I’ve been sort of planning a little redo for our main bathroom. Not in any real, concrete way, mind you. More of a “gee, we’ve lived here for five years and have never touched the space, aside from hanging up a shower curtain” kind of way. (I’ve never even showed it properly, other than this shot.) So I’ve been looking at affordable updates, and I put a whole roundup together of bathroom decor under $50. I think a new shower curtain may be in order at the very least.

Sources: shower curtain • Botticelli Angel paint • mirror • wall vases • washing machine hamper • bath mat • cart • more here

© 2012, published by Making it Lovely as Some Affordable Bathroom Update Ideas | 21 comments

And it looks cute in my bathroom.

There are three Adler designs available from Cottonelle. They’re an Alt Summit sponsor too, so I imagine you’ll be able to see them in person if you’re headed that way.

© 2012, published by Making it Lovely as Skip to My Loo | 20 comments

Six months after beginning our basement remodel, the half-bath has finally been finished. What was once an indoor-outhouse (by the looks of it, anyway) is now the cutest bathroom in our home! It’s hard to get a good photo of the room because it’s so small (4′x5.5′, and just over 6′ to the ceiling), but here’s an attempt.

The toilet, sink, and faucet were provided by Vintage Tub & Bath, and the sconces were courtesy of Schoolhouse Electric.

I found the mirror on eBay, spray painted it black, and had new glass cut for it (since it arrived shattered). For the opposite wall, I found a little shelf and painted it green to hold a couple of lacquered bowls and zigzag tumbler. The first aid box is empty, but I figure I can keep some bandages and little things we might need nearby to tend to rambunctious kiddos in the soon-to-be playroom. And say, you look lovely today.

I’m loving these man and woman vases just to the right of the doorway So funny!

It was a long process, but I was able to choose every fixture and finish since we were building the bathroom from scratch. I’m pleased with the final result… and glad to be done!

© 2011, published by Making it Lovely as The Basement Half-Bathroom | 64 comments

I kid. Here’s what I’ve got so far though.

I’m going to use a little ledge for the tumbler and bowl, either in white or green. I’m considering adding a clock though too, and then maybe I’d need another little ledge to balance it out. What do you think?

Also, I’m trying to choose a color for the mirror. I had originally planned on yellow, but I nixed all of the yellow accessories for the room, so now the color would probably look out of place. Maybe black? Or the darker green of that little bowl above?

© 2011, published by Making it Lovely as Art for the Bathroom | 80 comments

Let’s head down the stairs to take a look around.

And now a before:

And after:

Before:

After:

That’s as good as it gets for empty basement ‘before and after’ photos, because once we reached this stage we started moving in all of our stuff. Witness, we couldn’t even wait at this point to start filling up the storage area.

The play space used to look like this:

Now it’s a play room, and it looks like this:

And of course, we have the bathroom and laundry room sneak peeks you’ve already seen:

Our house feels so much bigger now. I think we added about 600 sq. ft. of living space to our existing 1400. Now it’s on to the fun part: decorating it!

© 2011, published by Making it Lovely as The (Mostly) Finished Basement | 134 comments

Clearly a lack of sleep is getting to me. What was I thinking? It might be all right for a lady, but you know, a man needs room to stand in front of a toilet. That’s not going to happen with shelves on the opposite wall, even if they are only 7″ deep.

This half-bath is tiny. And short — I’m 5’6″, and you can see how close the ceiling is even for me. So… I guess I’ll be cutting back on the tchotchkes? On a positive note though, the eyesore vents have been painted to match the walls and ceiling. Much better.

© 2011, published by Making it Lovely as Bathroom Shelving Misjudgment | 45 comments

1. Wire 9 Cube Wall Shelf
2. Ekby Valter brackets and Ekby Järpen shelves
3. Wall-Mounted Bookcase

Remember, this is what I’m already working with for the rest of the room:

Which option would you choose?

© 2011, published by Making it Lovely as Shelving for the Half-Bath | 96 comments

Yep, it arrived… just not in one piece. Thankfully the eBay seller is going to process a refund for me. But um, does anyone know where to go to get a new mirror cut? The frame came through all right, so I’m hoping I can just get new glass and that it won’t be terribly expensive.

© 2011, published by Making it Lovely as Fragile | 41 comments

Now I’m just waiting on shipping and a little free time to get everything in place. Sources for everything can be found here.

© 2011, published by Making it Lovely as Basement Half-Bathroom Design Board | 26 comments

We have a working bathroom, yippee! Now I just need to pretty things up a bit. And I should probably paint that vent.

I have plenty of bath accessories to play around with, though I need to figure out where I’m going to put them all (shelving?). I still haven’t found a mirror that I love, but I might pick up this frameless mirror for $15.

Or I could just put this print up instead.

Thank you to Vintage Tub & Bath for the toilet, sink, and faucet, and Schoolhouse Electric for the lighting.

© 2011, published by Making it Lovely as The Basement Bathroom is Functional | 53 comments