projects – Raised by Design

Before + After – Lil’ Spot Renovations The Bathroom

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Hi hi hi. So yesterday I shared all of the dingy ‘BEFORE’ pics of our pink and black tile bathroom. Today it’s time to get to the goods. Real quick – here’s what the bathroom looked like when we bought the house:

The space was super cramped, poorly lit, without ventilation and, other than the medicine cabinet, completely without storage. The one thing that the room had going for it was a nice, big American Standard cast iron bathtub in great condition. (By the way – that nice vignette of a hand mirror, roll of toilet paper and bottle of Suave shampoo came with the house. Bonus!)

Here’s what our Master/Guest/Family/Only Bathroom looks like today:

raised by design - bathroom renovation after

We went with a relaxed, neutral palette of bright white walls and slate blue/gray floors. I like that it skews a little masculine but is still elegant and airy. We installed and painted bead board along the ‘dry’ wall of the bathroom and classic white subway tile along the ‘wet’ wall – the tile is wrapped around the tub/shower surround and behind the new sink.

We solved the layout and storage issues by reclaiming some square footage from the second bedroom (now our Master) that was being used as an extra closet. We robbed Peter to pay Paul, you could say. It hurts to get rid of closet space in a small house, but ~~Paul~~ the bathroom really needed the space, so we didn’t lose sleep over it. Plus, we didn’t take all of the storage of the other room – the remaining space was used for custom built-in shelves which now function as my vanity and shoe storage.

The added square footage allowed for a clear path and more spacious layout without any crowding. Hoo-ray! The nook we created also accommodated a full size vanity with plenty of storage. The vanity is actually a vintage sideboard that I spray painted and chopped up to accommodate a sink and plumbing. There are loads of DIY tutorials out there for this move and in our case, it was the best solution for maximizing counter space and storage and it’s much easier on the budget than a brand new vanity. Plus, look at that sexy hardware!

We opted for a wall mounted faucet and vessel sink to make converting the vanity easier. I found a giant vintage mirror that was perfectly sized for our space and paired it with industrial cage pendants.

We keep our everyday toiletries corralled on a tray to cut down on clutter (my all-time favorite styling tip). When guests come and we feel fancy, we stash our toothbrushes away and just leave out the hand soap, a lightly scented candle (like one of these) and some pretty hand towels.

Above the litany of light switches and outlets we added, I hung this sweet trio of miniature house collages in vintage gold frames that my Mom made for me.

I like the way the antique gold finish is repeated in the mirror frame and original brass door knob.

For a long time, the bright, bare walls on the opposite side of the bathroom were too pretty to mess with. Something happens when you take the trouble to paint a room yourself: you have nightmares about patching a poorly place nail hole so you chicken out on hanging anything at all.

Last winter I finally got over it and hung a gallery wall of vintage class photos I’ve collected and charcoal nudes drawn by James’ late grandmother. She was such a glamorous woman and I love the ultra feminine touch that her drawings lend to the otherwise masculine space.

We added a ledge to help transition between the bead board and dry wall – a trick we borrowed from my parents’ bathroom. The ledge is low profile, but creates a spot to keep small things like a clock or eyeglasses.

My collection of vintage black and white class photos includes a photo of my 8th grade class trip to Washington D.C. I remember thinking it was just silly that my Mom wanted to order the framed photo (“Whaddya want that for?”), but I’m so thankful for the time capsule and it’s one of my favorite pieces of art. Gosh, she’s always right. We hung it right next to the commode and when we have parties the conversation inevitably comes around to the number of flannels, Nirvana t-shirts and Air Jordans in the pic. It was 1995…

It’s also fun to let guests play ‘Where’s Waldo’ to find me. Here, I solved it for you… Also in this closeup are my kindergarten bestie, my first kiss, the friend I got in the most trouble with and the kid who moved into my house when we move to New York a couple years later (whose sister is now a cast member on SNL!).

While we’re talking about what’s near the toilet, I have to show you the TP holder we installed, which is probably the smartest choice I’ve made in life besides going to college and marrying James. It’s the best and deserves a chance to shine. The price was ridiculous but it’s the only acceptable design for changing the roll in my book – one of my all-time least favorite things to do (besides replacing the trash liner). Once you go $100 toilet paper roll holder, you never go back. I’m bringing it with me to the next house.

