Downstairs Bathroom: New, Old, Light Fixture

Tidying up the details of the downstairs bathroom, finally! Last weekend we worked on the new wood plank ceiling, and I used a nail gun for the first time. It was a life changing experience, why did I not get one sooner?? More on that soon... let's play catch up - I'd been saying I'd show you a quick run down on the light fixture, and here it is. 

Heads up, if you are planning on doing a similar, simple light fixture makeover, here is what you'll need:

• Old light fixture, cleaned up.
• Spray Paint. Two colors in my case.

I told you it was simple... 

As you know - we had a fluorescent light fixture in the bathroom, that I just couldn't understand WHY it was there. If you missed it, here's a peek:

Pretty bad, and the light it gave off was the worst.  If you ever want to install the most unflattering light in the world, I recommend a bare bulb fluorescent shop light. It's pretty bad.  In my brain I knew I wanted something unique, so off to the thrift stores I went, and found this:

I have to admit - I didn't pick it up at first. I walked by it, then walked around thinking & kept coming back. I could see some potential, but let's face it, it's also pretty scary... but it was solid metal & porcelain, around $15, and I knew I could at least TRY spray paint.  If it didn't work out, no big loss, right? I got impatient when I got home that night & started dismantling:

There were no big surprises or roadblocks, so the next morning it was all systems go. If you are going to redo a light, it's important to NOT lose any parts, and as you dismantle, take note of where everything went. Do this either with tons of photos, or draw out a chart.  You may think you'll remember where every washer went, but you won't. I always think I will, and I don't.   So here's my parts, nice & clean:

Then we have the big bell:

After a  lot of brainstorming, I voted on a light that would be grey exterior, yellow interior.  First up, many light coats of yellow on the interior:

That totally doesn't look yellow, but it is. Very yellow. Took about 4 thin coats, and luckily no drips. That's why you want to do THIN coats. 

I decided to reassemble the "guts" portion of the light, figuring that solid yellow would make for a seamless & clean look.  Though I did keep out the very last brass fastener, to remain brass.  (For the bottom).

So here I have it assembled, tape to protect the wires, and tape inside the sockets to protect our connections.

I decided to lay it on it's side & tackle the underside first:

After doing as much as I could from these angles, I hung the "guts" from my sawhorse and spray painted my last few coats from above. I didn't take a photo, oopsy. You get the idea! 

Note: See how at the end (far right) there is no finishing piece of hardware? That's the one I kept out.

While that dried, I went back to my bell (which was now dry) and added a few pieces of tape to the inside top (to cover the hole from within) and then painted the bell grey. I apologize for the lack of pictures, I could have sworn I took some. These are the consequences of balancing too many projects!

I was starting to really work against the light here, as shown in my impatient cell phone night photo:

Normal people allow their things to dry for 24 hours, but I needed to see it together, so I took the chance. I let it hang here for a few days, for what it's worth...

Simple makeover! Two different colors of spray paint, and an afternoon of patience.

Trying it on in the bathroom, here it is in the horrible fluorescent light:

Had to do a test run...

 This was unexpected, I love the pattern the bell makes on the ceiling, reminds me of a bio-hazard symbol:

So that's that! Simple. I really like the fixture now, even though it is in no way what I had in mind! But it's satisfying my yellow craving for this bathroom, and it's definitely one of a kind. What do you even call this style lamp?

Now, in these photos it's a plug in light, but the plan is to hard-wire it in so this puppy is operated on the light switch. Maybe even a dimmer switch... fancy....

OK - back to work! Have a good one.

     -Jesse

Leftover things to do in the bathroom:

• Whitewashed Wood Ceiling
• Door! 
• Tear the place apart and patch up the damage
• Paint the back wall dark grey, other walls light grey
• Get a huge mirror & build the frame.
• Build Copper Pipe Towel Rack
• Build distressed wood mock mantle under mirror
• Herringbone Peel & Stick Floor, except, no longer Herringbone.
• New light fixture, something fun & yellow!
• Paint or replace sink & stand.
• Tie it all together with accessories, and ferns! FERNS!

