Can you believe it? We actually have some (read: very little) progress in the bathroom. But progress is progress, right? That's what I keep telling myself anyways. Let's talk details, oh and you guys are just going to have to deal with iPhone pictures for this post. K? K.
We have had a series of mishaps when deciding lighting options for our gross old can lights. You wouldn't think updating can lights would be hard, right? Well, think again. They have all different kinds of trim kits and LED options, etc. It's a bit overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time. I hate to spend any money on can lights...so not fun. Well, I finally found a good deal on some trim kits with a plastic lens. They looked modern and were affordable so I bought them (off of Ebay). When I got them and held them up to the can trim, I noticed a problem...
Yep, I ordered the wrong size. Grr. The ebay seller does allow returns but by the time I returned it (at my shipping costs), I would have gotten $3.00 back. So, no thank you. $22.18 down the tube. On to the second option. We (not I) remeasured and went to Lowes. We picked up a simple trim (even simple trims are about $7) and brought one home.
You can't really tell from that picture, but the new one is too small. So apparently, we can't measure! But, we got a 6 inch the first time and a 4 inch the second time, so now we know it's a 5. =)
I did get another decor item in the bathroom though...another hanging plant. Love it. I got it from Urban Outfitters during their Black Friday sale. I think it ended up being $6.
I want to put one more up there and I think I have a DIY for the hanging part that I want to try out. We will need a new tool for our drill (fun, right?). So, stay tuned on that.
Other than the light saga and hanging another plant, we have been scraping, scraping and doing more scraping. In between the scraping, we use a sander to get the cabinets smooth. It's coming along, but super slowly.
My little boy loves this project. Can you tell?
Hope you all have a great weekend! Our weather is supposed to be in the high 40s, so I'll hopefully be spray painting one day.
Julia@Cuckoo4Design
Your little one is adorable. And I love the hanging plant.
I do have a question though. Why don't you just embrace the old covers and paint them to make them look industrial? Maybe an aged bronze, black or aged brass look. Something that goes with the dark mirrors? Can't tell exactly what color they are. Just a thought and it sounds like it would make your life easier 😉
Ashley Mayes
Ha! Yes, that's what we have decided to do. We are going to try to get them completely out this weekend and give them a round of bright white paint. Hindsight is always the best, right?
Charlotte @couldntkeepit2myself
How frustrating with the lights! We also feel like sometimes we take one step forward just to take two (or three, or four!) steps back!! There are several projects in our house that I sit and stare at and wish we'd done a little different. SIGH
Anyways, I like the idea of painting the existing ones! What are the plans with the vanity? Can you divulge yet why you are having to scrape and sand some much off as opposed to just painting over the old?
Ashley Mayes
All the trim work and built-ins throughout the house were painted sometime before we moved in (my guess around 5 years ago). We aren't sure what kind of paint or process they used, but the paint peels. You can scrape a nail on it or hit a button of your jeans on it and a big piece will fall off. So, we painted (using Kilz) the vanity about 18 months ago and all we did was lightly sand it. No good. Same thing happened. The past year, we have scraped and scraped some more on the interior doors that they had painted and then we repainted them. We ended up with great results. So, that's why we are doing all the scraping. Gotta get that old crap off so we can repaint. Nothing fancy going on over...just white.
Charlotte
Oh man! How frustrating. Don't you wish you could just ask old home owners what they were thinking sometimes! I know the first question I would ask ours is why the red shag carpet? why?????
Ashley Mayes
Red shag carpet? I never saw that when I was there. You may have me beat! lol
Charlotte
Not sure that's a competition I wanted to win 😉 It is downstairs, I don't think we had that area cleaned up before you moved. It's the play area now. We tried to embrace it for awhile, but it has officially made it to the must replace list.