one room challenge - the bathroom edition week 1

Spring has sprung, flowers are blooming and the One Room Challenge is back! That's damn good news people!

Twice a year Linda rounds up a group of 20 bloggers to design and put together a room in six weeks. Each Wednesday we all give updates on our progress and six weeks from today (fingers crossed) we unveil some pretty cool spaces. I'm lucky enough to be participating for the third time (see the first two rooms here) and I'm blown away by this group of participants. I mean, c'mon. Just take a look...

Pretty amazing, right?! Needless to say I've got to bring it people. The pressure is on! And what better way to alleviate pressure than to drink take on a huge job in a short time frame? Wait, that doesn't sound right.

No matter, I'm in the thick of it now. So what am I doing?

Welcome to my new home away from home for the next six weeks. Now you could be thinking - "What in the hell? She's doing a horder's bathroom?!" but let me explain.

This is the guest bathroom in my sister's condo (needless to say she doesn't have many guests these days). The whole condo needed A LOT of work when she move in and slowly over time she's been tackling each room as she could. Since she has another bathroom this room became the catch all for supplies, leftovers and castoffs that accumulate when you are under construction.

Well the good news is the rest of her condo has made some big headway. The bad news is that her guest bath looks like that. It is high time girlfriend has a place for guests to splash some cold water on their face after drinking a few of her tasty mojitos.

When we started to think about what was going to happen in this bathroom it took about sixty seconds to come up with blue and white. If y'all think I've got some collections, you should see my sister's place. She has more Chinoiserie in her house than....well anyone else I know (and that's saying a lot).

Realizing that particularly in a bathroom many fixed elements are just that - fixed (unique is not really a word that comes to mind when you think of toilets), we've done lots of hunting to find unique things to make this not just another bathroom. Good things are coming people. Believe it. I'm super excited for this one, it is going to be one major 'after'.

Now that you know my hair-brained scheme, let's see what the others have cookin.

Abby M. Interiors 

Because it’s Awesome 

Bijou & Boheme 

Calling It Home 

Chez V 

Chinoiserie Chic 

Copy Cat Chic 

The Decorista 

Design Crisis 

Design Indulgence 

Design Manifest 

The English Room

The Glam Pad 

Mimosa Lane 

My Notting Hill 

The Pink Pagoda 

Simple Details 

My Sweet Savannah 

Verandah House

Be sure to check for progress on Instagram, join the linking party tomorrow over at Linda's and come back next week when I hope to show a few less vacuums in the bathroom. That's a good goal for the first week, right?

wash away winter giveaway

As I mentioned yesterday, I love adding K. Hall products to my house whenever I can. So in honor of my bathroom makeover I thought a sweet smelling giveaway was in order.

K. Hall makes the finest soaps, lotions, candles etc. you can find and they smell simply heavenly. K. Hall is a local (St. Louis) company with a national reputation. They've been featured in House Beautiful, Lonny, Real Simple, Allure, Southern Living and the list goes on and on.

I have the pleasure of living not too far from their store so I stalk shop there often (they also have great things for the home and beautiful jewelry). But since I can't take you all shopping with me I thought I'd bring K. Hall to you.

To enter do any or all of the following (one comment per entry)

1. Following The Little Black Door (Google Connect or Bloglovin)
2. Like The Little Black Door on Facebook
3. Tell me which scent you are most excited to try
4. Like K Hall on Facebook

and PLEASE make sure you aren't a "no-reply" commenter or I won't be able to contact you when you win!

The winner will be announced March 5.

Good Luck!

a look at the loo - bathroom reveal

The loo? Yes, I obviously have Downton on the brain (does anyone else think that season went rather quickly?) So as promised I am supplying a good old before and after for your Monday viewing pleasure.

Updates to the bathroom were planned, executed and photographed. Let's take a look.

