HOME TOUR

I took some updated photos of our house this morning for a fun project that I can’t talk about just yet, but I caught that early morning light streaming in and the photos turned out really soft and beautiful. It caught me off guard, because all of us have been spending nearly all our time at home these past few months, and many times I was feeling discontent with our space, seeing only the messes or the flaws or the things I want to update. These photos remind me of how beautiful it really is, and how proud I am of all the hard work we put in to get here. It’s fun to look back at the listing and see the transformation. The light in this home is unbeatable, especially for dark Seattle, and I so often forget how wonderful that feature really is. Enjoy this little peek into our home.

DIY BATHROOM REMODEL

A brand new bath on the cheap! The whole thing was under $1,000, which is so insane for the look, and we did it ourselves! So proud. You can do this too.

We did phase 1 soon after we moved in. See what we started with in this post here. The things we did then: removed the sliding tub, tiled the shower, installed vinyl floors, painted walls, removed medicine cabinet, replaced the mirror, replaced light fixture. When I type all that out I forgot how much we did there! It served us well for two years and now with spending so much time at home during the pandemic it was time to tackle it. (Side note: in hindsight I wish I had tempered my expectations or timeline with two small children at home and a mini remodel without childcare. That was a mistake. But we learned! And it’s finished now which is great. But it took longer than expected.)

When starting the design process, I broke it down into 4 major decisions: walls, toilet, vanity, floors.

WALLS

The walls in our house are all textured (it’s a west coast thing), which I am not fond of but it doesn’t bother me enough to spend the time skim coating and repainting all the walls (this is not our forever home). But since the bathroom was a small space we could change it more easily. We considered a couple options including vertical paneling, but went with a board and batten. I love the elevated look it gives. For a second there I considered a colored paint like a green, but when Daniel got on board (ha!) with the proejct I decided to keep it white for simplicity, and I love that’s the different textures makes the white look interesting.

TOILET

I had heard good things about a specific one by Kohler, but at $400 and not our forever home I thought I could save a little money here. We went with this one, same technology and measurements, just no crown molding, for half price, and it was on sale when we bought it for $180.

VANITY

I started to research vanities and realized they are so expensive. I liked the storage we had in our existing one, just not the orange marble, so we considered a few options for keeping it and updating it. I discovered you can buy just the vanity top (!!!) which I had no idea about. We bought the vanity top ($119 at home depot), and it arrived cracked. I randomly searched OfferUp and found the exact style, still new in box, for $50 off, so I grabbed that one instead. Home Depot also had this amazing, matte gold, modern faucet (on sale for $59, down from $99, and still on sale at the time of writing this post!) so I grabbed that too. Hardware is this set and $12. So this means we spent a total of $142 on a totally new looking vanity while keeping the base. Such. A. Steal.

FLOORS

I pinned and pinned and considered so many options here, from poured concrete to all kinds of tile. I checked out some in person at Home Depot and Lowe’s, but the imitation marble didn’t look great to me and the real deal was so pricey. (If you have imitation marble, don’t worry, I lived with $30 STICK ON VINYL TILES for two years. You can live with anything, and it can be a great option for a budget bath.)

I was getting discouraged hitting dead ends but Daniel then suggested I check out OfferUp since sometimes people get rid of tile after a project, and I absolutely LUCKED OUT. The first one that popped up for me was a set of Bianco Carrara marble by Z tile, a specialty tile shop with showrooms in Portland and Seattle (this is the fancy stuff), in the exact square footage I needed, the color I wanted, brand new in box. It retails at $1200 and I got it for $200. I picked it up in a socially distanced hand off that night. The other bonus, besides being gorgeous tile from Italy at a fraction of the cost, is that I was able to get it immediately instead of waiting two weeks for the other style I had in mind at Home Depot. Man did I luck out. We have a friend named Tad who is always finding these incredible deals on things, from home furnishings to sailboats, and we call it “Tad Luck,” but it was my turn for an “Allie Luck” with this one.

