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Have you ever made a small tweak in a space only to realize that you LOVED this change so much that you want to keep the progress train moving…. full speed ahead?! <— Honestly, I think that’s why Matt gets so nervous/hesitant about most of my ideas because he knows that each project will snowball into about 10 more projects?! haha OOPS!
The world of DIY can be a slippery slope sometimes and this is exactly where I find myself when it comes to our current bathroom situation. I swapped out my builder grade mirror for a chic round mirror a few weeks ago and I am in l-o-v-e with the new look. To be perfectly honest, I’m a bit embarrassed that it took me 3+ years to do this!!
But now that I swapped out the mirror, I have a new excitement for this space and want to change all. the. things. But like I mentioned a few weeks back, changing out the tile and vanity isn’t really an option. Both were new when we moved in and I don’t think it would be a smart investment to tear out a bathroom because it’s not my style. So instead, I’m trying to alter the not-so permanent design elements in the bathroom to make it as much “me” as I can without spending a ton of money. The first on this new list of projects? The bathroom vanity lighting!
My current vanity light isn’t BAD (not at all), it just isn’t exactly my style. And I’m hoping just like the mirror did, a simple swap will make a big difference in making the room more “me”.
1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9 // 10
After searching the internet for more hours than I care to admit, I realized that finding a stylish vanity light is A LOT harder than it sounds. Mostly ALL of the vanity lights that I saw on the market are very basic/builder-grade and not very stylish. So I thought I would take this opportunity to make a little “round-up” of a few of the stylish vanity lights I ran across during my in-depth research.
I really LOVE the gold options but don’t really think gold will work in our specific space… mostly because we have all silver hardware + the silver-ish mirror. HOWEVER, I’m definitely bookmarking this post for the bathroom I hope to design from scratch… someday (a girl can dream, right?!).
In the meantime, I think I’m going with vanity light option #6. It’s sleek, it’s simple, and it’s one of the most affordable options at around $70. Vanity lights #4 & #5 were solid runner-ups, but were both more money than I wanted to spend on this project.
Here’s where that slope starts getting really slippery….
After I decided to change the light fixture, I found out that I would need to repaint the entire room because the wall behind the fixture will need to be painted once it’s swapped out. When I realized I needed to repaint the room, I figured I should probably make any other “minor” changes during that same window of opportunity.
The first to go?! The decor decisions I made above the toilet when we moved in 3+ years ago (the ones that aren’t really my style anymore). I want the space to be a lot lighter, less dark brown, and overall more “me”, which means the dark ampersand, the builder grade light fixture, the yellowish outlets — it’s all gotta go before we start painting!
Shiplap Inspiration
And while I brainstormed how I could lighten this space and make it a tad more “me”, I stumbled upon the idea of adding shiplap to the bathroom. Originally I wanted to shiplap the entire room, but I ran into a few roadblocks. But instead of ditching the idea all together, I decided to (DIY) shiplap half-way up all of the bathroom walls. Here’s some of my inspiration pics:
Image via Room for Tuesday
Image via Chris Loves Julia
Image via My Domaine
Image via Fixer Upper on HGTV
I know the inspiration photos don’t show just shiplap, but all of the images allowed me to visualize a wall with white on the bottom half and paint color on the top half. I LOVE, love, love the navy paint above the shiplap, however, I don’t think that navy will work in my space (thanks to those yellow-beige counters, the mocha vanity, and those beige bathroom tiles… ugh).
Bathroom Paint Color…Help!
I’m excited that the white shiplap will brighten the space but to be honest, I’m a bit “stuck” on the exact paint color. I’ve gotten some AWESOME suggestions via Instagram and I’m in the process of researching and weighing my options. I also recently found this inspiration photo, which has a lot of the color similarities from my bathroom and has me thinking maybe darker gray above the shiplap could be the way to go?!
Color Inspiration via Braams’ Custom Cabinets
What do you guys think?! I love that the darkish gray will really pop next to the white shiplap but I don’t want this gray to clash with the vanity and make it look even more yellow-beige. I’m totally torn and will take any and all the tips/suggestions/advice I can get!
In the meantime, I am READY to dive into my first DIY shiplap project. I’ve used painter’s tape to get a “rough draft” look of what this space will look like and I can’t wait to get to work. Hopefully, once I start working on the shiplap and swap out the fixture, I’ll have more clarity on paint colors. Maybe?! Hopefully?!
And speaking of decisions, don’t EVEN get me started on my indecision of what I want to eventually hang over the toilet/next to the mirror. Thank goodness I have plenty of time to ponder while I figure out how the heck to shiplap. Stay tuned, I have a funny feeling that the drama is just getting started.
Bridget
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