Life in Eight has Come to Visit (DIY Wall Stencil Download)

Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a great week! I am enjoying the (almost) spring weather today, knowing that next week it will be in the single digits. I am still working on the vanity for our bathroom disaster makeover, and it has been THE hardest piece of furniture that I have ever stripped! I have no idea why, but the paint just didn't want to come off. Now that I've sanded it, and painted it, I've realized that the stain from under the paint is bleeding through. I've learned the easy fix for that, and I'll share that with you tomorrow. I'm purposely lacking pictures of it, because I don't want to reveal any of it until it is finished. But I'll give a sneak peek of it tomorrow. Today, I want to introduce you to a new blog that I came across. Gaby blogs over at Life in Eight, which is about organization and decorating. I L♥VE her style! I was reading about her bedroom makeover, and when I saw that she designed her own stencil AND is sharing is with us for FREE, I emailed her right away and asked if she would share the post with my readers. I'm so happy that she accepted! Please take some time to check out her blog, you will NOT be disappointed! So here is Gaby....

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DIY DISASTER

Good morning and happy hump day! I'm so happy that the kids finally went back to school yesterday. I can get back to all of the projects I have sitting around half finished. One of the big projects that I've been working on, is a bathroom vanity makeover. Well, that isn't really the big project....it's just part of the big project. I'll start from the beginning. I am the best wife ever! Ok, so I  just thought I would throw that out there, here is really where is started. My husband went out of town, and I thought it would be nice for him to come home to a new bathroom. This was my plan: tear out the old linoleum, replace it with peel and stick "wood" floor (did you know they make that? It looks great! At least in the box ;)) replace the vanity with a "new to me" vanity that would have a fresh new look, replace the toilet seat, remove the bottom row of tile and replace it with tall base board, re-caulk the tub, paint, add a new shower curtain, and some new decor. Doesn't sound like much, right? I went shopping for all of the supplies, enlisted the help of my sweet neighbor, and in true Jill fashion got straight to work.....at 10 pm the night before my husband was to arrive home! That's just how I roll. What my husband came home to definitely wasn't the same bathroom that was there when he left. It was my first DIY disaster! We tore out the old linoleum, to find another layer of old linoleum. As I started to pull that out, what I found underneath was a rotted, stinky, subfloor! What was I going to do?? Well because I am a skilled carpenter, and plumber, at least that is what the certificate on YouTube says...I was going to attempt to replace the subfloor. The ONLY thing that stopped me, was this is our only bathroom, and what if I couldn't figure it out? I pictured a big hole in the floor and no toilet. That is where I stopped, and that is what he came home to. Not happy with his over ambitious wife the next day. This is the before, as you can see it really needs an update!

And here is what I realized....

 Why couldn't this have just gone as I had planned in my head?? I spent the rest of the night tearing out the layers of linoleum, and sprayed the floor with bleach until I could get my husband to help me. I forgot to tell you when this was...THE WEEK BEFORE THANKSGIVING!! The problem is (as some of us know), when we have to wait for our husbands to help fix something, we have to just sit back and relax....it will be a while. The floor is STILL in its disgusting state, minus the stink. So I've had to move on to the rest of the bathroom. I've painted the walls, and the trim. I still have to paint the doors, but have replaced the door handles. Now coming back to the start of this post. The "new" vanity....

That sweet neighbor of my that was helping me, purchased a new vanity for her (much easier) bathroom makeover, and I painted her living room for her old vanity. When I'm finished with it, she will wonder why she didn't just bring this one back to life! This is what is looked like when it came to my house. I've been stripping the old paint off for the past 3 days, 3 DAYS! I even wondered if I gave it some dollar bills, if it would strip faster ;-). There was layer, after layer of paint on this thing! Today I plan to sand it.

I don't want to show any pictures of the progress of the bathroom or vanity. I'm excited to be able to show the finished bathroom reveal, so just keep these nasty pictures in your mind as I get it ready for an amazing before and after. Hopefully the bathroom reveal will include new floors. Can I borrow someone else's husband please?

