22 months later... ONE finished room!

We moved into our dream house 22 months ago. And in those 22 months, I've been completely and totally overwhelmed on how to decorate it, and where to start. I'm one of those people that won't just throw stuff up on the walls for the sake of having it there - I have to love it. Which makes my husband nuts. So I had us completely unpacked within a month, but just no decor, or very little. So....I decided to start with a bathroom. It's the bathroom for our guest bedroom and is hardly ever used, but I felt like it was a great starting place for me for a few reasons: first, it was a completely blank slate. It didn't even have a shower curtain yet. Second, since it's for the guest room, it doesn't have to fit the color scheme of two little boy rooms, the master bedroom, etc. No pressure.

So about 6 months ago I bought this great shower curtain at Target completely on a whim. I just loved the color (kind of a seafoam green/blue) and the fun waffle texture. This was my splurge at about $28. I hung it, and there it sat for 6 months. :) When I finally had a plan, I came back. We didn't make huge changes, but the few we made I think made a good impact.




I needed a towel rack. I love our antique bronze doorknobs and handles in our home, but I realized quickly a matching towel rack was expensive. And boring. And then I came across this fun idea to build your own on one of my favorite blogs - House of Smiths. She used molding to create super cute boxes and filled them with Vinyl (which she sells in her super cute shop). LOVE IT! But, in my world, I don't make and sell vinyl, and I was trying to do this on the cheap (remember this is room #1 - the list of rooms to decorate is loooong). I love beadboard, and had the great idea to fill the blank space with that instead. Enlist one handy husband, and VOILA! A shabby, home-made towel rack for about $30!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I tried to stick to 3 colors - the Seafoam green/blue from the shower curtain, Chocolate Brown, and White. All my towels were bought on clearance at Target for about $7 a set. (a bargain in my book) I wanted a more custom look to my towels, so I added some grosgrain ribbon to the white ones (another great idea from House of Smiths - see her post here)

For the pictures above the towels, I reused old frames. I hated the plain white mats, so instead I used fun fabric and mounted the pictures straight on to really make them pop. (Cost = nothing! Scraps of fabric and repurposed frames)

For the decor on the counter - this is always were I struggle, however I love how this turned out. I used extra hand towels, a fun new Hurricane vase I received at a Church Christmas Gathering a few weeks back, and reused a wooden box we received a gift in. I filled the vase with Cinnamon sticks (clearance at Target - $5). The candle sticks are CHEAP. Yes, they are super cute and look really fancy, and they are actually wood, but cheap. Also a gift. Add fun oversized layered candles from Z-Gallerie about 10 years ago, and there you have it! I also added a rug and I think I bought it on sale - about $13. It's not a bathroom rug - for some reason those are way more expensive, but it is the braided chenille, so just as soft. I've just realized it's in none of the pictures! Oh well, you'll just have to trust me, it's cute.

I had really hoped to use more sewing in this room, but it just wasn't necessary! Oh well, I'm sure there's plenty in my future for the rest of the house. ;)