Paint That Funky Mirror, White Girl

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Other bathroom remodel posts:

Bye Bye Bye to 80s Tile - How To Remove Trim and Tile, Bathroom Renovation Part 1

She Only Wants Me For My Beadboard - Bathroom Renovation Part 2 

Trimming and Caulking and Painting, Oh My! - Bathroom Renovation Part 3 

When we started remodeling our bathroom, I knew from the get-go that we would be replacing the medicine cabinet mirror. My husband and I are very different heights (1 foot, 3 inches difference), so we need a large enough mirror that will allow each of us to see ourselves.

As it was, I could really only see my collar bones and up in the old mirror. That wasn't going to cut it for me. So, I was on the hunt for something better, and something that would add some more detail to the space. 

Please ignore the mis matched socket plates!

For a while, we considered doing a gilded gold framed mirror. But, over time, I realized it wouldn't quite work. We already have brown, white, and gray going on in that bathroom, and we planned to use silver for the faucet, so I didn't want to throw things off by going a completely new direction with the mirror.

I spotted this gem at Eastown Antiques and was immediately smitten. We have a large mirror above the fireplace that is a similar shape, and the stairwell stained glass window has it, too (see this post for those pictures). So, I liked the idea of pulling that shape into the upstairs.

I took it home and held it up against the beadboard, and was satisfied that it would be a good fit. Unfortunately, with the rest of our bathroom being a grey-tone white ("Satin Snow"), this cream-tone baby was going to stick out. So, I taped her up and, you know, painted her.

Once she was ready, I picked up some high-weight-bearing anchors. The fellas at ACE set me up with this guy:

We measured it out and drilled a hole in the wall, then sent the anchor through (with those wings at the bottom, folded in, going into the wall).

Then, we tightened everything up until just the right amount of hardware was poking through.

And it hung beautifully.

(Note: The trim is not nailed on behind the toilet in this picture, so the shadow looks a little bizarre)

Once the counter and faucet are swapped out, along with the beige light plate covers, we will be in good shape!

(Note: The trim is not nailed on behind the toilet in this picture, so the shadow looks a little bizarre)

Before and after:

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

• Do you like medicine cabinet mirrors for their storage?
• What would YOU have done for a mirror in this bathroom?

Kitchen Update - Aint No Party Like An Island Party

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Ladies and gentleman, you're invited to the island party!

Location: In My Kitchen

Date and Time: All Day, Everyday 

This kitchen update was (kind of) free, extremely convenient, and very, very functional. The "kind of" free part includes reusing an old piece of furniture we didn't think we would need again.

When we lived in Chicago, we purchased a kitchen island. We wanted to have a non-permanent piece (we were renting) that would give a focal point to our kitchen and provide a space for people to congregate around.

We ended up purchasing the "Threshold Kitchen Island" from Target. It was (and still is) an unbeatable price at $249 plus my wonderful mother's 10% Target discount for having a Target Red card.

On top of the price, we loved the hidden storage. While open-shelving kitchen islands are pretty, this one offers a way to store things out of sight, and the inside drawers even pull out, in case you are putting something heavy on it.

Additionally, the "bar" side of the island can be extended or folded down (it's up in the picture above, and down in the picture below), which gives you the option of having a two person breakfast bar in your kitchen.

When we moved out of our Chicago apartment, we had a little debate over whether or not to keep it. We weren't sure if it would fit with the rest of our mid century furniture, and we didn't envision needing it. But, I assured my husband that, even if it wasn't in a kitchen, it could be a temporary piece in a guest bedroom or office. If you put the bar flap down, it seems a bit like a short dresser.

Little did we know how handy it would turn out to be.

When we bought our new house, we realized it would fit perfectly. Between the simple white cabinets and the butcher block top, it was going to be a perfect or almost-perfect fit for the space, without us having to shell out any cash.

Once the island was set in the middle of the kitchen and our dishes and other appliances were put in place, we transformed this room into a functional work space that allows multiple chefs to be in the kitchen at once. It made a huge difference in the amount of counter space we have to work with.

Another thing I love about this island is that it allows my husband to be sitting/drinkingcoffee/eating at the counter while I am still moving around in the kitchen. This house has a separate kitchen and dining room, so we would have otherwise spent a lot of mornings with me making my breakfast in the kitchen while he is eating or drinking coffee in the dining room.

Instead, we can enjoy the morning coffee/breakfast ritual together, in the same room. Huzzah!

For the sake of comparison, here are some before-and-after shots of the stove and island transformation.

Quick Note: These "before" pictures also leave out the much more fitting stainless steel stove/oven we purchased. If you missed that, you can check it out here.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

• What do you think about the change?
• Do you like kitchens with islands, or do you prefer to keep the space open?
• What do you do with all of your kitchen appliances? Clearly mine are sitting out on the counter, because I use them a lot, but I'm trying to figure out a cleaner way to display them.

