I like this curvy blue and white number. The flowers are delicate but I really love the bird details.

DIY Extra Large Art: Part 1

I love large, I mean HUGE, pieces of art. It commands your attention and immediately makes a statement. But really large art is hard to find and/or super expensive. I knew I wanted something large (greater than 50″ x 50″) in our living room. It has a large blank wall that needs some visual interest.

I found a downloadable print from Etsy that I loved and thought would work well in the room. I was also encouraged when I read in the description that it could be printed for any square size (more than 30″ x 30″| & up). The image itself was inexpensive, so I had very little to lose.

I noodled around a bit with different ideas including having it printed and framed from an online framer or making the frame myself. However, I couldn’t find a local store that sold glass or Plexiglas large enough to cover my desired size and ordering a custom one online was a minimum of $500. I sat on the print for a long time and then it just occurred to me to print it on canvas and stretch it on wood frame. We also plan on building an outer frame (Part II), but right now I’ll check give you the step-by-step directions on how to make a the internal wood frame and attach the canvas. (Quick note: the art could totally be hung without an outer frame).

The first thing I did was tape out my desired art size (60″ x 60″) on the wall (no picture– sorry this was a year ago) and I lived with the outline for a couple of months. I felt confident that the size was good and I then ordered the custom printed canvas from Contrado. I printed it on the Woven Canvas 14.75 oz fabric. One of the thinner fabrics may work but I wanted to ensure that it was completely opaque. The fabric arrived in a sturdy tube and the canvas was wrapped around an internal tube. The canvas came out completely wrinkle free (yes!! small victories). In addition, the quality of the print was great!

My husband designed the inner frame. We decided to make the frame 58″ x 58″ which will give us 1 inch on each side of the canvas to wrap around the frame. To help support the frame, my husband added internal corner pieces ( the blue pieces below). I’ve linked his Onshape model here, if you are interested.

We purchased premium pine lumber and cut four 58″ pieces for the main outer frame (pink) and four 30″ pieces (blue) for the internal stability. The end of each piece was cut at a 45 degree angle (opposite ways on each end), so that the two ends will come together to create a nice corner (see diagram below).

My husband used the Kreg Jig to attach all the pieces together. The first picture shows the holes that you drill using the Kreg Jig guide and the second picture you can see that the screws fit into this pocket and will attach to the two pieces of wood together when screwed in place.

After we attached all pieces by using the pocket holes and screws, viola, we had a completed frame. The internet makes it look much faster than it is in real life!

We then laid the canvas picture faced down on the carpet and put the frame in the approximate place. As I mentioned above, I initially planned on doing a 1 inch wrap on each side, but after looking at it and measuring the actual picture, 1 inch was not possible because the image was not exactly 60 x 60. So we decided on .5 inch wrap on each side. My husband carefully drew a line a half inch into the picture. I didn’t take a picture but here is a quick diagram of the set up.

I aligned the frame with the guide, pulled back the fabric and stapled it to the frame. I don’t have any pictures of this because both my husband and I were pretty involved in pulling it straight. We continued this around the entire frame and took a care when folding in the corners. I approached the corners like wrapping a gift (see image below). I don’t think there is a right or wrong way to do the corner–I think 3 out of the 4 corners are wrapped slightly different than each other!

After all the staples were added, we flipped the frame around and, to my relief, the canvas looked great! We are currently working on part 2–the outer frame. I’ll share this project with in you sometime over the next month.

Intro to the Entry

The combination of working from home and finishing the half bathroom has really inspired me to move forward with the rest of the house. We are now tackling the entry and I’m so excited. It’s a central thoroughfare that connects many rooms in a small space. I’ve included the floor plan below, so you can orient yourself. The pink arrow shows where you enter through the front door. As you can see, the entry has an opening to the living room, kitchen, office, half bath, and a door to the basement. It has a lot going on –not to mention the stairs and coat closet, too! It’s the main place where guests enter and I’ll walk through it probably 800 times a day.

The entry, much like the bathroom, is just fine. It’s not offensive and there are features that I like (hello, wood floors!!). While I am usually on team “Paint the Trim White”, the wood is really growing on me. The entry is also two stories with high ceilings and a view of the upstairs hallway when you first walk in. There is a small wall next to the stairs. Right now, I just plopped down an old bench and called it a day. It’s a great place to catch jackets, bags and random gear. The entry gets great light, so I have a new fiddle leaf fig sitting on the bench and, yup, I just stuck it in a too-small pot. It was leaking water onto the cushion, so I needed a temporary fix and this worked.

