As we stood in Menards looking at pictures of our bathroom it became really clear as to why we wanted to do some renovations. After looking at Pinterest inspiration pictures then going back to our bathroom’s picture, it looked so dated and let’s just say, ugly. 

Aside from aesthetics what else were we looking to accomplish?

Answer: storage and functionality. I couldn’t keep all of my makeup and hair supplies in this bathroom because there just wasn’t enough room. This bothered me because I’d waste money buying duplicates of items because I didn’t know where they were. I’d also waste time in the morning getting ready because I’d have to go between the two bathrooms looking for what I needed. It bothered Noah because the current set-up was just messy and unorganized. He’s a man of neatness, tidiness, and organization.

What had to go: the pink paint, the tiny storage cabinet, brown tile and the pealing wallpaper. 

Step 1: Remove vanity, curtains and storage shelf. 
BYE FELICIA (this step is pretty self-explanatory) Noah ripped everything out.

Step 2: Removing the wallpaper. At first we tried pealing it then using a steamer to scrape it off. My grandma and I painted quite a bit when I was younger because I have always loved DIY projects. I knew there was a time we had used a spray product to remove wallpaper. When Noah and I started this, I must have discounted how easy that was. Instead I Googled removing wallpaper which returned with a blog post from Young House Love about removing wallpaper with steam. Lesson learned. Just buy this product. It worked fantastic. Took a lot shorter amount of time than it would have taken to use steam. 

Step 3: Adding texture to the sheetrock. This turned out to be a two-part step actually. There were two layers of wallpaper, which revealed battered sheetrock underneath. I spackled gouges and holes from where the shelf used to be. When the sheetrock was originally installed the corners weren’t finished and the ceiling line was very uneven. 

After evening out the walls to the best of our abilities, Noah used a can of orange peal spray texture to texturize the walls.  The first can ended up spraying like the picture below when we tested it. So back to Menards we went to get a couple working cans.

Step 4: Paint the walls. Teal…a trending color for 2019. Too bold? Or just right? The only way we were going to be able to tell is by getting it on the walls. A couple coats were painted on. Honestly, at first look I thought it was awful. The brown tile  was making it hard to see the color for what it truly looked like. Before we made a decision on the paint color we decided the tile had to be painted. 

Step 5: Paint the tile.We wanted to start this bathroom project  for quite some time. The hold up was on the tile. We didn’t know what to do with it. If we tore it out that meant the whole piece of sheetrock would have to go with it. Replacing the sheetrock wasn’t a project we were up for. Finally, after seeing an Instagram blogger say she painted her tile floor in her bathroom I knew that’s what I wanted to try. This isn’t our main bathroom and the tile is on the walls, not the floor so I was hoping that would help the paint hold up. Per Sandy from the Spoiled Home’s recommendation we purchased mineral spirits, Rustoleum Chalk Paint and Polyacrylic. Clean the tile with mineral spirits. You can read her blog post here. I dabbed a towel with the spirits and scrubbed over all of it. Thin layers of paint while pressing the paint into the grout worked best. Make sure to let it dry before painting another layer. When Noah took over the painting process he got in a hurry and you can see on a few spots where he smudged the paint. It wasn’t quite dry yet he tried to paint over it. Three to four layers are needed and the same for the Polyacrylic. 

Part 2 is coming up soon! This is about the half-way point of this project.