Home Staging - Downstairs Edition

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Once we had revealed the gorgeous hardwood floors that were original to our 1920s house, the next step was to make it truly look lived in.

At first, we considered using our own furniture to do the staging. Everything we owned was in a storage unit, so it would involve having movers unload that unit for a while and then reload it, and we would have to sort through the unit to decide which pieces to use. Not to mention that the majority of our furniture (with the exception of our couch and kitchen island) is mid century and somewhat delicate and pricy.

As we were considering this (and believe me, I was pushing for it), our realtor suggested having a stager help out. For about the same amount of money that it would cost us to unload and reload our unit, we could have someone else's furniture and not worry quite as much about any damage it might endure.

So, we did it. And it ended up being quite a good decision, because I think the furniture we ended up with in here fits the house well, while still allowing a lot of room for vision and creativity.

Remember that empty living room? It turned into a peaceful and homey spot.

Same goes for the dining room. Before...

After...

Clearly, it was kept very simple - no tv in the living room, and only a 2 person table in the dining room (which could easily fit a larger one).

I think the idea is to put in just enough that buyers understand how the room could be used, but not so much that they feel like it can't be their own home.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

• Have you ever staged a home?
• Have you ever been through a staged home? What do you think?

Norwegian Hardwood - Downstairs Edition

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When we first decided to fix up the Holland house for sale, there was one item in particular that seemed like an obvious 'must-do.'

At some point, one of the previous owners had covered up all of the hardwood in this home with carpet. I can't fathom what would possess a person to do such a thing, but my best guess is that they had children or something (personally I'd still rather have hardwood in that situation... less to clean when somebody spills... but we'll see when I get there).

We had never seen the hardwood floors in their entirety, but we had pulled up the corners of the carpet to see what was underneath. It's always a bit of a gamble, because for all you know, the floor underneath could be covered in glue or studded with unsightly nails. But, we took a leap of faith and decided to pull it up.

In strips, it was pulled out of the room and trashed. We later learned we should have saved some of it, but that's another story for another blog post...

It made a pretty incredible and immediate difference in the aesthetic of the house.

Once we had successfully revealed the hardwood floors downstairs, it was time to clean. We didn't want to use too much chemical on a newly naked floor, so I bought basic hardwood cleaner and brought over a swiffer to clean it.

There was a dance party, attendance of 1, and the floors ended up perfectly clean.

Finished with the downstairs floors, the next step was tackling the upstairs of the house. Let's just say it was full of hiccups...

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

• Have you ever ripped out carpet? Did you think it was hard? 
• Thoughts on carpet vs hardwood?

House Update - Meet The Project!

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As some of you know from reading this blog, my husband and I recently moved to Michigan to renovate and sell a house he has owned for 7-8 years. We stayed with my in-laws while we made the changes and then quickly listed the house. Things ended up moving faster than anticipated, so you may know from Instagram that the house is already sold.

We actually sold it at the end of February. So, we moved, updated, and sold the house within two months. We move fast, people. So fast that it was all over before I got a single blog post up. Bad blogger!

For now, here's a bit of an intro of how the house looked before we made changes:

My husband bought this house when he was pretty young. It's about 1,500 square feet, has three bedrooms, and 1.5 baths. Not too tiny (especially moving from the Chicago rental market!), but also not quite the amount of space we wanted for two people who work from home and need two offices.

The home is bungalow style, built in 1926. It has a few features that were considered 'upgrades' at the time, such as brick all the way around the home (lots of homes during that era of building skimped on costs by doing brick only on the front half of the home instead of all the way around).

It also has porches both on the front and back of the house. On the front of the home, there is a large, well-protected 3 season porch with a fabulous view of the park, which the house sits right across from.

The porch at the back of the home functions like a mud room, and allows for a large entry to the back from the garage.

Note: I took these images before our old renters moved out, so please excuse their furniture and clutter!

On the first floor, there was a large living room, small dining room, and kitchen, as well as a very small bath. We didn't alter the layout, but we did make some changes, such as exposing the gorgeous wood floors (coming soon!).

Note: I took these images before our old renters moved out, so please excuse their furniture and clutter!

There was also an appliance situation... I have no idea how old these are, but they were clearly not cutting it. We debated the Great Appliance Crisis of 2014: whether to really splurge on nice, stainless steel appliances, or to go for white appliances that were cheaper but simply way more updated than these.

Go ahead and wonder what we chose, cuz I ain't spilling the beans until its own blog post. :)

Note: I took these images before our old renters moved out, so please excuse their furniture and clutter!

