DIY Bathroom Refresh | Painted "Beadboard" Wallpaper | Polished Nickel Accents

I hope everyone had a great Easter!  Ours was fantastic - such a beautiful, spring day!  I'm finally getting around to sharing our DIY bathroom refresh.  Enjoy!

..........

This was our bathroom....  Just sort of all over ick.  Currently, this is the only full bathroom in the entire house, but soon we'll have our own big master bath, so we didn't want to spend too much time or money.   Nothing was really terrible or dated beyond 10 years or so, but it was definitely not a place that reflected our style or felt refreshing to spend time in.

 

The patched and re-patched plaster walls were the main source of our dislike.  And yes, I did actually choose this color.  It turns out this dusty blue grey doesn't do anything for a dingy bathroom but make it feel, well, dusty and dingy.

After just a few days...

This is the walk on the way to the bathroom - so you can get the full effect.  It is soooo much lighter, brighter and much fresher.

As you can see, there is no fancy tile work or impressive marble in sight.  Our goal was to just take a weekend (or two...) and spruce it up a little to make it fresh and clean feeling.

We kept the existing vanity and just gave it a fresh coat of paint (Navajo White in Satin) that matches the rest of the trim in the house.  We replaced the shell vanity top and the dated wall mounted mirror.



I love these polished nickel pulls - Martha Stewart Bedford pulls.  We have the same ones in the kitchen, but they are finished in brass.



The faucet is Delta Silvertone - and it does have a genuine looking silver-plate finish.

I think this mirror really elevates the feel of the bathroom.

If you look closely, you can see the "beadboard" wallpaper that we installed and then painted Navajo White in flat.  The paper went on so easily and covered all of the blemishes that were covering the walls.

This framed photo is one I took on our honeymoon in Tuscany.  It is the same view that I put in my painting.

Here's a closer view of the wallpaper.   I decided to paint it the same as the trim (but in flat) to make it feel as much like paneling as possible.

Basic and original cast iron tub. 

We replaced the shower head and faucet with Universal Fit pieces - we didn't have to take out any tile to put these on.



I won't even show you what the old shower head looked like.  We'll just say that this one is much, much better.

The fun area of the tub!  Those are Emma's foam flower "stickers."
 

This is a painting I did of the view from our house in Seaside.

Nice cafe curtains are really hard to find!  I ended up making these from a hemstitch table runner - I love how they turned out. 

I just cut it in half and put a hem on the top of each to hold the rod.

I love the patina of the original old polished nickel door plate in the bathroom.  The other side has brass to match the rest of the house.

More polished accents.  The curtain is Restoration Hardware.

Side view of the painting.

Hooks!  We can't have too many hooks in our house!

Sources : 

Towel Hooks, Toilet Paper Holder & Hardware : Martha Stewart Seal Harbor at Home Depot

Pulls : Martha Stewart Bedford in Nickel

Wall Paint : Navajo White in Flat

Vanity : Navajo White in Satin

Faucet : Delta Silvertone

Shower Head : Pfister Universal in Chrome

Shower Curtain : Restoration Hardware

Cafe Curtain : Pottery Barn Table Runner

Towels : Pottery Barn Hydro Cotton

Happy Easter

Amaryllis Picotee

Although we think of amaryllis as a Christmas flower, we're celebrating

Easter with one last flourish from Amaryllis Picotee.

Amaryllis Picotee

Picotee's lovely white flower has a green center and fine red penciled edge.

I love how the red defines its very sculptural edges.

We'll be enjoying a quiet Easter hanging out with a few good friends, enjoying

good food, and sitting on the chairs we're not normally allowed to.

Whatever you do, however you celebrate, I hope you have a wonderful day!

New Master: Moving in

Dropping in for a quickie Friday post!

Literally within an hour of hitting publish on my last post, Brad decided it was time to move the furniture back in. And so we did.

We have a king sized bed, which takes up almost the whole room, so there were not a lot of layout options. Luckily, there was just enough space to include our nightstands and dresser.

First we had to center the rug and reassemble the bed frame:

Once that was ready, we put down the box spring, bed skirt and mattress:

And finally, we reattached the headboard using the same french cleat (see how we did it the first time  here)

Beauty-full.