The entry not only connects lots of spaces but is an important place for storage. We are generally a no-shoe house, so all of our shoes are stored in the baskets under the bench or in the closet. We also have a boot mat by the front door where we quickly slip shoes on/off. The closet is to the right of the front door and you can see it perfectly from the living room. The closet also stores all our jackets (for every season), umbrellas, school gear, winter gear, and most of our board games. I’m too embarrassed to show the inside of the closet right now, but I’m sure I’ll tackle it in the future. Just imagine a standard closet stuffed to the brim with gear.

We’ve already changed out the closet knob to a matte black t-bar pull to update the space. In the picture below, you can see our boot mat. It’s looking rather sparse at the moment but you can imagine a mountain of shoes when not regularly cleaned. You also get a glimpse into the family room and a great shot of our front door. It’s just a standard, white, 6 panel steel entry door with sidelights but it has a little surprise when you open it.

The previous homeowners painted the outside of the door and sidelights black and added a brass kick plate. When you open the door it definitely adds some visual interest and contrast. Above the front door is a built-in shelf (the bottom part of the shelf is painted green). It has an outlet and a window. We’ve honestly never used it but I have hopes of putting a Christmas tree up there during the holidays.

The picture below shows a better picture of the shelf and window. You can also see the doorway into the office– it’s the room with the green carpet and the basement door is on the right. The recently completed powder room is directly across from the basement door–you can see a sliver of the doorknob on the left side of the picture.

I think I’ve shared most of the different angles, but I’m going to include one from the office. The bottom picture is basically my view from the desk, so I get to stare at this frequently.

My plan for the entry is just cosmetic at this point, so I guess you can call it a phase 1. I’ll furnish the room and do some light decorating. The long term plan, Phase 2, is more extensive. We plan to install new hardware floors throughout the first floor, so we’ll replace what’s in the entry to match the rest of the house. We also plan on installing thicker and beefier baseboards and replacing the carpet upstairs. I’m also thinking about replacing the stair railing with a more streamlined version. And at some point I’ll replace the dated chandelier (sorry no photos, yet).

The mood board below is showing the current design plan for the room. This will be a rather “easy” project considering that I’m not going to paint the room or do any major renovations. It’s more just putting the room together. Although, I did take on one small project which is growing in size (doesn’t it always do that!).

1. Wood Console Table 2. Plaid Ottoman 3. Round Braided Mirror 4. Jute Rug 5. Blue and White Lamp 6. Tray 7. Lady Print 8. Ceramic Blue and White Umbrella Holder

The wood console table above was basically made for this entry. It’s the perfect size and I love the color of the natural wood. However, it’s sold out and has been sold out for a couple of months now. I looked for alternatives, but did something brash one day–I ordered the same table but in the antique gray color because I had this brilliant idea that I would just sand it down and get the natural wood finish look. Fingers crossed that it works.

I’ve ordered most of the other goods — including the ottomans, tray, art and umbrella holder. I actually purchased the jute rug a couple of years ago and love it. However, I have yet to pull the trigger on the mirror or purchase a lamp. I’m not convinced that this is the perfect mirror although I love the natural braided look and how it appears to go so well with the jute rug. I plan on looking around some of my local stores to see if I can find something similar.

As you can tell, I’m getting into the chinoiserie pattern and there are a large number of lamps available at all price ranges. I’ve pulled together a small roundup of some of my favorites, which I’ll share later this week. To fit the scale of the room, I think I need a small lamp. Not to mention that this lamp is more for ambiance rather than task lighting. I really like the lamp in the mood board and I think the brass components will go well with the tray and other natural elements in the room. It’s a pretty good contender.

My fingers are crossed that this room will be put together by July. I can’t wait to see all the components come together and share the final results here!

A Little Project: Saving an Old Vanity

Last year I purchased a little vanity set from an antique shop. I thought I could strip all the paint and create a nice table for our foyer, but when I first attempted to remove the paint, it seemed to do nothing but reveal more paint! I was discouraged, so when the weather turned cold we put the vanity in the shed and I happily forgot about it.