Upstairs is a full bath and three bedrooms. There was beige carpeting through most of the upstairs, but the master bedroom had a pretty hideous shade of purple. This crap was a major headache to remove, but we'll get to that in another post!

And there you have it... the starting off point for our house. I'll be updating soon with some much more drool-worthy images of the final product that we sold. I will be sharing a few of the quick-and-easy updates we did to get that sucker sold...

• Removing carpeting and exposing natural wood floors
• Dealing with stubborn old brittle carpet
• What to do when you reveal floors only to find they are completely nail riddled
• Super cheap appliance swaps

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

• Have you ever done small changes to a house to sell it? What made the biggest difference?
• Have you ever done a home renovation? What gave you the biggest headaches?

Let's Talk About Desks, Baby

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I'm a desk person.

I spend an obscene amount of time doing the following activities: Writing Blog Posts, Writing an 80k Word Novel, Editing an 80k Word Novel, and Facebook Stalking My Friends... (kidding). 

In short, I spend a good amount of time at a desk - when I have one. Since graduating from college, however, I haven't had a proper desk in my room. So, when I moved into this new apartment, I was determined to make the whole desk thing happen. Put it on the NEED list instead of the WANT list, if you know what I'm saying.

We went on a craigslisting spree about a month ago, and this desk caught my attention big time. It used to belong to some railroading company (choo choo!). What's good: It's the right size, very simple and doesn't take up much visual space (important since it's going smack dab in the middle of a large living room - not in a den). The clean lines mesh perfectly with the rest of the Mid Century Modern furniture in the room.

The perfect desk set up item # 1: A comfortable chair. Seriously. This is very important, especially if you're like me and intend to spend a lot of time there! We've currently got one of the Setu Lounge chairs there, with a blue pillow, just in case your butt gets cold.

   
The perfect desk set up item # 2: Natural light. Some of us work at offices all day with artificial lighting beaming down from above. On a Sunday afternoon, as you sit in your chair with a big cup of tea, you want natural light. If you live in a city, you want to be able to look out the window and see your neighbor's cute red door and the vines growing up the side of the old brick building. Such is the romance of a good desk set up.

The perfect desk set up item # 4: An Orchid. I wanted some symbol of life to be sitting out. Something fresh and green. But, I'm not so good at watering things daily, and I desperately do not want to be stuck picking up dead flowers all the time. So, we opted for an Orchid. Actually, I mentioned it once and then Justin had it sent to me at work. 

Answer to the "Are there really blue orchids?" question (because I've been asked so many times already): No, there are not blue orchids by birth, so to speak. BUT, a certain type of nutrients can turn a white orchid blue. So it's a combination of being the right color to begin with (white) and having a certain reaction to the nutrients the florist feeds it. Boom, roasted.



The perfect desk set up item # 5: Candles. Because, natural light or not, candles are always there for you. Even when the power is out. They make everything smell good and I find candles to be surprisingly comforting. 

I gathered 4 or 5 candles of varying heights (only one of which is scented - beware of completing scents!) and placed them on a cute silver serving tray I snatched at a garage sale. That way, if I ever need more room on the desk, it's easy to move all the candles at once. Plus, just in case the candles spill, the desk is protected.

I also enjoy the notion that I can write a book or a letter by candlelight and connect in some odd way to those who wrote books and letters by candlelight before me. Earth to Ernest Hemingway, are you there? Come in, Ernest?

I'm sure you're wondering, "But what can you see from the desk, Carly?" Because you know I've thought about it, since this desk has become my oasis of sorts.

Well, part of the magic of this desk is that you can also see the T.V. Because it sits at an angle in the corner, facing the room, it has a pretty open view of the television. Once we mount the TV to the wall, it should be able to tilt and swivel, meaning the angle at which you watch can be adjusted. What does this mean for my desk oasis? That I can turn the TV so it's perfectly viewable from my seat. Meaning I can watch Nikita or Alias or Homeland (I'm a serious spy/CIA nerd, just read my book...).

Also "viewable" from my desk oasis is the wonderful, the fabulous, the infamous... color coded bookshelf. Roy G. Biv called. He said he wants his shelves back.

So what do you think? Does it look serene? Could you sit here sipping tea (or coffee) on a Sunday afternoon, typing away?

Where is your oasis in your home?

A Room With No Name - Apartment Progress

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Ok, so this awesome Monday morning post is about my dining slash living room slash den area. You know, like the room that's supposed to be a dining room, but then you decide you don't need a dining room anyway, so you make yourself an awesome desk to... sit at. And write books. And be fancy. And not smoke cigars because you hate how they taste but you can pretend.

You know, like that kind of stuff.

If you're catching up...

Here were my grand plans for this apartment, and here were some nudie shots (OF THE APARTMENT! NO NUDE HUMANS WERE INVOLVED IN THE MAKING OF THAT POST).  The first "done" room (sort of - working on an update post) was the Living Room, which you can find here.

