Powder Room refresh for under $100

Hey all! I JUST finished a little powder room refresh and I'm so excited to share it! 

How did this project start, you ask? Well, I was walking by the powder room and realized the lighting above the sink was, ummm, not cute. Then, I looked around the tiny powder room and thought... "Hmmmm, this room isn't that cute at ALL." So, off to Lowes I went, followed by TJ Maxx and Michaels. 

So, this transformation kind of just happened. No joke. I had NO plan. The only thing I knew was that I wanted a new light fixture. So, I found this light fixture from Lowes for just under $50. Couldn't find the exact bulbs but here is the brand and the style- my bulbs are much more round. GE Relax LED bulbs 

                                  

         

Light bulbs- $8.98 for a pack of 2

Vanity Light Fixture- $49.98

Ohhhh yea... want to see a before? 

I haven't touched this room since we moved in. Hung that cute little canvas on the wall and called it a day. 

After I picked up the new light fixture, my wheels started turning. I knew I wanted to do this entire refresh for under $100. I went on a hunt to find some kind of shelf unit for above the toilet but no luck. I found some cute ones from TJMaxx and Michaels... Since I had roughly $30 left in my budget (after light and bulbs) all options would exhaust the budget. I almost gave up until... right by the check out line in Michaels, I came across this white, wooden crate. I thought to myself, "Self, couldn't I hang this on the wall from the bottom and turn it into a shelf?" Promptly after my thinking, I googled "milk crate shelf" and boom. It's a thing. This crate was $10. 

                 

 

I decorated the crate with a little basket and tiny mason jar from Michaels. The books and greenery were things I had around the house. Stuffed the basket with 2 wash cloths. 
Basket- $3(ish)
Mason jar- $2(wish)

 Only thing left to get is a new hand towel. I also thought about spray painting the towel holder a matte black... but we'll see. ;) 

Thanks for stopping by!

xo - Cyndi 

Basement Renovation: BEFORE & AFTER

If you don’t follow me on the gram, then you may not know that we recently finished our basement! We have been in the house almost 5 years and it was just time! It’s a small space (12x12) with an 8x4 hallway and then a small area that we left unfinished for storage. We had a relatively small budget so we did some work ourselves and then hired contractors (who were INCREDIBLE and so affordable) to do the things we simply couldn’t do. 

Rather than write 5 different posts leading up to the reveal, I decided it would be fun to squeeze it all into one post……….. That’s actually a lie... 

I just finally got around to blogging. Instastories are MUCH easier and I’ve been dabbling with those this summer. ;) 

Okay… here is what you need to know. 

1- I painted everything. Ev-er-y-thing. 

2- Brian did most of the wiring and electrical (except the high hats in the ceiling) and hung stuff (TV, curtain rods, etc) 

3- Contractors (Kenny and Benny) did the sheetrock, ceiling, high hats, floors, and trim

***If you need work done, these guys are incredible! They are affordable, skilled and FAST! I have never known workers to work so quickly when getting paid by the hour. Typically, they streeeeeetch everything out to get more $$$. Leave a comment if you’d like their info. 

Took 4 days for the guys to work… then about 3 days for me to paint and a day or 2 for Bri to do wires and stuff. 

I’ll share pics like this: before, day 1, day 2, etc etc. 

Ready?

BEFORE!

         

         

DAY 1 

Sheetrock and hung the track for the drop ceiling around the perimeter of the room. 

         

                             
DAY 2

Drop ceiling, high hats and spackle! Holy smokes! I loved this day because it started to actually look like a room!

DAY 3

Floor tiles! Ahhhhhhhhh :) 

DAY 4

Finished tiles, trimmed and added a door to the hot water heater closet. :)

We left one concrete wall as an accent wall. It might not be for everyone but we LOVE it!!! I eventually sanded that wall to make it smooth. Looks so cool!

At this point, the contractors were done! Total of 28 hours! If anyone has questions about pricing, please reach out. I have noon problem sharing the details. 

