Driftwood grey | Operation Home

Alright guys, you ready for a quick, inexpensive makeover that we did to the teeniest, tiniest space in our home?? It’s one of those “why didn’t I do this sooner?” tweaks that, seriously, I should’ve done many, many moons ago. I became especially antsy about wanting to get this done while I was nesting during my pregnancy, but alas… I feared that my belly was too big to actually fit in the space to reach all the nooks and crannies. Haha. Better late than never, though.

The space in question? The toilet room. (applause! applause!)

If you’ve followed me for a while, you know that this is a space that lives up to its name….

It’s a toilet.

In a room.

And that’s it.

Literally.

When we moved in, it was a purple blank slate. Observe….

See what I mean?? No baby bump could safely fit next to that toilet. 😉

Back when we took possession of the house, this space had nothing, and I mean, NOTHING in it but a toilet. And copious amounts of purple paint. We.mustn’t.discount.the.purple.paint. It looks greyish here, but no… it was purple. And it made me cranky. Not joking. I know that color can affect mood, and I’ve never heard of purple inducing anger, but seriously guys… It made me ornery. It needed to be gone. Big time.

In addition to the color, there was no function, no storage, etc. It had nothing but a *well loved* over-the-tank TP dispenser left by the previous owners. #no

So, a while back, I painted the room a bright color, built a pipe shelf and industrial toilet paper dispenser, and hung some art, which brought us here…

To be honest, I’m not really sure what I was thinking with this space. I was going for “fun pool bath” and, I mean, it was cute-ish, but not really our style at all. Plus, every time I looked at it, I felt like there was something lacking. It was seriously falling flat in some way. This became blatantly obvious as the rest of our home started coming together in a way that DID feel like us. More neutral. More simple. A mix of old with new. Warmth and coziness is key in our home, and this space felt just… cold.

So, on a whim, during one of Henry’s naps, I busted out the paint roller and some leftover paint and toned down the space with my FAVORITE grey tone ever (Driftwood Grey by Glidden).

Oh look, here she is now…

Isn’t this color the Sophia Loren of greys?? Sophisticated and rich. For real.

This tone is also in the guest bath (stay tuned for that update) as well as the master bedroom and Lucas’s room. It looks slightly different in each space, but just as lovely. The power of paint, guys. It never ceases to amaze me how just changing the color of a space can actually make it look more expensive… that’s my impression of this color. It somehow makes the room look higher quality.

After painting the walls, I sanded and restained the shelf I built with Varathane’s Early American stain to match the wood tones throughout the rest of the house, and then I decorated it more simply with practicality in mind. TP = necessary. A simple faux rosemary (from Target) and white plate (to hold jewelry and such while swimming) completed the look.

As for art, I kept the New York print (from Urban Outfitters), and found this vintage painting at a thrift store a while ago. I love the mix of bold and modern with subtle and old-school. The entire space flows now, both in itself and with the rest of the house.

I still want to do something with the ceiling in this space, whether it be simply adding crown moulding, or possibly something more architectural. Plus, wainscoting or some sort of board and batten would be nice on the walls. We’ll get to it. I’m sure of it. In any case, I spent zero dollars on this as I already had everything on hand and it took a mere afternoon to complete. This little refresh really, REALLY goes a long way into making the space fit the vibe of our home so much better. No more random aqua room in this Casa. And I’m okay with that. 🙂

So, that’s our toilet room, and boy are we so much happier with it. Next up, I’ve taken pics of our living and dining spaces as they stand now, and lemme tell ya, I’m so, SO happy with how those rooms are coming together. I can’t wait to put those posts together for you guys, so stay tuned.

Howdy guys!! So, Lucas’s room has experienced a few tweaks since last we spoke. And seriously ya’ll. I spent almost no money. I purchased a little picture-hanger thingie for around $4 and the rest I already owned. I always feel so accomplished when that happens. It helps un-junk our other spaces and gives items new lives in the process.

So anyways, the last time I showed you his room I’d just revamped his new bed…

And if you’ll recall, a fan of the wooden drawer handles I was not…

They just felt a bit too “little boy room” for my taste. So, I simply swapped them out for some pewter metal drawer pulls that were given to us by a friend who was getting rid of them…

And these beautiful little metal bundles of glory made all the difference. I love swaps like this that take 5 minutes, very little money, and make a big impact. Now, the bed feels more modern and less “lodge-y”. Success is mine!

Now, for the desk portion of the room. If you’ll recall, it started off here…

And now is here…

All it took was some of that leftover gorgeous grey paint on the walls (Driftwood Grey by Glidden mixed at 75% saturation), and some navy blue oops paint behind the desk area. I also swapped out the white ceramic drawer pulls on the desk for stained nickel versions. And really, it’s not done yet. I’d like to add some lighting and possibly some pattern behind the shelves, and either revamp his chair, or get a new, more funky chair. Plus, I’d like to style the shelves differently once I get his room more organized. It’ll all come together with time. This, I’ve learned. Ideas grow with time. I am Yoda.

Here’s what that side of the room looks like with the door closed…

Behind his door, I hung some awesome art created by my mother-in-law Mac, then I added a neat, white cork-board/picture-hanger thingie that I found on clearance at Target. From that, I hung a Ninja Turtle bulls-eye game that Lucas got for his birthday. Instant “game-zone” if you ask me…

My last tweak in his room (for now) was adding curtains. These are the same curtains from his room in our last house…

Just cheap, simple white Vivian curtains from Ikea (I hadn’t hemmed them yet in this shot). I’m considering changing them out for curtains with a subtle pattern. Perhaps a grey on white or something to add interest without being too distracting. For now, though, they work. And they’re free, so they’re hanging. Eventually, we will see. Patience I must have. #Yodaknows

So, that’s where Lucas’s room is at now. I still have some wall-art projects I’d like to get to for above his bed and dresser. And I’d like to spray paint the weirdly-colored blades on his ceiling fan. Plus, organization. Oh, the organization. So, with that, I dub this post: To be continued…