Charlotte Photography: Quick and Easy Bathroom update!

I have lots of big plans for all of the rooms in our house and am finally starting to put them into action. The first big update will be our bedroom. I have already started sanding down some of the furniture and getting it all prepped for painting and/or staining. In the mean time, I decided to do a quick update to the upstairs hall bath.

All of the bathroom fixtures in our house are brassy gold and in need of updating. Replacing all the fixtures in the house could get a little pricey, so I took the advice of one of a great DIY blog and picked up some oil-rubbed bronze spray paint and got to work.

I realized I forgot to take pictures of the "before" while they were still up in the bathroom. Oops! But at least I took a picture before I spray painted it! Here is the before hand towel holder....

After I put on my safety gear (hi, mom! :) ) I got to painting.

I put all the pieces in a box and did coats every 30 minutes or so, rotating them in between coats.

Then Whitney and Ken came over for a bit so I took a little break and after they left I was feeling super energized (it was just SO great to see them...I think I was riding the high!) and so I decided to do something I had originally decided against....paint the light fixture. I wasn't really sure at first how I was going to do it, which is why I nixed it. However, I found myself just improvising and I think it turned out pretty great. I couldn't figure out how to get the light fixture down off the wall... there were no visible screws and the idea of lots of wires scared me so I didn't try all that hard. So I grabbed some painters tape and just decided to tape the whole thing off.

As you can see I brought a lamp in because during the painting process I couldn't have the big, hot light bulbs in the way. After I taped it off I thought it was looking pretty good, but was still nervous about the range of the spray paint so I decided to go one step further. We didn't have in newspaper around and I was a little nervous about it leaking through magazine pages, so I rummaged around in the kitchen and found some wax parchment paper that I thought would do the trick. Clearly...I didn't need quite as much as I used. Better safe than sorry. :)

And after the first coat...

You can see I had some drip marks but they looked better after a few coats, and honestly once I got the light bulbs back up you couldn't really tell so I wasn't too concerned with it.

And with all the paper removed...

I put the other fixtures back up and was very pleased with my quick and easy changes! I have found that the spray paint isn't super durable when subjected to repeated drops on the tiled floor, but besides that I think it will work great. As you can see in the picture below, I now I have a few touch-ups to do. Oops!

A few after pics of the fixtures...

I also picked up a nice white shower curtain at Bed, Bath, and Beyond over the summer. It was majorly marked down, and for $9 I thought I would be a nice replacement for the kind of dingy looking shower curtain left behind by the previous owners. What I didn't realize was how long this shower curtain was, so I had to raise up the shower rod a bit, but it works since there are such high ceilings in the bathroom.

Here is the original shower curtain...

And the new shower curtain....

I think the white shower curtain really brightens up the windowless room and with its simple pattern it just looks a lot cleaner than the previous curtain.

We still need to get a oil-rubbed bronze curtain rod and and shower curtain hooks. I thought about just spray painting that, but with the hooks hanging on it I know it would only be a matter of time before the wear and tear was too much, so I figure it best to get one. I actually put it on my Christmas list earlier today. :) I also want to find a new rug for the bathroom to bring a little pattern into the room.

And before I wrap it up I'm going to share a few pictures from Joe Henry's game last night. I just love being close enough to watch him play on a Friday night! After last night's game HHS was presented with the sectionals champion plaque and next week they will take on a rematch with Bishop Carroll for a trip to the state game! It will be a tough game, but I think Hutch has a great chance!

I love the way the ball boys jump in the player line and the end of the game. They are so stinking cute.