Fab Friday Finds 010

Searching Fab Friday Finds?  We have bathroom updates on a budget to share with you on this fine Fab Friday Find day!  

In case you are new here, Fab Friday Finds are those photos that we share from the internet.  The ones that made us stop in our scrolling tracks and say oh, what a great idea or lovely design, or oh my goodness, that room is beautiful!  We need to be sure to share those with y'all!  This week we are sharing bathroom updates on a budget.  

  

Exquisitely Unremarkable 

We are on a roll sharing ideas while staying within a budget for your home on our Fab Friday Finds, I have a few more up my sleeve that I think you will enjoy.  I know I enjoy searching them out and sharing them with you each Friday.  

The internet is overflowing with ideas, and if you are anything like me, it can be your downfall because then the ideas start stacking up on top of ideas, upon ideas.  Then you become paralyzed in making decisions.  Sound familiar?  Did I just hear a no?  Well, my hat is off to you then, because my brain is filled to the brim, in fact it is overflowing, and now it is on information overload.

There are so many ideas I have floating around my brain, I just do not know which ones to choose for our home.  For the most part, I have our bathrooms completed, but there are some fixes we need to make.  A contractor cracked our marble floors, and so we will need to fix that issue, and I have never liked the countertop on my dressing table so we will be changing that out.  I have just the idea if you see the photo from above.       

I am pretty excited to share with you today my friend Kim's bathroom countertop that her dear husband made for her.  Like Kim, I love wood countertops!  Would you believe me if I told you he made this in a day?  Hop on over to her blog to read more about it.  I love her cottage and the many updates they have completed, all while staying within a budget.

When I saw that rich wood, I fell in love with it immediately, and she shares with you how you can also have a wood countertop in your bathroom.  Kim also shares how durable it is which was something I wondered myself.  

I can just see that countertop in our bathroom on my dressing table.  I often wonder if that dressing table is original to our home, but I doubt I'd let it go anywhere even if it is not.  I would have rather had an antique looking table, but sometimes you just work with what you have, and make adjustments to make it your own.  

BHG

Check out the before and after on this bath, all completed on a budget of $1500.  The floor was existing, this is a classic and my most favorite tile flooring in an older home.  Board and batten was added to the walls, and wallpaper.  I know, I know, I said no more wallpaper in our house ever, but oh my goodness, have you seen the designs out there now?  I especially love this one.  

They opted for a sleeker sink, I personally would have kept the existing sink since it appeared to be original, but hey, we are looking for ideas and seeing how we can stay on a budget.

The built in was existing, but the doors were changed out for glass doors.  We considered this in our own kitchen when we changed out the plate rack to a cabinet, but decided we liked the privacy of what was inside more.

Those floors like a siren calling to me, a classic pattern that will always be "in" when it comes to kitchens and bathrooms.  I have hounded my husband for years to let me have it in the kitchen, and he wants something more "modern".  Yuck!  I will never tire of this tile, and it will always be on the back of my mind for a space in our home somewhere.  Maybe one of these days I can talk him into it for one room.  Fingers crossed!   

This Old House

There are many ideas about how to save money from This Old House, but I loved this yellow "vanity".  An old dresser turned vanity with a few adjustments...  sounds like a plan to me.  I think this idea has been around for a while now, but it is worth a revisit, I love the idea of having a dresser as a vanity in one of our bathrooms.  

Most of the articles I read did suggest not having a medicine cabinet and putting a mirror up in place of a medicine cabinet.  Personally, I love medicine cabinets.  I especially love the one in our upstairs bath.  It is HUGE!  I plan to give ours a make over once I figure out what color I want to incorporate into our bathroom.  

I never considered yellow as a color I would ever use in a home, but when we purchased our cozy cottage, one of the bathrooms had black and yellow tile.  Do you know I have grown to love those tiles?  I just wish they were ceramic, and not the plastic they are.  The 1950's did have a lot of plastic tiles... oh well, I still like the look we have.

Clare

How about using what you already have in place, but using "just paint" as we discussed before.  You can paint your toilet paper holder, towel holder, mirror, and vanity, for a whole new look while staying on a tight budget.  

I am a big fan of using what you already have.  Items are not being thrown away, plus you are saving money, and paint sure can change up a look quickly and fast!  My favorite kind of makeovers.  

I like the immediate gratification paint can offer.  No ordering, waiting for items to come in, and waiting for the work to be completed.  You already have an idea how it will all turn out since everything is staying in it's place.  You also already know everything will fit.  How nerve racking is it when you have an idea in your mind, and then nothing seems to fit as you think it will?  Which opens a whole new can of worms... figuring out your next steps, and fixing problems which always cost more money and time.

Midwest Living 

I so love it when I stumble upon something I have never seen or thought of.  Need an extra long towel bar?  Use a stair railing!  I am not sure why this struck me so unique, but it has.  

I love the idea of a long towel bar.  I always hang our towels to dry before putting them in the laundry.  I have found if they lay damp in the laundry, then clothes and towels get a musty odor to them.  I have tried vinegar to get this smell out, and it has not worked.  If you have suggestions, I will take them.  Just know if you ever come to our home, there will be towels from the morning hanging over our shower curtain rod, ha!

Do you know why it is I love vintage finds, other than nostalgia?  They are unique, chances are friends and family will not have those same items in their home.  I like being unique and I love that our home reflects it too.  It is all a part of you never know what you will find here.    

I once had someone comment you are not in your 80's, why do you have a china cabinet?  Well, I fell in love with it while attending an auction many moons ago.  Those claw feet said come on Cara, pick me up, I know you want me in your home, and that was all she wrote.  

Hubby did not even know I was bidding until he turned around and saw my hand going up.  He asked what are you doing?  I said, I want that!  Never mind the logistics of getting it home with us.  

My sister had went along for the ride and wanted to see this particular auction, and so she had to ride on my lap 45 minutes back home once it was all said and done.  What a fun trip!   I hope one of these days we get to do it again!  Although it was pretty nerve racking getting it into our car with the curved glass.  I was kind of worried after the fact about how we would even get it home?  No worries, Mr. VS to the rescue like usual!  Good thing that man is used to my shenanigans, and always thinks of a back up plan when I get us in these messes.  

Well, that is all, see you next Friday for our Fab Finds!  Hope you enjoy your lovely long weekend.... I know we are looking forward to it, and perhaps a project or two. 

Here are a few items we found similar to our shares today.  

This lovely mirror.  

This vintage inspired mirror.  

This black and milk glass light fixture. 

This brass light fixture.  

This blue and white wallpaper, love this vintage inspired pattern!