Life doesn’t always give you what you want, when you want it. And most of the time the universe isn’t ever going to give you what you want, period. But…

This whole guest bathroom project wasn’t something I had mapped out to do at the beginning of the year. I’ve wanted to tackle the room for a while, but the opportunity to tile the floor kinda came together unexpectedly at the last minute. I didn’t really plan anything out, which is completely the opposite of me. Everything is usually mapped out to the very last detail. I had no idea about paint colors, only a slight idea about tile (which was completely changed when Lowe’s was out of that tile), no décor ideas, nothing. I don’t like to wing-it when it comes to these things; it’s not my style. But sometimes life brings you an unexpected adventure, I’d rather take a chance than look back and wished I had later. This project has been one of my favorites and it’s exactly what I needed to kick off 2016, get my ass into gear, and become inspired again. I feel more ALIVE than I have in a long time. It sounds silly that a guest bathroom update could do so much for a person, but being back in a creative space is what I needed.

I posted about my experience tiling the bathroom floor, here. And I gave an update on all the painting, here. I scratched off everything on my to-do list (for the most part) this past weekend.

Guest Bathroom Update To-Do List:

Tile Floor

Paint Vanity

Paint Ceiling

Paint Walls

Add two towel bars

Reinstall Toilet Paper Holder

Add one hook

Find new mirror

Shelf/Décor for above the toilet

Soap Dispenser

Shower Curtain

Put the door back in place

This weekend I spent putting back all the stuff on the wall: the mirror, towel bar, toilet paper holder, shelf, decorative hook, and the shower curtain. I hate putting stuff back up on the wall, probably because I’m too much of a perfectionist. It can be a two person job when you’re trying to get all this stuff level. So I enlisted some help.

Previously the towel bar was above the toilet. I don’t know why builders put it there every time. Don’t they know that you’re supposed to put some kind of art or shelf or décor above the toilet? Also, I only had one towel bar in this bathroom, and I really need two. I couldn’t have miss matching towel bars, so I had to get two new ones. I found some on amazon pretty cheap, here. I wasn’t looking for anything special, just 24 inch towel bar in chrome to match the other fixtures. I reused the old toilet paper holder and moved from the wall, next to the toilet, to the side of the vanity.

My mom requested a hook to hang her robe on when she comes to stay. I wanted to find something fun and unique for a hook. My plan was to have coral and gold accents to go with the navy vanity, towels, and shower curtain. I looked several different places for hooks: World Market, Pier1, Wayfair, Hayneedle, Overstock.com, Pottery Barn. I didn’t want to spend an arm and a leg either (some hooks were $50!). I finally found one online at Hobby Lobby. Luckily there is a Hobby Lobby in Morehead near my parent’s house, and I was able to pick it up there (and it was 50% off). It’s gold, fits the color scheme, and is definitely fun and unique…..what bathroom doesn’t need a set of deer antlers!?

So here you go Mom, your hook is ready for you the next time you come to visit!

The old mirror above the vanity was a standard contractor’s mirror with no frame. I wanted to find a framed mirror with some texture and kind of a vintage feel. I went to many many places on my search for a mirror. It had to be no more than 42” tall and 30” wide. Mirrors are freaking expensive, like hundreds of dollar for a piece of reflective glass. I didn’t want to spend more than $50, if I’m being really honest. I found one mirror at TJ Maxx, it was okay, but I knew if I didn’t buy it, and I went back for it later, it would be gone. The thing I didn’t like about it was that the frame seemed a little dinky. I wanted it to be a little wider all the way around. But it was right at $50, so I could live with it, if need be.

I found a second mirror at Kohl’s a couple of days later. It was an unexpected find, but more of what I was looking for. It was also a little smaller than the first frame, which I felt would make it look better in the space. It was originally way over my price point, but Kohl’s ALWAYS has some sort of sale going on. It was 50% off and there was an extra $10 home purchases that day, which got me down to the price I wanted….cha-ching. Here’s the mirror from Kohl’s that I ended up with. It’s a little rustic and vintage; it goes well in the space.

The one thing I was really struggling with was this shelf above the toilet. I wanted a floating wood shelf. I saw some at Pottery Barn that I liked, but they were out of my budget.

I searched on Pinterest for different types of wood shelves. I looked at some on Etsy as well, but they were all pretty expensive there, too. I came across this picture on Pinterest of this wood shelf on galvanized pipe.

Everything clicked and I figured I could make this myself. It wasn’t terribly difficult either. I got some ¾ inch galvanized pipe at Lowe’s. My plan was to have a 25” shelf that was about 6” deep for the actual wood part. From the wall to the front of the toilet tank I had about 9.5” to work with. I ended up getting a 8” galvanized pipe nipple, because the 6” one was going to be too short and the depth of the wood shelf was going to be about 5.25”. With the 8” nipple the shelf is 7.25.” I only used 2 pipes, compared to the 3 in the example picture, since the shelf was only 25 inches. I also got some brackets to clamp around the pipe on the bottom to screw into the board to keep it from getting bumped off. I used some metallic spray paint to paint the pipe a darker color.

The wood for the shelf is reclaimed wood a friend had. I love that I was able to get a hold of some reclaimed wood to complete the look I was going for.

I put together this picture of a coral flower real quick last week. I like the pop of coral with the navy and light gray. I framed some song lyrics and found this navy “G” and spray painted this old metal key for the shelf.

It feels great to have it all done. I can’t tell you how many minutes I’ve wasted just sitting in there staring at everything. I love how it all looks. If I had a blow up mattress, and it would fit in there, I probably would have spent the night. LOL.

But in all seriousness I couldn’t have asked for a better project and experience to start off the year. I learned a lot when it came to this update and a lot about myself and what I’m capable of. I also learned to ask for help, which is really hard for me sometimes (i.e. all the time).

I’m ready for the next project, although I don’t know what it’s going to be yet. I would love to do the master bathroom, change out the spindles on the stair case, and also finish the garage. There’s also plenty of furniture in the garage sitting around waiting to be refinished. So many things to choose from!