Tips for Decorating Small Spaces - Bathroom Edition

Decorating a small space is of course much more challenging.  I  have dreams of a fabulous, luxurious bathroom... one that's large enough to host a small dinner party, complete with a leopard-skin covered chaise lounge and a gorgeous chandelier!

You know something along this line...

Source: pics-site.com

 Oh my goodness, I am drooling over this one!...

Source: samulco.com

My reality is actually more along the lines of finding a good spot to cram the extra rolls of toilet paper!   Besides... who wants a dinner party in the bathroom?!

Good news!   You can add style to your small space, and stay on budget  WITHOUT having to buy this hideous leopard print toilet seat lid...

Source:  Kmart.com

I have no words to tell how horrible I find that!

Do you have a small bathroom that needs your attention?  Here are some decorating tips that will help you maximize your small space!

• Clear out the clutter

NOTHING makes a room look smaller than clutter!  If you haven't used things in your bathroom in over six months, its highly unlikely that you ever will!  I recently put a large basket of barely used bath products, lotions, hair care products, etc. on the kitchen table and let my girls and their friends see if they wanted any of them.  If you have a good amount of still decent products, you could donate them to a local homeless shelter.  Get rid of those ratty, mismatched towels, and cut them up for rags.  If your rag bag is running over, you can donate your old mismatched towels as well.  Less is more!  Better six new, matching towels, than twenty-six that look like they have been through the war!

• Choose color wisely.

Color is one of your best tools for making a small space appear larger.  Cream colors, sophisticated neutrals, and icy blues are just a few of the best color combinations that can open up a tiny room into a bigger living area. 

Source: housebeautiful.com

Keep in mind that the use of color is all about illusion.  Pale and cool colors can make your room look bigger and brighter, and of course, deeper darker tones will make your room cozier and more closed in.  Light and brightly colored walls are more reflective which makes a space feel open and airy.  Painting your trim and molding white, or lighter than the walls can give the illusion of the walls being further back, and thus more spacious.  

• Choose fixtures to scale

Be sure that cabinetry and accessories are scaled to meet the needs of a small room.  Choosing larger items can cause the room to seem smaller and cramped.  Using smaller throw rugs can give the feeling of more floor space.  Notice how the smaller scale mirror, and sparse accessorizing make this small space seem uncluttered and comfortable.

Source: designideasworld.net

• Clever use of space...

Being creative with your storage options can make all the difference when it comes to making your small bathroom work for your family.  Don't forget to take advantage of your vertical space!  Use walls to your full advantage!  Look how the clever use of shelves and hooks can maximize your usable space!

Source: BHG.com

• Create light...

Good lighting can help your bathroom avoid looking cramped or even depressing.  Use bright overhead lighting as well as sconces, or wall-mounted lighting.  The addition of a skylight in your bathroom might not be as difficult as you think, and is a wonderful addition of natural light.  Make good use of mirrors to reflect the lighting in the space.

I hope these simple tips are helpful to you as you deal with your small bathroom, and learn how to get the most from your space.  Decorating is not only for style, but for optimum functionality as well.  Better Homes & Gardens has a wonderful section on their website for dealing with small bathrooms.  You can check out more wonderful information from them here.

So, until you receive an invite for a dinner party in my new fancy, 1,000 square foot bathroom, I'll join you in this challenge, but let's try to "just say no" to leopard print toilet seats, but if you have to have one I'll love ya anyway!

Keep Shining!

The Woo-Hoo Gal

Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Pantry Makeover Reveal...

Okay, here it is!  It may not be some super classy high-end design, but I finished my pantry project, and I 
L-O-V-E it!  

I started with this horrifying mess...

(Princess #1 is still mortified that I show you all this!  She's fairly certain that Social Services will now come inspect our house and take away her little sisters!)

Next I emptied the entire pantry and washed down the walls, shelves and floor with a bleach solution so everything was nice and sanitized.

Then I had to make the tough decision not to paint and stencil like had wanted to do.  The paint was not really in bad shape, and it would be a complete nightmare to take down all those brackets.   I was "prewarned" by my Main Man that I would be own my own if I decided to tackle that job!

