Operation Home

Anybody else out there a fan of garden stools? I can say that at one point last year I had four. Four garden stools. Four. And I loved every second of that very short period. Then, my cheapo-guilty-conscience kicked in and I returned three of them. The keeper was this guy….

…And he was actually a birthday present from my mom, so really, up until recently I hadn’t purchased (and kept) any garden stools at all. So, reeeallyyy… I could’ve kept another one. Balls. Anyways, I love these things. They’re shiny and clean looking, jam-packed with style, they don’t take up a ton of space and can be used for additional seating or a fancy place to set a drink. Versatility. Always a plus.

I mentioned in this backyard post of yore that I wanted to add a colorful garden stool to our conversation area under the covered porch. In my head, I wanted a lime green stool to coordinate with our colorful throw pillows (purchased for dirt cheap here). But, then I never found one. At least not one for less than 60 beans. And 60 beans was way too much for me to justify.

Then, one day, I took a quick spin through Ross and spotted a show-stopper of a garden stool stuffed in the back of one of their shelves. I wasn’t looking for a garden stool at the time (I was actually in search of a suitable shower curtain for our guest bath, the hunt of which I griped about in my last post). But, there it was. Right in front of me. The only garden stool in the store. In January. In perfect condition. Lime green. And…

Twenty-Nine-Friggin’-Ninety-Nine!!! I stared at that price tag for an uncomfortable period of time, lest my eyes were playing tricks on me. But, it was TRUE. And I was ecstatic.

Plus, I’ll tell ya… this guy is the real deal. Like I said… I’ve had four garden stools, of all different makes and models, and not one of them held a candle to the sheer weight of this dude. He weighed a TON. I mean, I consider myself moderately strong (for a pipsqueak). I lift Lucas all the time. Garden stools were never a big deal for me to carry. I moved all four of those beauts all over the house when I had them. Would I want to carry them indefinitely? Nah. But across the store/house? Sure!! ….But this badboy??? I made it halfway to the front of Ross and had to set him down and hide him under a couple of dresses because he was too heavy for me to make it the full distance. I retrieved a cart and nearly dropped the full-bodied fella as I hoisted him into the basket. It was a close call. Close. Dropping him would’ve been my Cliffhanger moment… when the glove slowly peels off his hand and I scream in slow motion as he plummets to the earth. Thankfully, I was able to hang on for dear life and he made it into the cart unscathed.

Then, I was faced with… The. Line.

Confession: If there’s a stupid long line at Ross, I usually just return my stuff to the shelves and leave. Lately, it seems that I don’t have patience for that place and my soon-to-be-purchased-goods aren’t worth waiting in those crazy lines. But this time, I did it. I waited in the longest line I’ve ever seen at a Ross. ON PURPOSE. Then, just as I saw the light at the end of the tunnel and stepped up to claim my place as the next person in line, the manager decided it was shift-change. So, I got to watch them clock in/out, get the registers squared away, etc. And I waited. For what seemed like forever. But, I did it out of love (and cheapness). And it was worth it. Every tooth-grinding second. Lock-jaw is well worth saving thirty bucks, right? 😉

Finally, I got him home. I tried him a few places indoors (whilst dragging him around the house on a sweatshirt) since I haven’t cleaned and set up our patio yet due to the cold. He ended up landing in our front room…

He actually goes really well. I replaced the previous blue throw for a green one and the touches of lime play really nicely with the painting. Once it’s warm enough, he’ll be relocated outdoors, but until then he brings some shiny contrast to the more cozy textures in the room. So, anyways, that’s the story of the trials and tribulations I’m willing to take on for a good, inexpensive garden stool. What would you do? 🙂

I warned you, though. Well, maybe “warned” is a bit strong. I didn’t really warn you. That was a lie. I did, however, state that I usually don’t plan a room from start to finish in this post for the guest bath. Rather, I plan as I go. And now I know why. Ya see, this blog is a total learning experience for me. I’ve always loved other bloggers mood-boards so I thought maybe giving one a shot would help me in my guest-bath-quest. But, alas, a mood-board person I am not. At least not when it comes to compiling ideas that I plan on actually sticking with. Or maaaaybeeeee, a mood-board would work if I actually had the items in my possession (and knew that I could follow through) BEFORE I posted it for all to see. Yeah, that’s it. Noted.