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Downstairs Bath: DIY Mantle and Mirror

Moving right along with the bathroom projects, let's address this blank shiny wall, hmm? Since it's a bathroom, I had to get semi-gloss. I did flat paint once in a bathroom for style, and boy did I regret it. 

I hate to judge the decisions of previous owners, because I figure there must have been some logic somewhere  in this choice.. but that mega glare on the wall is all because of this culprit:

I would love to hear that conversation when they were choosing light fixtures. "Hmm.. so many to choose from... let's get that ugly naked shop light there, perfect... ugly is the look I'm going for in this bathroom".     I just can't figure it out. But! Easy enough fix, for now it's giving good work light. 

First fix, I knew I wanted a mantle to go across the room, since there wasn't really anywhere to put knick knacks & cute crap in this room. Which to me, cute crap is a must!  So I simply measured a piece of 1" x 8" pine to fit:

And made two support pieces out of 1" x 3", with the end cut at a 45 degree angle, work with whatcha got, right?

Did some sloppy sanding on the fronts to give it a chiseled look.  Just some screws into the wall here, nothing fancy since no one will ever, ever see it. I hope.

Oh, did you notice that gross jar in the mantle photo?  It's a lovely concoction of fine steel wool & vinegar that's cooked itself for about 24 hours prior.  I'm doing the aging stain technique from the DIY Floor Mirror post.  In a nutshell, you paint the wood with coffee or tea, allow to dry, then put this concoction on it.  A reaction occurs, and boom! Old looking wood:

Sealed it all up with poly, put it in place, and stepped back to admire.

You might think, hey, that's not level.. Well, in a 80ish year old house, everything, even when it IS LEVEL... looks uneven.  You get used to it eventually... or you just get seasick.  

Sneak peak at the lamp there! I'll post about it's paint job soon, I'm really happy with it.  But first, let's add a mirror:

Couldn't resist, had to try on some of the decorations I've been thrifting for this room. I got my ferns! (ferns weren't thrifted, hahaha....) 

OK - Mirror details.   I used the same construction technique as in the DIY Floor Mirror post, but obviously adjusted the sizes to fit my space.  I used 1 x 4's for the frame, and it is stained with Minwax Red Mahogany.  I'm going for a mix of wood tones, metals, greys & whites in this room, so all are welcome. Plus a pop of yellow of course (lamp!).

We had the mirror cut exactly to the size we wanted, for a fraction of what a brand new mirror with frame costs, so we're still in the savings zone for having a mirror fit perfectly. I went oversized to help the room look bigger, and it really helps.

Important Tip: To hang the mirror we put a hook in the stud, and used hanging hardware suitable for twice the weight of the mirror.  I know it sounds paranoid, but... who cares? Better safe than sorry. If your stud doesn't line up, be sure to grab a heavy duty drywall anchor.

So, we're getting there! We'll be doing a white-washed wood plank ceiling, so that lamp hasn't been hard-wired in yet.  I was just impatient to see it in action, so it's up already.  Do you stuff like that too? :)

Let's see the Mantle & the Mirror together (cue the singing angels):

Gettin kinda rustic-y industrial-y in there... and I like it. I found that gazelle at a thrift shop, the bucket was leftover from a spa-pack someone gave us, and the yellow glass near the sink I HAD to buy... my grandma has the same ones, and it totally takes me back to childhood. I drank many a glass of milk in that style glass...

So the light fixture - I'm in-between on it, I love it's bright yellow core, and it's matte grey exterior, but because of the yellow core, it does cast a very yellow glow. Which, is kinda nice and moody, but I can't help but wonder what it would look like if I lined the interior of the bell in small mirrors.  Think, inverted disco ball... ?  I'll let the pictures do the talkin.  Keep in mind they were shot before the mirror.

Ugh! Those glare lines! When, oh when will I just realize it's time for a new camera? So I took that one to really show the yellow, but in person, it looks more like this:

Shiny. I'm so happy the end is near, I can feel it.  Oops.. floor's not done in these photos. Gah! I've been bouncing around from project to project in there, so the photos get all mixed up.