So, the dining slash living room slash den area. Here was the initial plan, as predetermined by Type A Carly (not to be confused with Type B Carly).

And here we are now, progress and all. Our little sweet child is growing up. 

For the most part, this room went as planned. A month ago, we snagged that awesome desk off Craigslist, which is the perfect height to work with the Setu Lounge Chair. 

For now, we've set the Setu Ottoman in front of our huge, larger than life mirror. That way, while I'm checking myself out in the morning or fixing my hair, I've got a place to set my huge ass bag. Perfect.

That amazing mirror? Value City, people. Yes, seriously. We randomly walked into Value City when hitting up Gurnee Mills Mall a few weeks ago, and spent a moment admiring the mirror. The following weekend, when Justin went to buy some pants, he bought it on a whim for $160. Not bad for something that's taller than your 6 foot 7 man, right?

Note: Huge mirrors are awesome. Why? Because they're huge. And it makes the room feel so much bigger. Like it goes on forever. And maybe it does. It's like the 8th Narnia Book. The Magic Mirror.

The wonderful desk corner. You see, I so desperately wanted to have a place where I could sit and write. Whether it's working on blog posts or writing my book, I end up spending a heck of a lot of time typing away on the computer. So, I wanted to make it something beautiful. 

Beautiful Desk = Orchids and candles. And a cup of tea.

With a desk that has no drawers (okay, it has one small drawer in the front -- enough for some pens and a pad of paper), we needed some storage. Storage for cords and papers and pens, etc. So, we purposely put the shelving unit with cabinets behind the desk. That way, all the storage you need is right behind you!

Oh, see that On Air Box? Here's the tutorial. I'm still loving it. Especially combined with the old camera we grabbed at a vintage store in Holland, it adds a retro air to the MCM decor.

We kept two bookshelves on the left, lined up against the wall. Almost all of these books used to be smashed together on one shelf. Now that they're able to spread out onto two, there's room to stick in the extra nick nack here and there.

So, what's left to do?

• Get rid of that pesky white box
• Make some window treatments
• Hide that ugly darn cord

What about you? Where's your special place in your home?

PROgress for the sake of Living Room PROgress

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Does anyone remember the scene in Harry Potter 5 when EVIL Dolores Umbridge says "PROgress for the sake of PROgress MUST be discouraged?" Well, ever since then, the word PROgress has been pronounced with a very dominant "PRO" in my household. And by that, I mean just me.

Anyway, I'm sorry to break the spell yesterday's naked apartment tour cast on you (I know, you're in love. It shouldn't have taken its clothes off on the first date. Bad apartment. Bad). But, the apartment decided to get a little more dressed up. Well, some of it, at least.

Disclaimer: This is by no means finished. It's PROGRESS. So keep posted for the decor - because I just spent my life savings on Etsy. And by life savings I mean not really. But still a lot. The mail room delivery people are starting to hate me, I can feel it.

<--- Enter the Living Room!

As anyone who's ever moved can tell you (so... almost everyone?), the simple act of adding furniture can make an apartment feel much less nude. We brought in our new couch (in gray, on the left), which I'm sort of obsessed with still. 

I'll take more images to highlight why exactly I'm in love with a couch. But in short: Clean lines, retro feel, and those legs! Ha.

Sidenote: Yes, that would be me watching Avatar on my first night in the new apartment. It's just so pretty!

You may also notice the black futon from the old apartment. It seems to play well with the new couch, too. They both have tufting in the seats and a similar era feel with clean lines.

By the morning after furniture placement, we were semi cleaned up. We decided to swap the gray pillows from the couch to the futon to tie the corner together a bit better.

This retro side table was already at Justin's old place. It wasn't getting much glory there, because there wasn't a purpose for it, but here, it fits purrrrfectly.

To top it off? For now, a few funny comic books, A Book of Luminous Things (Poetry from my Uncle Toby on my birthday), and a random stick I painted bright colors.

See that TV? Yea, it's special. That was my first big girl purchase after getting my first big girl job. It's been sitting in my bedroom at my parents' house ever since (because the Wicker Park apartment was so small that an oversized TV would have made it impossible to breathe).

And this wonderful credenza is also a wonderfully special piece. It was my first huge furniture purchase. After perusing Craigslist for weeks, I finally stumbled upon Department Chicago. It's run by a young couple that finds old pieces (mostly mid century modern from what I've seen on their site) and fixes them up (cleans them and makes sure they're in working order) to sell. So, this is a true 1950s piece of furniture. Most 1950s credenzas are going online for $1,000-2,000, but we snagged this for the upper $400s. Thanks to Department Chicago for getting us such a great value.

Stay tuned for the rest of the apartment!