Author: Staci

Staci blogs about travel at TheVoyageer.com.

Spruce Your Bathroom

Yesterday I shared what my bathroom looks like (when it’s all cleaned up). I’m blessed with a large amount of cabinet space on the left when one first walks in, which allows Doug and I to have a shelf apiece(!) and also space to keep more than just bathroom items in it–stuff like extra queen-sized sheets and a huge metal toolbox). That said, I know that a lot of bathrooms don’t have as much storage as I do and sometimes things must live on the counter. Here are a few things I’ve seen around blogland that can help decrease the clutter factor and increase the cute factor… all on a budget!! 

A Fun Shower Curtain: Okay, this is hands down the easiest thing. If you are stuck in a boring beige and white and tan bathroom, you can push the limits of shower curtains. Explore options like normal curtain panels, big Urban Outfitters tapestries (use these with curtain clips instead of regular shower curtain rings), or making something yourself from fabric found at a thrift store. Image from Urban Outfitters.

Make Storage Work for You: If all you have is under-sink storage, putting things in caddies is super helpful. You can pull the whole caddy out to find the item you need, and better yet–they will prevent items from getting pushed all the way to the back. That is, the pipe zone. The danger zone. I don’t know about you, but under-sink pipes give me the heebie jeebies. Image from The Container Store.

Color: If you are able to paint, choose a great color and stick with it. In a small room like a bathroom you can take a chance you wouldn’t necessarily consider in a large or more prominent room. Try a moody dark gray, navy blue, or a saturated teal paired with a bright white shower curtain and fluffy white towels. Be careful when considering yellows and reds, these colors can bounce around the room and make you look a funny color (just try doing makeup if your face is a weird greeny color!) Painting test swatches is a good tip in these situations.  Image from a Young House Love house crashing post.

Paint the cabinetry: Again, for lots of people this isn’t an option, but then again it makes a huge impact for the dollar spent. In this example, the plain-ole plain-ole cabinet base got a pretty coat of pale blue which immediately took it from “snooze” to cute. Photo from Katie at Bower Power.

Cute storage containers: Personally, I keep all my jewelry in my bedroom, but I know lots of people who keep it in the bathroom. Free up drawer space for your makeup or hair products by using something small and unobtrusive like this cute little wooden set of drawers on the counter. Larger wooden containers can also be used to corral straighteners, curling irons, tubes of toothpaste, etc. Image from Carrie at Dream Green DIY.

Frosting the window: The mini-blinds in our bathroom were seriously nastytown, but at the same time I’m also not crazy about using fabric to dress the window in a room that gets so moist. So, Doug and I took a cue from  Young House Love and frosted the window. This eliminates the need for a window treatment, but still ensures privacy. It also diffuses the light nicely. Image by me.

Bling it out: Pretty hardware can add up, and fast, but if you only have one or two cabinets (like many apartments do) you can splurge for something fabulous. Save the old hardware in a ziplock somewhere safe and put it back on when you move out. But don’t drill holes if there weren’t preexisting ones. That’s just bad form. Image from Anthropologie.

I know this list is by no means exhaustive. Every bathroom has its own particular solution. Got any tips? I would love for you to share them in the comments! 

Bathroom Mini-Tour

It’s a mini-tour because the bathroom is pretty small and straightforward.

Thought I ought to hop back on the room tour train, since I left off after showing the guest room and the bedroom, so here’s the last piece of the west part of the house. The bathroom. It’s really nothing special, but it’s an awfully important room in the house to have, for obvious reasons. And it definitely could be worse. After having a bathroom tiled in Easter egg colors (right off the living room where everyone could hear your business) this bathroom is a MILLION percent upgrade. Except the other one had a bigger/better/deeper tub.

Let’s get started! Mostly I wanted to show off some items I got at a design swap one of my gal pals hosted a month ago (it has been a month already! sheesh!). The colorful placemats you’ll see here are in the bathroom mostly because there were only three instead of four. If there were four I would use them in the dining room for (duh) placemats but I got creative and I love how they bring a little bit of pink in and really perk up the room. They also make it easy to tidy up. They help me tell myself, “Objects do not belong on the tan section of the counter! Hide them in drawers or cabinets!” It’s a little strange, but it works.

The third placemat got tucked into my open shelves and injects a much-needed little perk. The little sake bottle is from who-knows-where, and is cracked. The jar with sand in it is from our wedding (we did unity sand instead of candles)! My vintage train case made its way to the bottom shelf (much easier for short little me to get it out). The wicker basket (from Target) moved from the bottom shelf to on top the tank:

I was wary of putting anything on the tank because right when we moved in I had put a candle there and one night it slid off and shattered. However, seeing that this is much larger and less slippery, not to mention nothing in/on the basket is breakable, this has worked well so far.  The art in the little frame says “Happy Day” and was made by Libby as a housewarming present. :) There is a series of holes next to the toilet paper holder that need to be patched, but does it make it any better if I say they were there when we moved in? Maybe not, since it means we’ve lived with it like that for 8 months… (has it been 8 months already!?)