Still on the hunt for a cute door, I'd love something vintage like this (but in white):

But that one is $1800 bucks. Waaaay out of my budget.  If you want it, it's right here. I'll have to pass. 

Have a fantastic Thursday, thanks for tuning in & watching me obsess over a bathroom we use once a month.. if that.. It's bad - I caught myself calling it Winchester's Bathroom, which is the name of our kitten, and his litter box is there.  Ugh...Those cats are spoiled....

-Jesse

Leftover things to do in the bathroom:

• Whitewashed Wood Ceiling
• Door! 
• Tear the place apart and patch up the damage
• Paint the back wall dark grey, other walls light grey
• Get a huge mirror & build the frame.
• Build Copper Pipe Towel Rack
• Build distressed wood mock mantle under mirror
• Herringbone Peel & Stick Floor, except, no longer Herringbone.
• New light fixture, something fun & yellow!
• Paint or replace sink & stand.
• Tie it all together with accessories, and ferns! FERNS!

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DIY Winter Evergreen String Art Pattern

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays! Winter is about 3 days away, I think - and my favorite part about the first day of winter, is that it's also the winter solstice - meaning it's the shortest day of the year. Meaning, each day afterward gets slightly longer! Nothing against winter, I do love the different seasons... but I really love longer days, you can get so much done.  I've been swamped with Christmas String orders (thanks everyone! So exciting), but I had a goal to get a wintertime pattern in the shop.  Take a look at my Winter Evergreen:

I love how it came out! I hand drew it, then scanned it into the computer & edited it to get it ready for the pattern life. Then I printed it out, and tested it, to make sure there were no mistakes.  I think it's pretty cute! You can buy the pattern from my etsy shop, and it's actually a set of two.  One is the pattern you see here, and the other is just the silhouette. I think they'd look great together to create a sort of grove. 

If you're worried about whether you can do it or not, let me just say  you can totally do it.  The patterns come with a detailed instruction sheet, full of tips & tricks.  There are two main ways to start. To make your pattern re-usable; you can lay your pattern out, mark your nail holes with a thumb-tack, then remove the pattern & add your nails to the marks.
-OR-
Some people prefer to lay the pattern out, use the thumbtack on the dots (makes a sort of pilot hole), and nail right through the pattern.  Since I give you the pdf's you can easily print this puppy over & over! The only drawback with method two, is you DO have to tear the paper remnants off after.

It's actually a pretty good size tree:

There's still plenty of time & warm nights by the fire to get this pattern up in your home! Hop over to my  etsy shop to snag this pattern, plus browse all my other patterns that are available. Like Otis the Owl!

Yep - it's an instant download, so once payment is complete Etsy gives you the files.  No waiting for me to get back to you!  And as always, if you have ANY questions, always feel free to email me: 9redinfo@gmail.com

I also have it for sale as an actual tablet, if you're not in the DIY mood... don't fret. And on that note, I have a long line of orders waiting to be completed, but I HAD to take a breather to share this pattern, before winter completely passed me by!

Happy Holidays everyone!  Thanks for reading, I love hearing from you all & seeing what you're up to.

     -Jesse

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Quick Sink Cabinet Makeover

In an effort to keep the downstairs bathroom makeover relatively simple, there will be no replacing of sinks & sink cabinets.  No plumbing work. Not even a new faucet.  Those things, would move us out of the realm of "quick" bathroom makeover, and throw us right into a redo. The sink was fine, the faucet good enough.. We're already clocking in at about a month since we had Thanksgiving to focus on, but who's really counting?  So today, I'll share the very quick sink cabinet makeover.

So here she is before:

Nothing special. I'm happy it's functional, clean, and has a little bit of character.. So while we had the paints out for the walls I figured, why not give it a little love too? My first thought was painting & aging it. And that was that. Like I said, not wasting any time here.

First I painted it the same light gray as the wall on the right. 15 minutes.

Now I know what you're thinking, it's too matchy matchy - fear not! I had a plan all along. I whipped out some of my Minwax Oil based stain, in Ebony... (note, this is NOT polyshades... that crap dries too fast & gets splotchy!)

