Not Your Granny's Doilies




Hope you all are having a wonderful long weekend!  We have had a great one... we went to ride Thomas the Tank Engine on Saturday.... so much fun.  The weather has been so pretty... yesterday, we took out our vintage quilt that I found for $15 and looks like it has h's all over it and put it to use.. we had a little picnic under a willow tree... it was so nice.  We had the whole park practically to ourselves.
And, I have got some stuff done.  Checked off.  Finito!

Mr. Hughes took the photos of the powder room this morning, and it was quite hard to take photos of this room since it is so small, so I can't give you a great overall look, but I am quite pleased *smiles*

So, here is the powder room Before

And, here is the after:



Here is a snippet of our little jewelbox of a powder room.  I painted the walls Pale Grey by Ralph Lauren (it was actually left over from the laundry room, I loved the color and saved money by using it!)
I have been wanting to wallpaper in here for awhile, but I may be a commitaphobic.  But, I still wanted something that gave me the graphic look of wallpaper.  So, I went with doilies.  They are pretty, inexpensive and have great patterns.


I originally planned on having white doilies... I bleached a whole bunch... well, some of them would not bleach... so, I had some dye that I decided to use.  I had never dyed anything before except for some tie dye shirts.  So, I gave it a whirl... now I want to dye everything... my sweet Grandma used to dye her own towels and curtains.
After I dyed them, I starched and ironed them.  Then, I just stretched them out and nailed them up with some paintable nails.



While out searching for doilies, I found this huge one.  Like almost 3 feet around.  I planned on putting it on the wall and I just couldn't get it to look right.  Then I realized what my bathroom was lacking... a rug.  Now, if I had some extra cash around, I would get the one I featured here.

But I don't, so I thought I would take my shot at making my own with a $2.50 giant doily and some felt.
I sprayed a piece of felt with some permanent spray adhesive.  Then, I placed the doily on it, stretching it out so that it was even. I let it dry then trimmed the edges with a pair of sharp, but older scissors (that stuff will gum up your scissors fast!)
I love the way it looks and it was pretty cheap.  I still need to add a rug mat to prevent slippage.



I repainted the little table that was already in here a pretty blue and changed out some of the accessories


I wanted some black in here because I had some artwork in mind that would look perfect in black frames
(I got that little ironstone soap dish from Tara)



Mr. Hughes designed these butterflies on some vintage sheet music that he scanned in and I painted the previously white frames black (we totally copycatted some on etsy...so if you want to buy some, go here!)


And, when we were out a week ago, I found another large frame at an antique store that was just like the other 2... so I bought it, of course.
We hung this one above a little vintage iron towel rack that I have had for awhile.


I went ahead and hung my very favorite birdcage ever... I will miss it on my dresser, but I love it here too.


I had originally planned on putting this mirror in the booth, but I decided it was the perfect size for above  the little shelf. It was originally dark wood, so I painted and distressed it. The shelf is a very old pickett cut down (from Three French Hens) and set on some vintage brackets (from White Flower Farmhouse.)
I added my set of 3 ironstone butter pats with tea lights (got the butter pats awhile ago from Chester and Donkey.)



I am so glad that I decided not to paint the brackets... when I was thinking the doilies would be white, I was going to paint these.  But, they look much better authentic.


I got this old Helene Curtis shampoo bottle from the flea market awhile ago for like $3 and I love the little lady silhouette.


Okay girls, I have to tell you... I love my bathroom.  I may break my arm patting my myself on the back. I keep going in there... but, I think the real reason is this soap that I featured here... I am in love!
It is pretty (and looks great piled in ironstone) and my whole bathroom smells so good.  I haven't used it yet, but I will, now that I know I can get more!
I got it and some owl soap from Satin and Birch

So, CHECK!  It is finished!  On to other projects *wink* I seriously started 4 small furniture projects for the booth today and also took some photos of new items for my etsy shop that will be listed later this week.  I have had a burst of energy... I also organized all our DVDs and CDs and went through and got rid of a trunkload of toys for Goodwill.  Long naps are a Mommy's friend!
Be back later this week to show you what has taken Tara's place for the time until Kate is ready...

Oh, and I am linking up to all the others that made their lives and homes lovely this weekend at Blessed Little Nest's Life Made Lovely Mondays!

Bye for Now!

12 comments:

  1. Oh, Thomas. Could be a 4th child of mine considering how much our middle one loves him.

    I love doilies, too. All of them. Even my grandmother's. Every Valentine's Day = doilies for me.

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  2. long live the long naptimes!! i heart that shade of gray and the color of those doilies.
    oh, and those shelf brackets and the shampoo bottle...divine! once you add in the artwork and that birdcage...it's like a little slice of heaven right in your house. i could just go on and on. it is all so great!

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  3. It looks absolutely adorable! I would love to see it in person...

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  4. Thanks so much for sharing...your powder room looks straight out of the 1920's and I'm in love. It's so quaint and it's bursting at the seams with character. I'm off to check out the soaps cause I HAVE to own some.

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  5. I LOVE your powder room! It is amazing! And what a fabulous idea to hang the doilies on the wall! They look just perfect there! I just love the grayish color of them. :)

    I can tell I am going to love reading your blog! It is just beautiful! :)

    Blessings,
    Jenni
    beautifulnest.blogspot.com

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  6. That is a very sweet makeover! I LOVE the doily "rug". And the paint colour.

    Also...we have the same faucet in our bathroom. Now, if only our bathroom had as much character.

    Have a lovely day!
    xo

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  7. Ohh! I love those butterfly prints in the black frames! The bathroom is adorable...great job!
    Have a great one!
    Tammy :-)

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  8. Michelle, everything looks so cool, and pretty!! I would be in there too, smelling the pretty soaps and playing with the accesories! too fun! love the idea of making the doilie a rug, and the butterflies turned out fantastic!! love those long naps, may they live on as long as possible!

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  9. Love you *new* powder room friend. :) What a great idea with the doilies!

    Smiles,
    Rachel

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  10. It looks fantastic!!! Awesome-awesome-awesome.

    And I'm cracking up because we have such the same taste. I just finished framing some doilies that I found at my great-grandparents house and hung them in our guest bedroom. Dyeing them is a great idea though. Why didn't I think of that?? Some of them are orange and white and all different colors and I really wanted all white for this bedroom, so I had to pick and choose what I could. I may have to go back and re-do some of them now that you gave me that idea.

    I love the soaps and the bottle and the painted furniture and the mirror...love it all! Good job, my dear.

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  11. FANTASTIC!! So vintage and happy! Love your doily rug and doily wall collection! That mirror is to die for!
    Lisa

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