Hall Bath Makeover

As part of the ongoing quest to redo our home, we recently (ok, a few months ago) did a mini makeover on our hall bathroom.  I absolutely love it and am so excited to finally share it with you!

When we first moved into our home, our hall bath looked like this.

No joke, the former residents left the lovely shower curtain, and it looked like it had been there since the 60's when the house was build.  I quickly updated the shower curtain and decided to make the hall bath a Mickey Mouse theme, as it would be the primary bathroom for our kids, and I love all things Disney.  We used this shower curtain.

I was so sick of how horrid the vanity looked, I just couldn't take it any more. 

Do you see the gold and crystal knob hardware?  Super vintage and cool, but not so great for a kid bathroom.

I had my husband remove the doors for me.

He actually had to pry the hinges off because they had been painted over, and were seriously caked in paint.  Painting tip: ALWAYS remove or tape off all hardware when painting.

I sanded off about 5 coats of paint.  1-2 of off white, another of yellow, and yet another of a soft peach color.  It was bad.

I then paired the grooves of the door with a brush.

and rolled the rest of the door for a quick and even finish.

Then I started to paint the rest of the vanity.  I should say we, because one of my sweet and awesome friends came to help me.

We loved the way it looked so much, we decided to paint around the toilet as well.  I used press and seal saran wrap to protect the toilt from pain, and it worked perfect!

I had hubby replace the doors and install new hardware on them.  The change in the room was dramatic, and amazing.  I seriously love the bathroom.  I never thought I would have liked the black.  but I do.  It also goes perfectly with our Mickey theme.

Before I show you the dramatic side by side, the black paint I used.  It is CHALK PAINT!  I did it so the kids could have some fun art space.  However I love how clean and crisp the black looked in the space, so I haven't told them.  So please don't tell my kids that it is chalk paint.  

I hope you like this transformation as much as we do.  It really only took a little bit of time and not too much money to transform.  It has really mad a huge difference.  Next on the list is to do something about that sink, add some shelving, and decor.

I am so please with how it turned out.   Every time my daughter goes in she screams "Mickey".  It is so adorable, and totally worth it.

Linking up here this week:

Skip to my Lou, Not So Sweet Anne, The Dedicated House, DYI Showcase, Monday Funday, Chef in training, SavySouthernStyle, Worthwhile Wednesdays, Work it Wednesdays, Showcase your Talent, a handful of everything , Let's Bloom, House of Rose

Our 1st Big Project: Installing a Dishwasher

As I previously eluded (love that word), we recently installed a dishwasher!  We have had a dishwasher waiting to be installed since we bought our home.  I thought it would be a few short weeks, however weeks turned into months, and finally after looking at my kitchen constantly covered in dishes and having to wash them multiple times per day, I talked my hubby into doing it ourselves on a Saturday.

To start I had my hubby look up the directions and take the necessary measurements.  

We took a trip to the hardware store, it was that I realized my husband, like EVERY OTHER MALE on the planet, REALLY dislikes asking for help or directions.  To take the pressure off, I took the kids to the flowers and allowed him time to "figure it out/ask for help".  After 30 - 40 minutes (two trips to the flowers with the kids, and a potty break) I finally tracked down an employee who offered assistance to my husband.  Within 10 minutes of receiving help (as in what was an hour trip could have been all of 15minutes) we left with our purchases and ready to start the project.

There has been a spot in our kitchen that has been begging for a dishwasher, since the day we moved in.  When we unpacked our kitchen I intentionally left the space empty, in preparation for the dishwasher.

 All we had to do was knock out the space,

 and drill a few holes to run the water lines (and hook them up),

and the electrical cord.

Easy right?  Of course we encountered multiple issues along the way, requiring a total of four trips the the hardware store.  The first thing we had to change was a wrong size hose, then we found a leak and had to purchase another hose to fix it.

Then the hubby over tightened something and broke something (the plastic piece that hooks up the water return from the dishwasher to the silver thing that spits it into the sink, so technical I know)

Again I'm going to be so technical, but this is the splitter and the other hoses my hubby installed under our sink, it was a fairly easy thing to do.  My hubby is a figure it out on his own kinda guy, but it was pretty self explanatory.

 He worked really hard and save us a ton of money had we hired someone else to do it.

 By the end of the day, we had a wonderful new (to us) dishwasher, ready to handle the mass amount of dishes our family of four produces.

I am one happy lady and am greatly enjoying that it makes one of my daily habits easier as well as my counters clearer!  *Happy dance*  

A fairly successful for our first big DYI home improvement project.  I think we will try and keep the trips to the hardware store to under 4 next time.  Trust me, if we can do it, ANYONE can :)

Cheers!

Ashley