Rustic Bathroom Transformation With Outdoor Lantern

"One Mans Trash, Is Another WOMan's Treasure".... 

I LIVE BY THIS PHILOSOPHY

If you don't want it - I'll TAKE IT!!  I can REPURPOSE just about anything!!

Take the light in my main floor bath...  This light here, is an old outdoor garage light.  I can only conclude that it was left in a garage for a few YEARS, due to the fact it was covered in spider webs, dirt and GOD knows what!!!  I found it on the bottom shelf at my Habitat for Humanity Restore, tucked WAYYYYY back and still covered in all the grime I mentioned.  BUT, it was only $6!!  and this baby is HUGE!  I figured - for $6, worse case, I can use the glass for something - even a candle holder..  I wasn't even planning on using the light itself, because it looked disgusting...
So, of course - I TOOK IT  LOL!

I got it home and got out my Windex and started cleaning it right away!  The glass was in perfect condition - SCORE!  I tried feverishly to get the light to come apart, but was unsuccessful..  I tried and tried and it just would not come apart...  So I sat it down in the garage and left it there for a couple of days....(which, BTW, Drives Mr. Not Too Shabby NUTS :)    Then, it hit me....  I had a BRILLIANT idea (WELL, at least I thought it was brilliant)!

 I will use it in my main floor bathroom!!!

Oh yes....  Yes, Yes, Yes, this was my bathroom....  FOR A YEAR!!!  I know its sad...  Its VERY VERY SAD!!

But, I LOVE IT NOW!  And am very proud that I did the whole thing for about 150 bucks, TOTAL!  For the whole bathroom....  Including the light fixture, faucet, ladder, pictures, shelf and decor!  

• The light was purchased for $6 at Habitat for Humanity Restore...  Yes, its an outdoor light, but SO WHAT!!!  Its unique and different - and I LOVE that!    

You can probably guess from my previous posts that my favorite aspect of decorating has been making all of my lights...  Which, I had never done before!  Until I was faced with updating more than 20 lights in my home.  AND if you have ever looked into updating lighting - you know it can get very EXPENSIVE very FAST!!  So, I decided to get on Pinterest and start getting ideas on how I could do some of this stuff myself!

• I already had the mirror - so that didn't cost me anything!  

• I got the faucet on Amazon for $49...  Mr. not too Shabby installed the light, mirror and faucet for me....  Isn't he wonderful?!!  Just changing the faucet - Made such a HUGE difference!  I must say, I stole the idea from my friend Michely, while I was in her bath..  I had originally wanted to get a whole new vanity and replace this pedestal sink.  Which would have been well over $150-$200 for something nice...  (hence, the reason this room was put off so long)...  But, when I was at her house, I realized we had the same sink, and she had a nice oil rubbed bronze faucet - and it made all the difference in the world!!!  

Shabby Budget TIP::  If you have an ugly not-so-chic vanity that you want to update, but don't want the cost of an oh-so-chic one....  change the faucet (Amazon), paint it, update the hardware (knobdeals.com has hardware for under $1), you can transform your vanity for well under $100 and have a whole new look!!!

• The Ladder,  I got at an ESTATE SALE!!  I saw it and didn't get it initially..  Got in my car, drove down the road, but then had a change of heart and turned around and went back to get it!  I just had to have it!!!  It was only $35!!  I just couldn't pass it up!  It is so Rustic and fits perfectly with the look I was trying to achieve...

Now, onto the back wall.  

I want to emphasize, this bathroom is small!!!!  It is very tight to move around in, So I will be adding a barn door very soon!  Which, I will do a post on - with tutorial - on how to make your own barn door.. I think that a barn door will make it easier to move around in, so you don't have walk around this door just to get to the toilet...  Very Annoying!!   So that is why I have not "finished" the shelf in this pic.  I want to see what color I use on my door - and once I make my door and remove the one here - I will 'finish" my shelf...  

