Our DIY Master Bath Re-Do!

Do you remember when I shared with you our Bathroom Remodel on the Cheap? Well, we redid our Master Bath for even less! Yes, really. ;-)

Our little Master Bath redo cost us $195 total.

Now, I had been itching to redo both bathrooms for awhile. But the straw that broke the camel's back was when Lauren Green came to visit us and I was sooooooooo embarrassed by our bathrooms (yes, Lauren, it is true!) After seeing photos of her amazing house in Florida, I was inspired to spruce up our bathrooms. Haha!

Just like last time, we did the whole bathroom revamp by ourselves, with no outside help, while corralling our 1 year old and 4 year old! We got a few gray hairs in the process, but when it was finished, we were happy we did it!

Again, I will show you a Before, an After, and then some Durings. At the end, I have more Befores and Afters:

Before:



After:



During:

We knew we wanted to replace the floor and paint the cabinet white:



The floor was vinyl tile, and it was cracking, badly. Plus, it ws just plain ugly! :-)



The wallpaper border wasn't exactly our style! Thankfully, it peeled right off. No steaming required!



Our old toilet didn't really work very often. That's all I am going to say about that.



The old light fixture needed to go!



Here it is after we took out the old light fixture, primed and painted:



I think he is saying: Why are you making me do this? Or maybe: Lord, Help Me!



Toilet is out of the bathroom...



and in the backyard! Yes, we are the hillbillies of our neighborhood. (Don't worry, it didn't stay like that for long!) Ha!



We used the leftover scraps of vinyl flooring we had from when we re-did the floors in our old house. The price was right - they were free!

Since they had been rolled up in our garage for 6 years, they were really bumpy. I laid them out and then ironed them with a towel over them (so they wouldn't burn). It worked...sorta.



Putting down the adhesive on the floor. It was also leftover stuff we had laying around. Cost: $0.



We put bricks on the floor to help the adhesive do its job, since the floors were so wrinkly from being in storage.



Floor is in, new paint on walls and cabinet, and new hardware on cabinet:



We replaced the doorknob because the old one didn't work. Cost: $13
We had planned on painting the door, too, but didn't get around to it. Maybe someday!



New light fixture from Home Depot: $35

I got the Surfboard wallpaper border on Ebay for $6, and the matching outlet covers were $12, also from Ebay.

We decided to do a wallpaper border in both bathrooms basically because we didn't want to have to worry about being precise in our painting. ;-)




We got a new toilet through the LA County toilet exchange program. Basically, you bring in your old inefficient, water-wasting toilet, and they give you a water-saving toilet for FREE (the best price)! You just have to bring in your water bill to verify residence in LA County.



Before:






After:





Budget:

Paint/Supplies - $30
New Light Fixture - $35
Misc. supplies - $15
New Towel Racks and Toilet Paper Holder - $40
New Door Knob - $13
New Hardware for Cabinet - $44
Surfboard Wallpaper Border - $6
Surfboard Outlet Covers - $12

Total: $195

We finished it a few months ago, and I am still really happy with it. As always, there are things I would change with more time and money. But for now, it's good with me. What do you think? :-)

Just One Of Those Weekends!

Ever have those days that mean something to you and not anyone else? Those anniversaries that bring you back to a time and a place long ago - but for everyone else, it's just an ordinary day?

That was Friday and Saturday for me. On Friday, Ginger became the same age Paprika was when we found out Vivian and Annemarie had passed away in-utero. On Saturday, Ginger became the same age Paprika was when I delivered Annemarie and Vivian.

I remember thinking that Paprika was so grown-up when we lost the twins...but here what she looked like that weekend, when she was exactly Ginger's age:



She was just a baby.

The day we found out the twins had passed away, was also the last time I ever nursed Paprika. I was in the hospital for several days after I had them, so I was gone from her...and by the time I got home, that was it.

So, I guess the days are just even more emotional for me because I think about what happened afterwards, and how life was never the same.



Here we are almost three years later. I know I should probably stop talking about Vivian and Annemarie. People will tell me to move on. It's just hard. I really am doing so much better than I was - I know that. I am very grateful for my life and for the tremendous blessings in it.

Just sometimes I get a little nostalgic thinking of Paprika being Ginger's age. I was pregnant then, just as I am pregnant now. It's kind of a full-circle thing.



So, this weekend we have just been laying low. It's not really one of those anniversaries that anyone else would think about or remember. But it's been on my mind for a long time.

