Home Improvement: Staining the Deck

We spent most of today staining our deck. It's one of those things that really needed to be done, but we've been putting it off. I'm so glad we finally got around to it. It is amazing how these small improvements do so much! We spent about sixty dollars on stain and a couple of new paintbrushes, but the result was well worth the cost. I can see the deck from the kitchen window, and it's amazing how much more cheerful the space looks with just a little bit of color.

Before Shot Number 1.
Before Number 2- that's my husband getting started!

After- I can't believe the difference!
Another after picture

Bathroom Makeover: Upstairs Bathroom Version

I finally got around to redoing our upstairs bathroom. It cost a little more than our downstairs bathroom redo, but I went a little more wild with new hardware upstairs. Overall, it cost $55, which is not too bad. I picked colors that went with our current shower curtain and decorations, so that saved us some money right there. Clearance sales, oops paint racks, and using what you have already can go a long way!

Here's some before shots. The people who owned our house before us loved their frogs. The entire bathroom was painted a lovely blue, and it would have been just fine, had it not been for the frog theme. The frog wallpaper was cute, but not me.More frogs! And the top of the wooden medicine cabinet. And a wood toilet seat.

Most of my time was spent scraping down the wallpaper. It took FOREVER. It just did not want to come down, so some of my budget had to be spent on that special wallpaper remover stuff. I don't think it worked much better than water and scraping to be perfectly honest.

We painted the walls a lovely purple shade that I got off the oops paint rack at Lowe's for five dollars.

Most of my budget was spent on new hardware. Here's one of our new towel racks. I just did not like the wooden ones that they had, and although I was just going to repaint them, I saw these Simply Shabby Chic ones on clearance at Target and could not resist.

I was not able to scrape off the wooden frogs, so I replaced the faceplate with the one I took down from the roommate's bathroom when I redid it.

I hated that wooden toilet seat, so I replaced it with this one. I also bought a new toilet paper holder to match the towel racks.

My sink area...not much new going on here. I do want to replace the boring mirror someday with something more fun, but so far the ones I've liked have been INSANELY expensive, so I'm waiting for a better deal.

Another view of the shower curtain, new paint, and new towel bar.
This picture used to be in our bedroom, but I thought it looked really good in the bathroom, so we moved it. I'm thinking of painting the frame to match the newly painted cabinet.
Here's the cabinet. I painted it a pale yellow with a small pot of paint that I got on the oops rack for .50 cents. Fifty. Cents. That's good even for oops rack prices! The little drawer thing is something that I picked up at Goodwill not long after we married. It's been many things, but now it is painted and holds my husband's electric razor and assorted odd and ends.

Frugal Friday: Finding Paint Cheap

Paint is one of the least expensive ways to jazz up your living space. If you are thinking of redecorating, are flexible with color choices and have a little bit of time, keep an eye out for paint at these inexpensive sources:

• Yard Sales:I painted our basement with paint I got for 2.50 a gallon at a garage sale. It was a basic white paint.
• Hardware Stores Opps racks: Ask where they keep returned and/or opps paint. I just painted our bathroom with 5 dollar paint that I found on the opps rack at Lowes. I was lucky on this one- it was even the exact shade of lavender I wanted! I'm currently keeping an eye out for paint to do the living room here. Yard sales are cheaper, but the opps rack tends to have more selection. I also bought higher quality paint off the opps rack than I would have if I were paying full price for it.
  
• Freecycle: Although I have never used it for paint, I've seen it offered on Freecycle sometimes as well.

Check out other great ideas here!

The 40 Dollar Bathroom Makeover!

I've been wanting to paint the downstairs bathroom ever since we moved in. It was not a bad color, but it was very sterile and boring. I decided that I wanted some color in there! I did not want to spend more than fifty dollars. Here's what I was able to do for forty dollars.

Before

The walls were a beige color. It was nicely painted, but very blah. The roommate had a lavender bathmat and a black shower curtain, but I removed those before I took the picture.


After
I painted the walls a burgundy color. The previous owners of this house left that small carpet, so I moved it to the bathroom to be used as a rug. The small cabinet was in our upstairs bathroom, but we had been meaning to bring it downstairs for the roommate as he does not have very much bathroom storage. Since it did not really match, I put a piece of black fabric on top, and that helped pull the look together. The paint was 20 dollars at Lowes with my 10% off coupon. All the other money was spend on two new "brushed nickel" towel racks and face plates at Target.

If you look in the before picture, you'll see red towel racks. They're wooden, and I was going to paint them black with a pot of dollar paint I found on the discount paint rack. However, I happened to see these things at Target on clearance, so I went for it. I love how you can see the old paint under the new paint. It looks kind of weird in this picture, but the effect in the bathroom looks nice.

Decorating Your Space With Paint

One of the easiest and cheapest ways to change the look of a room is through paint. We painted our bedroom walls a light purple shade, and it really drastically changed the look of the room. The basement looked a little scruffy, and a coat of plain white paint (yard sale- two gallons for 5 bucks!) made it look nearly unbelievably nicer. I could not get over the difference.

My artistic skills are limited to stick figures and painting one color on all walls. However, if you have the talent, or wish to hire somebody, a mural could be an excellent way to decorate a room. The only limit would be your imagination and budget.

Hiring a professional may cost initially, but having a mural painted would be unique way to decorate your home. You could also contact local art schools and art departments of Universities- a student may do it at a reduced rate. If she lived closer, I would consider having Naomi Haverland come do my kitchen and bathroom. Her work is amazing, and I covet the bathroom that is featured on her website. It would be wonderful to be able to pour over designs and be able to figure out what *you* wanted, not what was available in wallpaper and other things. Naomi, and other talented artists like her, can make your home one of a kind, and you won't have to rip down wallpaper if you decide you want a different look fifteen years from now.

Naomi lives in Utah. If you're interested in having a mural painted in your home or business, I am sure she would love to talk with you about it.