• The shelf, is a piece of wood I had in my garage...  The sign, ampersand and lantern are items that I already had on hand and the little plant is from IKEA..  (BTW, IKEA has a lot of CHEAP plants, that look pretty good for artificial foliage - which give a great 'pop' of color...)  This DIY shelf is being supported by plumbing pipe.  I used steel pipes, flange(s) and nipples....  They are pretty cheap too.  I bought these at Home Depot in the plumbing section way before I did this project, because I knew someday I wanted to make a shelf like this..  They cost about $16...  Once I assembled my parts, I sprayed them with my trusty Rustoleum - Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint...  And I think it looks Great!  

• Another money saving trick I used here was the DIY boarder around this small beige picture...I had to get creative with the decor for the walls because of the limited space of the room, the size of the ladder and of course, I wanted something unique and different.   So, I picked up these miniature signs at Marshalls for about $8 - $10 each.  I LOVED the message....but the beige sign was WAYYY to small and just BLAH...  Then I had an idea... I went down into my craft room and grabbed a picture frame I had on hand - brought it up and put it around the sign and Yep - it was perfect!  It made the sign look bigger, less beige and gave it some black to balance out all that color in the room!  

I wanted this bathroom to have an inspirational - positive vibe.  No need for reading material - its written all over the walls!  I also wanted a Rustic / Industrial feel and I think I got that, and all for around $150.  Maybe less.  Holla!!!!  

People go into this room and don't come out for uh umm...  A long time...  I get worried and when they come out..  I say,  "I was about to come in after you"..  And I hear all the time:  "I was just looking at all the attention to detail and the many special touches you have done with this room...  Its Amazing!  I love it!!!"   Of course I say, THANKS!!  and then I start telling them how I did it all for so cheap!!! That's the part I love......     

NOTE:  

While working on this post I saw these 2 outdoor lanterns on sale at 2 of my favorite stores, if you want to achieve this look at home - see the pics below.  (as of 09/30/2015)

Chic On Shabby is going .com!  And will be on YouTube very soon!  Follow us to get the latest on DIY and money saving tips!

Rustic Lantern Transformation

I have a bit of an obsession ....  I LOVE transforming items from their intended purpose - into something completely different!!  

I can will look at a wire trash can and think,  this would be so cool as a light..  "I would just need flip it upside down and drill a hole in it.  I will need a light to hang in the middle and then Voila!  I have a new light!

I just see it...

That's one of the reasons I started this blog, was to help inspire others to see the diamond in the rough...  And to create their own decor using their imaginations and VERY LITTLE cash!!

Which can translate into a One Of A Kind piece!

Here is a (terrible) pic of my old hallway lights..  Another GOLD light - shocker!!  There were actually two of these awful lights on my main floor.

 I have always had a hard time going to a lighting store and looking around and thinking WOW that is the light I have To Have!  I just never like what I see - unless it is like $1000 and in the Restoration Hardware catalog - and that's just NOT gonna fly!!

I also DON'T like having things - that "Everyone Else" has.  I like being DIFFERENT!  ☺️. So having unique stuff in my home FITS me...  (It just does)..

So, after a year and a half of looking and looking for the perfect fixtures for my hallways, I was at Hobby Lobby and came across this rustic lantern.  It is just a lantern that you would put a candle in and set it on the floor.  I just fell in love with it immediately.  I thought THIS is IT!  This would look awesome in my hallway!  FINALLY!

Oh - I want to mention that I got this on sale for 50% off - so it was only $28!!  BOOM!!

BUT, how am I going to do this...???

I first started by taking this hideous light down...  (DO NOT FORGET TO TURN OFF THE BREAKER IN THE FUSE BOX FIRST)!!!  

After I got it down, I started examining it and realized it was just held together by screws...  SO I got my screwdriver out and started unscrewing the fixture...  I got the glass off of it and when I did that, I realized that I could just "dangle" it down into the lantern.  And that I did not need to purchase a NEW light to hang down inside it - SCORE!!

So I got my handy hubby and his ENGINEER-BRAIN to help me make this work!!  He told me it was do-able, so I went to work painting it!!

Went to my go-to spray paint Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze....  and painted the chain, the base of the light and the cap.  (Don't forget to tape off the wires and where the light bulbs go.)

