Skip to main content

Tackle it Tuesday ...

and then Wednesday, and Thursday, and Friday....

This tackle took way more than a Tuesday.  But in the end it was worth it.  I won't go into all the details of what became quite an adventure - at least not today.  But I will just explain the project and show you some great pics!

We live in a ghetto house.  I mean it is a good size house to fit our family, and it keeps us warm and safe, and we love our neighbors.  But inside it is in need of some serious TLC.  Mostly because one of the previous owners did a bunch of stupid crap that we now have to suffer with.  And you buy a house, thinking of all the potential to make it exactly what you want.  But then financial reality sets in, and 12 years later your house is still the ghetto.

I mean, there's the pink carpet (GAG), and the butt-chuckin' UGLY sky-blue and white kitchen.  There's the fact that they were too lazy to remove the hardware from the old curtains when the decided to replace them with blinds and a valence, so they just painted over the hardware and the screws.  And you can still totally see them.  But the gem of our house definitely was the main bathroom.

Very shortly after we moved in, the wallpaper started to peel away from the wall.  And the corner of the linoleum started to come up by the tub.  The medicine cabinet was the old 70's (okay maybe 80's) style that is the mirror with the little cabinet beneath it with the sliding doors.  And it was broken, so it bulged out from the wall.  And the "cabinet" part obstructed the outlet so it was a wrestling match to plug in any styling products.

The wallpaper looked so awful that I decided to rip it down one day, and buy some paint and at least do that much.  I started trying to rip it down and guess what?  They wallpapered to the freaking DRYWALL!!

Here's how my bathroom looked in random chunks throughout.  Lovely, huh?

It got 1/3 of the way done and I couldn't keep it up.  So it sat that way.  For years.  And the linoleum came up even more, so the corner of the floor, and the whole length along the tub was coming up, and if you weren't careful you would trip on it.  And it had nail polish spills all over it.  As did the cabinet, that was painted white and looked super dingy and stained.

I snapped this picture of a piece of the linoleum that was still left before hubby got it all ripped up.

So a few Tuesdays ago, I knew I was finally tackling that bathroom.  And after much blood, sweat and tears on the part of myself and my husband (and having a toilet sitting in the corner of my living room for a week), I can now say there is ONE room in my house that is de-ghetto'd.  And I sorta want to just move into my bathroom.

But remember that I am on a strict budget!!  Here's the rundown on what we did:

strip/scrape/removed the rest of the wallpaper (this seriously took longer than anything else!), remember it was glued to drywall!!
painted the walls (a beautiful color that my husband wasn't fond of at first, but he came around when he saw the finished product!), painted the cabinet, replaced the medicine cabinet/mirror with a wall mirror, ripped up the linoleum and laid tile (we had gotten new tile for the bathroom years ago when my brother worked for a tile manufacturing company and we got an amazing deal), scrubbed every surface that wasn't being re-finished, and then accessorized (not as much as I want - but budget- boo).

 Here's the ghetto 70's medicine cabinet, you can see the outlet to the left is sort of hard to get things plugged into.

 This tile grout was "decorated" with some lovely red bath crayon that I have been trying unsuccessfully to clean forevah.  I tried every kind of scrubber and cleaner.  Who knew a magic eraser would do the trick?  And so effortlessly that a Monkey could do it?  She really, really wanted to help.


Here's a before picture after the wallpaper was stripped and the medicine cabinet was taken down:


And here's my AFTER!


I would love to accessorize it more, but I really did run out of budget.  More accessorizing will have to wait a little bit.  I wanted to put a medicine cabinet above the toilet to replace the ghetto one I took down, but due to budget constraints, I used the over the toilet rack we already had, but I found these fabulous coral baskets at the dollar store to keep all of our "stuff" in, and still have it look pretty.  It works, and I might love the baskets more than I would a wall cabinet.


It took longer and cost more than we thought, but I am soooo happy to not have to be embarrassed anymore whenever a visitor asks to use my bathroom!

I had the hard-work and patience of an amazing husband, and I couldn't have painted the cabinet without the know-how and help of my sweet friend Heidi.  I also have a brother-in-law who did an awesome job with the tile and I am thankful for the help of all 3 of them!

I'm linking up here!






And here!


Weekend Bloggy Reading

Comments

VandyJ said…
Wow, that is an improvement. so nice to have a handy hubby and helpful friends.
Stacy Uncorked said…
Wow! What an amazing transformation! And reminds me that I have wallpaper half-taken down in the upstairs hallway that I really must tackle. I hate wallpaper. With a passion. ;)


Random Ponder, Seeking an Antidote for an Anecdote, Naptime Interruptus, Impulsive Swap
Shawn said…
Beautiful transformation, you should be super proud of yourself! I love the baskets, they're a great way to keep all of the clutter out of sight!