This one can has lasted me FOREVER! (Now that I said that out loud, I'll totally run out).

For the treatment, I dipped a piece of T-shirt into the stain, and just started smearing it all around. Really getting into the grooves, too...

After a minute or two, gently wipe the stain off with the rest of the clean T-shirt. Remember to not get crazy with the wiping, you want to leave some stain.

Stand back & see how you feel. I wanted more, so I just went crazy with it and did 3 rounds of this treatment. Then, I was happy.

Thar we go.  The grooves are highlighted by the stain, the cabinet has a little bit more interest, and now that white bowl really pops!

The handles were bugging me so I spray painted them yellow.  Then, immediately after I did that, I realized I still didn't like them - and attacked them with leftover sand paper.  That ever happen to you? Idea goes south.. they aren't too bad:

Cute little tie in to the yellows we were hoping for in this room! I'll keep my eye out for some good cabinet hardware, but these will hold me over for a bit.  Standing back:

Ignore that horrible reflection! We got our mirror finally & installed it. Problem solved! I can't wait to show you. Doesn't the sink stand look a little better than before? Someday a new one all together would be lovely, but realistically, this is a spare bathroom.  I gets used maybe 15% of the time. Right now I'm focusing on the finish line, and the floor is up next.....

Got any indoor winter projects you're focusing on? I saw the crew over at Sawdust & Embryos are doing some demo in one of their bathrooms... looks great!  Someday I'll have the confidence (and knowledge!) to do that. Ralph and I have our eyes on a few walls that need to come DOWN in this place!

Stay warm!
     -Jesse

Leftover things to do in the bathroom:

• Whitewashed Wood Ceiling
• Door! 
• Tear the place apart and patch up the damage
• Paint the back wall dark grey, other walls light grey
• Get a huge mirror & build the frame.
• Build Copper Pipe Towel Rack
• Build distressed wood mock mantle under mirror
• Herringbone Peel & Stick Floor, except, no longer Herringbone.
• New light fixture, something fun & yellow!
• Paint or replace sink & stand.
• Tie it all together with accessories, and ferns! FERNS!

Linkies: Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Subscribe & of course, Email me.

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DIY Copper Towel Rack

Good day! Well we are back to working on the downstairs bathroom again, and things are moving along smoothly.  It’s kind of an awkward space, but we’re trying to give it a lot more personality.  Our goal was to lean towards grays, whites, metals (mainly copper) & wood.  So when it came to dreaming up a towel rack, copper pipe was an almost instant idea:

Isn’t it great? Now, granted, this isn’t the cheapest towel rack out there, but weighing in at roughly $25, it’s not TOO bad either to achieve the look we wanted.  We wanted a long rack, as long as the window, made out of copper pipes.  Seems simple.

Want to make one?  It’s extremely easy.  You've probably already figured out how to make it, but since I hit a few bumps along the way, let me save you the trouble of hitting those bumps yourself.  Let the tutorial begin.

Here’s our before situation:

I’m loving our grays… and that shiny-ness won’t be there as soon as we get rid of that horrible horrible shop light fixture. Horrible.  But let’s pay attention to the window! So when you walk in the bathroom, that tiny window is jammed into the corner. No room to put anything under it without getting in the way of the sink, a towel rack is it’s only hope. We thought making it as wide as the window would  make in not only extremely useful, but interesting.

First thing you wanna do, is go shopping. Copper, is not cheap. But, it’s SO pretty, and my hopes are that eventually after many showers, the copper will turn it’s beautiful green. I have no clue whether it will or not, and I don’t feel like researching it. It’ll just be a nice surprise if it does.

After spending a half an hour brainstorming with a Home Depot associate, this is what we came up with. 90% will be made of copper, but we’re gonna have to spray paint those flanges to match. No biggie.
Acquire these things:

• 2 Half Inch Floor Flanges – these will connect to our adapters.  Roughly $6 each.
• 2 Half Inch copper male adapters.  About $1.50 each.
• 2 Half Inch elbow pieces, copper of course: $.74 each…
• Copper Pipe, 1/2” x 5’.  This was surprisingly only $7.67
• Pipe Cutter if you have it, I didn’t, and this one was only $11.
• E-6000 glue, I already had, and it’s because I don’t want to solder. I’m lazy.
• 8 screws. Mine were gold colored. Lucky!
• Copper Spray Paint!

