Lamp Transformation & Details

I've been doing tons of reading on other blogs about how one can transform SO much for SO little!  I love thrifty DIY projects, however, it still usually involves some $$ and so I haven't really done a lot of DIY stuff. 

However, this lamp transformation only cost me $3.48!  Mostly because the lamp was a hand-me-down (read: free!) and the paint I already had from eons ago and no clue how much that cost me at the time and so the only thing I bought was plain white fabric that was on sale at WalMart. 

Now, bear in mind that this is my first attempt at redoing a lampshade so it isn't perfect!  I now know I need to pull the material around the lampshade tighter so it looks better and I learned some other stuff along the way.  When MIL saw the transformed lamp, she asked if I would do one for her, so that made me feel good! 

The lamp I transformed was for the bathroom.  Go ahead and laugh...  why do you need a lamp in the bathroom, you ask?  No, it's not for hubby to read his magazines there...  lol  it's because I wanted some softer light in there when I am relaxing in the tub! 

So here is the before pic of the lamp:

and here is a closeup..  it's actually not a bad looking lamp.  Just didn't work with what I have going on in the bathroom:

and here's the paint I used:

I absolutely LOVE LOVE the Folkart Metallic Pearl White color!  I started out with the Americana Buttermilk color.  I need about 2.5 coats to truly cover the whole base of the lamp.  Once I had it covered completely, I noticed it was way too yellow-ee.  Sooo that is where my lovely gorgeous Metallic Pearl White paint came in.  I did maybe a coat and a half... it really didn't need much and it left it with such a gorgeous opulent pearly color.  It reminded me a lot of the paint Kate used.  Here is a closeup of what it looked like:

I liked that it wasn't totally white.. it had a creamy look to it.  Which, of course, now leads me to believe that I can do this with a pink base under for a project for my daughter or any other color for that matter!  It's just got such a cool look to it!!

So here is the whole lamp:

Whatcha think??  I sewed the ruffle trim piece...  it isn't 'perfect' but I like that it looks frayed a bit and love the imperfections. 

Here's a side-by-side before and after photo:

And since I am talking about the bathroom...  here are a few more details I added to the bathroom.  You can see the big transformation/redo here.

The top and bottom of the cabinet didn't come out as smooth as I'd liked, so easy peasy solution.  I added a velvet buttercream trim to it.  Used my trusty'ol glue gun and voila:

I've actually had someone ask me what paint color it was..  yah, I am still shaking my head in amazement over that one, but hey, if they think I painted a straight line like that, yay for me! lol

I had some leftover velvet trim so I added it around the vase:

Those cute card that I cut out and laminated are from livinglocurto.  It really does help my girl remember what all to do in the morning!

I think that is all I have for now!  I am liking how my bathroom is coming together..  I still have a few more small projects/details I'd like to add to the room.  Bit by bit, as money and time allows.  :)

My Private Escape

We've been so entirely busy these last couple of weeks!  We redid our bathroom!! 

Well, we didn't do all of it ourselves.  We had contractors install the new whirlpool tub (squeal!) and hubby did the electrical part and we redid the rest ourselves!

Wanna see what it looked like before we bought the house??  Please don't puke.  It is pretty nasty!

and a close-up of the tub:

Since we moved when I was pregnant, I just tried to decorate it as best I could with whatever colors were already there:

And after a long couple of weeks...  welcome to my private escape!!!

(Shower curtain coming soon lol  still haven't decided what I would like... )

and

I absolutely lurve lurve the color!!  The photos just do not do it justice!  It's called Soothing Aloe and is by Dutch Boy.  Just gorgeous! 

We decided to eventually replace all our cabinets (finances wouldn't allow it right now :( ) so we just got new hardware and I painted the cabinets above the toilet to white so it wasn't so brown.  I was so tired of seeing brown!!

And you want to know a secret???   We did not remove the fugly tanish brown tiles from the walls!!  We used cement adhesive and just put the beaded wainscoting right over it!  Voila!  Easy peasy! 

Still want to replace the light fixture, get a new mirror and some crown molding but all in good time!!  For now, I have my bathroom back and the icky nasty window is gone so no more water damage and mildew!  Yay for a private relaxing escape!!! :)