I also picked up some fresh new linens from Target's Threshold line:

They are so soft and striped and yummy. We haven't changed out our pillow cases yet or added any of the other new bedding, so that will be coming.

We lucked out—the nightstands fit perfectly on either side:

At first I had set the mirror horizontally on the dresser like it was in our bedroom...

But after a few days of no TV, I started having withdraws and decided it was a necessity in our room. I just can't give up my bedtime TV ritual.

Brad agreed and we removed it from the wall mount in the office and set it on a TV stand.

Here he is hooking it up:

I thought it made more sense to rotate the mirror vertically so the TV wasn't in front of it...

For now, we set the cable box on top of the TV (for lack of anywhere else to put it), but we may re-evaluate this later:

As for the empty space above the TV, I've already figured that out. I have a craft or two up my sleeve to fill the wall.

And that about covers it! It's definitely a tight space... but that makes it more cozy, right? Cozy is what I'm going for here. 

The 5'11" x 8'2" Tarnby rug actually covers most of the floor. You can see how it's only around 8 or 9 inches from the door here:

We are far from done here, people. I have about 7 weeks worth of projects planned until we can call this room "Finished."

Next week I'll attempt to convert my bamboo window shade into a blackout shade, and we'll also swap the existing ceiling light for a fan. Getting there, slowly but surely...

Hope everyone has a happy Easter filled with extra chocolate and peeps!

Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese

There's a new color scheme being served up all over the neighborhood. 

I call it Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese.

When I was at lunch at Sam's in South Boston recently and saw it on the menu,

I just couldn't resist ordering it so I could juxtapose the photos.

This is a two-family house I wanted to buy several years ago.  It was about as crusty as

a grilled cheese sandwich back then and I decided it was too scary of the project.

Someone bought it, fixed it up and flipped half of the house for the same price

as they paid for the entire house.

It was then I learned, don't be afraid of crustiness.

via

This house was the first in the neighborhood to use TS&GC color scheme

about three years ago.   The others all quickly jumped on board.

via

This one switched things up a little bit with bronze window sashes.

photo:  me

I think I like it better with black accents.

What do you think?  Could you warm up to TS&GC on your house?

Panko Crusted Salmon in a Brown Sugar Lime Marinade

When I go to the meat & fish counter at my market I always debate between salmon and sea bass, then end up buying a flat iron steak.  Am I the only one that likes the idea of serving fish for dinner, but lacks some really great recipes that I actually want to make again?  It seems like when I do serve it we both agree it was good, but not great.  Therein lies the problem.

Mike's Mom has a great marinade that I use on just about everything.  Recently I was revisiting a Barefoot Contessa recipe (Eli's Asian Salmon) that wasn't a huge hit the first time around.  I realized it was fairly close to Joy's recipe, but with limes instead of lemons and the addition of a panko bread crust that the marinade soaks into.  The real key ingredient is the addition of brown sugar - it turns the salty and sour marinade into a sweet sauce.

Here is another way to use this same marinade - Chicken & Vegetable Kebabs.

I decided to merge the two recipes and came up with a really delicious result.  One that we will actually look forward to making again.  It would be perfect for entertaining as it bakes in the oven for 20 minutes, pull it out when you sit down for salad - let it rest for 15 minutes.  You can take it right to the table to serve.

Panko Crusted Salmon
in a brown sugar lime marinade

2 1/4 pounds center-cut salmon fillet
1 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup lime juice (2-3 limes)
1 tablespoon toasted (dark) sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons chili paste
1/2 cup sliced green onions

2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon of sesame seeds
1 1/2 cups panko

Place the salmon in a baking dish.  Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.

Mix together soy, brown sugar, vinegar, lime juice, sesame oil, chili paste, green onions, garlic, sesame seeds and ginger.

Press the panko crumbs on top of the salmon.

   Pour the marinade over the salmon and panko.  

Bake at 500 degrees for 18-20 minutes, or until it reaches 120 degrees on a meat thermometer.  Remove from oven and cover with foil.  

Let it rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.