Update and question: I returned the peel and stick floor because my brother gave me a few boxes of really nice laminate wood floor. I know that isn't the best floor for a bathroom, but I know it will look amazing. Have you used laminate wood in a bathroom? Have you had any trouble with the moisture?? I'd love to hear about it!

 

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Laundry Room Before and After

I'd love to say that this is my laundry room made over, but sadly it's not. It's just the laundry room that I made over. My girlfriend just moved into a beautiful (HUGE) house, and asked me to come over and paint some of the rooms. I'll be posting some of the other rooms soon, but today you get to see the laundry room! 

There was absolutely nothing wrong with the look of the laundry room before (don't you agree??) Especially since they have only been there for a couple of weeks. To spruce it up, I painted the walls, took down the shelf to paint it white (not yet finished with that part), added hardware to the cabinets, and added some decor. Here's the after....(warning picture overload)

Adding a natural element, a candle, and a basket with towels, can add a spa feel to any room! Even the laundry room!

I just L♥VE that shabby chic laundry sign and isn't that apron adorable?!

So, what do you think? Since I've started painting at her house, I have been inspired to start redoing some of my rooms. This week look for my bedroom makeover, including the beautiful hardwood floors that were revealed when I tore out the carpet, as well as my living room makeover and new blogging spot.

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$20 Bathroom Makeover!

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

I know you have all heard of Design on a Dime, right?? Well, I don't know where they get there dimes from, but their dime is worth way more than my dime!! This is what I call, "I Ain't Got NO Dime Design!" Being the final week of the American Crafter contest, I wanted to do something really great, but I also needed to make something that wouldn't cost so much. In the previous weeks I spent no more than $10 on each project! I was able to repurpose things and it worked out, but I had nothing else I could redo that would, in my opinion, be contest worthy! I decided that my bathroom was in need of the makeover and I could do it for CHEAP!! I have to chuckle though, because that's not a typical project to take on when your budget is $0! Here is what I had to work with....

I know, it's super plain, but we rent our house and sometimes it's hard to bring yourself to put in the time and money for improvements. This was WORTH IT!! Here is how it turned out and then I'll go through how I manage to spend so little money!

I painted the walls with a mix of the gray from my bedroom and the white from the kitchen cabinets (painting the baseboard before I mixed the 2).....$0!
I have a great variety of paint, but nothing that I wanted for the vanity. Last weekend Ace Hardware was giving away a quart of their new paint for free! So that is what I used to paint the vanity and the shudder....$0!
I painted the grout with the same paint that I used on the floors, making a paint wash...$0!
At Habitat for Humanity, I found the wood that I used for the frame and the towel rack....$2
and used liquid nail to attach it to the mirror...$3
Already had the spigots...$0!
blue and orange spray paint from Habitat for Humanity...$6
stain from Habitat for Humanity...$3
white spray paint was on clarence at Sears Hardware....$1
I got the material for the shower curtain at Good Will....$4
The wreath form is from the dollar store....$1
already had the sheet music....$0!
already had frames....$0!

And that's the rundown!! A total of 20 buckaroo's!

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you like it as much as I do! I'd love to hear what you think!!

Remember to vote! You can vote HERE


Linking @:
Fireflies and Jellybeans: Show off you Stuff
Live Laugh Rowe: Live Laugh Linky
At The Picket Fence: Inspiration Friday
Cherished Handmade Treasures: Things We Find Pinteresting Thursday
Show and Tell Saturday
Six Sisters Stuff: Strut Your Stuff Saturday
Funky Junk Interiors: Sat Night Special
Miss Mustard Seed: Furniture Feature Friday
Addicted 2 Decorating: Addicts {not so}Anonymous
A Simply Klassic Home: Simply Klassic Sunday
Tatertots and Jello: Weekend Wrap Up

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