guest bathroom | remodel

more than a year ago, i had posted on what i had wanted my guest bathroom to look like once i got around to doing it. well, "getting around" is finally here and the final touch was completed this past weekend!

here is another look at the before:

and here are the before and after shots:

| vanity details |

| paint, mirror and lighting fixture |

to begin with i wanted a new paint color in the bathroom since it had a yellowish hue, so i repainted the bathroom a light powder blue gray as well as changing the molding and door to a plain white. 

i removed the old "builders" mirror and light fixture and installed the mirror and the light fixture. one awesome thing about the mirror is that it has a gold/silver reflection which is great since i have both metals in the bathroom :)

 gold/silver mirror | $39 | garden ridge

bathroom lighting fixture | $59 | home depot

| towel hook, towel, and decor |

i had had my eyes on this gold owl towel hook so when i went to go pick it up, my hubby actually picked out the ceramic container  piece and while it doesn't really serve any functionality, it went really well with the decor! (plus that was totally awesome that he picked it out!). the artifical flower and vase is from hobby lobby (remember to only buy their flowers when they have 50% off...which is almost twice a month!)

gold owl hook | $22 | anthropologie

artificial orchid and vase | hobby lobby

dalian canister | $24 | anthropologie

| vanity cabinets |

the vanity cabinets were originally an off-white, but i thought that it washed out the bathroom too much so i wanted to create some contrast, so with the help of my mom we painted the cabinets a mid-toned gray and added new hardware. (note: josh picked out the door knobs too!)

door knobs | $10/knob | athropologie

rug | $20 | homegoods

| towels and hooks |

 i loved the look of hooks for towels (just like the owl hook) and i couldn't pass up turquoise anything (its my favorite color). since i had picked out almost everything in the bathroom, i let josh pick out the towels, and  they are the same design as the hand towel from the vanity. 

turquoise and gold towel hooks | $24/hook | anthropologie

white chevron bath towel | $14.99 | world market

white chevron hand towel | $9.99 | world market

| toilet details |

| photo wall |

so recently, i have become obsessed with anna rifle bond art and since the living room was starting to become a little too girly, i decided i would put some of her art in the bathroom. i was originally going to repaint them, but her art is so beautiful, i decided i wanted the real thing. plus, when i saw these frames at target as part of their new "threshold" line, i knew it would go perfect with the prints.

floral prints | $18/set of 8 | rifle paper company

4x6 matted wooden picture frame | $13.59/frame | target

| shelf and decor |

so after i put up the frame, i thought it looked a little empty, so i decided to add a shelf with a few decor items. the shelf was something i had had before and just painted it white. the jar is also part of the target threshold collection and the shells are from our honeymoon that we picked up on the beach in cabo. the vase  i found at a thrift store and painted old and the blue ceramic piece is also from mexico when we were on out honeymoon.

aqua glass jar | $3.99 | target

| light plates |

these were just left over from our old house and thought i would put them to good use :)

silver light plate | lowes

| floors |

so after everything was almost done, i realized that none of it was going to look as good as it should, unless i did something to brighten up the floors. so after perusing pinterest, i saw a how-to on updating the grout. it only took me about 2 hours since i had to do two coats, but it was totally worth it because when my husband  got home, he thought i had replaced the floor!

polyblend grout renew | $11.97 | home depot

wall collage

lately, with decor i have been really focused on the living room. not so much on the dining room. but since i am 90% done with the living room, i decided to work on the empty wall in our dining room. over the past few months, i have been slowly gathering different pieces and ideas for my "wall collage", below is the finished result (super excited!) and where everything is from.

| mirrors |

i got these gems from a couple of different stores on etsy selling vintage items, unfortunately, these were the only ones the stores had so i can't provide a link to purchase. 

