Before & After: Medicine Cabinet and Vanity Light

One of the things I've wanted to change since I moved into Jim's house is the medicine cabinet and vanity light in the bathroom. They are perfectly functional, absolutely nothing wrong with them, except they're ugly.

Here's the before... Sorry. I didn't get a good picture of the medicine cabinet.

Fake Oak

[caption id="attachment_906" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Fake Oak"][/caption]

As you can see it is the light fixture was not attractive. It looks like one of those fixtures that are the first thing to go on the home improvement shows. But, as I said before, it does work...well except for the one burned out light, but that can be replaced.  I don't know if you can tell from the little bit of the medicine cabinet you see, but it isn't even a good looking fake oak cabinet. But, again, very functional. It pretty much does a good job of holding everything, and it has a nice three-way mirror.

I've learned to love spray paint. Remember the pretty oil rubbed bronze color I painted my mirror? Well, I used that on the bathroom cabinet and light fixture. The only thing that I was a little disappointed about was that I could get the mirrors out of the doors to paint the side of the "wood" that faced the mirrors. They were glued in, and if I had tried to take them out, I probably would have ruined the doors and would have ended up having to buy a new cabinet....

hmmmmm....

Maybe I made a mistake...

I could have had a legitimate reason for getting a new medicine cabinet.  Oh well...

Anyway... I took the doors off the cabinet and took the front of the light, primed and spray painted. Here is the finished project. It turned out pretty good I think.

After

I decided not to paint everything, because we do still have some oak cabinets in the room. But we are talking about sanding down the other cabinets and staining the doors a darker color so they'll coordinate better with the colors I painted the light fixture and medicine cabinet. The other option is to paint the bases the color I painted these fixtures, and leave the doors oak.

Personally, I would paint them all the same, but Jim thinks it is sacrilege to paint real oak.  Sheesh! It's only wood!!!

A Bigger View

Oh, in case you're wondering. I did replace the burned out light bulb.

Tablescape...My latest china finds

Many years ago, my mom gave me a Turquoise china dinner plate that she got from her Secret Santa. Later she gave me a creamer, a gravy boat and an oval platter all from the same pattern that she found at various garage sales. I always thought it was so pretty with the turquoise rim and the magnolia in the center.

Setting a pretty table

Now, all the sudden, I'm really interested in collecting more of that pattern along with the Pink Rose pattern. They were both made by the Lifetime China Company for Homer Laughton in the 1940s, and they aren't easy to find, so I've started searching for them. I look at garage sales, Craigslist, eBay...anywhere I might find, and I've found quite a few pieces of both patterns.

Mixing patterns

A few of the pieces I found were delivered this week, so today, I thought I would set the table with them. I just knew they would beautiful together. I'm still waiting for a few pieces to arrive, but I had enough to set a pretty table. The two colors together just make me smile. They're very retro looking, but I love how they look.

When they were delivered, I showed them all to Jim. And I was pleasantly surprised. He liked them...he really liked them. He said they were cool, and I didn't get the impression that he was being indulgent. He really seemed sincere about it, which really surprised me, because I never thought that he would go for them.

All together

So...for my tablescape I put a nice white table cloth on the table. It's one I got in the Bahamas at The Linen Shop. I've always liked it. Then I put a large soft green napkin in the center of the table, then two crocheted doilies, all to give my pretty center piece a gorgeous place to sit. Then it was just simply setting up the china, first one of our regular dinner plates, then the Pink Rose dinner plate, then because I don't have my salad plates yet, I used the turquoise saucers that are supposed to go with the turquoise tea cups that haven't arrived yet. I love the look of the turquoise on the pink.
I thought about packing it all up and putting it away after I finished taking pictures, but every time I look at the table, it makes me smile. So it's going to stay the way it is....for now. Isn't it funny how something as simple as a few dishes can bring a feeling of peace and satisfaction.

Setting a pretty table

I really like the way it all looks with the cupboard doors open, but those I did close when I was done taking pictures. The kitchen is just too small to leave them open, but someday I will have a room where I can leave them wide open so that all my beautiful treasures can be seen.

Well...Jim should be home from work any time, so I should see about dinner.  Do something to make yourself smile today!!!

Before and After: Yard Sale Find

Before

A couple weeks ago I went to a few yard sales, and I found an interesting mirror for $2.  The problem with it was it was a funky turquoise aqua color.  Yes, the previous owners had painted it, and I can't say I blame them. It's a plastic frame, and the color it was painted was popular in the 80s... It's not the 80s any more!

It also only had one D ring, so it couldn't be hung up. Yep. It needed a little work to bring it into this century.

Now when the previous owners painted it, they didn't remove the mirror. So there was paint on the mirror. Plus, one thing that people don't realize when they paint a mirror frame is the side that faces the mirror has to be painted also, otherwise, the color facing the mirror reflects back revealing that the outer color is only a surface color.

When Jim saw it, I'm sure he wondered what I was thinking. Of course, being the supportive, indulgent man that he is, he showed a little enthusiasm and looked at it. He didn't see a problem with getting it hung up where I wanted it, and he didn't think it'd be hard to find another D ring. I'm still sure he didn't see my vision for it.