Anyways, I’ve been shopping around for stuff for our guest bath makeover, and I’ve gotta be honest… I’m at a standstill with this….

Here’s why I should’ve done more research before posting this mood-board:

First, the painted fixture… I’ve decided not to paint it. Not for lack of trying, though. I went to Lowes, Home Depot, and Hobby Lobby and between the three I brought home 4 different kinds of spray paint and two jars of multipurpose paint in various shades of sage/aqua. I compared and hemmed and hawed. But in the end, I just wasn’t comfortable with any of the options available to me. The colors just weren’t right. Some were too green, some too aqua. They just didn’t settle well. They weren’t the pretty, mid-centuryish tone in the pic above. And I didn’t want to mess up our new fixture with a “meh” paint color or experiment with mixing only to be disappointed. So, I’ve decided that I’ll mount the fixture in all it’s galvanized steel glory (…not that that’s actually done yet or anything. Soon.). And I know that I’ll always have the option to take it down and paint it later if I’m absolutely, 100% certain that painting it is the right choice.

Next, I absolutely adore the striped shower curtain from West Elm. But it’s only 74″ long. Because our ceilings are 9 feet high, our tile-work extends higher than in our previous house, which means that if the rod is hung at the correct height, 74″ leaves about a foot of flood insurance down below. High waters are not recommended in any capacity… pants, curtains or otherwise. So, I’ve been on the hunt for a longer alternative. When I started this process, I naively assumed that this would be an easy feat. I mean, stripes are classic, right? Yes, they are. But thick charcoal and white stripes in a horizontal orientation are apparently not.

I’ve searched for regular 84″ window curtains with a similar print, but the cheapest I’ve found were around $90 per panel. And I’d need two. So, no. No, that won’t happen. I’ve looked for bedsheets. No luck. I found a duvet from Pottery Barn Kids, that could be adapted, but it’s $61, plus another$12 for shipping (has anybody noticed that their shipping charges are RIDICULOUS??), so I can’t justify that. I’ve looked for fabrics in similar prints but the only ones I’ve found have 3″ charcoal stripes which are too narrow/busy for what I was going for.

So, basically, if I was set on bold grey stripes I had two options:

1) I could break out my dusty sewing machine and try to sew stripes with white and charcoal fabric panels. Problem? I can’t even sew a straight line. And straight lines are imperative if I want to avoid unsightly puckering.

or…

2) I could paint stripes on plain white window curtains. The issue here is that bathrooms are moist. Between steam, splashes, and pee (I have a toddler. And the shower curtain is right next to the toilet) this sucker would need to be washable and moisture-tolerant. Thus, I don’t have confidence that a painted curtain is the right way to go in here. So, onward…

Now, here’s a confession… the mood board above isn’t the first one I came up with. This is the first…

Notice the similarities? Reds, soft blue/turquoise (my paint of choice would have a smidge more green than the paint sample above… more on the turquoise side for sure), greys and whites, bold pattern with a classic feel and rustic touches. This board boasts a round mirror… but I’m still preferring the pallet wood mirror in my top mood-board above. I also included two shower curtains because I wasn’t sure if I wanted bold stripes or classic white for the shower curtain. White is still a possibility in my eyes, especially with the shopping difficulties I’ve encountered.

So, basically, I’ve decided to take these two boards as inspiration, nix the advanced planning (for now), but stick with my preferred color-scheme and do what I know. Which is plan as I go. FYI: Rhyming right there was a happy accident. A bonus, if you will. You are welcome. Anyhoo, there are two things that I do know at this point… The barn light is going up as is and I’m leaning toward a light turquoise-ish tone for the walls. I also want pops of red somewhere in the room. Wait. That was three things. Apparently, I count as well as I plan.

So, that’s where I am. I can tell you this, though… My painting muscles are getting twitchy. I want to paint this badboy. Soon. In the meantime, I’ve been doing all of the boring prep stuff. Caulking the tub, removing all decor, spackling holes, etc. And of course, once I get a move on the more interesting stuff I’ll update ya’ll. So, stay tuned…