(also, all the frames i got from thrifting at local stores)

| "nothing worth sharing" print |

i got inspiration from a few weddings i have come across where a couple had this quote at their reception, so i decided to make my own print

| beach photo |

this was josh and i's favorite picture from the wedding. the wonderful photographers, the minnericks, i have to thank for this. i got this printed on a 11" x 14" standout from whcc

| "don't do nothing" print |

again, i found this quote on the internet and made a print. its actually supposed to say "don't do nothing because you can't do everything. do something. anything" but i didn't do a good enough proof before printing so i will need to redo this one. also, this quote is in relation to being a vegan, but i still though it was inspirational to other things :)

| "hola" sign |

 i had seen the "hello" version of this all over pinterest, but i wanted "hola" instead, gotta represent the fernandez name, right? ;) the etsy owner was great and didn't mind doing a custom sign and it was barely any more than his standard "hello" AND you can get it any almost any color!

esty store: ohDierLiving

| kate spade print |

i actually got this randomly with a kate spade purchase and thought it was cute so i framed it :)

www.katespade.com

| peony print |

i came across this online when i was searching for peony prints (i wanted a peony art piece of some kind since those were our wedding flowers) and found this and just printed it out and framed it.

| mexico postcard |

this was our save the date from our wedding and i thought it went well with the other colors.

| "i vow" standout |

i found the inspiration for this from pinterest and just remade it in photoshop and had it printed on a 12" x 18" standout from whcc 

| josh's wedding vows |

these are the actually written vows that josh wrote out on our wedding day. unfortunately, i don't have any written vows since i ran out of time and "winged it". oops :)

| "love" photography print |

i got inspiration from a store on etsy, while i was looking for a photo camera print, but it wasn't quite what i wanted so i made my own and printed it out.

inspiration from etsy listing | iLOVEmyCAMERA

happy thursday!

kitchen redo | rustoleum cabinet transformation

when we moved into our house a little over a year ago, i loved everything BUT the kitchen. i have no idea why someone would choose to make the cabinets so dark when the rest of the house has an enormous amount of white crown molding. my guess is that they must have had extra supplies and wanted to use them in the kitchen. when i first brought up to josh that i wanted to eventually paint the cabinets white, he wasn't sure about it. after about a year i finally convinced him it would look better, and better yet - i would do it all by myself! i wasn't sure how i was going to do it, especially if it meant sanding everything down (no thanks, i'll stick to the ugly brown cabinets), BUT one of my college friends Jess, told me about Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations (she is planning on doing it too)! I read reviews and looked and pictures and everyone seemed to really like the result. best part? no sanding! and the kit is only $80!  

IMPORTANT NOTE: all of the extra issues i had is probably all that could go wrong, so you might have no or less problems. also,  i did this all by myself while on my holiday break (while josh was working 10+ hour days) - some were able to get this project completed in a weekend versus it taking me 3.5 days

here are a few "before" pictures"

Part 1: Deglossing

so this part wasn't so bad, the kit comes with the "deglosser" and a couple of scrub pads. i had started this project at about 4pm on day 1 and i finished by about 8 or 9 that night. 

(btw: deglossing is in lieu of having to sand down your cabinents)

living with doors on the floor and a kitchen in chaos is NOT fun

Part 2: Bond Coats

so this wasn't so bad, until i realized i actually needed THREE coats of paint (the instructions claimed that you only need two, but i guess my cabinets were too dark to go so light). ALSO three coats meant that i would need to purchase ANOTHER kit. so now my $80 kit has quickly turned into a $160 project. in hindsight, if i would have known that was going to happen i would have done a primer to save money and frustration! all in all this took days 2 and 3.

step 3:  top coat 

so this part was probably the most frustrating. i was almost done with the project and from most of the reviews, it was supposed to be the easy part. ya. right. so, just in case, anything went wrong  (i had a gut feeling) i painted the backs of a couple of doors with the top coat. and THIS happened.

it started to turn parts of the cabinet doors orange/pink. lets just say i am very upset at this point. so i google the issue and apparently this and "bubbling" tend to happen with the top coat that comes in the kit. so the solution is to get minwax polycrylic (water-based) top coat protective finish

so add in about $30 (new paint brush and top coat) and now the $80 kit has turned into almost $200.

good news though is that it didn't cause the coloring anymore. but again, i believe if i would have done a primer i would not have had any issues. also, PLEASE make sure you let this dry for about 4-6 hours (can only says 2) you wouldn't want to mess anything up and so much hard work!

