Aw yeah, it’s hall bathroom time, baby. We have about five phases of updates that we plan to share as we go, so here’s phase one. We’ve been hiding something in our hall bathroom. What? You thought that giant empty frame was just there because it looked good? Nah.
To better understand this skeleton in the closet atop the toilet, might I refer you to this 20-month old post by Sherry entitled “Sometimes I Go Crazy.” It’s about how Sherry got a wild hair and busted out one of several extraneous towel bars that were un-centered/overkill/everywhere in our hall bathroom.
Thankfully we were able to cover up the resulting tile scab with some new trim, so we considered it a success.
Not quite so successful? Sherry’s attempt to bust out a weird soap dish above the toilet. So we’ve been living with this craggy eyesore for nearly two years, shrugging it off as “oh, we’ll just dremel out a tile or two and replace them someday” (like we did here).
But then we came up with a better idea – something that would be functional and decorative – and cover that lumpy mess. A chunky floating shelf (to rest art, cute toiletries, etc). See, form + function + ugliness shroud = awesome.
Note: we somehow accidentally deleted a few of the early photos of this project, so bear with me as I try to explain this somewhat logically. I know, I know. Deleted photos? That’s like a class 1 blogging misdemeanor. Tell it to the judge.
Anyways, covering up the existing damage involved making some more. This time in the form of pilot holes to help us hang our homemade shelf.
We decided to create a chunky, shallow shelf that was built following a plan similar to what Ana White shared on our blog for recreating the floating shelves in our old dining room. It involved building a “sleeve” over which a box (aka, the shelf) can rest and therefore appear to float on the wall. Since our shelf wasn’t going to hold much weight, I made mine much less heavy duty than Ana’s plans called for.
Here’s the shelf itself. It was made from some simple craft pine from Home Depot. It was eight bucks total for the wood (the top was a thin piece of wood that was leftover from Clara’s dollhouse). But you can see that I just used the Kreg Jig to make a flat plank with wood pieces shooting out as the “sleeve” (which I drilled into the tile and secured using a masonry bit) and the box was just made like you’d make a box (again with the jig). As for the measurements, it’s 6″ tall, 21″ long, and 3″ deep.
I didn’t put a bottom on it since you’d never see that side of it… unless you were actually inside of the toilet tank. And if that’s your view, you’ve got far worse problems than seeing the underside of our shelf.
So here you can see how it the shelf box fits nicely over the “sleeve” AND completely covers up the ugly, busted up tile. Plus, this $30 fish print that Sherry snagged from Joss & Main is a nice shot of color too. Thank goodness it now has a spot to rest! It’s actually a great height with the mirror, so it looks nice and balanced – like Bubbles (that’s the fish’s name) was meant to be.
We went back and forth about whether to paint or stain the shelf and, if so, what color to pick. Not knowing yet what color the walls would be we didn’t want to go too bold (we have big plans for a pretty bright window shade along with other colorful accessories like the fish art). So Sherry concocted a plan to whitewash it by dampening the whole piece with water first (just so the paint would glide on better) and then wiping some liiight gray paint over it with a paper towel (the color was Collingwood by Benjamin Moore – we had a test pot leftover from this project). She just smeared it around until it was her desired lightness and all pretty much the same tone (not blotchy or darker in some areas).
Here’s the result. We liked that it still had some of that wood grain texture, but wasn’t as orange as it was originally (the orange tones looked weird in our black and white bathroom- didn’t want to go Halloween with it, ya know?).
So here’s the whitewashed shelf back in place, with the fish painting still acting as our touch of color in the room. But not for long. We have plans to cover the walls with a pretty bold color along with bringing in a bold patterned fabric for the shade and framing out the window and adding bright hardware to the vanity. In the words of $herdog, we got plans, yo. So this is just step one of a dozen. As usual. So it looks kinda bland right now, but we think it’ll all make sense after a few more upgrades…
Happily, this little homemade shelf is much better solution for us – especially since it is far more functional than the soapdish was to us (have you ever noticed that toothbrushes of today don’t even fit in them?).
And after having done this, I think it’s the push we need to finally put some paint on those walls (spoiler alert, we’ve already started!). And I promise to keep better tabs on the photos. Promise. And if the old shelf ones turn up I’ll add them into this post retroactively! Until then, it’s just a fish on a shelf hiding some broken old tile. Haha. Just a normal day at our house.
What did you guys do this weekend? Any cover ups going on?
Psst- Being in NY, CT, and NJ for the past few days, we witnessed the damage of Sandy firsthand – it’s bad up there guys! Sherry’s grandma still doesn’t have heat or power, there’s hardly any gas to be had, and most people along the coast were hit the hardest (her brother lives in Jersey City and the first floor of his apartment flooded). We’re sending lots of love to everyone up there and will definitely be sharing more when we post a tour update at the end of this week.