I don't remember hardly anything about the year that followed the loss of Vivian and Annemarie. It is a blur, and I was out of my mind for most of it. Paprika gave me a reason to get up in the morning and go on living. I am so glad I have this blog because otherwise I don't think I would remember anything about that year!

So this next year with Ginger is kind of new to me. I know I have raised a two year old before...I just don't quite recall it very well! ;-)

Speaking of being pregnant, this is my quick little belly shot I took the other day. Please excuse so many things about this photo. I just had to take a quick little pic because so far this pregnancy, I haven't taken any pictures of my "baby bump" (as Paprika likes to call it!) :-)



I have scheduled an elective ultrasound for this coming Wednesday to find out if little Pavenzia is a boy or a girl!!!

Even though I have a doctor's ultrasound the following week, I really wanted Mr. Mustard, Paprika, and Ginger to be there when we find out if it's a boy or a girl. I will let you all know, of course, as soon as I know. I am counting down the minutes!

Mother's Day Tea!

On Tuesday, Paprika's preschool put on a Mother's Day Tea for all the moms. It was so special, I spent most of the time with a little tear peeking out of the corner of my eye.

They put on a cute performance of 4 or 5 songs. The kids all did great and remembered their lines. I had Ginger with me, and during the whole performance, all she wanted to do was run into the middle of everyone and join in.

I had to hold Ginger between my legs while she was writhing, trying desperately to break free. All the while, I was attempting to take pictures and video a little of the performance. It was a bit of a disaster! Ginger just could not understand why she couldn't break into song and dance with everyone else!

I only took Ginger out for a few moments when she started to get fussy. Of course, Paprika saw me walking out and got so upset and started to cry. So, I couldn't win. I ended up just bringing Ginger back in, trying to hold her down and keep her quiet while I focused on Paprika on stage and let her know (with my big thumbs up) how great she was doing.

After the performance, Ginger was perfect. She really just wants to do what all the other kids are doing. She and Paprika had a nice few moments reading books together. I love capturing little times like this.



The kids served us iced tea, lemonade, cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches...and strawberry shortcake for dessert. It was all so delicious!



Paprika had saved her mother's day gifts to give to me at the tea. She made me a little brooch at school, and a corsage. The kids also gave out flowers and special craft projects.



This is the best picture I could get of the three of us! After 10 attempts, I figured this was as good as it was going to get.



After the tea, I took the girls to the Lot to see their daddy on the set of Dancing With The Stars. The traffic was so bad, but the girls were so good the whole drive. After the show finished airing, we took the girls next door to The Grove. We walked around and stumbled upon the American Girl doll store...and you can guess what happened next!

Yup, we brought home a little doll for the girls to share. It's a good thing the DWTS season is almost over, because I have a feeling that everytime we go visit Mr. Mustard at work from now on, someone is going to want to make a trip to the American Girl doll store, too! ;-)

Library Days!

One of our new favorite hangouts is the library! We used to go to the library all the time when Paprika was a baby...but that kind of stopped when she turned into a very active toddler (who just wanted to tear the books off the shelves!)

Now, she is at the perfect age to go back, and she's been begging to go...so we've been going! They have a bunch of great computer games that she loves. This one is a graphic design/drawing game...she could do it for hours!



When Mr. Mustard is home, sometimes Paprika and I get to sneak off for little "library dates" together while he stays home with Ginger during her naptime. I have to admit, it's about a gazillion times easier to just take Paprika to the library because now Ginger is at that stage where all she wants to do is climb the bookshelves.

I've taken Ginger a few times to the library, too...but she is much more inclined to look at books when we are at home. I guess the library is just too much fun to sit there and read! Ha!



Of course, everytime we go to the library, Paprika has to check out a gazillion books. She now has her very own library card - how grown up is that?! So, now we have stacks of new books to read at home! It's great! I just have to keep Ginger from destroying all these library books, which is already proving to be quite the challenge!

Bathroom Remodel On The Cheap!

I know I have been promising forever to show photos of our bathroom remodels "on the cheap." We re-did two bathrooms for less than $300/each, and I think the results are pretty dramatic.

Although definitely not perfect, for the cost of one night in a nice hotel, we are getting a lot of enjoyment out of these rooms now!

Today's post is all about Paprika and Ginger's Bathroom. We also re-did our other bathroom...but I will save that post for another day!

We had very little time to do the bathrooms, since Mr. Mustard works a more than full-time job and the only time I have to work is when the girls are sleeping (which if you know us, isn't very often- ha!) Also, this bathroom shares a wall with Ginger's room...so any work done while she was sleeping had to be super-duper stealth!