I decided to take the easy way out and add a little fun and color with some repositionable decals.  You can find many different designs at craft & home stores.   I found some multi-color geometric design tiles at Home Goods for only $9.99!  Woo-hoo for bargains!

(Can I just pause here and give a word of testimony about TJ Maxx/Homegoods?  

Love, love, LOVE that place!)  

Aren't those cutie-patootie?  Here, look closer...

My Home Goods only had one set of these tiles, but I think I'll look for another one.  

Well, here it is, the finished product... A nice organized pantry! 

Woo-hoo!  I'm so happy with this!  So, here's what's amazing, with the exception of  a little purging I did, the same items are still in the pantry, but now they are orderly and in their place.  And, no... I bought no new containers.

Let me show you.  

Here are extra laundry supplies, tp, and paper towels...

 Next is cleaning supplies...

 The green basket and the one next to it are filled with extra stock of things already in my kitchen cabinets such as seasonings, salt, hot sauce, salad dressings, etc.  The basket on the right is candy and cookie making supplies, like the cookie press, decorating bags, sprinkles, etc.

 The top shelf is where I have some of my party supplies.

Beside them are some plastic platters and the picnic basket.

 Here are the staples...sugars, Splenda, flour and cornmeal, and below that more back up food items, as well as a basket filled with light bulbs.

 The next shelf has a basket for doggie supplies, the multi-color basket is kitty stuff, and the green container on the right is filled with candles and candle holders.

 The bottom shelf is where I put my glass vases (in that container on the left) and then items I don't use every day, but frequently enough that I don't want them store away.

 On the floor level there is a hand-held vac, lunch boxes & thermoses, and household tools.

 I am just to happy with this, I could stand there and look at it for a while!  By the way, the drawer unit on  the right is filled with all my table linens and placemats.

Why did I wait so long to do this?... I have no clue, but I am so, so happy that I did!  Nothing feels better than an organized house!  I have one more finishing touch I'm going to add this week, but I didn't want to leave you hanging to show you what I had already finished.  Since I kept my commitment of not buying new storage containers, this only cost of this makeover was $9.99 for the tile decals.  

I hope you are inspired to get your clutter under control... you will be so glad you did it!  Happy organizing!

Keep Shining!

The Woo-Hoo Gal

*  You might like to read my previous post here Pantry Makeover.

Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Pantry Makeover

A few weeks ago, will cruising through "Blogland", I was stopped in my tracks by the gorgeous pantry redo over at House of Smiths.  Shelley has absolutely phenomenal taste, and I love anything she does, but this pantry redo blew me away!  


I went and took a look at my pantry...

Just keeping it real here folks! Well... here it is in all its unorganized, messy horribleness.  My oldest princess who is home from college this summer saw me taking this picture, and the convo went like this...

"Please tell me that is not going on the internet."  

"Of course, it is baby, I'm a DIY/decorating blogger, and I have to keep it real."  

"Have you no shame?"

"Yes, I wear the pantry 'cone of shame'."

I know, I know...it's downright awful.  Now you know why my family sometimes laughs when I go to organize and design for others!  This pantry is by far the most disorganized, messiest zone in our house.  Now it's not nasty, just a jumbled mess and catch-all.  I do have something to say in my defense... Our house is on a crawlspace = no basement, and we converted our attached garage to 2 bedrooms and a bathroom, so that leave one small outdoor shed for total storage for a family of six!  But, despite that, I have to get this space under control. It makes me break out in hives just to find a ziploc bag!  

First thing to do?  Empty it.  Oh. My. Word.  There was a village of pygmies and a litter of chinchillas in there... it was awful.  I made 874 trips out of there, BUT...

Yipee!  There it is, all empty and scrubbed down, and a clean slate for designing!  

My little heart was broken when I realize a  painting and stenciling project like Shelley did wasn't very practical.  As a matter a fact, it seemed a completely overwhelming tasks to remove all of those many, many screws & brackets that hold up wire shelving...not nearly as easy to paint as wooded ones.   Well, I made a decision and moved on with a plan.  I'm still adding a couple of final touches, but I'll post the end results very soon.  My one rule...no going to Target or Ikea and spending a lot of money on containers.  I wanted to make it nice using the things I already had.  