Leigh says
That is such a clever idea! I was thinking about those floating shelves Ana gave tutorial for over the weekend. Now I don’t have to search for it. :)
P.S. My husband texted me a pic of my YHL book. It came today!!!! I can’t wait to get home to read it! He’s so sweet. He said he knew I’d be head over heels excited about it! And I am!!!! Fingers are still crossed you can come to Nashville on book tour.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, that’s so sweet! Love your hubby!
xo
s
Nicole Harris says
I keep looking at the pic again and I don’t think I like it. Not being mean – just keepin it real! I think it’s the color mostly for me…it looks unfinished. I think I’d like it better if it was white like the trim and the cabinet. I really am contemplating….. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Yeah, I thought about white but I wondered if whatever we do to frame out the mirror (hint, hint) might tie things in. We’ll have to see how it goes!
xo
s
Lindsay says
Cute! Never would have considered myself a fan of “whitewashing”, but that actually looks really nice! I guess I picture whitewashing as being more country-looking or something?
In other news, as I wait not-so-patiently for your book to be delivered to me (they’re saying Wednesday), I was happy to see the TONS of preview pages Amazon has up. So excited to see the whole thing!
Shari says
Nice cover up!
What did I do this weekend? Well, I’m glad you asked!
http://thecraftybachelorette.blogspot.com/2012/11/its-here-its-here.html
YoungHouseLove says
Ahhhhhhhhhhh! Hilarious and awesome. We love you. Seriously, we do.
xo
s
caroline says
I love the new addition! Adding a pretty shelf is so much more fun than fixing tile anyways.
Boo fixing tile!
Lynn @ Our Useful Hands says
It’s so funny because I dream of DIY in my sleep. I get projects completed while I sleep only to awake to zilch progress. Such is the curse of my “always have way too literal and mundane work-type dreams”. I love the whitewashed box by the way. It’s very seasidey. Oh! Guess who got a free slab of pegboard this weekend from a yard sale? This gal…it was funny and weird and sad because I was eyeing it and the homeowner was like “Ya like it? Ya want it?” and I said “Pshhhyeah!!” and she said “if you want it you can have it, because we are so deep in the woods (so true!) and don’t think we will move much stuff today.” That last part was said to a puff of smoke cause by then I was already halfway to my van with the thing. Don’t gotta tell me twice… :oD
My best, Lynn
YoungHouseLove says
Hahahhaha, I love it!!
xo
s
Marcie says
Love the shelf and the art. I bought the same fish print for my daughter last year for Christmas. She has a goldfish that’s about seven years old! Who knew? It goes by the name of Ghoti. That’s pronounced gh as in tough, o as in women and ti as in nation. Phonetically “fish”.
Jeanie says
I pray for the people out East because it is getting colder all the time and I just worry about the people who are still without heat and power. Here’s to the hardy-ness of the folks out East who are braving out tough conditions. I hope your family continues to be okay and that their conditions improve greatly…soon!
I love this post. I’m not sure I can explain why — maybe because we all have a little weird spot like that in our homes and can’t figure out how not to just park a picture or plant in front of it, but I just really think this is a helpful post. And I love it you MADE the shelf. You’re just out there making stuff happen. Something is very, very cool about that. Thank you for sharing all your home bits for us, you two.
shannon says
So upset!! I had signed up to meet you guys and get my book signed in Wilton, CT. but, due to the hurricane, I wasn’t able to make it. :( I did enjoy reading your book by candlelight lol. Great job, I love the book!! Fingers crossed that you may be in the area again.
YoungHouseLove says
So sorry we missed you last week. Hope your power has returned!
-John
Pam says
I have almost bought that fish print from Overstock on more than one occasion! Now I want it more than ever after seeing it in a real setting; looks great in your space!
Asten says
Congrats on the book launch, you guys. Can’t wait to see the next phases of the bathroom update :-)
mp says
Love it! I was showering one day when my soap dish suddenly detached itself and crashed into the tub. Thankfully, a friend of my daughter’s who is a construction worker was staying in the guest room at the time to be close to his latest job, and he was able to replace the dish with two tiles. They were as close a match as I could find for 35-year-old tile.
Heather says
Unrelated note about the book:
I am not just saying this because I adore you all (because there have been others I’ve loved that have gone on to write what I’d consider an “eh” book), but I was seriously IMPRESSED with your book. I spent the weekend flipping through it, squealing and trying to convince my not-handy-husband that we could tackle some projects! Honestly, it’s well written, informative and shows off your personality perfectly. Be proud, be very proud! Heck, I’m proud of you! Good work.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks so much Heather! That’s so amazing to hear!!
xo
s
Jenn Leigh says
Thoughts and prayers are with your family!
