Category: DIY

DIY Bathroom: Before & After with Peel and Stick Wallpaper

Our downstairs bathroom has seemed like one of those that will always be a work in progress. It is super tiny, but it is the only bathroom on the first floor of our house, so it gets lots of use.

In January, we ended up tearing out the pedestal sink that took up a ton of space with NO storage, and replacing it with a small 18” vanity. I also painted the existing wood mirror/light combo white to match the new sink base and called it a day.

And yes, I know the sink and mirror are white but the toilet is almond colored. I thought it would bother me a lot more, but when your sink is ripped out of your wall and Home Depot only has a white sink option, you get over it real quick!

Lately, I’ve been thinking about changing the color of the bathroom. The turquoise was just seeming too aggressive lately and I was thinking of switching it to something a bit more muted. A few months ago, I brought home paint chips, stuck them to the wall, stared at them awhile and then pulled them all down because they were all pretty much the same color as what we had. Then, a couple weekends ago, I brought home another stack of paint chips and started all over again. I had narrowed it down to two ‘maybe’ colors when Jack and I needed to run out to Target.

And in Target, I somehow ended up in the wallpaper aisle. And then, my cart suddenly filled with a roll of wallpaper, a turquoise towel with tassels, and a wooden sign.

Oops.

NONE of that was planned.

I decided it would be a fun afternoon project though, so when I got home I grabbed my wallpaper supplies from my office wallpaper project and got to work.

Here’s what I had for this project:

Here is the before:

Here is the after!

I have to say, the Opalhouse wallpaper was absolute junk compared to the wallpaper I used for my office project. It was thinner, kept sticking to itself, and you can see everywhere that there is a seam. If I had started using this wallpaper, I probably would not have done another wallpaper project until the memory faded in like 10 years. It. Was. Awful.

However, with that being said… I’m so in love with my updated bathroom. I even made a cute little video for Instagram that I watched probably 20 times:

Also, the letter sign makes me laugh every time I walk by that room.

Disclaimer: This post contains an Amazon affiliate link and ShopStyle links. This means that clicking on a link may help me earn a small commission at no cost to you.

Office Updates: Before & After

It’s time for the full reveal! Last month, I shared Office Updates: The Before & My Plans and as happens often in life… some of my plans went great and one did not. Just as a quick refresher, I was planning to: add wallpaper, upgrade my cube organizer with new bins and legs, and organize my sewing area with a folding table and storage cart.

Here is the before:

First off, the wallpapering plan went spectacularly! I wrote a full Office Updates: Peel & Stick Wallpaper post that outlines the entire wallpapering process. It was much easier than I expected and I absolutely LOVE the look of the new wallpaper:

Here are the quick links to what I bought for my wallpaper project:

Next up, upgrading my cube organizer. I had organized it previously with a bunch of random boxes and it just looked super messy. Especially because it was right in view on my Zoom calls.

I went through and reorganized my cubes again, donated a bunch of stuff I wasn’t really using, and put other stuff into the nice new felt bins I purchased.

Unfortunately, although I ordered the gorgeous legs to screw into the bottom of my cube organizer, once I looked closely at the crappy laminate “wood”, I realized it wasn’t going to work at all without fully destroying the whole thing. I returned them and plan to be happy with the current state of things. Unless I come across something else that will work better when out thrifting.

What I bought for my cube project:

Last stop: the sewing corner! I had a table that I had thrifted probably 20+ years ago as my sewing table. Because the table was so large, it also became a catch-all place for crap that needed to go elsewhere. I wanted something much skinner that would fit just my sewing machine. I also wanted some open storage so that my sewing stuff was nearby.

I ended up going with a folding table that screws right into the wall. It is the perfect size for my sewing machine and can even collapse to the wall if I’m not planning to use it. Most of my sewing consists of hemming the length of skirts or making easy pillows… so I don’t really need much space. However, if I do need a larger sewing space for a gigantic project, I can always set my sewing machine up on my desk, which is right across the room.

As for the cart – I LOVE it! It went together super easily and has wheels, so I can roll it around if I’d like. It’s perfect storage for my extra fabric, pins, scissors, thread and miscellaneous sewing stuff. Now it’s right within my reach, takes up less room, and is super organized.

What I bought for my sewing area:

Here is my favorite Before & After:

And one more for funsies:

As an added bonus, that little area to the left of my organizer is a perfect background for outfit photos!

If you add up the cost of everything I purchased for my Office refresh, the total is: $191. I’m super thrilled at the new look of my office. Especially because I spend a lot of time there on my telework days. I wish I had done this a year ago!

Disclaimer: This post contains ShopStyle affiliate links. This means that clicking on a link may help me earn a small commission at no cost to you.

Office Updates: Peel and Stick Wallpaper

When I shared my Office Updates: The Before & My Plans last month, I mentioned that I was going to try my hand at wallpaper. I had never done wallpaper before, but my friend did some peel-and-stick from Target and it looked fantastic so I figured I’d give it a try!

I started with checking out the options at Target and Amazon and settled on a few favorites:

Source: Amazon.com

But then once I added up the prices for how many rolls I’d need, I let the money savings guide me to a final choice.

Source: Amazon.com

I ended up selecting this one from Amazon: NuWallpaper NU3038 Groovy Garden Navy Peel & Stick Wallpaper for $25 per roll. I anticipated needing 3 rolls, but ordered 4 rolls just in case I had any issues with lining the pattern up or miscalculating. It was free returns (and I have the option of dropping the return off at our local Kohls), so it made sense to be extra prepared.

Source: Amazon.com

I also purchased this Wallpaper tool kit for $6 which was EXACTLY what I needed for every step of the application. The best $6 I’ve spent all month!

I dragged everything away from the wall and grabbed a step stool, one roll of wallpaper and my tool kit.

I decided to start on the far right side of the room just in case my last piece ended up being thin and wonky… it could hide behind the door. Here is the first piece:

Just like a sticker, you peel off the backing and give yourself a foot or so to work with. I applied the top as straight as possible and then slowly unwrapped the backing while smoothing down the wallpaper with the large red tool.

At the bottom of the wall, where it meets the trim, I used the knife to carefully trim the wallpaper to line up with the trim. The smaller blue tool was perfect if you had more aggressive smoothing to do — you could really get it in there without worrying about ripping the wallpaper.

For the second piece, I had to make sure to line up the design properly, which means there was lots of holding wallpaper over my head while sweating and swearing. To be honest, it’s not exactly perfect… but you can’t really tell.

Third piece. Easy, peasy. If you notice, I skipped that little slice next to the plumbing access area. I came back to that bit at the end and cut a little piece that perfectly lined up from my scraps.

As I said, I was concerned that the last piece might be odd and wonky, but as it was it lined up great. In addition to using the knife at the bottom of the wall, I also sliced the side of the wallpaper so it lined up with the seam on the left.

The entire process took me 2 ½ hours from start to finish. I did the entire project myself with a step stool and no other help. I ended up using 3 rolls (with some bits left over) and didn’t open the 4th roll at all. The total cost of my wallpaper project was: $75 in wallpaper ($25 per roll) and $6 for the toolkit = $81 total.

I’ll do a full reveal of the before/after of the office as soon as I get it typed up, but I’m LOVING my new wallpaper. It just makes the room feel so much more fun and fresh and makes for a fabulous zoom background too!

Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means that clicking on a link may help me earn a small commission at no cost to you.