I dug it out in early May when it was warm enough to work on it again. I was not feeling particularly confident in my skills to make the vanity into anything usable. It still looked liked a mess. The paint was chipping in some places from the stripping but other places were completely unfazed. The paint that did come off revealed that the top of the vanity was not wood, as I had hoped, but laminate that looked like marble.

Since I didn’t have much hope that I going to salvage the vanity, I decided to try sanding it. To my surprise the sanding revealed, mostly, beautiful wood. I asked my husband to pry off the laminate top and it revealed a wood top. I was completely stoked and now every weekend I spend at least an hour or so slowly sanding this baby in hopes that one day I can actually use it in the house.

The top is in pretty rough condition. The sheet of laminate was glued which did not come off without some damage. In addition, the top had a several small nail holes, various gouges and discoloration. I am encouraged though because, although it may not look like much, the “nice” wood that you see below is the “after” section of the top. I still have a lot of work left to do, but I’m already dreaming about where I’m going to put it in the house.

Fingers crossed it’s completed by the end of summer!!

Messy Eaters: 3 Tips to Make Clean up Easier.

I’m not sure about your kids, but my son is a messy eater. He’s gotten a lot better with age but I’ve learned to take precautions, mostly because I don’t want to spend more time cleaning every day. So after 6 years, I have found a few simple solutions that have helped. I thought I would share them here and maybe save other mamas some clean up time.

1. Black Placemat 2. Basket Weave Gray Placemat 3. Red Stripe PVC Placemats 4. Red Striped Placemat 5. Beige PVC Placemats 6. Yellow Woven Placemat 7. Vinyl Wipeable Placemat Gray 8. Wabash Gray Strip Placemat 9. Textiline Blue Placemat 10. Carmel Fringe Placemat 11. Blue Stripe Vinyl Placemats 12. Cordell Placemat in Natural
  1. Hidden Wipe-able Placemats: I love beautiful woven/fabric placemats, but scrubbing them after every meal is a bummer, not to mention that sometimes the food stains the mats which drive me crazy. I stumbled upon a solution a couple of years ago– we hide a wipe-able placement under the woven placemat where my son eats. At meal time, we remove the woven placemat out and viola clean up just got about 100000% easier. I like to use wipe-able vinyl place mats that corresponds to the woven option so everything still feels cohesive. I’ve rounded up 6 pairs of placemats that correspond well together above. We also have some kids placemats which actually generates a lot of dinnertime conversation. We have one with a world map on one side and the US map on the other. We’ll talk about where we want to go and where we’ve already traveled. (Quick note: I have found that even the vinyl/wipe able placements will occasionally stain but it doesn’t bother me since it’s hidden under my regular place mat.)
  2. Embrace Towels: Prior to having my son, I purchased dining room chairs with fabric on the seats. I love the chairs and didn’t want to replace them after having our son. Of course, I was also delusional and ignorant on how messy kids are and for how long. Anyway, I tried several different things to keep those seats clean. I use to basically clean them after most meals (luckily there are microfiber which cleans up so well!). I purchased chair covers (these ones), but they often got messy quickly and didn’t really absorb much if there was a major spill. After some frustration with all the clean up, one day I just threw a towel over the chair. It worked like a charm. It protected the seat and made clean up quick. I never used expensive bath towels and my favorite ones were actually from The Dollar Tree because they were the exact right size! I purchased several and kept them in our dining room hutch and brought out the towel when it was meal time. Dollar Tree no longer sells those and most bath towels are too big. I would recommend purchasing the cheapest bath towels from Wal-Mart and call it a day.
  3. Teach your kids to do the clean up: Of course, this will depend on their age, but I’ve shown my son how to clean up after himself. He knows to pick up the loose food that has fallen off his plate onto the placement,table, chair, floor etc. He’ll go and wipe up a spill/stain on the seat cushion (if I haven’t put down a towel). Since we have microfiber fabric, I already have spray bottles ready with alcohol and DI water, so we can quickly just grab what we need to clean up any spills.
1. US Map Placemat 2. Presidents Placemat 3. 4 Pack Science Placemats 4. 4 Pack Educational Placemats 5. Fossil Placemat 6. Alphabet Placemat

Well those are my simple tips. I have found that as my son has gotten older we use towels less and rely on him to clean up more but when he was a toddler it was definitely the opposite. I still clean up a lot of messes–and nothing is fail safe but these have helped. Tell me moms, when does the messy eating end??

