We’ve ALMOST finished the master bathroom redo….searching for the perfect lamp and a few more finishing touches. Yay! We shared about some of the other parts of this redo here, here, here, here, and here.
I thought I would share what we did with the countertops. When we moved into Oak Cottage they were a horrible, dark shade of green formica. We painted them to look like a cream/golden marble. They have lasted for 17 years! But, as you can see below, there were some areas that had suffered a horrible fate. I have a feeling it was about the time that our daughters became old enough to paint their own nails and hadn’t quite become proficient with polish remover. Polish remover=death for ANY kind of paint.
This summer we re-did the master bath and decided that we wanted concrete counters. Instead of pouring them…we opted to paint the current ones to look like cement/concrete.
What do you think? We love them! It took me less than 1/2 a day.
You can read about the tutorial of how to go about painting countertops here.
Do you have any counters in your home that you would like to change?
I often go to Lowe’s and hang out in the metal pipe section. {Just one more interesting fact about me that you might want to know.}
The guys there used to give me strange looks and keep asking could they help me….but now they just smile and keep going. It confuses them what I’m doing there…gathering metal pipe pieces and making strange things right there in the aisles. But, they are used to me now. I always know when there is a new employee…because I get the weird look and constant query to help me.
For our new master bathroom I wanted to get the hand towel off of the counter, and I needed a fun, new way to make it accessible to use, but out of the way.
To the Lowe’s metal pipe aisle I went.
Using a few pieces I put together a fun, industrial towel bar and then painted it oil rubbed bronze. I’m loving it!
We attached it right beside the sink and now the towel is out of the way, doesn’t have to be constantly refolded and adds a neat element to the new bath.
What do you think?
{Excuse some of the hazy pics….I took them outside on a day that was so hot and humid my lens kept fogging up! ha!}
Here’s what you need:
Metal pipe pieces….we used 3/8″
2 discs {make sure they are the same size as your other pieces}
2 male 90 degree joints {make sure they are the same size as your other pieces}
1 pipe in the length that you need for your bar {we used 3/8″ pipe in 6″ length}
Here’s how ya do it:
1. Screw all pieces together….the 90 degree pieces to each end of your pipe, and then screw the discs onto each side. Super easy!
2. Leave as is or paint in your choice of finish. {If you leave it as is I would suggest sealing it with a clear acrylic, they can sometimes be a bit greasy.}
Voila!
{You can find the hand towel shown in the photo here.}
Well the master bath redo is coming along nicely…still on the lookout for a few finishing details. We switched all the hardware from aged brass to oil rubbed bronze. BUT, our sink is over 100 years old, and new hardware cannot be purchased for it. SO, you know what I did. Yep, you know.
I painted it.
I used oil rubbed bronze spray paint and it looks fabulous! L.o.v.e. i.t.
Hardware does very well painted….doorknobs, cabinet hardware, faucets, etc.
However, sometimes when I get an idea and I can’t wait to do it….I get in a bit of a rush. I skip important steps….or use a quicker version of what I need. I couldn’t find my painters’ tape..or Frog Tape {my favorite!}, so I just thought I would use my masking tape.
Bad idea.
Masking tape DOES NOT work the same as painters’ tape or Frog Tape.
Here’s what it looked like afterward due to the masking tape.
Behold…my Faucet Fail:
It took me hours…and many Q-tips to get this mess cleaned up.
{By the way…if you ever have a goof like this it’s not the end of the world…just use Goof Off! or Oops! and with a bit of elbow grease it will all work out!..If you don’t die from the fumes.}
Here’s what it looked like after it was all cleaned up…
And patched up. Yay!
The counter is not longer looking like that….I redid it to look kind of like cement/concrete.
If you would like to paint some faucets or hardware….
Here’s What You Need:
1. Painters’ Tape or Frog Tape
2. Plastic Zip-loc bags
3. Spray paint in your chosen finish {make sure it is labeled for metal}
4. Goof Off! or Oops!…just in case….oh yeah, and lots of Q-tips! hahahaha!
Here’s How Ya Do It:
1. Poke a hole in the bottom of the Ziploc bag and put it around whatever you are painting…seal it down with painters’ tape or Frog Tape.