We did all the work 100% ourselves with no outside assistance, basically in 15 minute increments! This really helped keep our costs down, although it didn't do much for our sanity!

I took a hundred gazillion pictures of the process...and am doing my best to only show you a few! It is hard because I want to show them ALL to you! But I realize you might not have the next twelve hours to scroll through pictures. Ha!

I am going to show you one or two BEFORE shots, and then some AFTER pics...and then I will show you a bunch more Befores, Durings, and Afters for anyone who is interested in sticking around!

Before:





After:





Here are some durings, some explanations...and other stuff:

This is BEFORE. The combo of the light fixture, the cabinet that stuck wayyyyy out, and the 40 year old wallpaper just wasn't doing it for us.



We also wanted to update the fixtures from wood to chrome:



And get rid of this rickety glass shelf:



We faced miles and miles of wallpaper that needed to GO!



The floor was peel-and-stick tile (we're guessing from the 1970s), and the tiles had started to crack and get lots of gunk in them. They were outta there!



Old toilet that worked sometimes...and a cabinet that needed a facelift:



Showerhead also doubling as a petri dish!



One last look at the Before:



First Stage of "During" - when I thought I could just paint the light fixture and the medicine cabinet white and call it a day:



Painting the cabinet doors:



Took the medicine cabinet down- scraping the wallpaper (two layers):



The wallpaper was made of two layers- a top waterproof layer (the flowery part), and the bottom extra-sticky layer that looked like paper. Under that layer was bright green paint!



I took off the wallpaper using a home steamer. I bought the Wagner 905 for $85 - and figured I could use it again for other cleaning projects. It has proved to be super useful, and I am glad I bought it! (No one is paying me to say that, promise!)

The only downside was that I burned my leg when I was steaming the wallpaper off when water dripped. Ouch!

Replaced the showerhead, stat! I think I got this at Target for $20 on sale:



Wallpaper scraping that went on for eons!



Took the toilet out to start on the floor:



Took the light fixture out and the mirrored cabinet:



Cue the Dueling Banjos!



Getting Ready to Primer and Paint:



A few coats of Primer and Paint later (Behr Coastal Mist is the color):



Where the old medicine cabinet and light fixture used to be:



Laying down the adhesive for the new floor. For the floor, we went with the laminate sheet flooring we had leftover from our old townhouse, since it was free! When we did the floor over at our old place six years ago, we kept the scraps, and we ended up having enough to do both bathrooms here. Plus, we had adhesive leftover, so that was also free. Cost to put in new floors? Zilch!



Here is the bathroom after the floor went in, the light fixture went up, the new mirror went up, we hung the wallpaper border, replaced the toilet, and replaced all the hardware on the cabinet and replaced the towel racks:



It is the same cabinet- just with a coat of white paint.

The surfboard wallpapaper border is from Ebay. It was $12 (including shipping) to do the whole border. It was self-adhesive...we just had to dip it in water.

The mirror is from Home Depot and cost $40. The light fixture and new towel racks are also from Home Depot and cost about $75 for everything. The new hardware on the cabinets was $5.

I hung 8x10 photos of the girls as artwork- the white frames are from Target and were $8/each. The photos were free with a coupon for Shutterfly!



The outlet covers were made by a lady on Ebay to match the wallpaper border. Those were $6/each.

The new toilet was free! Gratis! We got it through a toilet exchange program with Los Angeles County. Basically, you bring in your old water-wasting toilet and a water bill (proving you are a resident), and they will exchange it for a brand new, water-saving toilet for free. Cha-ching! All you have to do is pop the old one off, and put the new one on. Cha-zam!

The best part is that this will save us a lot of money every month on our water bill, and is great for the environment!



We kept the same white towels, rug, bathmat, and trashcan. I should probably replace those at some point...but just haven't gotten around to it yet...and they match...mostly! ;-)



One last look:



So, that's the girls' bathroom!

Here is the cost breakdown:

Paint and Primer- $40
New Cabinet hardware- $5
New Mirror- $40
New Light Fixture - $50
New Towel Racks - $25
Wallpaper border- $12
Lightswitch covers- $12
New showerhead- $20
Steamer - $85 (I am including this even though I am using it for other things)

Total Cost: $289

Now I can breathe a sigh of relief because I have finally shown you our little labor of love. I am overall pretty pleased with it - with more money and more time we would do things differently, of course! But for right now, I am pleased as punch with our effort!

What do you think???? :-)