Ugliest Room Ever- Make-over

Do any of you have a space in your home that you just hate? A room that every time you walk by it or go into it, you feel the joy and life drain from your person?

Well, I've got a few. But the one that I hate most right now is my laundry/mud room. This space has been woefully neglected since we moved into this house three and a half years ago. There's just something about it that feels dingy and dirty...even after I've cleaned it.

Here, let me just show what I mean, so you can understand where all of my animosity is coming from.

Okay, so having a smelly, guinea pig cage in there probably didn't help the situation.

After taking some time to build up my courage, I decided it was time conquer this eyesore.

The first thing I wanted to do was lighten up the walls to help make the room feel brighter and more open. I decided to add a some decorative B&B, which I painted white. I love B&B. It is a super easy and fairly inexpensive treatment that adds lot of texture and interest.

Even after completing this project, I noticed a definite difference in the room. It was already feeling brighter and cleaner...it could have been in large part because of the paint smell. Fresh paint has a way of making things seem clean and new. But the party did not end there.

After enlisting the help of my personal "sweat shop" to paint the walls, the floors were totally thrashed.

I hadn't intended on doing anything to the floors, except for maybe adding a rug or two. But it became quite evident after the painting was complete, that they couldn't be left as they were. There was paint all over. Since I didn't really have the budget or the time to rip out all of the tile, I opted to paint them. This little fiasco ended up being the best mistake.

I love the way the floors turned out. It was a time consuming project, but well worth the effort. They definately contribute to the open and airy feel I was going for. They also add a lot of visual interest.

I flip flopped about whether or not I should paint the cabinets. I decided that with the white walls and light floors there needed to be some warmth in the room, so I kept the cabinets wood. They were your basic, run-of-the-mill oak cabinets. Kinda meh!


So, I decided to add some character to them by taking my pent up aggression out on them.

My weapons of choice were a hammer, a chisel and a little contraption I made myself called...a worm hole maker. Pretty menacing, eh?

{and when you're not using it on cabinets, you can use it on your kiddies...I'm totally kidding!!! Please don't go sicking DCFS on me.}

I went over the cabinets in a dark stain to help bring out the imperfections.

Here's a side by side of the before and after.



Now all these babies need in some bling, by way of knobs.

I made a few minor adjustments to the space as well.

I exchanged the "boob" light for an industrial looking pendant.

I added some hooks {personalized with faux "zinc" letters} for the kiddies to hang backpacks and jackets.

Finally, I added a little sitting area for putting on and taking off shoes.

The window shade is my fave. It was made from a $3 Ikea rug.

My goal was to complete this transformation for around $100, but that was before the floor fiasco. In total, I ended up spending about $207: $100 of that was just for the floors, $30 for the pendant light from Ikea, $35 on artwork and frames, $30 on the "zinc" letters, $10 on the floor rug and $2 for the rod for the window shade. Everything else I already had on hand.

It's amazing what a few dollars and some elbow grease can do, eh?

I now lovingly refer to this space as my David Beckham room, because I find it so devastatingly gorgeous. The only thing that could make this room any better is if I actually found David Beckham in it doing my laundry.

Bathroom Makeover...reveal

Yay! My once hideous bathroom has finally embraced the 2ooo's. There are a few little things that still could use some tweaking/replacing, but I am calling it finished for the time being. If you have forgotten what the space looked like prior to updating allow me to refresh your memory. Brace yourselves.

Depressing right? Now I know why I've needed so much sugar since moving into this house... because everytime I walked passed this room all the life and energy was sucked out of my person. But not anymore.

Here's the new...and much improved space now.

Better right? Is it weird that everytime I walk by it now I want to go inside, lock the door and imagine that I'm at a quaint little beach house. All I can hear is the sound of the seagull's screeching and waves crashing on the shore ...no wait that's just the kids duking it out in the hallway and the overactive boiler downstairs...but whatever.

I commandeered this shutter from the {his and her nursery}. I realize that I just put them up a few months ago, but I am constantly rearranging things. I think I have unusual amounts of pent up nervous energy or ADD...possibly both. But I like it much better as this towel rack.

I timed this project just right, because Hobby Lobby had all of their hooks and knobs on sale 50 percent off this week. Holla!!! I got these assorted hooks for $10.

I really like the {collected over time} look. And even though I bought all of these hooks new, the fact that none of them are the same lends itself to that effect.

I am really loving the dry brushed cabinets. I think they pull the whole space together. Painting them was the best spent twenty minutes of my life...almost.

I was really torn on the hardware. Should I pick something worn and distressed like the cabinets or go completely opposite? I decided to do the opposite. I really like the juxtoposition of the old and faded cabinets with the new and bold hardware.

I had this old mirror sitting in the basement. It just happened to fit the space over the cabinets perfectly.

The nook over the pot is kind of a weird space. It's really tall and narrow. I had these old crates hanging out in the garage and thought they would fit the space nicely.

I filled them up with all sorts of beachiness.

My sis gave me these cool old bottles. I topped them off with seashells for a more beachy look.

Look at all of that dirt. I'm not usually a fan of grime, but I think it works well here.

Super cheap seashell art that I made from dollar store shells and an old picture frame.

A jar of seashells.

And a jar of starfish.

And some coral.

And some more seashell topped bottles.

I've always wanted a chandelier in my bathroom. Why? I don't know. I guess because it's something a little out of the ordinary. The fact that it's turquoise is even better.

Oooh, I found this precious at the thrift store for $5. When I saw it I knew it would be the perfect step stool for the kiddies.

I really hated the navy blue and forest green tile that accented the tub surround so I decided to make a simple shower curtain out of layered strips of muslin to hide it.

It's light and airy...perfect for a beachy chic bathroom.

One of my favorite accessories are these old bars of soap in cute, turquoise boxes. I found them stashed away at my grandma's house. Now when I look at them I will think of her...coincidentally, she is the sweetest woman I've ever known and the soap is called sweet heart soap...AHHHHHHH.

When I started the project I wanted to spend as little money as possible...around $50. I think I came pretty close. Here's the breakdown: $10 for hooks, $23 for knobs {also half off at Hobby Lobby}, $1 for seashells, $6 for starfish, $5 for the chandelier, $12 for muslin for the shower curtain, $5 for storage jars, $5 for the stool and nothing for the twigs, soap, frames, mirror and bottles. The grand total ended up being $67. I went a little over budget, but it's still not too shabby for a complete bathroom makeover.

Linking to: