An IMPERFECT Bathroom Renovation

Today is all about a project that has taken way to long to finish. In fact it isn't even finished yet, and to be totally honest it probably will never get finished to the standard I had in my head when we started.

BUT! that isn't super sad, it's actually what I am devoting my Fridays to this year. Yep my "failure Friday" starts TODAY, with our totally imperfect bathroom make over.

Reed and I needed to start this bathroom reno 1. because I hated the color, it was a pale yellow but made  everything look yellow and 2. because the shower walls decided to start falling off.

We visited Lowes and got new shower walls for just $70 and made sure we had all the glue and caulk we needed. And I figured this made a great excuse to paint the bathroom when I didn't have to worry about getting paint all over the place. I was aiming for a smooth ombre effect with the left over grey from the rest of the house/studio.

First, Reed pulled the old walls off and boy oh boy was there problems. Loads of old glue to scrape and then bad sheet rock around the faucet. Once Reed scraped off the glue and replaced the sheet rock he was ready to add the new walls. So he cut the walls to size, spread the glue and taped it to dry.

Sadly, apparently our window is no where near square so when Reed cut the walls it was a bit off. Ya know an inch between the bottom and top of the wall. Old houses blow my mind some times. 

And no pictures but the next day when we put the caulking on apparently 1 section of the wall decided to not really stick tight so there is a bubble... great. Right now we have a board attempting to push the air out of it! Oops :) 

And when Reed was doing the shower walls I decided to start my thought to be super easy grey paint job. I took my original paint color and painted a 12 inch strip. Then I added a half cup of white paint to make it a tint lighter. Then painted another 12 in strip. And to blend them together I used a dry paint brush and just smudged the two together. I continued this up for 6 strips and then white for the remainder of the wall. 

 Well, I failed. I was hoping for a beautifully soft gradient. Instead I got some crazy uneven stripes and then basically the same color the rest of the way up... It was a pretty big bummer and took all I had in me not to just give up on the idea. I'm hoping I can go back and fix it up... maybe another post in the future but for now our bathroom is a failed paint job FO SHO!

Please just tell me how I taped off the entire bathroom and still have about a bajillion of these bad paint spots?! Ugh, I always hate painting...

How many projects have you started thinking it would be uber easy only to find out it is going to take much longer, and maybe a bit more skill than you thought?

How I turned a failed dog bed project in to artwork for the bathroom!

Projects don't always turn out the way we picture in our heads. Pinterest has created a perfect example of how our DIY projects should turn out. But often they don't look anything like what we pinned. I am not a huge fan of Pinterest. I use it some but only if I have a specific thing in mind that I have a QUESTION about. It is a research tool for me, otherwise it would totally put me in a creative block.

Anyway, back on track here. I decided I was going to make our beautiful puppy a bed. She is a little strange in the fact that she doesn't like the floor. She would rather sit on ANYTHING but the floor. She is precious and I will take any chance to share pictures of her so here are some of my favorite pictures of her sitting on everything from my feet to a barstool. Isn't she just the sweetest!

I decided that she might like her dog bed a little more if it was off the floor! Brilliant right?!
And what better material than the mighty pallet! Well I got to work and it immediately wasn't what I was expecting. 1. taking the pallet apart was SUPER hard! I have used pallets before but always cut them up, trying to take the nails out was ridiculous. Never again. 2. Making a real rough pallet look some what refined just wasn't happening. I'm sure it could have but I was so turned off by that point that I just gave up. It looked like a pallet...




So the bed sat outside on the back porch for about 3 weeks. Reed kept asking what I was doing with it and I just avoided answering :) Finally I just took it apart. I was tired of looking at it so I made it go away.



Then I realized the other thing I was really tired of was that big blank wall in our bathroom!
Our bathroom is kinda strange. I showed you on Friday in our bathroom "tour" how long and narrow it is, isn't it a bit bizarre?? Even though I technically finished this room like 2 days after we moved in I just couldn't share because I was so unsettled about that long empty wall.



So I decided to recycle my already recycled pallet dog bed in to SOMETHING to put on that wall!

The pieces where already whitewashed from the bed so all I did was come up with a word that would fit the bathroom. I wasn't in the most creative mood so "scrub" it was. Then I just pulled the color from the shelves and shower curtain and painted it right on the "headboard" of the dog bed.

WAH LA! The perfect size piece of wall art made in all about 10 minutes (if you don't count the long process of failing in making a dog bed).



So there is a fail turned success! I'm sure you all have stories similar, its hard to live up to the Pinterest perfect life that is out there now. Let me know what kind of project fails you've had around the house.

Bathroom Reveal at the Boondocks House

Here is a quick tour of our super long and skinny bathroom :)

Before we moved in it had a odd vanity with no cabinets underneath and lots of water damage. But Reeds boss was so sweet and for a "house warming gift" they re did the vanity before we got here! Now it is a nice new vanity with lots of storage!  

This bathroom is pretty awesome when it comes to storage. We have more than we know what to do with! All I did to spruce them up was paint the back of the shelving with my favorite color  and scrounge up all the fun little containers we had randomly around the house. 

When they put the new vanity in the mirror was no longer center so it was kind of odd. When you stood at the sink you only saw half of your face in the mirror. BUT never fear because thrifty finds fix everything! I found this old medicine cabinet that fits perfectly next to the original which gives the awkwardness a little more purpose. 

And don't you just love the shower curtain! We got it as a wedding gift at Bed Bath & Beyond. The only thing I still want to figure out is how to make the room feel less yellow. I don't know why but sometimes the lighting in there is just soooooo yellow.

Heres a secret. This room was done the week we moved in. I just couldn't share because we had this one really long strange wall that I just didn't know what to do with. So just recently (this week) I quickly made this piece of art to go over the towel rack. Its not much but it takes up space and thats what I  needed it to do!

So anyway, thats our bathroom! Long skinny and always going to be a tripping hazard :) If you look at the first picture you can see how close the vanity is to the tub, literally it is just enough room to stand. The first week I fell back in to the tub countless times! But good news is I'm getting used to it and haven't hurt myself yet :)

I'm going to share next week how I made the new artwork, its an interesting fail turn success story so come back to check it out!

** And don't forget about the big reveal!! TOMORROWWWWWWW! Here is the sneak peak at what we plan to giveaway as part of the revamping process :) 

Our Little House

So this week I'm doing more personal updates than I think I have everdone. But hopefully this time in my life is interesting to more people than just myself :) If you're tired of the personal and want more art let me know! I'm here to cater to YOU :)

Ok, update on the house. Its still our little quircky first house, and it has been showing more and more character the longer Reed is in it. I didn't share this in the first post about the house cause there weren't many details and I wasn't sure what the outcome would be. Now that it is finally taken care of I think I can share with you.

When Reed first moved in June 8th I was at the beach with my family so we had some great friends and family help him move from Seneca to Pendleton. They were very efficent and got all of the house moved in ONE day! It was such a blessing to have Reed in our home with no problems!

Then, I got a phone call the last day of the beach.

 FLEAS.

Our precious little house was infested with fleas!

Before Reed moved in the Realty company had it sprayed twice. Once just because it was so bad they couldn't send the workers in to get the house cleaned and ready for move in. Then they sprayed again the day before Reed moved in. Reed had so many flea bites that he looked like he had the chicken pox!

We got the exterminator back out the Tuesday I returned from the beach and even he was amazed by the fleas that survived the last 2 sprays. The next day THEY WERE STILL IN THE HOUSE!

Reed had moved everything in to our first home but was unable to sit any where other than the kitchen. And he had unpacked nothing but kitchen gadets.We were getting really fed up when it hit the one week mark.

We got the house sprayed again, this time with another chemical and it seems to have worked! It has been about 4 days since Reed last saw a flea.

I think we are officially FLEA FREE!

Another little surprise came last night when Reed got home from work and attempted to set up the internet.

He had just gotten in the router and all the other doo-dads that go along with hooking up wireless internet and called the company to see how it all fits together to some how produce our wireless internet. The man on the phone politly said "Its really simple. Plug the router in to the phone jack and thats it!"

Reed looked around and found NO PHONE JACK. This house has not been set up to have a phone or any kind of internet. Luckily we have gotten to know the ladies at the realty office really well and they are sending someone out this week to fix that. So hopefully Reed will have internet this week!!

These are I guess kind of boring little house stories but they are just part of the reason why there is a delay in posting all the projects I have going on. I have started about a million projects but haven't been able to put them up until the house is set up just a tiny bit more.

I think by this weekend you will have your first update of the yard and living room!

PS. I know this is random and unofficial but I wanted to share the first piece of  our mail at our house.

This gives me goosebumbs every time I see it. In Less than 45 days we will be Mr. & Mrs.!!!

Currently doing a Pinterest blog hop hosted by the D.I.Y. Dreamer go check it out and get some cool Pinterest craft ideas!! 

running ragged

Alright. I'm really not "ragged" just tired today.
I know I've been absent for a while I've been really busy and as much as I want blogging to be high on my list it always gets knocked further down.
Last week I was lucky enough to spend a week with my family on Kiawah Island. I'm pretty sure that is one of my favorite places in the world. I would love to live out in that area one day (probably not ON Kiawah, but close). I read 2 books and got nice and tan... Mmmm I just love summer :)

So after my fabulous week vacation I came back to Clemson to help Reed move in to our home. Thats weird to say. I mean, its not technically "ours" because we are renting but hey its the first place we will live together! Reed is moving in a couple months before the wedding to fix it up and to allow me time to do whatever I want to it before I officially move in as "Mrs. Lathrop". (Ooooh thats even weirder to say!!).

These are some of the pictures from the house. They are rough in both picture quality and whats in them. I really don't want to share them but I want to be able to show you the transformation once I get my hands on the place!!


First up. The Living room. Gross. But I will say it looks a lot better already! I've moved all the boxes out and rearranged what furniture Reed has now. Hopefully by the end of this month we will have my living room furniture in place and I can start really putting the room together.

Second room is the guest/art/hunting room. I don't think it will stay all of these things but we are hoping to fit a day bed, my desk and craft cabinet along with Reeds gun cabinet and bows... I have a plan to make it more of "my room" than his. He has the entire back yard and 2 sheds!

Annnnd this is going to be our bedroom. Its tiny. We are only gonna be able to fit in our bed, a dresser, and maybe a bookcase.

And this is the bathroom. No room for storage... I may add some corner shelves... I don't have a plan for this one yet.

But I'm hoping to get a piece of furniture to put out in the hall to hold my make up and the towels. I've been thrifting trying to find the right piece... 

And finally the kitchen. Well, I don't have much to say other than it is small.
Reed and his cousin worked really hard to move the stove to where it is now to give a little room for a table in the corner. Before the washer hook ups were where the stove is and the stove was to the left of the fridge. It didn't make any sense. This isn't much better but at least we can have a kitchen table!

The other view of the kitchen. Yep those are the only cabinets. I've come up with a few creative solutions just gotta wait to put them to work. I'm in the middle of making a rolling island and am also on the hunt for 2 small pieces of furniture to add as "counter space"...

And this is the laundry room/utility closet. 

its long and narrow. Before they only had the dryer hook up  in here and the washer was in the kitchen. Luckily I have a handy man and he was able to move the hook ups so we can do laundry in one place now :) He also plans to work on that shelving in the back... And I am planning to hang some peg board above the washer and dryer so that we can hang our pots and pans in here instead of taking up our limited cabinet space! 

 This is the front of the house. Not very exciting but nice. I'm moving some hydrangea bushes to the front just to add some color to the house :)

The glorious back yard. The picture doesn't do it justice. This is really what sold us on the house. A 1 acre fenced in yard!!! Reed has sense moved in 2 sheds, 2 boats, 3 cars, and a motorcycle... good thing we got an acre... I've talked to Reed about not turning it in to a parking lot and he is now parking 2 cars behind the shed.

Thats our house!
Not much. I'm working like a mad woman to get this place feeling like a home instead of a rental. Reed has been awesome and we have spent lots of late nights working, him in the yard and me in the kitchen and living room. Hopefully before the wedding it will be in ship shape and ready for me to move in come August!

We have already had our first guests :) Our good friends came over for dinner and so graciously stood in the kitchen while I organized the pantry and then ate tacos with us in our junk filled living room. So much fun, and I am so glad they love us despite the hectic-ness that is our lives!

My brain hurts

Well, my brain hurts.

I can't be creative.

As an artist and art student this is REALLY frustrating.

I honestly can't decide if I am more frustrated that I don't have any creative ideas or if I'm frustrated that because of this I look like a slacker. No matter how many hours I put in to research and brainstorming if at the end I don't have a new creative concept I look like I haven't done anything.
Do you know how exhausting this is?

I have less than 4 months until my wedding and I haven't gotten to be excited about the planning process yet because I have told myself I need to focus on school and being creative in a fine art way instead of a fun decorative crafty way.

But, my last project in sculpture I gave in. I combined the wedding thoughts and the school thoughts. It literally took me weeks to break down to that point but it was the only way that I could produce something that was relatively original and that would work with the project.

For this project we were supposed to disguise something. I had about a million ideas but because of lack of funds, time and having to get permission from school I couldn't manage most of my ideas. I basically had to go all the way back to the start. I knew that this specific space was very interesting to me. I felt strange as soon as I entered it. There is a new building called Lee 3 that houses most of architecture and a few art classes. It has caused a stir with its new modern architecture and open floor plan. Because of that it has become a prime target for any art project. I chose this particular room, which is a small (5ft x7ft) room outside the restrooms. This space was odd. I don't know how to explain it other than I had to double check to make sure I opened the right door.
So that was the first thing I figured out, I wanted to use that space. Why? Because it was odd, and made me feel way out of place.
I had to answer that question,WHY does it make me feel strange?? Well I decided that a lot of that came from the height of the ceilings. This 35 sq. ft room has 10ft ceilings!! WEIRD.
So with all that stated I knew that I needed to disguise the real ceiling and see how that affects the space. That is how I came to the sculpture pictured. Nothing but fishing line and tissue paper and it made the space totally new.

The once bizarrely tall "closet room" became something that evoked a new emotion. It was just as bizarre but in a way that didn't cause discomfort as it did before.

Well, I'm tired and I don't really have to much else to share right now. I still haven't scanned in my photos from class or my prints from printmaking. I promise I will do that soon.
I also REALLY wanna update some wedding stuff but I just need to get school over with first.
I'm sorry I've been such a slacker. I promise I think about blogging all the time. It is just hard to justify spending time writing when i can't seem to get my thoughts out in my sketch books.

Ohhh the frustrations of an art student!!

Procrastination

Hello long lost friends! Sorry I have been so slack about keeping yall updated on projects! But, in all honesty, I've been slack on DOING projects. My room is still basically all white. My armoire has now made it in the room so all that is left to do is hang pictures! The chicken wire wall is still half finished but its coming along, slowly. And classes have officially started! Next week my first projects are due which means this will begin the long weekends spent in the studio! I can't wait to show yall my projects from school but as it is with all school work, I have already started to procrastinate a little... Tonight I really just didn't feel like doing architecture reading and its too dark to take pictures or go to the botanical gardens and I don't have a buddy to go weld in sculpture studio with either. So, maybe it wasn't procrastination. Anyway, after doing some busy work for my architecture class I needed a creative outlet and I noticed that my bathroom was really white. As usual, I decided to paint a canvas to hang to add a pop to the walls. 

 Not exactly the best looking sign I have ever made, but basically this is the mantra I live my life by :)




Annnnd this canvas I made when I first moved in when I was avoiding unpacking. It has the "You Are My Sunshine" lyrics written in the blue strip along the mountains. 

I just really enjoy being crafty. I know I'm an art major but sometimes I feel like arts and crafts can be more fun and relaxing than fine art. I LOVE BOTH please don't get me wrong but this is the type of stuff I do when I want to rest my brain; nice, easy, blocks of color. 


Hopefully I can post tomorrow night with my finished bedroom and the finished chicken wire wall! My mom and little sister are coming to visit saturday morning and I would LOOOVE to have it all done!