abeachcottage tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-1667604 2009-11-09T12:44:38+11:00 TypePad Abeachcottagehttp://feedburner.google.com At Last! The Beach Cottage Powder Room tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e5536576ef88340120a6640f77970b 2009-11-09T12:44:38+11:00 2009-11-09T12:46:07+11:00 Morning. Here's the Powder Room as it is now. You've probably gathered that this hasn't been my most fave project in the cottage. You'd be right. And it's taken me 3 months to even get this far. I confess, it... abeachcottage

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Morning.  

Here's the Powder Room as it is now.  You've probably gathered that this hasn't been my most fave project in the cottage.  You'd be right.   And it's taken me 3 months to even get this far. 

I confess, it was the challenge that lured me, to make this over with what really is nothing in terms of budget and see what I could come up.  I think there really is no dispute that it is an improvement and now it feels more like a room than what before was a tangle of plumbing and 80's design mistakes.  They are of course still there, just a little less prominent.

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Here is the before and I have to mention here that before this 'before' shot it was a lot worse, as you can only imagine, when we bought the cottage...filthy with an attractive veil of off-yellow paint on the walls and a blind that had ahem seen better days...

Yes I know it is not lime green, or 70's orange but it wasn't too pretty...

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and as it is now


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So the walls are painted with Dulux White on White, the tiles we cleaned and painted with tile paint.   Attached the shelf above the cistern for a place to display a few bits and bobs and provide a bit of interest...

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If you remember, I had all sorts of grand ideas for the window dressing but then went for just a simple rod and an old vintage tea cloth, with the most delightful texture just pinned up with those curtain clips...it filters the light beautifully and blows in the wind which I believe is a much better result than the more formal blind affair I had originally envisaged...and to be honest, very much more me. 

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The basket I painted with a white wash and stenciled on an 'S' and the float on the other side makes it look a little less jaded in there. 

I wanted a wall of mirrors but once I started planning this I thought it would be too much, this is a very very small space and so when I found the round pie crust mirror at the same garage sale that I picked up the Glory Box from I thought it was just big enough to work alone and just detailed enough to add that vintage touch...

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Either side of the sink we put up a set of three hooks for towels and I've hung a couple of my jam jar lanterns off there...and on the other side I painted an old cupboard with Dulux Whisper White, it brought back lots of memories (you can read that here).

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I don't need to bore you again with the sink and skirt issue, there were some wonderful ideas and thanks to those of you who also took the time to email me with ideas, and photos and inspiration, I so appreciate that.  

But really what I got most from all this, my whining on this blog about the skirt and my disillusionment with the whole thing, was two things. 

First of all, suck it up sweetie, it's a pretty ok extra bathroom.  

Second, the power of budget and white paint. 


Sarah

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mirror  :  garage sale    cupboard  :  already owned    

glass vase  :  Vinnies    coral  :  Freedom     shelf :  IKEA    

curtain  :  thrifted vintage teacloth  curtain pole :  IKEA     

curtain clips :  IKEA towels :  Bed Bath & Table    

fishing float  :  Freedom   candles  :  Freedom    hooks :  IKEA    

 basket  :  IKEA & whitewashed



blogged for the 43rd Met Monday, thanks Susan 

 http://www.abeachcottage.com/my_weblog/2009/11/at-last-the-beach-cottage-powder-room.html Beach Cottage Score ~ Vintage First Aid Box tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e5536576ef88340120a6a70c37970c 2009-11-05T19:40:06+11:00 2009-11-05T19:40:06+11:00 I can think of no better way of wasting time, when I should be cleaning the cottage and clearing up from the chaos of what seems to be every morning before school round here, than grabbing a coffee from my... abeachcottage

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I can think of no better way of wasting time, when I should be cleaning the cottage and clearing up from the chaos of what seems to be every morning before school round here, than grabbing a coffee from my fave coffee house and having a mooch around the shops on my own...a couple of nice homey shops...a surf store for Christmas presents...and a couple of treasure hunting shops...just to top it all off nicely. 

And one morning this week I got away with an hour or so of doing that, revelling in a light drizzling in the rain, after the heat of earlier this week...I savour these times

Of course, don't often come home with much, as needs must at the moment, but today I scored this old first aid box.  It surely had my name on it, or rather the WC's...

I'm happy with it like this, flaking paint and rust and rather than being put to use it will, most probably, be wall art right above the door in that tiny room...I love this little box, something so cheering about the it, the kinda suggestion of days gone past perhaps?

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So I'll give it a bit of a clean and get Mr BC to put it up this weekend and finally, skirt, no skirt, painted pipes or not, I will draw a line under the Powder Room and take comfort in the fact that many of you sent me notes to say that oh yeah your grossness was a whole lot worse than mine! 

My main task for the next week or so is to get a few things sorted for Christmas, I have no choice but to get my act together early this year (have an extremely busy December coming up) and number one priority will be to get the vintage doors found last weekend, not only painted but hung...now that really could be an interesting time here with Mr BC and I trying to get that job done together ;-) 

I'm sure you'd like to be a fly on the wall. 

 Sarah

 http://www.abeachcottage.com/my_weblog/2009/11/beachcottagescorevintagefirstaidbox.html