As I mentioned last week, a recharge for the bathroom that remained untouched for (gasp) almost seven years was long overdue. (Take a look at her major renovation here) Nothing drastic, just new paint, fixtures, shower curtain, towels and accessories. That's how I sell these changes to the hubs by the way - always use the phrase 'nothing drastic'.

To go back to the very beginning, here is what she looked like when we moved in.

And this is what she looked like until very recently.

And here she is in her pretty new outfit.

The space may be small but I'll milk it for all the pictures I can. So here we go.

The most visually appealing, best smelling soap a bathroom could have, courtesy of local favorite K. Hall Designs.

I couldn't find a towel bar that I liked for the right price and the right size, so I trolled the plumbing department at Home Depot and gathered up some lovely copper to make my own towel bar. Tutorial to follow.

The first of many prints I hope to own from Janet Hill Studio.

I got these wonderful white and gold fish hooks a long while back but never found any place to properly 'hook' them. So instead I took out the standard issue knob on the freshly painted medicine cabinet and replaced it with Elton the glamour fish.

Last summer I talked about my obsession with finding a unique shower curtain. Well I never did find one that suited, so I followed the lead of the great Tobi Fairley and had one made.

Thank heavens I have a wonderful aunt who can sew like the wind. She did a beautiful job and because of the custom work I was able to have her make it just the right length so I could take the curtain rod all the way to the ceiling. It is amazing what it has done for the room. The space feels bigger, brighter and well...taller. Imagine that.

On the opposite wall I made the wise decision to ditch the towel bar in favor of hooks. Let's be real, more than one person uses this bathroom so one towel bar wasn't cutting it. Yes we have a hook on the back of the door as well, but this is just so functional, and far more fun.

Benjamin Moore Gray Owl on the walls has done a brilliant job of brightening up the space, bringing out the gray in the marble floor and most importantly - makes the space feel clean and crisp even if the maid doesn't get around to cleaning it for a few days. Of course, not having a maid might have something to do with that.

And there she is in all her clean splendor. The changes weren't major but it has done a tremendous job of making it feel like we have a new room in the house. And she'll hold my spirits up until spring arrives. The moral of the story is small changes = big impact. Every time.

Have you made any small changes lately? Know anyone who will come to clean my bathroom? Is it wrong that I want to hug my shower curtain?

And be sure to come back tomorrow for a grand giveaway!

Linking to The Best of The Nest

bathroom refresh - the plan

As I mentioned way back when I've been itching for a little refresh on our (one and only) bathroom for quite a while. We did a gut job on the bathroom when I was pregnant with Amelia (6 years ago) and I've been really happy with it, but lately she was starting to look a bit tired. (the bathroom, not Amelia)

Here she is way back when the blog began in 2011. First blog lesson learned, remove your shower poofs before taking pictures. Duh.

Now there is obviously only so much that can be done is such a small space but I wanted to change what I could without spending much. So paint, and a few new accessories will about cover it.

Be sure to come back on Monday for the big reveal. That will give me time to get that sucker cleaned up and ready for a few photos. And don't forget to come back tomorrow for another great Fess Up Friday.

Have you made any plans to refresh a room in your house?

how did i do - 2013 review

So we can't get started on the new year without seeing how I did last year, right? It's always fun to see if your December 2013 self was in tune with your January 2013 self - did I get anything done or not? So with that said, may I have the envelope please.

My 2013 goals were:

1. Entry Refresh - Wahoo! We are off to a good start. It may have taken me a while (I started in June and finished in...October) and I did have to redo the entire stencil, (sometimes I guess it pays to read the directions) but it turned out even better than I had envisioned and now it's fresh and bright and a jolly little welcome to our little home.

2. Sew something. Anything. - Bam! I rocked this one like a hurricane for the One Room Challenge in November. It is amazing what confidence a looming deadline will give you. I had just days to go before the big reveal and I was staring at a pile of fabric and no pillows, so I bit my lip and gave it a go. I will say that the intimidation factor is squarely on that damn machine. Actually sewing a pillow is pretty simple, its that blasted bobbin that gets me. Every. Time.