2. Cover and protect anything in the area that you don’t want the overspray to cover
3. Spray fixtures……at least 2 coats.
{It’s great if the fixtures can be removed and you can do this outside….BUT, ours could not be removed and I had to do this while they were still attached to the sink. Make sure everything is covered in the room if you have to do it this way!}
4. After the paint is dry…carefully remove the tape and plastic.
5. Use a tiny paint brush for any touch-ups that may need to be done.
It’s like a miracle method….this wonderful tile refinishing kit that we found at Lowe’s several months ago.
Since we purchased our cottage…the dark, forest green tile in the master bath has been the bane of the bathroom’s existence!
Plan A is to rip it out and put a claw foot tub in this neat little ‘cubby’ in the master bath. But, while we work our way to Plan A…..this is our temporary solution.
Now, I must admit and confess…this is NOT FUN!
I almost died from fumes.
But I didn’t…in case you were wondering.
This stuff is sticky…as in I couldn’t put the brush down because it was stuck to my hand. In fact for the entire day of this project I would walk by things in the house and they would stick to me. As I threw some kind of fit in the kitchen trying to get all the stuff that was stuck to me off….I realized my family was watching me wondering whether they should try to help or run to their rooms and hide. {They ran to their rooms.}
It was like we were filming an “I Love Lucy” episode right here at Oak Cottage.
I was beginning to think I would have to live this way…if I was going to have a super power I always hoped it would be flying. Not sticking.
So, I repeat: This process WAS NOT FUN!!!
But, well worth it when it was over. And by day 4 I was no longer sticky.
This paint? goo? gunk?…whatever it is … is very interesting. It is self-leveling, so if you put on thin coats as directed it self-levels as it dries. It’s kind of like liquid rubber until it dries…and then it is like tile! ha! A miracle method, for sure!
Here’s our ugly green tile before….
Check out the transformation……
Isn’t that cool?
It has to dry for 72+ hours before you can use it. I’m so excited…no more ugly tile! Yippee!
If you can handle a day of sticky….you can find this in the plumbing/bathroom section of the home improvement stores…It is called a Tile Refinishing Kit. It comes in white and cream/beige. I can’t remember the name brand {it’s not a well-known name}…but it is the only tile refinishing kit you can buy.
More fun bathroom redo to come over the next many days…..
Not too long ago I found a stack of ‘before’ pictures of our cottage.
These were the pictures that we took before we even purchased
Oak Cottage….when others were still renting it.
Before pictures are wonderful to have….
especially when you feel like you aren’t accomplishing a lot.
You can go back and look at them and see
the drastic changes.
So, I thought that I would share 1-2 rooms each week….
the BEFORE pictures that were taken 16 1/2 years ago,
and then the current pictures of what the room looks like now.
It’s been fun for us to do this! Last night our
children were looking at them…..they had never seen our cottage before
we transformed it….they couldn’t believe it. ha!ha!
We live in an authentic Louisiana Acadian Cottage…and each week
I will try to share a bit of what that means.
Acadians {early French settlers} were exiled from what is now
the Canadian Maritime provinces during the French and Indian War.
They settled in Louisiana….considered a mostly French territory
even though it was owned by Spain.
Acadiana is the area of southwest Louisiana with rolling hills
and bayous. This group of people became
known as Cajun French.
Acadian cottages have very high foundations due to
the fact that they were built along bayous
and sometimes swamps.
{This was a huge blessing to us during Hurricane Floyd when our whole town flooded and many homes were lost and severely damaged…..even in our neighborhood. BUT, ours was completely fine because of the high, brick Acadian foundation.}
OK….that was my little history lesson for today.
Here’s our bathroom.
The original owner and builder of our cottage is a very successful author.
He and his wife added lots of neat character to this great place.
{But we wanted to add a bit more……;)}
The bathroom walls are covered in reclaimed barn wood and the cabinets are solid pine.
Here’s the BEFORE:
We loved the character of the wood….but it was just too dark for us.
We painted the walls….you can still see the barn wood character, though.
We also painted the countertops…you can read the tutorial on that here.
We LOVE the sink….it was there when we bought the cottage.
It is an antique sink from the early 1890′s/1900′s.
Here’s the after:
I don’t have an after picture of the other side of the room because…well….om….
a few weeks ago we needed new towels. And I decided to get these
wonderful, gorgeous white ones. And, well, it has caused me to start
re-doing the bathroom. Towels can do that, you know!
Be careful.
So the other side of the room doesn’t really go with the side I showed you.
Ha!
Here’s our vision for how we’d like to redo this bathroom….