Here you can see the arch that I’m not crazy about, but everyone who comes over comments on how much they like it. Personal preference, I guess. It does tie in with the arched ceilings in the living room and dining room, but personally I fell that closing in the top of the shower like that makes it feel a little claustrophobic.

Last I’ll share two more little details. We have towels practically coming out of our ears, so we have an extra little storage basket (also from Target) below the counter, along with my scale (don’t remind me) and a step stool:

And I really like the art I have in the tall black frame (it’s from Target) so I thought I’d share it with you. They’re photos cut out from a semi-recent Conde Nast Traveler magazine, and all the photos are of spas in the Middle East. It reminded me of my hammam/Turkish bath experience in Morocco and felt appropriate for a bathroom.

Oh, and the paint color is Valspar’s La Fonda Mirage, the same color used in the kitchen, to not only bring in the Southwestern element of the house, but to save money by only buying one gallon, and to create a sense of continuity within different rooms.

There you go: the bathroom. Short and sweet for what I think is kind of a sweet little room. Did I mention it’s narrow and therefore super hard to photograph?

Remember, you have until Monday July 16 to enter the Scentsy giveaway! 

Giveaway: Scentsy!

Hey friends! I am extremely excited to announce that today I’ll be offering my very first giveaway here on My Friend Staci! A friend of mine, Libby, has been selling Scentsy for a while now and we’ve worked together to compile a sampler of my favorite scents and two brand-new products.

Thinking about my obsession with houses, I have realized that scent can play an important role in setting the tone of your home. Do you want your place to smell fresh, or moody, or attempt to capture a beach or forest scent that’ll transport you somewhere else? I have used Scentsy for years and love that the scents are really diverse–anyone from kids, to teenage girls, to my own husband can find one that they love. (I got him to admit that if he were still a bachelor he’d still buy one!) Even realtors use the not-so-secret technique of using scent to create an inviting environment.

Isn’t it adorable? Love the soft colors and sweet design.

The great thing about Scentsy for paranoid folks like myself is that it’s a very safe system that uses an attractive ceramic warmer with a lightbulb to melt the wax without having an open flame (check out the very old photo above). I turn mine on about an hour before expecting guests (or whenever I feel like it) and the room is filled quickly with aroma. A warmer is not included in the giveaway, but you can contact Libby or another Scentsy consultant to get one, or… here’s a secret for the cheapos… you can use a mason jar on a normal candle warmer. Don’t tell Libby I told you.

Here’s the best part!

The prize box includes (clockwise from top center):

  • 1 travel tin, Enchanted Mist.
  • 1 scent circle, My Dear Watson (great for hanging from the rear-view mirror, if that’s legal in your state).
  • 2 fragrance bars: Midnight Fig and Autumn Stroll.
  • 1 “Layers” hand cream, Enchanted Mist (this is a new item!)
  • 2 “Layers” dryer discs, Quiver (this is a new item!)

Let me just say that Midnight Fig is a scent that I’ve had in my warmer since the day Libby introduced me to it. Scentsy describes it as, “Earthy, ripened figs and golden berries tempered by musky woods.” My opinion is that it has a subtle, slightly sweet but moody aroma without getting to musky and choky. Seriously, I want my house and my body to smell like this at all times.

Additionally, I got a set of the Quiver dryer discs and they are awesome! I love the scent (which features vanilla, sandalwood, tuberose) and it’s a great alternative to dryer sheets since you can use the same disc for 30+ loads.

Honestly, the Midnight Fig bar and Quiver discs would make the prize worthwhile, but I’m so excited about all the other goodies included. I can’t wait to send it to one lucky winner!

Rules: You may enter twice!

  • Once by commenting below: please include a scent that evokes a memory (and include your e-mail address)
  • Once by tweeting the following: “I entered @MyFriendStaci’s first ever giveaway!! http://www.myfriendstaci.com” Please leave a separate comment stating that you tweeted, this will keep me from missing anybody.

The contest will run until July 16, one week from today. I will use random.org to choose the winning comment, then I’ll contact the winner by e-mail!

Disclaimer: Libby is an Independent Scentsy Consultant–she is offering up the prize; and the Scentsy company itself has not sponsored this giveaway. Also, Libby didn’t give me any free swag for offering this giveaway; I just wanted to show you readers how much I appreciate your support. If you want to support her you can visit her online shop or email her to place an order if you don’t want to go through the website. 

Update July 17 2012: the giveaway is now closed. I would like to thank all who entered!