Lil close up there incase you want to see the info on the pipe.
First up, you want to measure how wide your rack will be.  Cutting the pipe is very easy, so it may be best to measure larger so you can trim down to fit. I wasn’t actually too picky about the width, I just didn’t want it wider than the window. I knew I could center it if it was shorter. Anyway, measure your area, and don’t forget that the elbows will add about 3/4” to each side. While you’re in measuring mode, figure out the distance you want it to stick out from the wall, as we’ll be cutting little pipes for this area. I chose 2 inches.

I lined up with the old towel rack to double check. Keep in mind your flange size.  This is really a “try it on” situation, and adjust accordingly.

Measure & make your marks on the copper pipe, and let’s get to cutting. It’s so easy. I promise.

Good work. Now using your pipe cutter: It should have pretty simple directions, but just in-case, you loosen the blade so you can get your pipe in there, then tighten the blade onto it.  Now twist it around, stopping now & then to tighten the blade into the groove you’re creating.  Eventually, it’ll just pop off:

Easy, right? So be sure you’re cutting 3 things. The main width, and 2 equal length pipes for the depth.
Moving on, just try it all on – dress rehearsal.

Everything seem good? If not, make your adjustments.  If it sticks out too far, just trim a little more off the smaller pipes. Mine seems pretty good, so now it was time to paint. Take these flanges outside after a good cleaning:

Since the only thing I needed to paint was flanges, I took this opportunity to explore who else wanted to become copper. And the switch plate & outlets were begging for it.

Hooray, we have copper! Try on the male adapters to see if they need any lubrication.  Sometimes the threads can get a little sticky.  I wiped a lil WD-40 in there to help.  Next, just assemble.

Lovely! Everything fits and looks good. I’m working on the floor in my kitchen, because it was cold out and there was sun when I started. Here’s where you can learn from my mistake, when I first put these together, it seemed like it was going to hold itself together.  As I mounted, it started sliding out, and that’s where the E-6000 comes in. A little dab of that stuff (which glues anything and everything to anything and everything else) on the insides of the pipe connections will keep this puppy sturdy.  I did it once it was already on my wall, I bet it’s easier to do it first. But I’m impatient.

Mounting was simple, 4 standard drywall screws:

Optional: If you  have found that your drywall regularly has things like this pulling out, hold the towel rack up where you want it, mark your holes, & properly install anchors.  If anchors are new to you, it’s pretty simple. Drill small holes to snugly tap the anchors into, hold your towel rack up, and send your screws into the installed anchors. Superman strength.  Consult your hardware professional for more.

Done! A simple, weekend afternoon project.  Great results, not a horrible price tag, and it’s definitely something you don’t see in every home.  What did you think, something you can handle? Of course it is, and hey – no soldering! If you know how to solder & have all the equipment, I bet it would really add to the industrial feel of the rack.  I was out of flux and in for the day, so E-6000 to the rescue.  That stuff is great.

Have a fantastic weekend folks! I meant to post this yesterday, but the internet in our area has decided to leave us this morning… I always feel so disconnected when that happens. Haha… get it…cause... I am...

Leftover things to do in the bathroom:

• Whitewashed Wood Ceiling
• Door! 
• Tear the place apart and patch up the damage
• Paint the back wall dark grey, other walls light grey
• Get a huge mirror & build the frame.
• Build Copper Pipe Towel Rack
• Build distressed wood mock mantle under mirror
• Herringbone Peel & Stick Floor, except, no longer Herringbone.
• New light fixture, something fun & yellow!
• Paint or replace sink & stand.
• Tie it all together with accessories, and ferns! FERNS!

-Jesse

This post is brought to you in collaboration with Foster Heating

Project tutorial, ideas & opinions are 100% my own.

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