What's black & white and cool all over?

My new bathroom...that's what!!!

But, before I say anything more, I guess I should address the proverbial "elephant on the blog"...which is, where the crap I've been?  And my answer to that is simply, no where.  I haven't been anywhere, or been doing anything earth shattering.  I just decided to simplify my life for a spell, and enjoy just being a mom and wife for awhile...without any distractions.  And it was marvelous.  BUT, that doesn't mean that I didn't miss spending time on my blog, or that I stopped finding projects for Studs and I to do around the house.  Quite the contrary, actually.

 Studly and I took on the project of finishing our basement during our time apart...all 1,350 square feet of it.  While we delegated most of the work to our contractor, we took on the project of doing all of the finish work in the new bathroom ourselves.  And I love how it turned out.  It might almost, probably, definitely be my favorite room in the house.  Wanna see the finished project?  

I knew before we even started finishing the basement, that I wanted a black and white bathroom.  I knew that I wanted to keep the walls crisp and white...since there are no windows or natural light in the space.  But, I didn't want plain, white, painted walls.  The perfect solution was to tile the walls from floor to ceiling with penny tile.  The walls are still bright, but with a little added texture and interest.  And let me just say for the record, that grouting penny tile, let alone walls and walls of penny tile, is not for the faint of heart.  But man, it looks so good when it's all said and done.  It might have even been worth all of the sores and cuts my poor, fingers and hands endured throughout the process.  

Yeah, yeah, I know there is a little invention called gloves that can prevent these sorts of mishaps.

But as I mentioned earlier,  all of the blood, sweat and sores were worth it in the long run, cause I freaking love my new bathroom.  

After a little thought and consideration I determined that I wanted dark floors and dark grout...this stems primarily from a cleaning standpoint...more specifically, my disdain for cleaning grout standpoint.  And with the bathroom just off of the new playroom, I did what any sane person would do and opted for the blackest grout possible.  Narrowing down the tile options for the floor proved to be the toughest decision.  Have you seen some of the amazing black and/or white tile out there?  Here a few tile options that were in the running.

But when it was all said and done, I decided on these delicious, black hexagon tiles in a matte finish.

As I said, we opted for black grout with the black hex tile.  Not only will it be easier to keep clean, it looks really chic and classy.

Although I love everything about the bathroom (mostly the fact that it's done and we finally have a fully functioning bathroom in the basement) one of my favorite things is this wood vanity.  Studs and I made the vanity out of  a wooden cabinet we found on clearance for $50.  I picked up some stainless steel legs at Ikea, $12.99 for a pack of four, and also some stainless steel pulls , $6.99 for a pack of two and attached them very quickly and easily.  We were also able to find a remnant piece of granite for the counter top. I think we ended up spending $400 total after fabrication (having it cut to size and holes drilled for the faucet and drain).  The sink and faucet were Home Depot finds and cost just under $300 for the set.  In total, we ended up spending less than $500 for the entire vanity (minus the cost of the faucet and sink).  I priced out modern style vanities online, and this DIY version came in well under what we would have spent for a prefab one.  And truth be told, I think I like my little DIY version even better anyway.