Primary bathroom update

 Hi everyone,

                                          

After the hall bathroom transformation, I got a slow start on our primary (master) bathroom.  It was less hideous that the hall bath so it was lower on the priority list.  Still, the hubs and I use it every day and it needed to be nicer looking and more functional.

I could not change that it only had one sink, one small cabinet, and an ugly long laminate countertop.  As you saw in my previous post, I had updated the over the toilet storage shelves to make them more functional and nicer-looking.

Initial shelves:

Getting there:

Much better:

So, once that was completed, the rest of the bathroom was...not looking so good.

Pictures from the beginning of the move:

Yeah.  The toilet paper roll holder was missing the...roll holder.  We quickly rectified that upon moving in.  And then discovered a terrible lack of storage.  And a whole lot of ugly.

I did update the towel holder to hold more than two towels.  It's the little things.

Next, I wanted to add some additional storage to the bathroom.  I did pare down my bathroom stuff, but even with the over the toilet storage, I still needed space for our cleaning supplies and other stuff.  I also stored a lot of things on the long countertop, which clearly annoyed the hubs.  So I thought I could also create something that could have storage on top, clearing a few more items off the countertop.

Enter one of two ikea bookshelves I had bought for the closet in the Silver Spring Suburban house that had been living in our hall closet in the new house but not serving a true purpose.  I found some storage trays that made more organize all my stuff a little more.

I had to work with the existing wallpaper, so my plan was to make the rest of the bathroom as white as possible to combat the...shiny gold stuff.  And that had to start with the longest darkest thing in the bathroom.  The countertop.

I really wanted a marble look without the...maintenance of marble.  Also, it's a rental.  And if I was going to ask to replace the countertop, I was going to ask for permission to put in two sinks.  And so on...and so on.  So...contact paper for the win!

I initially followed this tutorial from Craft Your Happiness, but still failed to get it to line properly around the sink.  So...I bought more contact paper the fit the width and length of the countertop and started again.  First I made a template from craft paper.

Then I cut the contact paper and tried again.  I still had difficulty around the sink, so I ended up making a seam just off the side of the sink.  Hey, I never said I was perfect.  Just covered it up with a cute towel in the final photos, but you can see it in the photos below.

While the seam is noticeable every day when we use it, it is still substantially better than the previous countertop.  I folded the contact paper edges underneath and also put some on the backsplash below the mirror. 

To continue the white theme, I also painted the ikea storage bookshelf white.  And added some casters, so that it would be easier to roll it out to clean under there.  I also added another mirror frame, like the hall bath.  This time, I wised up and got a corner clamp from Lowe's.  Using that, along with my miter saw box, make things SO MUCH EASIER.  Shout out to the Lowe's worker who helped me search for the clamps and even got sad when we only found two, saying "It'll take you so much longer".  I was like, "Dude, you have no idea.  Two is FINE."

So...here's the bathroom, in all its glory.  I still want to add a large picture above the towel bar (the one I bought from Home Goods fell and broke in one day) and maybe a rug instead of the bath mats, if I can get the hubs to agree to try that out.  I get that it may not be super functional though.  I also got these great towels from Ross Dress for Less as suggested by @liveprettyonapenny.  So those will now be hidden to only be used for photo shoots.

                                             

                                             

Ok.  So.  Bathrooms - check.  On to the next most utilized spaces in the house.  The offices.

Stay tuned,

E