Stay tuned... I can't wait to show you the reveal!

Keep Shining, 

The Woo-Hoo Gal

Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

All you need is a can of white spray paint!

For the budget conscious DIYer like me, a can of spray paint can be your greatest tool!  There aren't many things that don't look better when spruced up with a coat of white paint.  I love the brand-new, clean feeling that white accents add to my spaces.  I want to share a few simple projects I've done recently using my trusty can of white spray paint!

I took this old basket that I found in my mom's basement...  

 A little clean up and some white spray paint and turned it into this...

I love it!  It's a great place to store some healthy snack options that the kids are welcome to anytime

I found these great metal art pieces on clearance at Target.  They were perfect for Princess #2's bedroom, but the oil rubbed bronze was the wrong color...

Since these were so dark, they needed a coat of primer,

But in no time I had this great addition hanging on her wall!  Isn't that pretty against those lavender walls?  LOVE!  I will take you on a "tour" of her room soon.  It's almost finished, and oh, so cute!

In the entry closet, I have a stack of various frames that I am no longer using, so I decided to give a few of them a makeover.

(Look at that adorable, squishy little angel!  That's Princess #3 who is now 11. sigh...)

I also decided to use these two...

Look at that... my styles are all over the place...  Ornate & antique with sleek & contemporary!  Well, a fresh coat of paint will help blend these styles.

Here they are after a coat of primer...

And now, they are like brand new!  

I loaded the 8x10 with my new Independence Day printable from Pink Ink Doodle.  

You can follow the link, and get your own printable!  Tell her the Woo-Hoo Gal sent you!

The other 2 frames look great, but they haven't found new homes just yet...

Of course spray paint comes in handy for more complex projects, too.  You can read here about an 80's brass light fixture, that I gave a modern PB Teen look with the use of white spray paint, and some grosgrain ribbon.

So if the budget is tight, but you're ready to see some changes all you need is some white spray paint, and to go "shopping" in your garage, basement or closets.  Everyone has a treasure just waiting to be repurposed!  If you're not using it anyway, what good is it doing stuck on a shelf in a basement?  Don't be afraid to get out the paint and let the  inner creative you loose!

Keep Shining!

The Woo-Hoo Gal

Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

'Haint Paint' for your porch!

Occasionally, I take on projects for clients needed help with anything from home business organizational help to decorating to party planning.  Recently, I was asked to help give a gorgeous, Southern-style front porch a "make-over", and I wanted to share the experience with my fun, creative readers.  I'm sure you're going to really help me with decisions, and ideas!  Here's a great front porch inspiration  found...

I love all the greenery used on this porch!

Do you know about the old Southern tradition of a blue porch ceiling?   I grew up in the South, where it was the very common to see porch ceiling painted various shades of blue.  I always thought it was pretty, and made the porch ceiling look like the Carolina blue sky.  Some say blue helps extend daylight as dusk begins to fall, and many believe it keeps the bugs away, as I had often heard.  Mosquitos apparently don't like blue?  Who knew!  


I also heard it called "haint paint", and had no idea what that meant, until as a young teen, my family visited some of the South Carolina low-country's plantations, where it was explained that the people of the Gullah culture believed the blue paint kept away evil spirits. You can read more about the traditions of a blue porch ceiling here.

Front porch with a blue ceiling

I'm just getting started on this porch project, and so far I have cleared the porch, and have had the porch ceiling painted blue.  I chose a beautiful pale grayish-blue by Sherwin Williams,  Atmospheric

Atmospheric SW 6505

The home-owners are still making some decisions about their style choices.  We've looked at many designs and inspirations, but they are looking at a Transitional/French Country/Shabby Chic look, and I am attempting to mesh those styles together for them.  If you would like a look at some spaces that are inspiring this project take a look at my Pinterest board for porches.  Don't know about Pinterest?  

You're going to LOVE it ~ I promise!  

I'll be posting some pictures soon, as we begin the porch makeover journey, but I wanted to tell you about it first, and give you some background and history on a great Southern tradition.  Do you have a great front porch?  I would love to see it!

Keep Shining!

The Woo-Hoo Gal

"Whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."