CEILING:
You can’t see it in these photos, but the ceiling is detailed in narrow shiplap. This was something extra that we hadn’t originally considered, but am so glad we did. It’s 1 x 2.5” primed MDF boards. We painted/caulked/filled them after installing. It adds so much interest and a custom look to the space for cheap.

Now to talk dollars:

BUDGET BREAKDOWN:

Wood total for both ceiling shiplap and wall paneling: $200

Marble flooring: $200

Vanity update: $142

Toilet: $180

Skim coating: $30

Paint: $25

TOTAL: $752.

I also have to mention/include that we tiled the shower when we first moved in (and replaced the mirror and lighting), and I didn’t factor those into costs here, so that would be another chunk. I STILL think it comes out around $1,000 and change though. Labor costs on all of it were zero since we did it ourselves, which was a huge savings.

There you have it! A brand new, luxury looking bath you can do yourself for a fraction of the cost.

Wall paint color details: Simply White by Ben Moore.

NURSERY REVEAL

Shared in partnership with buybuy BABY.

As soon as we got home from the hospital after preterm labor, the nesting urge kicked into high gear. At that point, the nursery was still my office, and we didn’t even have a crib. Logically, it didn’t really matter if we did go into labor then, since at that point the baby would have likely spent weeks/months in the NICU, but still, I had to get the space ready, so that I could feel mentally prepared to welcome this baby. I think it was compounded with so much being out of my control in the midst of a stressful and chaotic pregnancy, and getting the space prepared was one thing I could control and wrap my mind around. The whole process was really helpful and with each week we checked off, more and more fun.

The space is tiny (and I get how that term is so relative, I’m sure there are New York City parents reading this thinking it looks massive), but what it does have going for it is the light in here is amazing, especially in the morning, which helps the space feel larger. It’s nine feet by nine feet, and the closet doubles as our laundry room (it’s not pictured, but the washer and dryer are tucked into the closet behind two white french doors opposite the dresser). The rocking chair I had with Trey is huge, but I love it so much and wasn’t ready to part with it for a smaller one, so that stayed. Once I knew I had to account for that rocker and with no closet space, I had to get creative elsewhere.

Enter: the Stokke mini crib gifted by buybuy BABY. I considered all the options before deciding on this one, and I absolutely love it. We have the mini size to start, which fits until about six months, and then we have the converter kit to full size crib and then eventual toddler bed. Even when it’s full size, the oval shape is a smaller footprint than standard rectangular cribs, and this mini size (pictured) is similar to a bassinet size. It can be configured with or without the wheels, which lock, for easy mobility. The size and look are perfect for this space and we are so happy with it. (I also feel the need to mention that either we will do without the art about the crib, or pull the crib far enough away from the wall for safety because yes, we are in an earthquake state and have to think about these things.)

We’re using the same dresser we had with Trey (that was originally lime green and we bought it secondhand) and we use the top as the changing table. This changing pad is my favorite because it wipes down and I have never had to wash a changing pad cover.

With minimal floor space available, I had to get some kind of storage on the walls. The shelving brackets are Ikea, and the white shelf is $6 MDF board at Home Depot. The hanging rack is this one.

The storage baskets we used and loved with Trey and will use again are by Pehr. Such beautiful storage that doesn’t scream “nursery” and can grow from baby to adult. I have the hamper, bin, and pint size and love them all.

The curtains are these in “blush,” and I love them. At only $14 a panel, I can get two for each side, creating a fuller, more expensive look. Pro tip: hang them high and wide to make a small space feel bigger, and get the longer size, 95”, to grace the floor with standard 8’ ceilings.

The sound machine is by Dohm, and we’ve used the same style for every sleep time and nap for Trey.

The monitor is by Safety 1st, and is Wi-Fi enabled. I’m excited to try this out.

Love this simple space! Designing the nursery is always one of my favorite parts of baby prep, and this was a fun space challenge and so sweet that I got to design for a girl this time.

Crib gifted and shared in partnership with buybuy BABY. buybuy BABY has a large selection of baby items all in one place, and also provides a registry option. Nursery design, words, and opinions are my own.