The first thing I did was remove all the screws in the back that held the mirror in place. This made it easier to clean the paint off the mirror, plus it made it easier to paint both sides of the frame. Then since it was plastic, I got some black spray primer and primed the whole thing--two coats on the back and three coats on the front. It wasn't easy covering all that turquoise aqua color. There were lots of crevasses to get into.

Since I put so many coats of the primer on, it took a little longer to dry even though I did let it dry the amount of time between coats.  It was also muggy out the day I was working on it, so I think I probably should have given each coat a little longer to dry. But I'm impatient!!! haha!

Once the primer was dry, I painted the front with three coats of spray paint in an Oil Rubbed Bronze color. I just didn't want a true black. It needed just a little bit of glam. Again...I probably could have let each coat dry a little longer, but again, I was impatient. When I brought it inside, it was dry to the touch, but it still smelled a bit like spray paint.

Finally a stop at Michael's for a new D ring, picture wire and wall hook.  Then I put the whole thing back together, and hung it on the wall.

What do you think???  Looks a lot different, huh?

After

It turned out just the way I imagined it. When I found it at the yard sale, they had it displayed vertically, but as you can see, I hung it horizontally. I think it updates it a bit; plus it fits better where I wanted to hang it, which is above the bookshelves in the living room. That spot always needed something, but I didn't want to put artwork there, because there was already a lot going on there with the family pictures.

Here's a look of the whole thing put together with the bookshelves.

Hanging up

Choosing Accessories

If you are expecting a post about decorating, you're going to be disappointed.  I'm accessorizing my wedding dress!

My Dress

This is the dress I bought... I'm so excited about it. It makes me feel beautiful, just as every bride should feel. I got a really good deal on it too, as the bridal shop I got it from sold me the sample for 50% off.  I don't know if I mentioned where I got my dress, but I found it at a lovely shop in Holland, Michigan. It's called September's Bride and the owner Tami is just fantastic! She makes you feel like a friend and not just a customer. She really went out of her way to help me find the right dress.

My Birthday Bracelet

Once I had the dress, I started looking for shoes. I thought I wanted blue ones to go with the beautiful sky blue topaz bracelet that Jim got me for my birthday last year.  I love my bracelet. I remember when Jim gave it to me, I thought it was the most beautiful bracelet I had ever seen. I'm going to wear it in the wedding as my something blue.  Anyway, I was going to get blue shoes. I found these really cute ones that seemed perfect.

Not the shoes I got

Aren't they pretty!  I still might get them, if I can find a way to justify spending $150 on them...  Hmmmm...don't know if I can swing that, but I do love them!  However, I went a different direction with my shoes. Pink is and always has been my favorite color, so that's what color shoes I got.

My Shoes!

These are the shoes I chose instead.  They are Bagdley Mischkas and probably the most expensive shoes I've ever owned. They listed for $215, but I found a site that sold them to me for $108.  Right after I ordered them, I watched a Good Morning America story that said that most online sell knock offs, but I lucked out. Mine are authentic! and they're gorgeous!

Vintage Signed Lisner Set

A few weeks ago, I wrote about our trip to the Allegan Antique Fair. That was such a fun day. Jim and I really had a good time. He bought me a fantastic rhinestone necklace that I thought I might wear with my wedding gown. But then we stopped at an estate sale where I found a beautiful Lisner necklace and earring set that I thought would look perfect with my gown. Well, when I went to my fitting a couple weeks ago, I found out I was right. The Lisner looked gorgeous with it, almost as thought it had been made to go with it. Of course, the earrings are clip-ons, so that's something I'll have to adjust to, and I'm a bit worried about losing them, but I'm pretty sure I'm just being paranoid.  I've cleaned them up since the picture above, and they look even more lovely.

So that pretty much rounded out my accessories, except for one thing. I needed something for my hair, and I thought I found it on Craigslist. I bought a lovely veil with a satin flower head piece. However, once I got it home, I realized it wasn't what I wanted to wear at all. I really don't want to wear a veil. Maybe I'm being silly, but I just feel as though I'm a bit too old for a veil. It just seems like something that younger brides should wear...

My Hair Piece

Anyway, once I got home, I made a new hair piece of silk roses.  I attached a barrette  to the back, but I think I'm going to have to change that. My hair is much thicker than I thought, and I have a hard time keeping the barrette clasped.  I don't know if it would be better with a comb, but I ordered some nice ones from eBay, so we'll see. I'm pretty proud of how it turned out.  I've chosen a couple of different hair styles that it will work really well with, at least I hope it will!

All Together

Here it is all together... well, except for my bracelet.  I also won a beautiful vintage beaded clutch that I don't have a pictures of yet, but it looks lovely with everything.  I'm really pleased with how it all looks together. I think it looks so romantic, which is exactly the look I'm going for.  I just hope Jim likes what I've chosen when he finally gets to see me wearing it all!!!!