The Painting Is Complete!

Yes, the painting of the cabinets is done for the most part. Tips to anyone who paints their cabinets sand first, sand lightly in between and wait 24 hours between coats to keep it from chipping. Some you just have to learn the hard way I guess.

This my little vanity area before.

Here it is after.

Notice the light fixtures. I like these much better then our old ones and they did not cost that much at Home Depot. I did see some bronze light fixtures I loved, but they cost over twice as much as these. Being frugal minded I blubbered like a baby reluctantly put it back on the shelf. Oh and did you know there are a gazillion different light bulb choices? If you don't believe me go browse the lightbulb aisle in your home improvement store. I started to get a little grumpy at all the choices. WB, being the wonderful husband he is, recognizes my grumpiness sometimes even before I do. Anyway, I just couldn't decide.

WB calmly let me believe it was all up to me until he saw me fast approaching my melting point in which he stepped up to some nice round lightbulbs and said, "I believe these will cast you in a warm glow setting off your red highlights and if it's possible make you look even more stunning then you already are." What? You don't believe men say things like that? Well, those might not have been his exact words, but whatever he said made me melt. And there is my bit of marriage advice. Marry a man who knows how to sweet talk you in the lightbulb aisle.

This was our sink area before.

Here it is after.

Oh, and WB got some inexpensive drawer pulls at the home improvement store. We have painted our cabinet pulls in the past and it has worked nicely. This time the weather outside wasn't so nice and to save time we bought these. The key is to find some that are inexpensive. You could easily spend hundreds of dollars in drawer pulls, but for me these look fine and I'd rather spend that money elsewhere.

Next is the counter tops. We went with granite. We thought about doing our own concrete counter tops, but decided against. Number 1 it would take some time. WB only has the weekends to work and he is in the middle of training for a 150 mile bike ride sooooo time is limited. Number 2 I'm not sure my back would survive carrying a concrete slab up the steps to our bathroom. But there are some ways to save with granite, which I'll share in the next makeover post:)

Frugal Master Bath-Part 2

Thank you for joining me for my second installment of Frugal Master Bath Makeover 2nd edition. If you missed the first edition be sure to check it out here. I not only give you before pictures, but marriage advice. Yes folks, I like to sprinkle my post with a little bit of everything.

WB got busy tiling our tub.




The tile saw is downstairs and outside so he gets plenty of exercise during this little makeover. I have to tell him that several times a day so he doesn't feel guilty for oversleeping and missing his morning workouts. Tile work is hard work, really! If you've never done it try, you will be aching in places you never knew existed.


I love my new tub and fixtures he found. I've already enjoyed a nice warm, sudsy bubble bath in it. Oh, and I wasn't alone. I'm not sure what you're thinking, but if you are a mother of some little tots you'll understand. Any person in this family who takes a bath knows that if you dare to soak you will be joined by Little One. Doesn't matter if she's already had a bath that day. She loves a good bath.

Okay, the paint. That was my area. Here was my strategy. Go to the paint store. Look at samples. Pick out a few dozen colors. Stand in paint aisle and try to visualize what each would look like on my wall. Practice some yoga moves to help the visualization process. Go back and forth, back and forth until I'd narrowed it down to a couple I liked. Leisurely walk around the store thinking of a few other projects I'd like to do until inspiration struck.

Here's what happened. Went to store. Lost husband in fixtures while I went to paint section with all three kids. Little One decides she is tired and cranky and doesn't want to look at paint. Stand in paint aisle with fussing child while your two oldest children pretend not to know you. Look quickly at a couple hundred colors of paint. Grab the two colors within arms reach that look like they might work. Now carrying grumpy child take the paint samples to the desk to be mixed. Glancing over my shoulder I notice a pretty color demo on some drywall and ask how it was done. Plastic bags, base coat and glaze. Nodding my head I hand paint lady my paint samples and tell her that's what I want to do.

Here is the base coat, a pretty wheat color.

Let me just share what I learned about the plastic bag technique. It is messy, hard to control the amount of paint that goes on the wall, and did I mention MESSY. I painted the toilet area one afternoon while Little One napped and stopped. I wasn't sure of my color choice or my technique. I kept looking at the rest of the bathroom which just had the pretty wheat colored base coat on it and thought I liked that better. We left the paint like that for almost a week. I talked about blending in more colors, muting, being subtle... My husband just stared and nodded. Then one morning he sprung out of bed and declared, "I like it. Do the whole thing?" Long story short I traded the plastic bags for a sea sponge. I was able to control the amount of paint that went up and not so messy. After I sponged the paint on with one hand I had a plastic bag in the other to blot at it. This helped to blend it.

So there it is. Like it or not it is here to stay.

Next up is painting the cabinets. Join me tomorrow as I show you the three paint colors we picked out for that and the floor tiles we finally picked out! Please feel free to give input. I need it:)