step 4: painting hardware

so technically this isn't part of the kit, but since i had to spend 2x what the kit cost, i could no longer go and buy new hinges (the old ones were a brownish gold and i wanted brushed nickel to match the knobs i already had). SO, like any DIY person - i decided to paint them! i looked up reviews online and went with

rustoleum satin nickel (not gonna like, was kinda mad to give rustoleum every more business). i think the paint was only about $7 - so not so bad versus spending about $125 on new hardware.

to clean the old hardware i sprayed them with some kitchen cleaner and scrubbed them with a toothbrush and then rinsed them off and let dry.

result: i wouldn't go as far to say that it looks like satin nickel, but for $7? i'll take it1

oh, and another tip, don't let one of your doors hide somewhere and only come to find it when you have put your kitchen back together.

final result!

 i was SO glad for this project to be over with. would i do it again? yes, but only if i would have done a primer first. and yes, i LOVE it!

before and after pic:

my favorite part (besides the new kitchen)?

my new owl cookie jar that i received as a christmas present from natalie! :)

summary:

pros:

no sanding

bond coat dries fast

bond coat applies easily

new kitchen for cheap!

cons:

needed three coats

top coat was not good, had to buy different brand

time (like i said enlist help!)

tip:

PRIMER, PRIMER, PRIMER!

happy holidays!

happy holidays from the fernandezs!

chevron and lamp d.i.y.

now that we've started buying furniture for our living room, in between each big purchase, i have been pinning different ideas and looks that i want to incorporate into the room.

 if you remember back in february, when i photoshopped what i wanted our living room to look like, i had picked out some teal glass lamps (below).

 problem is, i love this lamp, but not enough to pay almost $400 for two of them. i looked everywhere for a cheaper version, but with no luck. :( but then it dawned on me after looking through multiple pins on pinterest, that if i could find an empty based glass lamp that i liked, that i could just paint the inside!

pinterest ftw! 

below is my DIY on how to achieve the same thing 

(added plus is you can customize to any color)

i ended up liking a glass lamp from ikea (which you can find here) called JONSBRO for about $40 + matching shade of $10 = $50. I had already had some paint in the color I wanted from back in the day that i used on some diy wedding crafts, but  i did get them from Hobby Lobby for about $4 each.

all i did was use 4 parts of the teal paint and 1 part of the white paint mixed together 

(it was a little too teal without the white added to soften/lighten the color)

then i got a standard paint brush and started painting the insides of the lamp. i had to paint over a few spots since it doesn't evenly cover the first time around. also, the good thing about the packaging is that when you are done and ready to let it dry, you can put the lamp in the box upside down to dry.

i will say it does take about 6 hours to dry, but afterwards, it looks just as good as it if you bought it off the shelf! (unfortunately, i don't have a final pic of it with the lamp shade since a part was missing and i am currently waiting for the replacement in the mail from ikea)

so for a total of about $100 ($50 per lamp) i was able to get exactly what i wanted for a 1/4 of the price!

now on to my mantel project:

so i am pretty much obsessed with chevron (especially grey) and love this inspiration photo from pinterest

since it was just a chevron print and nothing too complicated i decided on would paint the chevron canvas instead of trying to find/buy one. it actually ended up being way more geometric than i expected, but i do advise to not do it by eyeing it, as after you sketch out the lines (while time consuming) pays off in the end

i got a 24" x 36" (that was the biggest the would fit) from michaels, i think it was about $35 dollars but had a 40% off coupon so it was only about $22!

again, i already had some white and grey paint from previous paint projects (but it should only cost you about $6-8 for both paints. also, i lighted up the grey a little with white paint since the grey i had was a little too dark.

to do the lines, i just took a piece of cardboard i had and made a right angle with it and started to trace the lines with a pencil, i didn't want the chevron too big or too small so i made the angles to where i had about 4 points going across the top. then, i decided where the bottom points would end and then drew a straight line all the way across the bottom. i did that so that i knew where to start the next set of zig-zag lines and also to make sure each line was the same width all the way down. i just kept going until i got to the bottom. and then filled it in with the paint!

you can see below where my lines were

and the final product! 

(ps. love the camera josh got me from target!)

happy friday!