The Powder Room~

Hello all!  Thanks so much for all your kind words on my sampler.  I had so much fun doing it.  Now I am just trying to find the perfect frame for it.  I mentioned in that post that I redid my powder room that didn't really need to be redone.  I just wanted a different look.  And, when the Mr. found this sign across the street from the shoppe, the wheels began spinning...

I had been drooling over Deborah's bathroom for some time and had collected a few beachy photographs, but I wasn't sure I really wanted a "themed" room.  The Mr. had a Hawaii themed bathroom when we were dating.  It was a little much *wink* He isn't really sure why I can create a beachy bathroom, but not be cool with the leis and grass skirts.  

My powder room has terrible lighting and since I don't know how to use a camera, these will be the best photos you get!  Last week, I came home with this vintage swim dress and finally started pulling all the pieces together.  

I kept the wall color and the little smokestand and just changed out wall art and accessories.

I actually have to credit the Mr. with finding al the stuff in here... I just pulled it together!  The little wood and glass box was something he found that I just couldn't sell.  And he bid on these great vintage photos taken at Brighton Beach around 1911.  

I wish these were my relatives!  Look at how much fun they were having!  I am a little obsessed with the girl in the middle.

I just added some bottles that I have had around the house and some seashells from our honeymoon and beach trips.

I love the vintage swim dresses on these ladies.  All I need now is a flowery swim cap!

We have an exciting weekend ahead of us.  My little sister is graduating with a degree in Nursing!  So, the baby and I are going to celebrate with her this weekend while the Mr. holds down the fort. Plus, it is her birthday too!!  I will be back next week to show you my table that needed painting!  And, if I get around to take some shoppe photos I will share those as well!

bye for now~

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!

Latest Project

Good Evening!  Hope your weekend was great!  Mine was pretty wonderful.... we went to see Ray Lamontagne and David Gray and it was amazing!  Best show ever!  Other than that we had a pretty low key weekend.  I did start on a room that Mr. Hughes thought was finished... silly Mr. Hughes!

When we moved into this house, I had a great plan to paint our powder room.  I wanted something bold in the small space.  So, I had Mr. Hughes paint cherry blossoms and branches on the walls....

And, while it is exactly how I wanted it, well, the colors I chose, well, the flowers, they looked like they were moving.  Like pulsing or something. (I am not on nor have I ever taken LSD. Seriously.) Mr. Hughes thought so too.  

So, after I got the okay from Mr. Hughes (I had to make sure that I wasn't going to tick him off by painting over it) I set to work on redoing this tiny space.  

I have already started painting (those flowers don't want to go anywhere!) and gathering up some fun stuff to change things up a bit.  This bathroom was fun, but it is time to say goodbye.  I just wanted to share the Before...or is it the 1st After....

So, with that in the works, I haven't done much else, except this....

Mr. Hughes picked up this can type thing somewhere.... I think it is part of a ice cream maker.... anyhow, I liked it... it reminds me of the big painted coffee cans that held our school supplies in kindergarten.  It is perfect for picking up the crayons and some extra trains and stuff on baby hughes' table (a birthday present from Ash and Nana.)

So, it was kind of plain....

I had these cloth books laying about that I had bought to do some sewing projects with and hadn't done anything with as of yet...

And we had some magnet paper.... so I made a giant magnet to make a fun little bucket.

No big whoop. 

Hopefully, I will have a powder room to show you sometime this week or next.... and maybe I will let the Mr. take the photos... it is really hard to get great photos of a tiny space.... and I really don't think I can justify a fish eye lens for one blog post...

Have a great week!

Bye for now!