We unscrewed one side of the lanterns rope and looped it through the large EYE screw that I purchased at Lowes.   Once we got the rope through the EYE screw, (which we had to take the screw off the lantern to do) we made a large knot....  AND before we we tightened it, we intertwined the light and chain through the knot.

***I wanted to add, that I replaced the white plastic candle columns with new ones that I bought in a 2 pack from Lowes.  I measured them and we cut them very gently with a fine tooth mini saw.  I want to ENFORCE this, DO NOT USE a compound mitre saw to cut plastic, or anything with quick heavy force!!!  It will crack, explode, etc...  I learned this the hard way!!!!

My husband then got up on the ladder and hung it up.

I LOVE the rustic look and the fact that no-one else has a light like this.  I also love that this entire fixture only cost me around $40 - total!  Since I used the existing light I already had, a can of paint I already had and a pack of new plastic candle covers (which you get in the lighting section of Lowes).  So for both fixtures I spent $80!  You CANNOT buy a SINGLE light for that!

You can make lights out of about ANYTHING!!  Seriously!  I have found that out by just experimenting with items I bring home...

***If you do not have any experience with installing lighting - enlist the help of someone that knows what they are doing...    Fires and electric shock are NO JOKE!  Luckily Mr. Not too Shabby knows how to do pretty much everything around the house!

Do you have a project where you have used an unconventional item for something else like this one?  If so, post below in the comments!  I would love to see it!  Help inspire me and other readers who love chic decor, but have a shabby budget...  

Check out my next post...  On how I turned a huge garage lantern into a cool bathroom light fixture for $6!  And re-decorated my whole bathroom for about $100!  Faucets, fixtures, decor and all!

Organize Your Pantry On A BUDGET!!

A few readers of ChicOnShabby asked that I do a post on Pantry organization..  So, since I just did this to my pantry a few months ago....  I thought I would share - and try to help...    

Does the thought of organizing - pain you??!!!  Who has time for that??!!  Well, I am here to help you do this!!   I will give you the tools to get this done as easily, painlessly and most importantly as cheaply as possible!!  

My pantry used to look like a bomb went off on it - before I decided to organize it.  (Sorry, I do not have a pic of it before)

I am always in a hurry!!  When I get home from the grocery store - I just throw things in there as quickly as I can!  And after dinner - I just want to get the dishes done and sit down with my glass of wine!!  

I knew I had to organize my pantry!!  

One day - while my mom was in town AND  my hubby was here to keep the munchkins busy...  I decided to go through the entire pantry and organize everything... 

 Ever since then, it has been so easy to KEEP my pantry organized! AND -  more importantly, I WANT TO!!

First, I made a list of categories that I wanted to group my items into....  

Snacks
rice/pasta
bread
potatoes/onions
canned goods
baking
spices
cereals
flour/sugar  

Then, I went to the Dollar Tree and just got a lot of different sizes and shapes of containers that I thought would work..  I wanted to mix and match to make it look good and functional.  I THOUGHT if I bought too many containers at the time of purchase...  I would use some of the leftover containers in the playroom for toys...   

**Note, I do not think that Dollar Tree does returns....  So keep that in mind that when buying..

Here are the items you I used:   HUGE BONUS -  almost everything is from the Dollar Tree!  So its super cheap!!  

Paint Tray

Dish Pan

Cereal Containers

Different Size Containers

The white container is labeled "dish pan' underneath.  The blue bins are a mix of different shapes of sizes of containers, and the black container holding the cans is a 'paint tray' that I picked up at the Dollar Tree.  I thought if I got different shapes and sizes it would make my pantry more "fun" and "functional" at the same time..  And I wanted to be able to hide certain items and be able to "see" others...  

After I grouped everything into their categories, I started placing items where they made sense...  

• How often do I 'Bake'?  Not Very much...  So baking and "cake/muffin" bin that can go on the top!  
• Rice, I use rice almost EVERYDAY..  so, eye level...  
• The SNACK BIN - I wanted the kids to be able to reach this...  But have to work a little to get there.  So that every time they walk in there - bored or what-not, they wouldn't just grab something - because they could See it.  So I put it ABOVE their eye-level.  
• Spices - eye level..  
• Flour, Breading, Adult Snacks - eye level.  I probably should put the adult snack above eye level for my waistline, but whatver!  
• Crock pots and HUGE crab boiling pots that I don't use very often - went on the bottom and tucked away..  

