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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Downstairs Bathroom: Flooring

Happy New Year! Well, now that the holidays have cleared out, we finally  have time to get back to work on our downstairs bathroom. There really isn't much left to do, if you missed the before shots - click here & scroll down to take a peek.  We patched & painted, redid the sink cabinet, & added an awesome DIY copper towel rack.  But the last large obstacle was tackling the "gorgeous" blue vinyl tile peel & stick floor. My original plan was to keep this a QUICK makeover, which means nothing huge like tearing up flooring. So, we decided to just go on top of the old peel & stick floor, with  new peel & stick floor!

I was totally going to get all crafty and cut this into smaller rectangles, & do a beautiful herringbone pattern... but... sometimes when you hit a certain point in a project, you just can't see much else except for the finish line, you know? So, since the tile we chose was pretty spiffy as is, we said - let's keep it simple.  Here's a close up of the stuff we chose:

I love it! We got it on amazon (link here) and it was cheap.  We went through a pack and a half, and each pack was under $20.  Not bad! I've never used peel & stick flooring before, but it was SO EASY.  It cuts pretty well, and the only challenging part was getting around the toilet. 

Since we knew this was a makeover to "hold us over" until some huge wonderful remodel down the line when I win the lottery, we chose to cut the tiles around the toilet versus lifting it.  I know, how could we deprive ourselves of the joy that is removing a toilet just to put some floor tiles under it?  Shame.

The easiest way to figure out how to cut the tiles was to practice with a piece of cardboard cut to the tile size. Then I just cut the cardboard little by little until it fit perfectly, then transferred to the tile & traced. Try it on a few times before committing to peeling the backing off & placing it.  Takes a while, but is easier than making mega mistakes.

But! It's done. And forgive the dust specs on the floor, I didn't want to do a full floor cleaning until all the tiles had set.  You can tell when you stand on them that they need a day or two to settle in...

Looks like wood though! And feels so clean....  Hardest bathroom to photograph, it's so tiny.  But I tend to spend more time on my projects than on my photos. I'm a horrible person, I know....

Moving right along, we're working on the mirror, the light & the ceiling.  I've been collecting accessories that will match, and can't wait to put them in their places.  How's your year starting? Any projects on the start list? Or the finish-up list.... hehe...

Enjoy the day everyone - If you're in this crazy cold storm, stay warm & stay safe!

-Jesse

Leftover things to do in the bathroom:

• 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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Notes to Self

A few years ago I started a tradition I'd been meaning to start for ever.. but somehow kept forgetting. I always thought it would be neat to write a letter to my future self, from my current self, which would then become my past self.  I probably seem crazy, but I think finding notes, letters & mementos from moments past is really fun (Remember the messages in a bottle?) and New Year's is the perfect chance to write a new letter, and read last years letter.  I think this would be really fun tradition for families, & the kids can get in on it too. It can be your lil' New Years Eve tradition.

Photo Source

Now, sadly (or not so sad?), I can type WAY faster than I can write, so I'm opting out of the handwritten note to myself, & moving to the e-mail. Sign of the times, right?  Plus - with a nifty little gmail add-on called Boomerang, you can write an e-mail & schedule it to send to yourself a year later.

So what do you write to yourself? Oh you know.. like you're writing an old friend.  Fill yourself in on what's new, what's goin' on... what are your goals & plans for next year, little reminders to yourself like  "Jeez, are you EVER going to visit Japan?" .  Grab a cup of coffee and ramble on, and a year from now, you'll be really, really entertained.  Plus, you can get pretty personal since it's from you to you, ya know?

Seriously I do this type of stuff all the time.  I opened up the Christmas decorations this year, and there was a note in there saying "Hey Jesse... so last year you forgot to stock up on white Christmas lights that you can use on the patio in Summer, and I'll bet you $20 you're going to forget this year too. Prove me wrong!"... haha... nerd alert!

So, while it might seem weird at first, I think it's really cool to see how far you've come from last year - in your own words, from yourself.   Happy New Year everyone, I'm very excited & optimistic about 2014!

-Jesse

P.S. totally NOT sponsored by Boomerang in-case you were wondering. I just really use the heck out of that thing.

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Mele Kalikimaka

The holidays get pretty busy, so not too many projects around these parts.  I've been bouncing around from string orders, to gift shopping, to prepping (& cleaning up!) parties... this has been one packed month. So with about 24 hours to spare, here's my virtual Christmas Card, my Happy Holidays to you - and while I'm not actually in Hawaii... it was for some reason the first thing on my mind today.  Which made for an appropriate Christmas collage:

Ah... wouldn't that be nice?  Merry Christmas Everyone! Enjoy your time with family & friends, and think about all the great memories you've made this year. Cheers!

-Jesse

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