Our 1st (and best yet) Before and After

The Scavenger Home bathroom left quite a lot to be desired when we moved in, but were we daunted? No, (yes), and it’s a rental, (not to mention the high failure rate in retail, crappy economy, etc…) so we had to do it on very little dime.  Honestly, I really think this is the coolest project.  Check it out.
 
Yikes, right?  Ok, so here goes.
Paint, change mirror, cover disgusting water heater, new lighting, replace the sink, no wait, that’s too expensive, well, fix it somehow, and then there’s the floor, oy…

Paint – Benjamin Moore in Hale Navy High Gloss – “OMG” best paint color ever!
Change Mirror – Bad mom. Totally stole it straight off the wall of my kids bathroom.  Nobody wants vain kids anyhow, right?  Originally from Urban Outfitters, but I don’t think they carry it anymore.
Cover Water Heater – scored totally gorgeous sample from F. Schumacher at design center for 20 bucks.  Yay!  By the way, also rebuilt wonky little table over it with wood cut to size at Home Depot.
New Lighting -  took down ugly plastic thing.  Bought only slightly less ugly brass/glass thing from craigslist for $20.  Sort of like this before I removed the etched glass panels and the brass “wheel” that the glass hung from.

Fix Sink – didn’t want to replace the sink in a rental, even though it was leaning off the wall in a precariously forward position.  And here is why being a pack rat sometimes pays off.  Finally found a use for a chrome sink stand that we didn’t use building our house.  Dismantled it and stole it’s legs.  Wedged them under front of ugly, institutional sink.  And voila!  You can turn an ugly, institutional sink into a silk  purse.  Should have replaced the faucet, but too lazy.
The Floor – ok, here is the part that makes me all shiny and happy.  The floor was really nasty lino tiles, dirty, broken and finished.  Removed, cleaned, then what?  Inspired by this post on design*sponge, we put our own spin on it.  I will do a detailed how to post on the floor, but I can say this.  It’s like giant stickers!
The Result - 

Ok, now, as usual, it looks so much better in person.  I can’t even tell you.  The blue is much richer, blah blah, bad photographer, blah blah blah.
 

What do ya think?

Paint so exciting it took my breath away...

I went to Kirkland (WA) for coffee (Cafe Ladro - perfect latte) this morning after dropping my littlest off at preschool. I took a little walk afterward to try to erase the little feta spinach quiche I ended up eating with my non-fat latte. (walking at a snails pace 2 blocks with my face squished against all the boutique windows definately burns off the 500 calorie breakfast, right?) Anyhow, I stumbled across the most amazing find. Pure Home. a beautiful boutique speciallizing in COLOR. OMG, they have a paint bar! Like a real bar, all glossy white and swanky, with barstools and everything. And behind the bar, (where the liquor goes), is all...PAINT!!! I think my friend burned more calories laughing at me for being so overly dramatic in my breathless joy at finding this new resource. I love furniture and lighting and flooring and fixtures and all the other little bits and baubles involved in design, but I hate paint. I am so bad at it. I will be counting the seconds until I get in there for my first consultation. Master Bedroom, I'm looking at you. By the way, this picture does not even begin to do it justice. You have to see the bar!