Powder Room Reveal

Calling this project a "Powder Room Makeover" sounds WAY more elegant than saying
"Hey, look at my toilet!" 

I'm fancy like that.

The most used room in the house was SO boring.  Cue facelift music!!

 I scored this great mirror on Craigslist and it became the inspiration for the room.

I read up on how to remove a builder-grade mirror and even texted a few friends for advice.  Piano wire?  None handy.  Pry bar?  Nope.  Picture wire?  Too thick.  Then it hit me - what I did have available on a Friday night around 9pm, was 14 flat-head screwdrivers and a rubber mallet.  Tap, tap, cringe, tap, tap, cringe, this went on for about 30 minutes then - pop!   The whole thing came off without any bad luck involved!

 Just ignore that mess in the background.

 

 Then I repaired and repainted the walls and hung the mirror.

 

At this point I had one gold mirror.  I also had an oil rubbed bronze light fixture, towel ring and tp holder.  Add in chrome knobs, door handle and faucet.  Too many metals for my taste.  So I did what any perfectly sane woman would do and I got out the spray paint.

So, I painted the faucet, the doorknob, the toilet flusher and even that little chrome stopper thing-a-ma-bob at the bottom of the sink.  (I did this back in November and still not a scratch!)  Here's the process... tape well and cover everything in sight.  Turn on the vent fan.  Spray a light coat.  Run and shut the door behind you!  Repeat several times over a 24 hour period.

  

 Then one wall got some serious va-va-voom!!

I borrowed a stencil from a friend (thanks Jaylee!!) and used a gold paint pen.  Please take my advice and do this the easy way = buy gold paint and use a roller.  Your writing hand will thank you.

 

I'm crazy about this wall!  The way the gold reflects the light is amazing.

View from the floor (completely unnecessary in real life, by the way.)

You might remember this sneak peek.  We put adhesive-backed vinyl mustaches on the mirror for Christmas and New Years' parties!  Okay, I admit it, the mustaches are still there.

I'm still in search of a few more accessories, but I consider this small makeover a success!!

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Linking here:
Made by You Monday at Skip to My Lou
Tutorials & Tips at Home Stories A 2 Z
Craft and Tell at Cherished Bliss
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch 
Weekend Warrior Mondays at Ask Anna 
Trash 2 Treasure Tuesdays at Kammy's Korner
Restored it Wednesday at Restore Interiors
Thrifty Thursday at Thrifty Decorating
Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage 
Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple 
Crafty, Scrappy, Happy Me Thursday 
Open House Party at No Minimalist Here
Share Awesomeness at 36th Avenue
Thingamajig Thursday at Radcrafter 
Link it up Thursday at Seven Alive 
Show and Share at Vintage Gwen 
Inspired Creations at Embracing Change 
Saturday Night Special at Funky Junk Interiors 
Repurpose Remodel Reveal at The Rooster and The Hen

Gear Art (Restoration Hardware Knock-Off)

(you can also read an update to this post HERE)

 

I have no idea why I felt compelled to do this knock-off interpretation of artifact "art" from Restoration Hardware, especially considering my new-found love of all things gold, curvy and swirly.  Maybe it was the challenge of acquiring old gears and wheels or maybe it's just a great "upcycle".  Either way, I couldn't get it out of my head (for months).  

The inspiration from Restoration Hardware

When I dropped in on a tractor dealership and asked about vintage gears, they all looked at me like I had 3 heads.  (I still think it's funny that there's a tractor dealership about 2 miles from my house, ah, Kansas!)  Anyway, once I explained why I wanted them, Chris brought me to what he lovingly referred to as the "scrap heap".  In fact, he suggested that I come by at least once a week and start making a lot of art (hmmm, is that lucrative?)  Anyway, I chose a few funky pieces just to get started.   

These weren't vintage as in "rusty", but they were legit.  And really greasy.  I degreased them (in the kitchen sink - it wasn't pretty) using some orange stuff Hubby bought years before.  I have to mention this because there was a fairly major argument over this purchase in 2003.  At this point, he wins the argument and gets a huge apology.  It's all-natural and worked like a charm!  (and I can't believe we held onto the stuff for that long!)

I'd searched Craigslist and eBay for some antique pulleys and gears, but they were even more expensive than RH's versions, so I decided that it just wasn't going to happen.  Then, I dropped in on an estate sale one day and in a corner sat a sad little (big!) pulley for $8!  Game changer!

Once I had all the pieces, it was pretty simple.  I cleaned them all up and painted them Krylon's Oil Rubbed Bronze to get a uniform look (you knew that was coming, right?).  I used L brackets on the back of each one with the Loctite liquid weld.  It worked for some, but for a couple, the liquid weld just popped right off.  I used my trusty E6000 and it worked!  Then, I mounted each of them to a thick piece of trim.

Here's the finished product!

A few of these are really heavy but I think they'll be perfect for a bookcase.

I might add a pretty treadle sewing machine wheel to the collection.

What do you think?

PS. my little guys love these and have already "called" certain gears for their rooms'.  ("One looks like a Lego Mom!")

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These gears were FEATURED here! (Are ya kidding? How awesome is that?!?!)




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