A NEW CABINET...

The flood in January left my bathroom in a disaster state. Plaster, paint and water everywhere (ugh). It's all been fixed and covered with a fresh coat of white paint, but I still wanted to make some updates.

One of the problems was the bathroom cabinet. The flood left tiny rust spots on the back wall, while not harmful were definitely an eyesore. This weekend, I decided to spruce up the interior with some vintage wallpaper I'd found at Housingworks. Check out the before and afters and how I did it below.

This project took me about 15 minutes to do and is easily removable when I decide to leave, or want to change it down the road.

1. Clean the cabinet and remove shelves. 

2. Take some measurements. I decided to leave an extra half inch on my length and width measurements to ensure my paper would go all the way to the corners.

3. Grab some double-sided tape (non permanent) and run the tape along the top edge, sides and bottom of your cabinet back wall.

4. Double check that you have the design facing the right way and slowly press the top edge against the back wall, pressing down firmly as you go across. Slowly unroll the rest of the paper down the wall, continuing to press firmly to hold the paper in place. 

5. Run an X-ACTO knife around the borders to trim off any excess paper.

6. Replace shelves and stand back and admire your new cabinet. Instant transformation!

AND WE'RE BACK...

After a week of living with plaster and paint and non-working shower, my new bathroom is painted, cleaned and back in working order. I'm thrilled!!

Here are some of the before and after pics...

Remember this?

 After

 Before

 After

 Before

 After

Now I'm in search of a cool bathmat and shower curtain to replace the ones I lost in the flood (light blue ones are just temporary)...

Bed, Bath & Beyond

Bed, Bath & Beyond

Anthropologie

Anthropologie

THE BIG DECISION...

A friend wished me good luck on my "forced renovation" this morning. While laughing, I thought to myself it's completely true, given the busy holidays and business, I haven't made a lot of time to tackle projects in my apartment. The flood while hardly ideal, has certainly made me think of the possibilities in my living room and bathroom. (It's also made me highly caffeinated from working at Starbucks everyday...)

Last night, I made the decision to repaint my living room walls white. Those of you who have been reading this blog know I love color. The first thing I did was paint every wall in my apartment, just because I could. But there is something about a fresh white wall appeals to me. It's clean and gives a new perspective on things. Plus, given the eastern facing windows in my apt, I hope will make the living room seem brighter throughout the day.

Now the big decision is which direction I want to go for accessories.  A colorful mix of pink, orange and tan, or pure black and white. Here's my inspiration...

 Image courtesy of P.S. I Made This

Image courtesy of Elle Decor

Image courtesy of Apartment Therapy

 

or black & white...

Image courtesy of Domino Magazine 

 Source unknown

Image courtesy of SF Girl By Bay

Image courtesy of Nate Berkus

Image courtesy of Decorpad

Apartment of Jenna Lyons

Which do you think I should go with?

MAKING PROGRESS...

The snow is accumulating outside my window, at the same time about an inch of plaster dust is settling inside. While, it makes wearing anything black an issue, I'm thrilled to have all the holes patched up. Definitely feel like we are making some progress...

Like pulling a string on sweater, the whole thing unraveled yesterday as soon as the guys started to tackle the living room. Water damage on the wall, turned an easy patch and repair job into a huge plaster project. (Yikes!)

The snow caused a bit of a delay, but I hope the guys will be back tomorrow to finish painting. Tonight I have to decide whether I want them to repaint the wall the current Benjamin Moore Silver Fog, or have them do a glossy, crisp white for spring. (see below for my inspiration). What do you think?

NEW CEILING

Yesterday, the construction guys were finally able to get in and start repairing the damage from the flood. By the afternoon, they had already torn out the wet plaster and replaced it with a brand new drywall ceiling. The speed at which the ceiling went up I think can be attributed to my earlier freak out after they told me I might have to live for a week with a hole in the ceiling. 

While I definitely want them to finish the repairs, the green ceiling is sort of growing on me. Might be a idea for paint in the future.

New drywall is up on the ceiling

Today, the guys are here scraping and plastering the ceiling and walls. 

I have a new found appreciation for people who remodel their homes, walking around on plastic tarps and living in construction dust for months. Definitely takes a lot of patience and coordination... 

Can't wait for the painting to be done tomorrow, so I can start to rearrange my things in the living room.