Thing #1:
before
I finally painted the vanity cabinet! I have a ton of leftover paint from our upstairs bathroom bead board, and it ended up being perfect for our windowless cave bathroom in the basement. It really makes the room feel bigger and brighter. And I had all but forgotten about these knobs I got at Anthropologie about two years ago for this exact project, until Drew unearthed them while cleaning out the garage. That's right. He cleaned out the garage! What a husband. Also: paint primer, where have you been all my life? I found a yet-to-be-used gallon in our basement and let me tell you, I am priming everything I paint from now on. One sloppy coat of primer + one coat of paint = one very happy painter.
Total $$ spent on this project: $2.25 for masking tape.
after
Thing #2:
I found this beautifully simple empty unfinished wood frame on sale for 1/2 off (!!) at Hobby Lobby (yeah, yeah, I know... but their sales!). I frantically called Drew ("Can you stop what you're doing and go downstairs and measure the mirror frame real quick?") and found what I thought to be the right size frame for our existing mirror.
I wish I had taken a before picture of what had been hanging here since we moved in four years ago, but let me try to paint you a picture. I'm not sure how the previous mahogany particle board (stolen from a hotel?) frame was staying together, because each side seemed to have separated from each other and wood glue was visible from multiple angles.
Somehow the universe was on my side that day when I got home with the new frame, as it was pretty much the perfect size for the mirror. Again, I dragged Drew from his current project and demanded he show me ("real quick") how to use the caulking gun for gluing. I slipped my fingernail between the mirror and old frame and it popped off with terrifying ease. I was able to repurpose not only the mirror but even the picture wire and hooks on the back of the old frame to re-hang it on the wall.
Total $$ spent on this project: $15 for frame.
Thing #3:
My parents had given us this floating IKEA shelf they no longer needed about 2 years ago, and after I finished painting the cabinet, it was Drew who said, "Let's hang that shelf above the washer and dryer! Let's get it done!" So I was his helpless helper as we found two studs and screwed in drywall anchors in the stud-less holes. Voila! Somewhere other than the floor to keep our detergents and extra toilet paper!
Total $$ spent on this project: $free
Thing #4:
Lastly, I had been accumulating creepy/pretty pictures from thrift stores that I was propping up on the back of the toilet for way too long. I didn't want to hang them until the bathroom was painted! Four years later, it was finally time to hang them on our unpainted walls.
Total $$ spent on this project: $4 (spent over the course of seven years)