Here are links to the materials we used... 

Drop Ceiling ---- Drop Ceiling tiles
*We definitely splurged on these and it was SO worth it! Drop ceiling can look kinda "cheap" but these are beautiful!!!
*Then, all the frames and "kits" are general. The biggest investment are the tiles themselves. 

Floor tiles ---- Kaden Reclaimed Wood
*These tiles are a dream. I had others in mind but Brian suggested we pull the trigger on these and I am SO happy with how they look! Tile is so much easier to clean, too! 

Mortar (for floor tiles) ---- I THINK this is the one... We didn't go for the cheap one... That, I know for sure. Thin Set 

Grout ---- I THINK this is it... It's all a blur. Grout
*I know the color was Summer Wheat and it was $30ish a bag. Again, I was convinced to get the good stuff. Usually I would get the middle of the road stuff but ya know, I actually listened for once in my life. lol

Okayyyy... paint! My goodness have I had my fill of painting this summer. There is no "getting your feet wet" in my life. It's sink or swim! Did you see my kitchen painting project? Check it out here 

Some progress shots... I used Icy Avalanche from HGTV HOME Sherwin Williams BUT I used Valspar Paint because it was less than $30 a can for the "good" stuff. 

 Tapping off the ceiling of the stairs was ROUGH!!!! I was sweating my @$$ off! 

I can't find progress shots of painting... probably because I was delirious at the time so here are the afters! Ahhhhh so clean!!!

Then it was time to do these filthy stairs! I chose, ummmm... a dark gray! Ahhh I forgot the name but I'll try and find the paint chip. I do know 100% that it was a Valspar color AND a semi-gloss finish. Because these stairs are a high traffic areas, semi-gloss was the only way to go. 

The prep wasn't too bad. I used painters tape along the trim and just banged this out one night. Legit from 9pm-12:30pm I just painted these stairs. Started at the top and worked my way down. I did learn that semi-gloss paint is much less forgiving than matte paint but if you make a mistake, it's easier to wipe clean. I worked on the top step, then did some trim while it dried, then did the second coat, then did the second step, worked on more trim while the second step dried, then went back to do the second coat on the second stair, so on and do forth. Get it?!? 

 The banister was a pain... but I figured it out. 

 Found this rug at Homegoods for $25 and it's literally the softest rug I've ever felt.  I did some searching online and found the same rug, different pattern here at Kohls. I actually LOVE this one and it's on sale! Might need another!!!

And so begins the making of a man cave... a new QLED TV. I was able to salvage that Raider sticker from his old upstairs man cave which made me happy. Ya know what else makes me happy? The fact this our football team is black and silver... I feel bad for Greenbay fans or Eagles fans or Dolphins fans... actually ANY other football team that isn't black and silver. ;) Goes so nicely with our basement colors. 

Another shot of the stairs. Added this mirror from Homegoods ($25) and it really brightens up this narrow stairwell.

Brian took this 1940s chest from his dad and made it into a media console. He sanded and used a heat gun to get off all of the old paint, then spray painted in matte black! LOVE how this turned out. The cable box and PS4 and other "stuff" is inside and he installed a sensor for the remote to work even though the cable box is hidden. No wires. No mess. Love. Plus, it looks so clean! 

 Covered the doorway to under the stairs with a curtain from Walmart! 

 

Here is a better pic of our concrete accent wall. I just think it's so different and cool!  

 All the wires are hidden behind the sheetrock! ahhhhhhhhhh

 The curtains straight ahead hide a small, unfinished area that holds our shoes, water softener and a bunch of other crap! Out of sight, out of mind!

 We just had a sofa delivered and it's truly a man cave's dream sofa! I actually like it so much! Hint... it reclines, has a billion buttons, LED lights in cup holder, outlets and HDMI ports. Yea, it's no joke! 

Once we completely decorate, I'll post another blog with pics and details. 

Thanks for stopping by. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below! 

xo Cyndi