Now what?

I need a new house so I can do more decorating and renovating. Major projects at my house are pretty much done. Next will probably be some window replacements in the spring (so not fun), and there are a couple small projects I'd like to do but don't know whether they'll happen ever (putting in a fireplace and a brick veneer wall in the living room). And I guess eventually I'll have to redo the kitchen floor (not all that fun, though I do like researching the different materials out there -- let me know if you have preferences), but I don't really have a timetable for that. Can't say I'm looking forward to the mess involved in replacing a kitchen floor when you already have cabinets and appliances. Oh right, and eventually I need to deal with the exterior, which is not in the best shape (except for the back walls, which have already been redone and look fabulous!).

Some pictures of things I'd like to experiment with in a future house:

Love the stainless steel backsplash with spice counter and green chalkboard above. From Design Milk

Pegboard headboard! From Design Sponge

Lotsa books everywhere! From Pinterest

Ikea hacking! From Better Homes and Gardens

Didn't you know? Stained-wood cabinets are so out. From Remodelaholic

Bathroom pictures

It's hard to take pictures of a bathroom this small. I may retake them later once I can borrow a nicer camera than my iPhone. But for now this will have to do. Behold! A working second bathroom!

This old coat rack was left in the house by the previous owners. I painted it with black chalkboard spraypaint. Will get around to buying chalk one of these days so we can write on it.

Mirror from Ikea, faucet from Amazon, toothbrush holder from Bed, Bath and Beyond, vanity from Home Depot, shower curtain from Fab.com, knobs from Anthropologie (and then spraypainted satin nickel).

White subway tile from a random dude on Craigslist (same guy who sold me the tile for the downstairs bathroom), black bullnose from Home Depot, awesome granite remnant for bench from Community Forklift. I think John got the steel tub at Home Depot, but not sure.

Mirrored medicine cabinet from Ikea, Kohler Wellworth toilet from Home Depot.

Borrowing Lucy's super comfy bathmat (I think it's memory foam!). Tile is matte black hex from the Tile Shop.

Note to future renovators: Shiny black granite is NOT a good vanity top material. Shows every water spot immediately (I cleaned up for photos). I do love the cross-handled faucet, though.

A must: the narrowest trashcan ever (from Bed, Bath and Beyond -- I think it's Simple Human).

I just realized the one thing that's missing from the photos is the curtain rod, which is a double rod so you can move the curtain and the liner separately. Got nice metal roller rings for the curtain, which I like so far.

My last project, the towel rack. Seems to be holding nicely with random screws I found around the house and some advice from Dad.

Oh and I forgot to take "before" photos (again), but I did find this one online from before I bought the place. I had done a little to make it nicer than this already.

Sneak peek

So the bathroom's done! But I haven't taken good pictures yet. Here's a sneak peek.

Bought a shower curtain!

After much agonizing over options at Urban Outfitters, Amazon and West Elm, I picked something from a random sale at Fab.com. It was more than I wanted to spend. But I love it.

Thinking bath mat will match the light blue...

Medicine cabinets

Still agonizing over shower curtains, but in the meantime, let's look at medicine cabinets. Get pumped! Only three options:

1. This one is basically the same as the one we used to have. I really liked that one, so this seems good. It did rust, but we went a while without a working bathroom fan, so I'm not ready to blame it on the cabinet 100%.

2. I like that it's black, and that it has some open storage. This will be separate from the mirror, so the cabinet doesn't have to be mirrored as well. Also comes in white.

3. I like that it's not like every other medicine cabinet. It opens upward instead of normal side doors, which makes me worry about the mechanism eventually wearing out and the door falling on my head. But who knows if that would happen.

Lillangen from Ikea ($70)

Zenith Sanibel from Amazon ($119)

Lillangen from Ikea ($50)

Half-bath!

Getting close...

Okay, so we're not really getting close to being finished, but we're close to possibly having a usable half-bath, so that's a start! I finished grouting the floor this morning, and I'm hoping we'll have a toilet and vanity by the end of the day.  *fingers crossed*

The gray grout looks pretty light in comparison to the black tile, but I'm okay with it. If I did it over again I might try to find a more charcoal color.

Mid-reno pic

I've mostly gotten over my fear of grout, and now we're on to the floor. I'll grout that tonight, and tomorrow or Wednesday we should have the toilet and vanity in! Will be nice to have partial use of the bathroom back. Still have some work to do on the shower tiles.

Currently obsessing over medicine cabinets and shower curtains...

Grrrrrrout.

Just a note for future DIYers. Grout takes forever (at least if you are a clueless newbie like me). Pix to come when I finally finish the job.

Shower curtains!

Still haven't decided on a faucet, but in the meantime, let's look at something a little more fun.

$44 from Urban Outfitters

$44 from Urban Outfitters

$19 from Sourpuss Clothing

$39 for each panel from Urban Outfitters (would use two curtain panels instead of a traditional shower curtain)

Same in all gray

$49 from West Elm

$6.99 from Ikea

Still looking for more. Any favorites?

Faucets!

So I chose a vanity (finally). Wasn't my favorite, but it was on sale, and it was in stock. And it was time to just pick something.

I'm hoping to get rid of the toekick, and I might not use the backsplash, since the wall will be tiled. So use your imagination.

What faucet should I get to go with it?

Kingston satin nickel faucet with white cross handles ($110.47 from Amazon)

Pfister satin nickel faucet ($77.98 from Amazon)

Moen Banbury brushed nickel faucet (matches shower/tub trim kit, $88.58 from Amazon)

American Standard satin nickel faucet with cross handles ($133.28 from Amazon)

Stay tuned for shower curtains (taking recommendations) ...

Bullnose and trim tiles

How should I finish off my subway tile? Leaning toward black bullnose just so I don't have to try and match whites.

But also check this out. Awesome:

Adjusting expectations

So I'm still agonizing over the bathroom vanity. I had several favorites (as seen in post below), but pretty much all of them turned out to be either too deep or out of stock. So at the moment I'm down to four options, none of which I'm super excited about but all of which would probably be fine (once given a little DIY tweaking).

Option 1: Ikea Hemnes vanity (comes in brown-black but I'd paint it glossy black and switch out the knobs, and also use the top that's shown with the white version below)

Option 2: Ikea Hemnes vanity in white (would switch out knobs but leave it white)

Option 3: American Classics Tuscan vanity in chocolate (would paint glossy black)

Option 4: St. Paul Chelsea Vanity in Nutmeg (would paint glossy black and switch out knobs)

What do you think?

It begins again...

My roommate is moving out in May, so I'm thinking it's probably a good time to tackle the upstairs bathroom. So obviously I'm already obsessing about vanities and tile. Last time I had so much trouble choosing a vanity that I eventually just went with the existing pedestal. That's not happening this time. So I have to get it together this time! Here are a few things I'm looking at.

$339 from Lowes

$439 from Home Depot

$449 from Home Depot

$428 from Home Depot

$299 from Ikea

Any favorites or other suggestions? I need to stay at a width of 24-25 inches. Could be flexible on depth, I think. Storage is necessary. I'd love a good-quality vanity top of marble (not cultured) or granite or some other stone. But as long as it's something that's going to hold up well and be easy to clean, I am flexible.