Thanks for linking up with us X, you know we love ya!
Looks awesome! And You're just getting started!
Wow! That is a big difference! It turned out GREAT! I've been anxiously waiting since you told us you were doing something BIG! I think I really like the over the toilet gadget better than I would a cabinet. Do you just have the one bathroom? I can't believe those people glued the wallpaper to the drywall!!! GAH!

Thank you for linking up this week! I like watching you de-ghetto your house (even though I'm pretty sure it's not really ghetto!)

Me love you long time. xoxo
Macey said…
That is freaking fantastic!!! I love it! I want it. Can I just stay in there this summer? Lord knows I'll be needin' close to the torlet for our laughing/peeing situations.
Myya said…
Love it!!! Great job chica!! Wish you could see my house it would make you feel better about yours. Lol. Can't wait, CANNOT WAIT to hang with you in your so-called ghetto :)
Anonymous said…
FAB job! Seriously... I too want to move into your bathroom!!
jennykate77 said…
Hey, sweetcheeks!!! I miss you!

The bathroom looks great!! You did such a good job! I HATE...HATE HATE HATE...scraping wallpaper, especially when the morons before you decided it was a good idea to adhere it directly to the drywall! Ohmygah. Worst ever.

Hope you're having a good week!! Love you!♥
That looks fabulous!!!! You did a wonderful job! I loathe wallpaper. HATE! IT! Bless your heart! What a job that must have been! YUCK! But the after is fabulous. I guess we undersand why you needed extra time. It was totally worth it for the big reveal!
Mamarazzi said…
i understand what you mean about a home and feeling like it is totally ghetto. the house we just moved out of needed a lot of work when we first moved in. we tiled floors, replaced carpet, painted, gutted and remodeled 2 bathrooms. it was finally getting to where it felt like a less ghetto home...but still needed work. it wasn't until i moved into a nicer, newer home (that still has things i would love to change) that i realized it is the LOVE that makes a house a home!!

when you TRUE friends visit they will not see anything but the LOVE. i promise.
SupermomToki said…
Boy did you both do wonders with that bathroom. It's beautiful! Love the choice of color and it reflects warmth and love from within your home. Great job. Love it and thank you for sharing. I need to do something like that to mine.
Wow! What a difference! It looks beautiful now!
Emmy said…
Yea!! Great great job! My favorite part is that this is a real re-do, not some we have $10,000 to do our bathroom thing. Looks soooo good! The baskets are a great touch. Have you seen when they frame a mirror? That might be another great accessory that old not cost a lot at all and take it another step.

Popular posts from this blog

Hand Made for Fall - A party and a Giveaway!

I've been a busy girl! I have been wanting to do a giveaway for Fall, and when my fab friend Heidi revealed that her Monthly Craft Challenge for October would be Fall-themed crafts, I thought "YES! I will do a giveaway of Fall items - handmade by me!" So today I'm linking up with Heidi , and introducing my Handmade For Fall Giveaway as I show you what I've made for Heidi's party ! Sound good? First, a while back I showed you some coasters that I made, but it was clear back when I first started blogging, so I'm going to show you again with this new seasonal set! This idea has been floating around blog land, and I've seen several different variations. Here's how I do it. You will need: paper napkins, 4x4 ceramic tiles, 4x4 cork squares, MOD PODGE (what else?), sponge brushes (not shown), and polyurethane (not shown). Start by cutting your napkin down to a manageable size, slightly bigger than your tile. Next spread a layer of mod podg onto the t

Mod Podge Mania!

I am so super excited for our first edition of Mod Podge Mania! I love this stuff, and I LOVE getting new ideas for how to use it...so hopefully this will be a great place for "inspiration" where we can all get some fun new ideas! So here's how it will work. Post about a project on your blog, along with instructions on how you created your mod podge masterpiece! OR you can do a post featuring a project you have seen someone else do, just to pass the idea along. Just make sure you give credit where credit is due! Also, make sure to include a link back to my blog in your post! Next, link up by entering your name and copying the URL to your post into Mr. Linky - he's waiting at the bottom of this post. It would be helpful if you put the name of your project along with your name so people will know what they are coming to look at! (example: Xazmin - decorative eggs) Last, go check out everyone's fabulous projects and let the inspiration begin! You can link up as

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

So tell the truth - how many of you thought this would be a pregnancy announcement? Well - I'll have to twist my husband's arm a little more to get him to agree to that one! But this is the beginning of something very exciting...at least I think it is! SO HERE IT IS! Ribbon Blossoms Chic Boutique is now LIVE! And we’re celebrating with an Awesome Giveaway! If you have been following my blog, you know that I have a small business with my friend Tanielle , making and selling hair bows and other girly accessories. Until now we have been selling our items at craft shows and our local boutique mall. We also have had a few of our items listed on Daisy Craft, an online site for handmade items. But now, TODAY …we have our very own WEBSITE !!! Please celebrate with us by entering our Fabulous Girly Giveaway! Now don’t run away if you are not a mother of girls…this prize will make a wonderful baby gift or birthday gift for someone you love! Are you ready? Are you dying to know wha