The background: we've been in this house for exactly 9 1/2 years ... it's a charming 1951 colonial gambrel with barely any yard space but tons of curb appeal thanks to the pretty roses along the front fence, so it fits right into that 'coastal cottage' New England look that you'd envision. The only downside to "charming", however, is that it's not modern. Like not at all. Original windows (brrr), original kitchen cabinets (blech), original bathrooms (yes, there's a huge 5-gallon porcelain American Standard toilet that's date stamped 1951 inside the lid - and it's green!) ... sigh* We had such vision when we moved in ... so many grand changes were on my radar - we'd gut the kitchen and put in beautiful beadboard cabinetry and marble countertops in keeping with the 1950's look and feel ... we were planning to rip out the 1950's bathrooms as well, especially the ladybug's shared art deco green and black tiled bathroom - ick! BUT ... and you knew there had to be a but ... life took over, the expenses of having a growing family took over our sensibilities and the dream kitchen was put on hold - it exists only in the clippings and photos I've saved over the years. Ditto for the girl's art deco monstrosity in green and black ...
It took about a year for me to accept that the girl's bathroom was staying as-is, and at that point there was no other choice but to embrace it, even in green and black ... the girls were so young - a toddler and a pre-schooler - so I had a lot of fun with "little girl" decorating. I was able to find great home decor items at Target to spruce it up and went with a fun preppy striped shower curtain and had a sink skirt sewn together from a second shower curtain (would that I could sew myself!) to hang from the original 1951 green porcelain sink. And despite the crazy color scheme, it actually came out GREAT ...
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| the green stripe tied perfectly into the green in the tilework ... and how cute are those HK curtain hooks? |
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| sweet shabby chic pink sheer curtains from target, the curtain rod came from linens-n-things ... I also added a pink ribbon wallpaper border up top |
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| more hello kitty ... |
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| enough ribbon barrettes to share with an entire neighborhood of girls ... I ache to see them here, I miss those days! |
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| sweetness ... |
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| behind these sweet pottery barn bug towels you can see the green sink and the sink skirt made from the shower curtain ... you can also see the black tile that covers the entire lower half of the walls, ugh. |
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| more sweetness ... |
I have to admit that I loved every minute of that sweet bathroom for them - for about one one-thousandth of the cost of a renovation, we got ourselves a pretty great deal! BUT ... yes, there's a second but ... my sweet little preschoolers grew up and this pink and preppy sweetness was no longer flying with my tween girls who are now 9 and 12. So what did we do? A pricey renovation sure wasn't in the cards, so why not try what worked before ... and one Saturday last Fall, off to Target we went ... and look at the amazing transformation, all for less than $300 ...
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| new towels, curtains, and prints for the wall - all from target! |
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| the girls did these bird wall decals themselves - from marshalls for $14.99 ... shower curtain from bed bath and beyond |
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| matching fuzzy bathmat from target - sink skirt was sewn out of the curtain material (also target) - trash can from container store |
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| new curtains (target), rod (martha stewart for home depot), and wallpaper border (also home depot - a vinyl decal by "wall pops") |
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| from target - takes the place of the old HK dish |
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| looking pretty! |
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| yes, my heart did in fact skip a beat when I found this in the sale bin at Home Goods - $5! |
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| as seen in the mirror's reflection above - I received a pair of ladybug frames as a gift last year, but had no place to hang them! I particularly love this one b/c of the sailing ... the other frame says 'ladies night out' - love! |
So my beloved Target came through again ... for very short money, the bathroom was completely transformed for a second time and the ladybugs have been beyond thrilled with their hip and modern look! Isn't it fabulous?! There was just one small carryover from their "little girl" bathroom that I had to insist upon ...
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| ♥ so true ... |
