Low cost, big impact

So while I was back in Bethalto last week I really wanted to update the downstairs bathroom in my parent's home. This use to be my sister's and my bathroom. At one point it was painted an almost neon yellow color. Then we switched it to a more muted color palate with a pop of red. Somewhere along the line we messed up and took a shower too soon after we painted and ended up with streak marks in the paint. Since Amanda and I no longer live at home and this is the third bathroom in the house, it was feeling a little neglected.

It is amazing what a little bit of paint can do for a room. Mom and I painted the bathroom a light tan color and painted the vanity black. Amazing!

Aren't you amazed by the difference? I still am.

Dad took down the tri-fold mirror for us because we wanted a regular mirror on the wall. We had a mirror from my bedroom sitting in a closet, not being used.  It was just a plain mirror with a bevel around it so we took it to Hobby Lobby, picked out a frame, and had them put on a back with a wire to hang it. What a difference the new mirror made.

We also added some handles to the vanity to make it look more modern. Kuddos to my Dad for drilling the holes and getting everything to line up.

I saw this idea for hanging baskets on the wall on Pinterest. Since this is a small bathroom and doesn't have a lot of space to store linens, we decided this would be a good solution. We found the baskets at Gordmans and Dad mounted them to the wall for us. I'm not going to tell you how long it took for us to pick out the shower curtain and linens, it is embarrassing. (Never go shopping with my mom and me... just ask our husbands.)

The bathroom looks so good now. The pictures don't do it justice. It is a small space and hard for this novice to photograph well... sorry.

While at home I went through my old closet and cleaned everything out. Once I had the closet empty I realized what carelessly tossing shoes into a closet for over 13 years does... leaves lots and lots of scuff marks. I figured now would be an opportune time to give the closet a fresh coat of paint. Again, it is amazing what paint can do. It looks like a brand new closet! 

Next we wanted to tackle the closet that is in the downstairs living room. Mom and I had gone through this closet a couple of years ago so I didn't think it would be that big of a deal. We ended up taking everything out and giving this closet a fresh coat of paint as well. Mom got rid of a ton of things and now the closet looks great.

Seriously... look at all of that space!

We also ended up working on the laundry closet, the coat closet, the linen closet and started on the master closet. We were able to tackle 5 closets in less than a day. By four o'clock we were taking stuff to donate and were sitting down to eat at Casa Romero by five. It is amazing what you can accomplish when you set your mind to it. 

One day while Mom was at work I tackled the entryway. Ever since we moved into this house (back when I was starting 3rd grade) we have had a curio cabinet displaying precious moments in our little foyer. Now those precious moments are lovingly wrapped in tissue paper and in a tote in the basement - it was for the best. 

On Saturday, Mom and I went out to find a little table to put in the space. I think we ended up looking at seven places for tables. We started out at an estate sale, and then drove by an auction that had a lot of cool pieces, checked Hobby Lobby, Old Time Pottery, Weekends Only, TJ Maxx, and ended up finding this table at Gordman's. (Like I said earlier, don't go shopping with us.) It was just the right size for the space.

We went "shopping" for stuff around the house and already had the mirror, lamp, plant, and picture frames. 

I should have taken a before picture so you could see the transformation.

We sure did get a lot of things done around the house. I like how you don't have to do major projects to make a big difference in a room. It makes me so excited to have a house that I can change and turn into a home.