Hello Friend! So good to be back with you. It was nice to take the month of December off from blogging with all the hustle and bustle that comes with the holidays. But, I am ready to get back in the swing of things and what I love–projects and writing. I have some awesome projects on the horizon that I am looking forward to and can’t wait to share with you. But first, I want to look back at my favorite and biggest tackle of 2016. My Farmhouse Bathroom Remodel.

There really was nothing wrong with our guest bathroom, other than it was a bit dated and I was ready for a change.

So, like most of my projects, one day, kind of on a whim, I decided, I’m going to update the guest bathroom. And so the adventure began…

Farmhouse-style bathroom remodel:

I began by tearing down all of the old trim. If you’ve followed my blog for a while now, you know my obsession with changing all of my trim over to Craftsman trim…

Because the floor space was not very big, I thought to myself…how difficult would it be to sand down this floor with my electric hand sander? Let’s just say, it wasn’t easy. LOTS of work!! Half way through, I started to research…how to stain a floor without sanding. And I found it!! It is possible!!! You can read all about how to stain without sanding here. It will blow you away!!

Of course in my down time, I was spending a lot of time on Pinterest (SHOCKER!), looking for ideas. I knew I wanted to change out our countertops and sink. So out they came. As a side note, I have NEVER removed a countertop or sink (or toilet–which I also removed) in my entire life. And therefore, had absolutely no idea how to do this. No worries, as I have done with many of my projects…I went to YouTube. You can learn so much there. Anything you’ve ever wanted or needed to learn how to do–it’s there! You can do this friend! You really can!!

Let the building begin…

Next came the fun part…planking the walls. I like to use underlayment to get that shiplapped look. It’s a lot cheaper and a lot lighter to work with than the traditional car-siding. A 4×8 foot board at Home Depot will run you less than $12. You can read all about how to plank a wall here. Definitely one of my most favorite projects to do.

And with a couple coats of paint–voila!!…

I will say, I learned something from this planking project. When putting up new trim, plank the walls FIRST and then add your trim. It’s a lot easier to hang trim OVER planked walls than to have to cut your plank boards to fit around your trim. If that makes sense. If not, hopefully the picture below will clear it up for you. I had to use my jigsaw to make those cuts, which aren’t exactly perfect, but hard to notice once it’s all painted white…

By this time, it was all coming together. I could see the finish. And I was so elated to get there. Not because I was tired of working on the project…but because I knew I was going to love the finished product!! And I do!! LOVE!! LOVE!! LOVE!!

My neighbor, Paul, came over and helped me (let’s just be honest here, he did most the work) put in all the new plumbing and new lights. I would like to learn how to do the plumbing and electrical, but at this point, Christmas was around the corner and we needed our bathroom back ASAP. 🙂

During this whole process, I was trying to decide on a paint color for the cabinets. I felt like a chemist, mixing paint and trying to get that perfect color. Then I nailed it. I feel like it goes perfect with the countertops. (Be sure to check out my upcoming post on mixing paint and what I concocted to get this color)…

By the way, the countertops are formica from Menards. I wanted a concrete-countertop-look and stumbled upon this pattern. I think it’s pretty darn close. The next best thing would be ACTUAL concrete countertops. Which, through my research I learned, are quite costly and can be finicky…apparently, they can crack pretty easy. And once they’re installed, it’s pretty much a done deal. No turning back. 🙁

I have to share one of the “Oops” I ran into…When picking out the bowl for my sink, I knew I wanted white, but failed to think about how that would look with the other large porcelain piece in the room. Can you see the problem?….

Ya, the almond and white are clashin’ with a passion (a throwback to my teen years lingo). So, off we went to buy a new toilet. Not the most fun item to buy, but definitely necessary at this point. 🙂

Bringing it all together…

Last step….tying it all together. I had so much fun shopping for the decor for this makeover. Of course, that’s just an oxymoron-shopping/fun…in and of itself.

I was bummed to have to find a different mirror. I loved my old one but it didn’t fit with the vessel faucet, due to the extra detail sticking out on the mirror. This one, from Hobby Lobby, fit perfectly…

The previous light fixture was definitely not going to work with the whole farmhouse theme, so I found this farmhouse light fixture at Lowe’s…

I have wanted a windmill for a while and found one at my go-to shop…Saving Grace…

Also, found some arrows too, at a local store…

And isn’t it fun to think outside the box? Who says baskets have to stand upright???

(Baskets and towels are from Target)

One last look at the final reveal….

Isn’t the difference amazing? Of course, I’m loving all the white and shiplap and…Farmhouse Style!!!

Do you have a room that needs a makeover? I know it can be intimidating to think about tackling it on your own. But it really is so rewarding and not to mention, saves a lot of money. You can do this, friend!! Please feel free to inbox me, if you have any questions at all. I love to help other people see how easy this stuff really is. I would also love to see pictures, if you’ve recently tackled a remodel project…just hit reply and send them over to me.

Until Next Time,

Happy Building!!