Wednesday, 21 August 2013

My DIY Bathroom Make-Over (Part 1)

I started on my bathroom make-over adventure about 3 months ago and I am embarrassed to admit that I am not completely finished. I would say it is 90% done but I still have a few things I want to add before I am happy with it. Therefore, this post is part 1 of my bathroom revamp.


First let's discuss my old hideous cabinet mirror. I had planned to just replace it with a mirror that didn't have any storage behind it. This was not ideal as I don't have a lot of storage in my bathroom. However, after telling my plans to one of my girlfriends, she suggested I cut a hole in the drywall and place the cabinet into the wall to make it look like a regular mirror. It was such a brilliant idea. I'm not sure if cabinet mirrors are designed to be placed within the drywall but either way I was doing it. But this still didn't solve my problem of having a cheap looking mirror. You knowww the crappy plastic ones. They look like this:

                               

Once again, I did not take a before picture because at the time I had no idea I would be creating a blog. Oops! But the above picture gives you an idea of the very unoriginal and cheapness of what I was working with.

I had my first light bulb moment of the re-do when I realized that, hey maybe I can change the frame to something prettier. And then, I did what I do best and started my hunt for a frame that would fit. Eventually, I stumbled upon a frame that fit according to my measurements. I bought it and brought it home and took out the mirror and of course, the frame was too big. 

And so, the frame sat on the floor of my bedroom for a few days. Cue another light bulb moment: perhaps, the new frame would fit along the outside of the old frame. And it did! Horray! I spray painted both frames a silver color and glued the old frame to the new frame with goop. One of my favvvvv products. It will glue anything together. I waited the recommended 24 hours before use and attached it back to the cabinet and now she looks like this: 
                     

It is nothing spectacular but it's a huge leap from what it was before and i still have my storage!

My second big change to this area of my bathroom was this awkward space I had between my vanity and the wall. It was about 18 inches of space in width. I put many things in that space to fill it, such as, makeup and hair supplies, vases with flowers, and even at one point a big stuffed animal that one of my boyfriends gave me. All terrible ideas. After being fed up, I looked around for some sort of stacked storage cabinet but nothing would fit. Finally, I came up with the idea of making my own shelves. I played around with the idea at first, initially thinking I should have doors one each individual shelf. I decided that open shelves would be best, since doors would take up more unnecessary room and I already had very little to start with. I did my measurements (measure twice, cut once) and had my brother do the cuts with his miter saw. I haven't completely advanced to using an electrical saw without supervision. Actually, I haven't tried to use one at all as I prefer my fingers attached to the rest of my body. Whatever happen to the plain ol' hand saw? 

We bought one sheet of pressed wood and cut four shelves and I bought 12 brackets, 4 for each shelf. Instead of screwing in screws into the shelves, I screwed the brackets to the wall and vanity and just placed the shelves ontop of the brackets. My rational for this was that when I wanted to clean under the shelves, they could be easily removed. Here is how it turned out. 

                                 

My next step was to find baskets that fit well into the shelving area. I wanted the shelves to look clutter free and organized since they were open. I think it worked out perfectly and it is exactly how I imagined it! 

                                 

I moved the light over the sink instead of centered between the two walls. I purchased a light fixture that I found at one of the local thrift stores for 15 dollars and replaced this 3 dollar light we all know and hate. 

                   

This was super easy and I did it in a few minutes. I used my trusty drywall saw and cut to the location I wanted my light fixture the hang. Then, I patched the hole I made with drywall pudding and waited for it to dry, sanded it and painted. Fintio.

                                   

Lastly, I purchased 4 white frames from the dollar store and printed off 4 pictures of different bird silhouettes. I just goggled bird silhouettes and a bunch popped up! I got this idea from Virginia from livelovediy.com

                                    

I love this little bird gallery wall and it cost me under 5 dollars!

There you have it! My mini bathroom make-over and all for under 60 dollars. I wish I had before pictures so I could show how big of a difference it is. Hopefully you find this post helpful anyways and maybe you can even use some of my ideas with your own bathroom make-overs! 





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