Category: Home Reno & DIY

DIY Bathroom Refresh with Wallpaper + Light + Mirror

Our downstairs bathroom is the teeny-tiniest room in our house. In addition to being doll-sized, it’s the only bathroom on the first floor. So, it gets lots of use and is pretty much the only bathroom any guests see when visiting.

Over the years, it’s been painted various colors… partially because it is so small that you get a big dopamine hit by a quick change of a couple coats of paint. Back in January 2020, we switched out the silly pedestal sink that took up a ton of space with no storage for an 18” vanity. At that time, I also threw some white paint on the existing wood medicine cabinet/light combo to match the new vanity. It was ugly, but I didn’t feel like getting into a big mess with electrical wires.

Then, in September 2021, I added a wall of wallpaper because it accidentally jumped in my cart on a Target run. And this is how it’s mostly looked since then.

I started getting a little squirrely about it in the fall and decided it was time for yet another refresh. This time, I wanted something that felt more like the vibe in the rest of our house, and I wanted to finally rip the ugly medicine cabinet off the wall and replace it with a light and mirror. I also had the idea to get a GIANT mirror that took up a lot more horizonal space so that (1) my extra tall husband could actually see his face in it, and (2) it would help make the room feel bigger.

Here’s what I purchased for this project:

I also used from my stash – a paint brush, a paint roller, ceiling paint, trim paint and my wallpaper application tools (this $6 wallpaper kit has come in so, so, so handy for hanging wallpaper in 5 rooms over the past 5 years).

I started by tearing the old wallpaper off the wall and removing the towel bar and electrical plates. My husband helped me also rip the old medicine cabinet off the wall and it was surprisingly heavy.

Once it was off the wall, I taped out the size of the new mirror and we measured where the light would go. We made a hole in the wall with a hammer and then just fished the wires through the drywall to bring them out the new hole.

At this point, I had a mostly clean slate so I grabbed my can of white semi-gloss paint and gave the door and trim a fresh coat. Next, I used some ceiling paint I had on hand and freshened up the ceiling and the tops of the walls (I wanted to be sure to cover the blue). I also used the ceiling paint to paint over any of the drywall where the paper ripped off when removing the old wallpaper and medicine cabinet.

I let it all dry for about 24 hours and came in the next day with wallpaper.

A note on wallpaper… at this point I’ve used different brands of peel and stick wallpaper to do 5 different rooms (between my house and my sisters’ houses). I’ve used good wallpaper and crappy wallpaper. This wallpaper is actually really darn good – it’s a great weight and the right amount of sticky. Also, when it went up there were barely any air bubbles that needed to be smoothed out. However, this pattern WAS a bit difficult to line up. Part of the problem is that I’m a perfectionist and knew if something was misaligned it would bother me every time I used that bathroom.

So, I went slow and steady, reapplied a few sections, and after a few hours with lots of trash talk and creative cursing, it turned out amazing.

Once I was done with the wallpaper, Travis did 90% of the work to get the new light hung. Then, we added the mirror clips and had to wait a few days for the mirror to come in since the first one they sent arrived broken.

Honestly, the photos don’t do it justice. It’s like stepping into a fancy little jewel box and I love it so much. For less than $300 and about 1 weekend of work, it was a fun little DIY that made a great, big impact.

Internet Hacks I’ve Tried and Loved

The internet is full of “life hacks” – some brilliant and some… questionable. I’ve tried a bunch of them over the years, but recently added these two to my arsenal of things that actually make my life easier.

Simple & Effective Hack #1: Cutting a Mango with a Cup

Mangoes are delicious, but can be a hassle to cut. Before I would struggle with peeling and slicing and end up with wasted mango bits or slices that still had the skin on them. I saw the cup trick a few months ago and it’s a GAME CHANGER!

Here’s how it works:

  • Cut the mango along the sides of the pit like normal, creating 2 halves.
  • Then, take one mango half and press the edge against the rim of a cup, sliding it down so the skin stays on the outside and the fresh fruit falls into the cup. I’ve found that a metal cup works best, so you don’t have to worry about accidentally breaking a glass with your vigorous squishing.
  • Repeat with the other half and BOOM that’s it!