Our Half Bathroom: Complete

After many months, and many stops and goes, we’ve finally completed the half bathroom. The mirror frame turned out great but wasn’t without challenges, so the last 5% of the project just dragged on. As I was snapping the pictures, I was thinking about how disappointed I was that it took so long. I don’t want to wait almost a year to complete another room in the house (many of the rooms are about 50% done). Ultimately, it just reinvigorated me to complete the other projects.

In the last bathroom post, I briefly talked about how a quick weekend project turned into a several week saga. I promised that I would share the story. Buckle up because I’m going to give you the quick and dirty version because it’s been a year and I don’t remember all the nasty details. Thank goodness!

As you may remember, the old bathroom had sheet vinyl flooring. We thought it would be a quick and easy job to pull it up but it turned out to be a dirty, disgusting mess. As I was pulling up the vinyl, I could see that the plywood underlayment by the toilet was damaged and disgusting. I made this little graphic (see below) to show you the layers that make up the bathroom floor. This wasn’t too big of a surprise because what prompted the floor removal was a leaky toilet. It seemed that every-time someone flushed the toilet water would accumulate around the toilet. I, at first, blamed my son who, at the time, would occasionally pee on the floor. But after the third time, my husband investigated it and viola it was a problem with the toilet.

Despite the disgusting-ness of the underlayment, I was optimistic that the subfloor would be undamaged and we wouldn’t have a major debacle on our hands. We had to remove the underlayment anyway so the new tile would be the same height as the wood floors in the hallway meaning this wasn’t much more than a gross nuisance. However, as we began to take up the plywood underlayment, it became clear that the subfloor was also damaged. This ended up causing a major headache for so many reasons. I honestly cannot even remember all the details, I just know that we had to cut up a piece of the subfloor (see my illustration below) and get a plumber to remove the toilet flange and replace some plumbing because there were too many elbows which prevented us from having a good place to cut/repair the plumbing. I’m sure my husband could write a 10 page recollection of this but I’ll spare you the details. Anyways, due to all these problems it delayed everything by weeks.

We championed through and eventually put in the floors, fixed the toilet/plumbing (thanks to a plumber!) and had a functional bathroom again. That’s the bathroom story.

Anyways, let’s quickly revisit what the bathroom looked like when we first moved into the house before we get to the good stuff– the after photos!

And now….what it looks like today.

The room feels completely different but my favorite change was the mirror frame. Yup, the very last piece of the puzzle that took a long time to complete. My husband is handy, so I explained to him exactly what I wanted him to make. To his credit, he knew exactly what we needed to do to make the mirror I was describing- have a mitered edge on the wood. He showed me a set of router bits (the tools that are used to make the edges) but I struggled to see how some of them would produce the finished look, so I asked him to produce a few samples. He brought me a couple of options and soon we were off to the races.

After all the frame sides were cut and prepared by my husband, I stained the wood using Early American from Minwax. This mirror is made of pine, which can be difficult to stain, especially if you want an even, medium brown color. To overcome this I was extremely generous with the wood conditioner and applied three coats of stain. I finished the frame by applying a polyurethane top coat to help protect it. At this point, the frame stayed in the basement while Jer and I fretted about how to attach it to the mirror/wall. Ultimately, we decided to use heavy-duty double stick tape (this is the one we used). Jeremy assembled the mirror, placed the double stick tape on four sides of the frame and then stuck it on the wall. That double stick tape is serious–the frame is not moving!!

A couple of other small details in the room that I love are the new switch plate and outlet covers (style: continental, purchased from wallplates.com) and the canoe basket (vintage) that fits perfectly in the cabinet shelf. I’m open to slowly adding in some art, but as of right now I’m just enjoying the new room and not stepping in toilet water.

I took a few pictures of the room with my phone when the light was on and the door was shut since this is how most people will actually see the room. Despite the odd angles, these pictures capture the actual color of the room under those conditions.

This post contains the link to most of the materials/resources used for this room. Feel free to check it out if you are interested in any of the details.