I even went ahead and made myself some pillows for my bedroom while I was at it. Overachiever.

3. The girls' room. This already feels like a million years ago, but I knocked this one off the list in February/March thanks again to the One Room Challenge. This was one of my favorite projects of the year and I'm happy to say the room still looks largely the same - just with the addition of a thick layer of clothes, toys and naked barbies strewn on the floor.

4. Bathroom Redo. This one is a mixed bag. Yes, I have updated the bathroom. Good homeowner. But I have yet to share the updates. Bad blogger. I did share a very small sneak peak a while back on Instagram but that is it. For shame! I promise a full reveal before we hand out Valentine's.

5. Open my little black door a little more. I just realized how...interesting that line sounds. But anyway, it was about sharing more about other aspects of my work, my life, and just putting myself out there more. And I did work on this. I shared some client projects here, here and here. I started a new series, Fess Up Friday and shared more of my crazy life on Instagram, which I consider like a mini-blog of sorts. I have more plans and more work to do this year, so we will call this one 'under progress'.

So all in all, not so bad for old Elizabeth. And I'll tell you, this has gotten me motivated for 2014. I'm ready to get working! And I'll share those plans tomorrow.

So how about you? How did you do with last years goals? Do you make any years goals for yourself, your business, your home?

vessel sinks - yes or no

I've got vessel sinks on the brain.

Pinterest via Passion Decor

Pinterest via South Shore Decorating Blog

Mark D Sikes

Andrea May

via Pinterest

via

Sarah Richardson

What do you think?  Do you have one? Are they messy/hard to keep water contained? Any you recommend?

colorful shower curtains

Obviously I've got bathrooms on the brain as this is the second time this week I've written about them. All those pretty pictures have inspired me to do a bit of a refresh on my loo.

Full disclosure, I've already painted. (I'll share that soon) But I want to do more. For those who might not have seen it before, or who don't remember, we are talking about a rather petite space - check it out here - and it is our single solitary bathroom. That's right, go ahead and shed a tear for me.

So it will remain rather clean (in theory) and simple but I love the idea of giving a little pop with the shower curtain.

Natalie Clayman

Design Manifest

Bailey McCarthy via Rue Magazine

Kristen Ewart

You can barely peek at that wonderful pink herringbone shower curtain, but you can see how it finishes the space. Its also the bathroom in one of my all time favorite houses btw.

Tobi Fairley via Pinterest

via Pinterest

Jonathan Adler

M.E. Beck Design

Anna Spiro via Pinterest

So what do you think? Would you inject some color and (gasp) pattern into your shower curtain? Or do you like the classic crisp look of white? Are you a one curtain person, or a one curtain on each side kind of house?

best of pinterest - bathrooms

Happy Monday y'all. Raise your hand if you could have used an extra day this weekend. Me too. And thanks to everyone for your ideas on the battle of the dying hydrangeas. I think I've found a solution which I'll share as soon as I get around to fixing it.

But for today, let's talk pretty bathrooms. I've had bathrooms on the brain lately, must be all of that potty training madness, so I thought we could ease into the week with some eye candy.

I like the idea of a his and her sink but with each side having a bit of its own personality. Especially since right now all we have is one his/her/her/her sink.

A large shower would be fun because this is a dream and why not have a large shower.

And of course a soaking tub with a view so I can look out at the ocean just beyond my pool.

In a master bath I like the idea of keeping everything white

and then adding some amazing fixtures

and marble. Some sort of marble.

The room will be bathed in natural light thanks to a skylight or two. (C'mon, that was a good Monday morning pun.)

And the cherry on top, some wonderful scones

Yes, it might be a lot of space for CoCo to clean. but he loves to stay busy. And since he makes his own organic cleaning solution, the whole place is left smelling like lavender. That CoCo, he's the best.

How about you? What does your dream bathroom look like?
And don't forget to come back on Wednesday to see how the bench turned out.

Find more great bathroom idea on my Pinterest board.