Simple & Effective Hack #2: Cut Your Dish Sponge in Half

I feel silly even sharing this, but it’s kind of genius and I can’t believe I didn’t think of it sooner. If you use sponge to wash dishes you know how quickly they wear out. Instead of tossing them too soon or using them past their prime, just cut them in half when you open a new sponge.

Rather than being too small, it’s actually the perfect size for scrubbing without being too bulky. You get double the use out of each sponge, which leads to less waste and more savings!

Have you tried these or any other ‘viral’ internet hacks that actually work?

Kitchen Backsplash DIY: Using Peel and Stick Tile

After I did my little coffee bar refresh, I was still feeling bored with my kitchen. It just felt kind of dark and drab… where I wanted it to feel light and clean. When we moved in a decade ago, I had applied a peel-and-stick backsplash… so I decided for fun to rip the whole thing off and put a new one up.

Because that’s my idea of fun.

One of the questions I got on Instagram when I was posting about this project was: did I consider doing REAL tile and grout. And yes, I did consider it. However, I didn’t want to hire out the job and I don’t feel super confident in my tiling/grouting ability. So I decided to do peel-and-stick again, but a much FANCIER version.

So, what did I use?

The KASARO Peel and Stick backsplash in white hexagon (find them on Amazon here). When I purchased the tile, the cost was $29.99 per 6-sheet box. I purchased 6 boxes to make sure I had plenty, since at the time the Amazon link said it was running low. I ended up only using 4 boxes, so I returned 2. I have 5 sheets left, so I barely needed the 4th box… so I have some sitting around in case inspiration strikes.

Here is what I used on the project:

I had all the tools sitting around (including a fresh pack of razor blades), so this entire project cost me $120 in tile and about $10 for a tube of caulk.

Unlike my last experience with peel-and-stick, this is an aluminum metal composite rather than a rubbery sticker. The tile is much stronger than the previous version, and is more “real” in that it is actual metal tile with a better hand-feel and extremely sticky backing. The difference between this and real tile, is that it sticks right on and no grout is needed. However, get your tile lined up the first time because HOLYMOLY is the adhesive strong!

Here is our old backsplash I put up in 2012:

Once I removed the old backsplash (it just took a hairdryer, a spackle knife and some pulling action), I sprayed some degreaser and wiped down the white melamine backing that was left by the previous owners. Once it was dry, I started laying out my tile pieces. Obviously, I wasn’t lucky enough that a sheet exactly fit my spacing, so I measured out cuts for the top and bottoms of my sheets.

Since the tile is metal, you can’t just cut through it with a pair of scissors. Instead, I used a combination of a level (to measure and as my straight line guide), a fresh razor knife, a pencil and a pair of pliers.

I would mark my exact measurement, go over it 2-3 times with the razor knife, and then clamp on the pliers and snap it on the edge of the table. For every. Single. Hexagon.

My hands were SO TIRED after this project.

Once I had my perfect-sized shape, I’d take off the backing, carefully line it up on my wall, and stick it on. And of course, I’m a perfectionist… so I did the little-bitty points even though only people Jack’s size can see under the upper cabinets.

I ended up covering over our old phone line and cable line — I just took the switch plates off and shoved the wires back into the wall. Cutting around the remaining outlets wasn’t difficult, I just held up the pieces of tile and mapped out where I needed to snip a little:

I worked my way around the entire kitchen and when it was all finished, I grabbed a tube of caulk and did a nice line of white silicone around all the edges. This really took the project from ‘looks okay’ to ‘looks professional’… so I highly recommend caulking as a last step!

Before caulk:

After caulk:

I wasn’t keeping track of exactly how long the project took me, but thankfully the progress photos I took are time stamped. According to my phone, I spent about 3 ½ hours on Saturday night and then about 8 hours on Sunday. Which means the full project took me about 11 ½ hours.

Here’s the “after” for $130 in supplies and 11-ish hours of work:

I am so thrilled with the result!

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