Lastly, our beautiful porcelain throne. When my mother-in-law heard that we planned on just keeping the existing (60 year old) John, which was in fine shape as far as my back woods self was concerned, she insisted it was a much better idea to get a new one. We hemmed and hawed over adding the expense to our climbing budget, but in a ‘you’ll thank me later’ moment she put her foot down and offered to buy a new one for us. Moms…they’re always right! I LOVE this toilet and I now appreciate that Johns have a life span and when it’s up…it’s just up. She’s a beaut and uses less water so everyone’s happy. (I wish I’d moved our trash can or ironed my stubborn shower curtain for this shot. Oh well…real life.)

The vignette behind the toilet changes with my mood. These days I have a porcelain and pewter tray, a vase of flowers from our backyard and one of my Great Aunt Virginia’s Herend figurines. Fancy! I’m feelin’ it.

And finally, I sewed a small cafe curtain from some cheap-o IKEA fabric and lined the windows with a stick-on film that gives the same opaque effect as frosted glass. Privacy + natural light = muy importante.

So, there you have it. 4 years later I’m still happy with everything in the space and I don’t miss the pink and black tile one bit, it turns out.

Here’s a source list for our project. Some of the items are discontinued because we completed this renovation 4 years ago, but I tried to list an alternate in those cases. Enjoy your project and love your bathroom, I say!

Wall Paint – Benjamin Moore Cloud Nine
White Subway Tile – Home Depot
Floor Tile – Home Depot
Vanity – John Street Antiques, Stamford, CT
Mirror – John Street Antiques, Stamford, CT
Pendants – Schoolhouse Electric
Sink – Overstock.com + don’t forget the drain
Wall-mounted Faucet – Kohler (we got a similar faucet with a right angle spout)
Hand Towel Holder – IKEA
Towel Bar – IKEA (I’m laughing because I just realized we installed it upside down…welp, still works!)
Tissue Holder – Kohler
Shower Head and Trim – Kohler
Soap Dispenser – CB2
House Candle Holder – CB2
Toothbrush Cup – a gift from friends, you can find here
Curtain Fabric – IKEA
Toilet – TOTO
Laundry Hamper – HomeGoods, here’s a cute alternative though
Bath Towels – West Elm (we didn’t monogram ours with a bossy red “RELAX” as pictured)
Trash Can – Simple Human
Frames for Nudes – IKEA
Pewter Tray – Arte Italica (a wedding gift that we use all over the house)
Black and White Vintage Class Photos – collected, easily found at vintage shops or on Etsy
Window Film – we used something like this

Loveyoubye! Mags

rbd makes: metallic stone coasters

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Making your own stone coasters with metallic color blocking and geometric patterns is a super easy project with big results that will fool anyone into thinking you are a design mogul. A set of four would make a great gift for almost any person in your life and for any occasion. Guys would like these. Gals would like these. Heavy drinkers. Shmoopie newlyweds. Design snobs. College grads. Should I keep going? No? Ok, here’s the how-to:

DIY Painted Stone Coasters - Raised by Design — You’ll need a few supplies, all available at home improvement stores, craft stores, or online.

4″ x 4″ stone samples or tiles – mine are honed limestone samples leftover from a design project, but you could do this project using these or any stone that you prefer; just keep in mind that a honed finish is easier for paint to adhere to than a polished finish
craft paint in various colors – I used Martha Stewart Crafts Multi-Surface Acrylic Craft Paint in White, Rust, Gold and Sterling
painter’s tape – I like Scotch-Blue Painter’s Tape by 3M for Delicate Surfaces because it peels away easily and cleanly (we use this tape to paint our home as well)
paint brushes – every art teacher I’ve had confirms the notion that ‘the brush doesn’t make the painter’ so don’t buy expensive paint brushes; the ones I use are from this super-cheap value pack
felt squares – you know, the ones that cost a PENNY!
scissors – you all know where to buy scissors, or probably have some already, but I like to have one pair marked “FOR FABRIC ONLY” so they stay nice and sharp and I stay nice and uptight
hot glue gun + glue sticks – super easy to get your hands on one of these, and every home should have one to keep things dangerous, just make sure you buy the glue sticks that are the right size for your glue gun
stone sealer for honed finishes – I think this one is your best bet, although it does come in a pint size at some stores

raised-by-design-stone-coaster-DIY — No prep – just tape and paint! Wait for paint to dry in between coats for best coverage. Also, peel your tape away at a 45 degree angle soon after you paint for the cleanest line. Don’t wait for the paint to dry before you peel because it may peel up with the tape – a great tip from James’ uncle who is a contractor.

Raised-by-Design DIY metallic painted coasters — You can decide if you want to paint the edges or leave them natural. On some of my coasters I did a dipped look and wrapped the tape all the way around and painted the edges only where I had painted on the surface.

raised-by-design-painted-stone-coaster-DIY — Once your paint has dried, cut out a square of felt to size and use the hot glue gun to adhere it to the bottom of your coaster as a backing. Then swipe on a coat or two of sealer and you’re done!

