Out with the old, in with the older (and new)

I've joked with people a few times recently that women should have a gift shower every 10 years. Don't you think? It's been about 11 years since I created my wedding registry. Not only have styles changed but my taste sure as changed. I've updated some things throughout the years but my bathroom decor was something that hadn't changed much at all. Same colors, same linens, same pictures on the wall. Recently I started thinking that I would just keep my eye out for a new shower curtain. I didn't want to spend a lot of money or make drastic changes but I really wanted something fresh.

A few weeks ago my mom and I headed to the mall with the goal of me spending the $120 worth of Anthropologie gift cards that were burning a hole in my wallet. (Thanks to my awesome friends and family that spoil me.) I'm like a kid in a candy store in that place, I just love love love it all. So funky, so fun. I had no idea what I was looking for but was confident I could find $120 worth of stuff I liked. We spent hours in the store and I had a handful of items set aside, deciding how to best spend my gift card balance and wincing at the price of every item:


Flower Burst Headband $28 looked so cute on me. Still want this.

Radiant Necklace $48 Could I make this for less?

Sunflower Stalk Jewelry Stand $72 My jewelry box is overflowing so I do "need" something like this. :)

Then I got to the back of the store and opened up a lonely mystery shower curtain bag to see what was inside. I was immediately inspired.

 

There was a slight case of sticker shock when I noticed it cost $118 but I was fully prepared to put all my other goodies back so I could go home with this lovely new shower curtain. Upon a closer inspection I noticed it was dirty so I asked if they had more, but that was the only one in the store. Deflated. Then they checked their distribution center and the computers said there were two more left. As long as their inventory was correct and I ordered it immediately I could have a clean one shipped to my house. And so I did.



Just the update I was looking for.



Each of these fabric appliques are bordered by embroidery with matching metalic thread (which you can't see well with my camera/lighting combo). I like the contrast of the casual cotton with the sparkley thread. And I love the colors. A seafoam green, gray, and golden yellow.



 

 

Because I can't leave Anthropologie without new hardware (my favorite department) and because I wanted something fun to match my new shower curtain, I paid out of pocket for these new knobs for the cabinet doors:



 2 Urchin Test Knobs in sea foam $8 each 

Since putting up the new shower curtain, I had to at least change out the current bathmat that completely clashed but I was determined not to spend a lot of money on all new towels. Ocean State Job Lot to the rescue:



This $5 cream colored mat replaced my old one that I kept in front of the sink. The $2 sea foam one happens to match the shower curtain perfectly but we only throw that down for after baths and showers. The plush mat is so lush - my kids love to snuggle on it.

I already had a few cream and yellow hand towels so I've only been using those. All of our bath towels hang behind the door so I really don't care if they don't match.


I moved that shelf to above the toilet from a different wall. I've had the bottles (that now perfectly match the color on the shower curtain) for a while - all from yardsales or found on the ground. I recently added two pieces of driftwood I found on a walk along the beach at Rocky Neck State Park in CT last month. Inside the frame with the large matte is a small print of a watercolor by Eileen Smith that I bought at The Handcraft House Gallery on the Cape years ago. This used to be on top of the shelf with the bottles, but to make room for the driftwood, I moved the frame below. The starfish was one of a few purchased for cheap at Remember When Antiques last fall. The owner picked them up on a South Carolina beach and bleached them.

I moved these frames from above the toilet to the opposite wall and replaced the old prints (to be seen below) with personal photos from our vacation this year.



The top picture is the California coastline along Route 1 somewhere between San Louis Obisbo and San Fransisco. The bottom is the view from our room on the beach at The Sanctuary Beach Resort in Marina, CA, which I highly recommend.

For anyone that had kept tabs on my old Facebook album of yard sale finds, the following treasure may look familiar. My friend Hannah and I had a fairly successful Saturday morning last April at a town-wide yard sale just north of Worceser. I remember her favorite score was an awesome wicker settee she was going to repaint (and I have yet to see finished) and my favorite score was this set of old windows for $5.



This wall is where the white shelf with the bottles was before I moved it in order to put the window here. Although I love how the two windows look "side by each" (that's the French last name talking), my house is too small for that so I just chose to hang one here for now.

I chose the one with the latch so I could hang a towel there if I want.

I love how worn and rustic it is and I haven't seen glass like that before.



I have a soft spot for old built-ins and love this as an alternative to a modern-day linen closet. The rest of the starfish that I bought at Remember When lean against the wall atop the molding and my new Anthro knobs are on.

Now, don't mind if I go on a slight tangeant...

Do you ever open the linen closet or medicine cabinet at other people's bathrooms out of curiosity? Come on, don't you at least wonder what's behind those doors? Okay, me first, I'll admit I've snooped a couple of times, and that makes me wonder if sometimes other people snoop on me too. This Southwest "Want to get away?" commercial has always cracked me up and captures the risk you take.



I like to keep my linen closet and medicine cabinet fairly clean, organized and pretty - mostly because I can be a little OCD like that but also, what if people snoop? So I will open my doors for you here - in another post for another day - because I know you're curious.


So where was I? Ah yes, one last treasure that I brought into the bathroom recently is something I've had for many years. It hit me that the color was just right for the bathroom now and had to be moved there.



This amazingly awesome stool came from one of my most fun and successful treasure hunts ever. In 2003ish I visited my bestie in Columbus, OH and we trekked all over the western suburbs on Saturday morning.  I think I paid between $2 and $5. Good thing we drove out there instead of flying so I could easily haul my trunk full of goodies back home. This colorful chippy old stool has been wandering around my house ever since.


The stool and our laundry basket help to block the 2nd door in our bathroom that leads to my daughter's bedroom so it stays closed. I'm sure guests just love using our bathroom - two doors and neither one locks!

Now I can't end an "Out with the old..." post before showing you the old stuff that's been taken out. But since I didn't take any "Before" pictures, I've collected together my old stuff to show you what I've been living with for the past 10 years.

11 years ago this is what I picked out for linens:


 

11 years ago this is what I picked out for wall art (among other things that I no longer have because they have not stood the test of time):


I still think those prints are cute and funny, but a little too childish. Heck, I was practically a kid still when I got married. These came in the frames I've kept in the bathroom and just 1/4 inch of the blue border showed as a matte when framed. I bought them through LTD Commodities catalog back in the day. 

These are the only other decor/art that I've kept in my bathroom all these years, but they just had to come out now.


 

These are probably originally from the 60s or 70s and I've had trouble parting with them ever since I picked them up for 10 cents each at a yard sale. They're fairly small (4x6 altogether?) and the pictures inside are actually 3-D. Hard to explain. I don't know why I just can't let them go and still find them so adorable. I didn't actually get rid of them. They don't really go with anything in my house but I'm considering hanging them in our small "hall" right outside the bathroom door where they can only be seen when you are on your way into the bathroom. They are fugly, I know, but I just can't part with them. I think I'm kind of sentimental over them or something weird like that.

So there's my bathroom facelift. Now I'm off to think and write about the most important treasure of all.