Gold and Mint Color Combination

Howdy!

Like I promised on Friday, I'm sharing my mystery Instagram photo project with you today.

Well, well, well…it's my new powder room (I hate that name) mirror! Lets say half bath mirror ;)

After I was unable to hang the craigslist mirror that I picked originally (click here to see), I went on the hunt for another option and I didn't have to look far. Nope, just down the street at Lowes.

I saw this $79 black mirror that they had marked down to $37. Not bad right? But I bought the damaged display mirror and got it even cheaper. The mirror kind of has a Greek key or Asian vibe. Well, definitely Asian when it is black!

I didn't want to go with the black. I decided to go with my favorite color combo right now: mint, gold and white.

So I tried, lets emphasize on tried, to get the mirror out. I was almost done…had removed all the staples and silicone and the stupid thing broke.

Major bummer!

But since I had just removed the standard builder's mirror, I decided to cut that and place it in the mirror instead. So I wouldn't have to buy anything new.

After sanding and cleaning, I primed the frame with some Kilz spray primer.

Then I used Valspar La Fonda Mirage (Geesh what a name) spray paint. 

Doesn't it look great already?

But since I wanted to add a little something different I decided to draw on some gold sharpie lines.

The mirror that I reused was too thick to cut it myself. I tried! So my hubby took it to a glass place and had it cut for $5 to fit back into the frame. All I had to do is glue it into the frame with 100% silicone adhesive. Worked like a charm. 

And I used my favorite Gorilla hooks to hang it above the vanity.

You know what? I don't even mind the vanity top as much anymore. But I'm still hoping that the hubby will find a way to cut the marble from the garage for this vanity. It would look awesome.

I also don't mind mixing the gold with my silver fixtures. I just bought the Pfister waterfall faucet on Overstock last winter and I still love. it. And it also works great as a water slide for lego figures.

I was thinking about replacing my DIY crystal shades with some fabric drum shades but I couldnt find anything yet that I like. They don't bother me though.

For now, I'm pretty happy with the direction that the powder room is heading to, don't you think so?

What have you been up to over the weekend?
I'll share with you on Wednesday what else I got accomplished.


{UPDATE: You can see the finished room by clicking here}

Laters baby, ahh bloggers and webbers ;)

(Youleeya)

Customizing your medicine cabinet

Do you feel like time flies? I do and another weekend went by in the blink of an eye.

I got a little benched with a strong head cold over the weekend. I feel like my head is stuffed with cotton and I have NO energy, ugh!
But I managed to drag myself in the powder room to get a couple of things accomplished which I will share with you after the following mini-makover.

I mentioned on Friday that I was working on a small project that involved diagonal stripes. I decided to give our medicine cabinet a little overhaul. It was never my favorite piece but we really need the storage. So I moved the cabinet outside (we had some warmer weather last week) and sprayed it with a fresh coat of white. You have no idea how happy a fresh coat of white makes me. "So fresh and so clean, clean...." (Outkast)

And then I thought booooring, I need a tiny change.

So I removed the back of the shelving, taped it off, sprayed it with some gold, removed the tape, let it dry and reattached it. Simple as that! It really was that sporadic and quick. Otherwise I would have taken pictures along the way.

Isn't it so much better now? I love it!

Now back to the rest of the powder room.
I accomplished to prime over my kids sharpie drawings and to put 2 coats of eggshell white onto the walls. I also painted a fresh coat of glossy white on the base and crown molding. It's such a beautiful blank canvas now.

In addition to that I replaced all the old, yucky tan outlets with new white ones. Boy what a difference that makes.

Not bad for someone that has a bad cold, right? I'm proud of myself.

I also noticed that the craigslist mirror (click here) which I wanted to hang over the vanity will probably not work as intended since I would have to cut off some of the embellishments on the upper right side to make it fit width wise, which I don't want to do. This really frustrates me since I was thrilled about using it in the powder room. It'll stay where it is hanging right now.

I have not made a decision on the walls yet either.

Lets see what I'll decide to do about the mirror and wall situation.

Talk to you all on Wednesday and have a wonderful day.

Guten Tag und Tschüss,

Youleeya :)

Powder Room Wall Inspirations

So I have been browsing the web for some inspiration for our powder room the past week and I have to tell you that I am severely drawn to the white walls with gold accents. Especially after I applied two coats of white primer over the diamond pattern. It was kind of on the darker side previously and the white is so fresh! Can you believe the pattern is still showing through 2 coats of the primer though?

If you follow me on Instagram then you saw that my kiddos got a hold of the sharpie. It is funny, thank God it's only primer ;)

Thanks for pointing out where the pee and poop goes, Lilly!

And what's up with the faces and their tongue sticking out, LOL!
Can you see the diamonds peeking through?

I guess I have to prime it white one more time. And I think I have to sand a little more on some spots too. What a pain!

Speaking of painting white. It appears such an easy task but when you stark painting something white, everything starts looking dirty. You can't just stop, at least I can't. I have to paint everything, meaning trim, moldings and cabinetry. Ugh! And then my ivory outlets are bugging me too. So I have to replace those as well. That said...this powder room will take way longer again than I originally anticipated.

Back to the wall inspirations. I really love gold polka dot walls. I was thinking white walls with gold polka dots and a bright colored ceiling. I have seen them in nurseries but I think I would love having it in my powder room.

