bathroom remod

there isn't much you can do when living in a rental house as far as remodeling goes.  we've been very lucky so far though- despite previous issues- we've decided to stay put for another year- so we will be here at least 13 more months.  we didn't do much the first year- painting ian's room and taking down hideous curtains is about as far as we've gotten.  believe me, there's a lot more we'd love to do- but we don't own the place- and even though it's been offered for us to buy the place- it's a space we'd be outgrowing in only a few years.

we do have plans for the next year- the first is waiting for the plants in the jungle backyard to die.  when that happens - we plan on digging everything in that space up, and waiting for spring.  this past spring lots of hideous was growing within the pretty- and as far as plants go- hideous usually wins.  i don't know what they were, but luckily, the neighborhood landscapers offered to chop them down- they probably thought they were about to attack, but that still didn't solve the entire problem.

our biggest plans are for the 2 upstairs bathrooms.  they both have (broken) sliding shower doors, and they're both, well, ugly.  sliding doors pose a couple big problems for us- 1.  they're disgusting.  there are about 1,000,000 places for grody germs to hide.  i took an old toothbrush to ours a few weeks ago, and was dry heaving all over the place.  just, gross.  2.  it's not going to be convenient for bathing a child.  leaning over that metal track- ouch.  plus, i just  have nightmares of falling on that thing.  we're hoping to get approval to remove them- and get to work.  we'd like to just take them down and put in a rod & curtain.  i just need to figure out what i like.

here are our current curtain options from our former home in atl.

master bathroom:

i love this curtain.  it's a pale green w\ brown- and we had our bathroom painted this delicious chocolaty color.  we have the towels hanging in our bathroom currently, but our landlord redid this entire place in black & white- so we have white tile floors and black tile walls.  it just won't work.

guest bathroom

i love the floral on this curtain (and i'm not big on floral).  we currently have all the pieces to this in ian's bathroom right now.  this will probably stay in the guest bath, but eventually, I want ian to have a bathroom of his own.

here's what i'm looking at.

master bath:

i like that it's so simple, and would take simple accessories to match it.  from bed bath & beyond.  you could go with black and white, or choose any color for a nice pop.

or

how cute is this?!  about a year or so ago, lenox came out with their chirp collection, and i fell in love with the china- i even devoted a post on my old blog to it, (4 pc set- $100- boo).  i think this would be so cute in the bathroom.  i'd like to see it in person though, because i'm afraid that it just won't go with the black/white.  from bed bath and beyond.

guest/ian's bathroom

i think this whale curtain is too cute for a little boy's bathroom.  plus how cute would it be with this?!  from target

this little forest-y curtain is really cute.  i really like the little squirrel.  also from target

and finally

i saw another blogger mention this curtain, and it is just too cute!  i think the red would be perfect in the all white bathroom, and unlike the whale curtain, it won't be too baby-ish after a while.  i like it with navy blue accessories- so cape cod!  also from target

as you can tell, i can't wait to get in and start decorating!!  hoping for permission.  i definitely think it would be easier maintenance for any renter or owner in the long run.

elephant parade

i had a hard time deciding what kind of room to do for the baby. i didn't want a cartoon character, i didn't want sports if it was a boy, and i really didn't want a mess of flowers if it was a girl. in the end we (i) decided it would be birds if it was a girl, and elephants for a boy because i had found some bedding i really liked.

why elephants? well, besides being so darn cute, they're known for their intelligence and memory- i just liked the whole theme. maybe we "overdid" it with the room, but this is probably the only time i'll have a major say in the decor in his room. i thought we did a pretty good job with everything.



here is the dresser/changing area. i opted against a changing table because it's just a waste of money if you have a really good dresser. this dresser was mine when i was living on my own in atlanta. dave and i sanded the finish off a bit, then painted it brown. then i went back and painted the knobs to match the wall. i like the way it turned out because the brown isn't perfect. we have the changing pad and diaper station on top and then his humidifier and monitor as well. the lamp is the lighting for the room because there's no light fixture (boo). we have the diaper genie on one side and dirty clothes hamper on the other.




here are some shelves we put up. we got a lot of stuffed animals, etc. we needed a place to put that stuff and something to break up the empty wall. below is our play gym. he is really loving that thing these days.



here is the crib. it's where you really see the theme of the room. perhaps we overdid it? i think not for a baby room. we have the rug since the entire house is wood/tile. the bedding is elephants and circles. i really like the cute wall art and his name above the bed. i'm sure the letters are crooked, but we are the least artsy people around. beside the bed is an adorable hippo chair we received as a gift from pbkids! then there's the rocking and reading corner...



i love this! we got the chair off of craig's list for practically nothing. i hate that it's not the same color wood, but after the adventure of painting the dresser and room, dave wouldn't let me anywhere near that chair with paint. it's right by the windows so the light is wonderful during the day. we have blankets for covering up if it gets chilly over there, and our little table with a cute little elephant lamp.

i think we did a pretty darn good job. now i wanted to do some other kind of elephant something for our 4th wall (the longest, which has nothing on it).

i don't know if i want to do another elephant or something else. Chronicles of a Babywise Mom is doing a great giveaway from Lola Decor. there are so many cute vinyls on here, and they would be perfect for our sad empty wall (also perfect, a bookshelf with tons of kids books, but one step at a time)...

i can't decide what i would even pick if i won. if i had had a little girl and gone with the aforementioned bird theme, there would be lots of choose from, as i couldn't even pick which bird vinyl i liked best. but i have a few things i like for our little guy. (images below from Lola Decor)


i really love that verse. i also like the quote, "let him sleep, for when he wakes he will move mountains."

choices, choices.

anyway, i'm really proud of how the room came together! i think husband and i did a wonderful job on our little man's room!