Great fix and love the whitewash – I may steal your idea for something my lovely hubs may or may not have done in our bathroom ;)
Rachel says
Hey guys– I wanted to tell you a big THANKS!! Because of your book, we started making some affordable changes that equal us liking our bedroom a lot more! Just recoving pillows, adding curtains and finishing a few odds and ends. THANKS for the encouragement and ideas on your blog and your book. (I picked it up in Cinci)
YoungHouseLove says
So happy to hear its been so helpful!
-John
Darcy says
Completley nonpost related — I SQUEEED as I waLked to my front door and saw my amazon package waiting for me!!! I got misty as I opened the book — I am so excited to read the whole thing!! It looks beautiful, and u all should be SOOO proud of yourselves!!!
Samantha says
Loving the shelf! And Im sure it’s just my own phobia coming out, but leaving the bottom of the shelf open like that seems like prime living space for a spider
GreenInOC says
I got it in my head that your book release date was 11/06/12 – I’ve been counting down to the wrong day!!
I suspect that nothing could have gone wrong but still, did you find it hard to sleep last night?!
CONGRATULATIONS – it’s a banner day over at the YHL abode!
Hayley says
I wasn’t sure where else to write this, so I figured a comment is as good a place as any. I just got home from work to your book waiting on my doorstep and I could not be more thrilled with it! It is such an amazing extension of your blog, I am in love with all the styling and couldn’t be more excited that everything in here is fresh, new and unseen for us die hard YHL readers. You guys outdid yourselves and I can’t wait to keep reading…rock on John and Sherry, you guys are amazing!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks so much Hayley, so glad you like it!
xo
s
Sheryn says
Hahahhahahaha, “toothbrushes of today”!
Audrey says
I’m approximately 200% excited to see what you do with that bathroom. I have long admired its clean slate. That sounded dramatic, but seriously: black and white + color to come = perfect. Can’t wait!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, thanks Audrey!
xo
s
violarulz/ducksandbooks says
I dunno if someone has already said it (I’m too lazy to read through ALL of the comments), but I think it might look more finished if you painted the box/shelf the same color as the trim/window/door. To me it just looks like you just left it primed :-/
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah, that definitely could happen down the line! We’re just waiting to see where the rest of the room goes first. Will keep you posted!
xo
s
Sevi says
I think I want this house without changing a tile of it. Now that is a first!
Sevi says
Wrong post :(
Brandy says
Love that fish! And I LOVE your book!! It was sitting on my front porch yesterday when I got home!! Needless to say I was useless yesterday evening because I was curled up with it fawning over every page haha! Dinner, laundry, dusting eh, who needs it anyway? ;)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Brandy! So glad you liked it!
xo
s
Elizabeth@ Food Ramblings says
we have a hole in our wall covered by a picture bought for that specific reason :)
Sarah Snell says
We got busy reupholstering some dining room chairs that we got on Craigslist. We wanted a few more formal dining chairs but didt want to buy the matching ones for $400 a pop. We found almost the exact chair on the cheap (set of 4 for $80). I think we bought the chairs a few months ago but just got the fabric over the weekend. We picked a marine vinyl so it would hold up to the kiddos (and messy adults). I must say vinyl is hard to get smooth over a rounded cushion but I am pleased with the result!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so awesome! Congrats Sarah!
xo
s
Sonia @ Fabric World says
Just love your blog. Your shelf idea and window trim is just genius and saves a lot of fussing around replacing tiles when you can just add a simple shelf that has a use. Thanks for sharing. x
how2home says
Love the new little addition in the bathroom! And the art looks great :)
Em says
I always love your work and creativing but I don’t think this project looks very good…though many times things look better in person than in a photo.
Julie M. says
Cute idea to create the ledge! Maybe you can trip it out someday and add hinges and a door. I can envision lots of nail polish storage in there!
Shannon says
In case you don’t find any photos, I noticed that there’s one on your house tour page that displays the old shelf. :)
Shannon :)
Jenelle says
I’m building a doll cradle for my daughter for Christmas, and I remembered that you guys had mentioned using “craft pine” for this shelf. I went to Home Depot today and asked about it, but he looked at me like I was nuts and led me to the mdf and plywood section.
Where in Home Depot did you find the craft pine? Did it come in sheets like mdf? Or was it more like a 1×12 or something?
Thanks in advance!
YoungHouseLove says
It’s in those little cubbies where they look like open cubes and there’s different craft wood stuck into them. Its near the wood but not out and standing up like plywood (it’s in those cubbies instead). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Karen says
We have the same fish print from Joss & Main, but we call him “Gill”. One of our friends says Gill creeps her out, but “he” makes he happy. You’ve got to have some fun and whimsy in your home. And the price was sweet too.