Loveyoubye! Maggie

Geometric Pillow Cover

/ lil' spot, projects / 3 Comments

Hi. Last week I made a pair of pillow covers out of fabric scraps. I’m sure that doesn’t sound awesome to a lot of people, but here’s why it is. These fabric scraps are stored in a small pile in my studio that’s part of a bigger pile in my basement that’s becoming a mountain of half-baked craft projects. You know, “I really think I should start needle felting all my friends’ baby gifts. Hm, maybe I’ll take up oil painting en plain air and buy a stupid beret while I’m at it. Those mittens are totes adorbs – I can probably make them myself I just need 8 skeins of alpaca wool.”

Said pile has been growing for at least the last three years and making my husband worry about me. The new rule is that if I’m not going to use it, out it goes.

So I made these pillow covers out of some old samples from a design job and a random piece of cute vintage green tomato fabric from my Mom. Green Tomatoes!! It was super easy and I’m NOT an expert at sewing. I have a beginner machine that my Mom and I picked out together in college from the local Kmart. It’s a Brother LS-1217, which they don’t make anymore but is probably most comparable to this guy. It’s bare bones but it gets the job done.

So here’s how I did it. After perusing the internets for inspiration, I decided on a simple geometric pattern.

Here’s what you need:

1. 20″ SQUARE PILLOW INSERT (LIKE this one FROM IKEA)

2. THREE PIECES OF CONTRASTING FABRIC FOR YOUR GEOMETRIC PATTERN (I used a neutral woven, a black textured microsuede and a blue-gray wool)

3. ABOUT ONE YARD FABRIC FOR YOUR BACKING

4. PINS

5. GOOD FABRIC SCISSORS

6. IRON (optional)

7. SEWING MACHINE AND THREAD

STEPS:

1. Cut your triangles for the front – one large and two small as the pattern shows. I find it easiest to just drape the fabric over the pillow insert to see how much I need to cut. When you’re sewing anything, you always want about one inch of extra fabric all the way around so keep that in mind when you’re cutting your pattern.

2. Cut two rectangles from your backing fabric and set aside. Each rectangle should be bigger than half of your 20″ square…so that they will overlap by a good six inches (see pattern above). That would mean your rectangles would EACH be about 17″ x 22″. For this pillow, instead of using a zipper (too hard) or sewing the entire cover shut (too permanent), we’re going the easy/non-committal route. We’re making an overlapping fold so the pillow insert can be removed easily but won’t peek through. Like this:

3. Iron all of your pieces. This step is optional but highly recommended.

4. Back to your triangles. Take your two SMALL triangles and align the edges so the hypotenuse edges face outwards (what, you didn’t think a GEOMETRIC pillow cover would involve GEOMETRY?). You should now have two triangles that, together, are roughly the same size as your LARGE triangle. Capisce? If you have to read this step a couple times I won’t judge. I had to write it nine times so we’ll be even.

4. Now fold those two SMALL triangles onto each other so that the good sides FACE INWARDS. Muy importante! Pin along the middle edge and sew along this line. Yay.

5. I like to iron the new piece so that the seam sits flat and doesn’t cause any problems. Also optional.

6. OK OK OK. Take your two big triangles and lay them down, hypotenuses facing IN this time, to make a square! Fold those two pieces onto each other along that line, good sides IN again. Pin…and sew. Easy peasy!

7. BOOYAKASHA geometric square.

Let’s make the back now!

1. Lay your two rectangle pieces down so that they overlap by about 6″. Just check yourself here to make sure you have a square big enough to cover your whole pillow. This would be the time to adjust if you need to…

2. Hem one (22″) edge of each rectangle. This hem will be VISIBLE so use a thread color and stitch you don’t mind looking at. I have exactly two stitches available on my machine…so I chose zig-zag and used black thread. You could be super fun and use hot pink thread and a fancy pants stitch.

3. Now lay your overlapping rectangles down over your geometric square…good sides what? GOOD SIDES IN. Pin all the way around that bad boy and trim wherever you have extra fabric. You should have a nice 1″ border around a 20″ square to fit your pillow.

4. Sew all the way around…inevitably run out of bobbin thread and struggle to remember how to reload and thread a bobbin. Curse, get up and go eat something, come back and calmly finish sewing.

5. DONE! Turn it right-side out, stuff your pillow inside, and give your cat a brand new thing to shed on.

Loveyoubye, Maggie