vanity | Make Mine Eclectic

Budget Bathroom Redmodel

May 25, 2011 at 7:57 pm (Our New House) (black, budget, clawfoot, decor, decorate, diy, dressing room, glamorous, home, house, idea, new, remodel, shower, tile, tour, tub, vanity, white)

I recently bought my first home and armed with a tight budget and a big dream I set out to fix the place up. The house was built in the 20’s and plumbing was not originally indoors. The bathroom is large, but appears to be in an old bedroom or closet. There was a bathtub, but because of the slope of the roof, there was no room for a stand up shower without hitting your head. I had to get creative in order to stay within my means and also make the place functional for everyday living…

Here are a few before shots of the old retro bathroom:

Not only was there no shower, but this baby also had carpet, dingy tile board walls, no outlets, and only one tiny light. I had my work cut out for me.

I decided to refinish a clawfoot tub and move it away from the wall a couple of feet in order to add a diverter faucet where the ceiling was high enough to stand to shower. The rest fell into place after that. All was done for under $1000. Check it out:

Yea, that’s right, it’s the same bathroom. Clean, functional, bright, and a bit glamorous. My own personal dressing room!

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Wabi Sabi

February 24, 2009 at 3:40 pm (Inspiration) (antique, bench, coffee, coke, crate, decor, eclectic, gorgeous, guest room, home, house, ideas, imperfection, Inspiration, kitchen, loved, mirror, old, plant stand, repurposed, retro, style, table, used, vanity, vintage, wabi sabi, wabisabi, well loved, well worn, worn)

Wikipedia defines wabi sabi as the Japanese world view centered on the acceptance of transience. Sometimes it is also described as beauty that is imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. I think a good description of this is finding the prefect ion in imperfection. I love the concept of wabi sabi and try to incorporate it into my home all the time. I truly do believe that things can grow more beautiful over time. Maybe its the fact that a well worn item looks well loved. I love how these items have a past, a history. New furnishings from some big box store are often not very well made and are also mass-produced. Meaning that too many of these items in your home and things might look exactly like some one else’s home. This to me is boring. Age and imperfections add interest. So, although we do mix modern items in with our antiques and used finds, we do have some wabi sabi pieces in our home. I thought I would show you a few of our currently well-loved pieces.

This is our little dining table. It is very old and imperfect, but, it has so much character and personality. Even the chairs are worn-in, and mismatched!

A close-up of our perfectly imperfect table.

This is an old table with an antique frame used for the top. We use it as our living room coffee table. It has its dings and scratches, but I think that's what makes it so unique.