Take a look at these photos:

image via Land of Nod

image via zazzle 

image via indulgy

Gold Ikat dots (image via West Elm)

And I was thinking about what would be the cheaper or better approach. Stencil or wall stickers?
The stencil is $29 at Cutting Edge Stencils (click here) and the gold wall stickers that I found at Polka Dot Wall Stickers  (click here) are $8.98 for 24 dots for the 3" size. Now I don't know how many dots I would need, but if you calculate buying the stencil, gold paint (which is always a little pricey) and stencil brushes, then I will probably end up in the same price range as the dots. And the dots are so much easier than the stencil.

image via Polka Dot Wall Stickers

Hey, or I could try making my own sticker dots with my silhouette cameo, but I'm not sure which vinyl to use, so I won't damage the walls. I'm kind of too new for this.

Another idea that has been floating in my head is a gold on white fish scale wall and I should be able to draw this with a a sharpie. Or maybe not ;)

image via design sponge

image via design sponge

Or diagonal stripes!! I've been working on a small project with diagonal stripes and I'm liking it. I'll show you on Monday!

So what's your take on the vinyl versus stencil subject. Have you made your own wall decals yet and if so, which vinyl did you use?
And how about those dots, fish scale pattern and diagonal stripes? I know I love them all

Let's see.
Have a great weekend and talk to you on Monday.

Giveaway winner and some other news!

Did you get snowed in over the weekend? It wasn't too bad for us, we only got 2 inches. I was hoping for more since I love to ski. There is something peaceful about being snowed in. I love everything being canceled and not having to go anywhere.

As for the winner of my giveaway...my tired little wrestler drew the winner

Look at the bags under his eyes.

Crystal @ 29 Rue House

I have more news. As of now, we are not moving. Which makes my head spin because there are so many things that I want to tackle. 

I went right to it with our powder room. I've been wanting to redo it for sooo long. Can you believe that it's been 10 years since I painted that room. That is long for a girl who likes change. I was pregnant with my son and it took me forever to measure and tape off all those diamonds. My hubby loves that pattern and always said no to the re-painting. I already mentioned that he doesn't do well with change.

It is so outdated and I'm very excited to finally get my hands on it.

Look at the dork in the mirror (aka myself)!

I'm not sure about what I want to do in there exactly but I have some ideas. Guess I just have to make up my mind.

And I'd like to work with what we have. I can't rip out the vanity since the flooring was built around that boring standard builder's cabinet and we don't want to redo the floor. I do like the storage the cabinet offers and I will redo the vinyl kick plate. Can't stand those!

Yuck!

After ripping out the plain mirror, I realized that the light is hanging way too low for my craigslist mirror that I wanted to hang instead. So I either have to buy a different mirror or have someone hang the light higher. But I really love the mirror:

And I have to fix all the holes left behind by the mirror

In case you are wondering how I removed the glued mirror, all I had to do is put a putty knife behind it and slowly start to move it against the mirror. Eventually it popped of in one piece.

I will hopefully be able to get the sanding of the walls done this week, to hide all the lines. And then prime them with some good primer. I think a clean slate is good for applying some new ideas. 

There are also several ideas floating in my head for the vanity top. Lets see!

I was so excited to find out that we finally have a "Restore" (Habitat for Humanity) location but when I went there this weekend I was so disappointed. I don't know if it's just me or our area but their prices were ridiculous. Way too expensive! At those prices I'd rather buy new stuff. Do you have any experience with them? If so, please do tell!

Lets see how much I can get done this week. I was also thinking about going to some counter top places to get estimates for our kitchen counters. So much stuff to do and never enough time.

Talk to you on Wednesday.

My Painting

I want to share my painting with you today. It's finally done, but I have to tell you that I like it much better in person. I painted some of the details in metallic and you can't tell on the photos. I guess you'll just have to imagine them. The metallic looks beautiful in the evening when I light a candle.

You can see some of the metallic paint in this picture.

Can you believe that I have had this canvas since I was about 16 years old. No, me neither. I received the canvas as a present from the mother of my boyfriend at that time. She always painted and she knew that I liked to paint. Now I have painted since but never finished this one and I really don't know why! The canvas has the perfect size for this wall, so I figured it was about time to paint it after 22 years. Wow I'm old.

My inspiration came from Pinterest. Did you ever see this soundwave artwork?

And I googled abstract static soundwaves. Haha, don't ask me why, I have no clue! I just came up with the name and this is what showed up. It somewhat matches my cuckoo4design blog logo, doesn't it?

So I just used colors that I liked and went to town to create my own version. The painting is the result. 

I'm quite happy with it. I just need to sign it yet.

Do you actually remember what my fireplace area looked like before this small makeover?
Here is a picture to refresh your memory:

I only had a little color on the mantel but I wanted more.
Guess what this change cost me? Well?
Hah, pretty much nothing, except the new orchids. I had the pillows already (they are from Ikea by the way and you can still buy them), the lamps were in the attic with the canvas. The blanket and fake furs (also from Ikea) were lying on a different chair. And I already had the acrylic paint as well.
Here is another painting (actually I painted two almost identical ones) several years ago. They are still hanging in our bedroom. I used metallics as well.

I'm planning on showing you some old photos of our living room next week.
And I also need to talk about my "cursed corner". That's what I'm calling my bookshelf wall that I left out of all the above photos for a reason.

I wish you all a great weekend.