After I got everything organized and put them where I wanted them, I got labels!  Glorious labels.. An Organizers 'must have'.  I got these Chalk board labels at Hobby Lobby for $3.99 each!  I bought 2 packs and ALMOST bought the Chalk Marker - But didn't at first.  I thought I would just use my paint pen..  DO NOT use a paint pen!  It will not work!  I had to go BACK to Hobby Lobby and get the chalk pen..  So just buy the $3.99 pen!  It is worth it AND you can change the labels later if you want...  So just buy it!!! 

DIY TIP:  I recommend writing on your labels before you apply them...  However, be gentle and careful when applying, because the chalk will rub off on your fingers...  

And that's it!  Everyone that sees my pantry asks me to organize theirs! 

 These bins make it easy to keep your pantry organized and 'cute' at the same time!  I hope this helps you get your pantry organized!  

FEEL FREE TO POST ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS BELOW....

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY....

Come back later this week to ChicOnShabby to see my RUSTIC LANTERN TRANSFORMATION

DIY Makeshift Mudroom

I don't know about you.....  But my kids bring home a lot of "stuff"!!!  The amount of "stuff" they bring home from school is mind blowing!!!  Even overwhelming!!  So after a month of stacking papers here, and putting papers there...  And trying to get the kids out the door in the mornings with all their "stuff"  I knew I needed a better system!

I friend of mine gave me the idea to make the area below into a mudroom a year before it was converted to this - Awesome Organized Mommy Station!!  I thought she was crazy - but she had the vision - WAY before me!  So kudos to you Amy!!  Now the mornings are a breeze - and all of their "stuff" is kept together!  I have space for jackets, backpacks, shoes, lunchboxes, papers and even hats and gloves!  ALL IN ONE PLACE!!!!  HUGE!!!

If you have kids and do not have an area like this - and your mornings are as CRAZY as mine were - then you are in luck!!!  I am going to help you get organized and maybe not eliminate, but cut down on the mayhem in the mornings!!!

Here is what my hallway between my kitchen and dining room looked like before...  Plain, boring and most importantly UNDERUTILIZED!!!  There was a lot of space here to turn into my Awesome Organized Mommy Station!!! Or as most people call them - A Mudroom....  

I have already hung my laser level in the pic.  A MUST HAVE if you plan on being a DIYer!

So, I knew I wanted a coat rack of some kind!  AND of course, it had to be as inexpensive as possible!!!  So I went to Hobby Lobby to see what they had....  I really wasn't that impressed with what they had, so I went to my next source of inspiration...  The Antique mall!  

***Before starting a project, get inspired!  Find pictures on the Internet, or magazines with items you LOVE....  Then head out and start looking around for what you loved and your imagination will take you places you didn't even know existed!!

As I was walking up the aisles, I came across a pair of reclaimed pieces of wood.  They were both about 6ft long and had some glorious age on them!!  BUT, the guy wanted $10 each for the wood!  I was like, "YOU ARE NUTS"!  For an old piece of wood!!!!????  As I stood there talking to him about his wood, heehee....  He told me that the pieces were from an old barn in Kentucky!!  Well, I graduated from UK and so did my husband - AND my husband is from Kentucky!  So I fell in love with his wood - even more!!!

 I then noticed the bench in the 1st pic..  It was narrow and almost as long as the pieces of wood! He wanted $50, AND it was from KY as well!  I knew I had to have it...  So we went back and forth and I got him down to $35!  And I got both pieces of wood for $7.....  Sold!!!  ($42 the bench and 2 pieces of 6ft wood)

So now I have the wood I need for my coat rack and a bench to go under it!!  I am pretty much set!! So I head back to Hobby Lobby and their hooks are 50% off!!  So I get 4 hooks, each for $3!

