Half Bathroom Renovation

You guuuuys! I’m so excited about our downstairs half bathroom renovation that I can’t sleep! haha! I go downstairs after the kids are asleep and just stare at it. Ever do that after you redo a room? 😀

Here’s the story. Immediately after we moved into our fixer upper the toilets began having major problems. The plumber was like, “Lady, these toilets are almost 30 years old. You have to replace them all.” And the home inspector didn’t notice this because… ?? The things you learn, right?

However, two of our three toilets have this 1980’s vanity counter that goes over the back of the toilet. (Such a bad idea. Try taking the lid off the tank and you’ll see why.) This photo above is the kids upstairs “Jack and Jill” bathroom to show you what these over-the-loo-counters look like, since I don’t have a before photo of the renovated half bath, because…

One day while I was out my husband decided to replace the downstairs toilet. When he returned home with the new eco-friendly dual-flush toilet he realized that it wouldn’t fit under the… what to call it… toilet counter. HA! Maybe “over-the-loo-counter” was better.

So I get home to this scene (above), minus the newly installed toilet. No vanity, no sink, no mirror. He just ripped it all out without telling me! Now, I’m NOT complaining. Don’t get me wrong. It’s just funny, no? 🙂 Actually, there was no flooring under the old vanity either. I took this photo after the new toilet was installed and the floor was patched. You can also tell that this bathroom had a wall-to-wall mirror with 6 lights above it.

Here is the new view—Eeek!! So thrilled!!

I totally scored on the new vanity. I was at Home Depot for light bulbs when I noticed a few boxes of vanities on the floor in the vanity aisle, on clearance. I asked an employee what the deal was, and he said that they were trying to get rid of them to make room for new ones. This vanity was originally well over $200 and it was marked down to $80. 😮 Happy day!

Only the vanity didn’t come with a backsplash (or faucet), and I couldn’t find it sold separately. They’ve probably discontinued this vanity altogether. Instead, to go with my theme I chose this piece of tile which looks like stone, and I’m pretty excited about it. I just have to caulk where it meets the counter.

What a huge difference, right? I love this bathroom so much!!!

So lets get into the details and why I chose them, so fun!

I wanted the new lights to have a rustic cozy look, and I fell in love with these, which are meant for outdoors. You can get them at Home Depot or on Amazon for $4 more (they’re $35 at Home Depot). I debated leaving the cages on the lights, but ultimately decided to keep them off.

I found this World Market/Pier One-looking mirror at Marshall’s, and I loved its bohemian vibe. I also didn’t want all of the fixtures to match, and since I was using dark rustic wood for other pieces, I got this mirror for contrast. There’s similar mirrors on Amazon.

The Target towel hooks were just what I was looking for to hang my faaaavorite black and white striped towels. (Similar towel hooks HERE.)

And of course, you know I HAD to use my favorite mason jar soap pump in the bathroom, because having them in the kitchen is NOT enough. I’m obsessed with these! (They fit on any mason jar, and are plastic, so they don’t rust!) Like the kitchen, I filled the jar with half water, half Dr. Bronner’s hand soap.

I knew I wanted the shelves and one of the frames in the bathroom to match the towel hooks (which are a lighter version of our ebony floors), so I searched until I found these modern looking shelves in just the right size (18 inches). The challenge then was finding cute ceramic pots for these plants. I took cuttings from my living room pothos plant specifically for this bathroom.

THESE mini blue textured ceramic pots were just the right size to fit the shelves, plus they’re adorable. (A post on how to root your pothos plant cuttings in water and plant them in soil is in the works, since some of you have already been asking for that on Instagram 🙂

I really wanted some succulent artwork, and this embroidery by Moon Girl Stitches is so cute. The off-white frame (with the photo of Ashley riding) echoes the off-white of the mirror, making the design more cohesive.

I got Ginger a sweet little eco-friendly step stool (more HERE) that matches the grey walls, which are Dunn Edwards, Silver Polish (like the rest of my house). You can’t tell from this angle, but I added felt pads to the opposite side of the elephant, so that the paint doesn’t damage the vanity when Ginger slams the stool into the doors. Keepin it real guys 😉

What is it about fancy hair salons that they always have a toilet paper stand like this? 😂 I decided years ago that if I ever got to redo a bathroom I’d have one, because I associate them with fancy salons, which always have nice clean bathrooms that smell like incense or candles. It’s okay, you can laugh, I am. 😂

We met Sarah of The Mint Gardener at a party in December. She and her husband are lovely—like her work! I was super excited to put one of her prints in my new bathroom 🙂 I’ve used this frame vendor before, and I’m always pleased with them when they arrive. When you buy a mat with the frame, the mat comes inside the frame. I was confused by this the first time I bought one of their frames. I thought I had made a mistake and bought an extra mat that I didn’t need, but fortunately that wasn’t the case.

The sparkly geode, pothos plants, wooden shelves, botanical print, “stone” backsplash, rustic lights and towel hooks are all a part of my earth-inspired theme. If the theme was hard to guess then I did my job 🙂 My decor is meant to be eclectic, not screaming theme at you.

And now if you’ll excuse me I have to go stare at my bathroom some more. haha Actually I have to pick Zoe up, then make dinner, then take Zoe to dance, then pick her back up, then get the little kids to bed, THEN stare at my bathroom more. 😀

♥, Kelly