Cost of materials thus far:

Wood - $7.00

Bench - $35.00

Hooks - $12

So to make the coat rack - I needed to drill my coat hooks into the wood...  OMG!!  I am terrible at math!  It is so bad - I stood there measuring and placing the hooks for about 45 minutes, trying to get them centered!!  I finally gave up and just eye-balled it!  Ahhhh, much easier!!  Now, once you have the hooks into the board....  You are going to have to hang it!  Keep in mind...  These book bags are heavy!!!!  You will need to drill this sucker into the STUDS!!!  I drilled mine into 3 studs!  If you have never done this before, you will need a stud finder!  No this isn't a tool to find you a hot young man to do this for you.... ;)  This is a tool to find your studs in the wall...  And get your laser level..  To make sure you hang it level...   You can do this!!  But if your stud finder does find you a young hot man to do this for you - BY ALL MEANS!  Let him!!  My stud was out of town!!  LOL

Now for the finishing touches.  I got the Galvanized steel pails at Home Depot for about $12 each!  They go with my Rustic/Industrial look and I just love them!  I got my hot glue gun out and glued some sissle around the top to give it a little more character.  I got the wire basket at Marshall's for about $8 and then the file holder rack at Home Goods for around $20.  This comes in VERY HANDY with all that paper work that comes home!!  It was more than I wanted to spend, but with the vintage wire racks being to 'IN' right now - this was a steal!  I then got the mini chalk board tags at World Market.  

To write the boys names on the chalk board tags, I used a paint pen.  I am no good at that "chalk lettering" and with the traffic in that hallway - I figured this was the best solution.  My other addition is the oar seen here in this picture.  I found this at an estate sale.  It was just a plain piece of reclaimed wood - sawed into the shape of an oar that I got for $10!.  So I used painters tape and painted a few lines on it and added the number "5" to it.  To get the 'vintage' appearance, I just lightly rolled the roller over the board to give it a weathered appearance.  

 

And Voila!  A makeshift Mudroom!  For a total cost of about $100!  You know how I love to do my projects on the cheap!!  

I wanted to add my picture of inspiration that I used to develop this project:

I loved this!  But they wanted $60 just for 1 oar!! and I almost bought it!  But couldn't bring myself to do it... And so I began looking for items to make my own.  Doing projects on your own isn't the fastest way to get things done!  You have to get creative to find things that will work AND for me - also to stay on budget!!  But it is always rewarding to me to know that I did something all by myself! It may not look like the picture from Pottery Barn exactly, but close enough for me to LOVE my new 'Mudroom'.  

Feel free to ask any questions below and leave any feedback.  Thanks!

  

The New and Improved Yarn Chandelier

Oh - this light!!  I have a LOVE/HATE relationship with this light!  I LOVE the way it looks!  I LOVE that it gives this room the much needed TEXTURE it was so desperately lacking!  I LOVE the ambiance that it gives to my dining room.  But, I HATE how much time this took and the frustration that came with this project! 

Let me start from the beginning of this projects "story"....  

Here is my inspiration for my light....

I thought this light was really cool looking!  I liked that it could be BIG, UNIQUE and I could do it on a BUDGET - holla !  So I went to the Hobby Lobby and bought a few different types of yarn...  Big thick yarn, and small thin yarn - even sparkly yarn..  Once I decided which one to use I gathered my materials and got ready to start - my first attempt that is......  

Material List:

*Yarn of your choice - get 3 just in case you want more depth (different sizes, colors, textures)

*Disposable table cloth

*Disposable paint tray (Dollar Tree has them for $1)

*Fabric Hardener (I used Stiffy) 

*Yoga Ball (I used medium size)

*Light fixture (I used the HEMMA fixture from IKEA)

*Chain and Cap for ceiling (possibly from the fixure you are going to replace) - just paint it - I did!

*Paint to paint chain and light (I used Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze)

*Light Bulb (sounds silly, but I forgot it first time - SMH)

*An old (or new) 3 strand hanging plant pot chain

 LOTS OF PATIENCE!!

First, get out your NEW Yoga ball - or lets admit it, you just pulled that one out from that cabinet next to your DVD player...  SO then - dust it off....  Get your yarn and STIFFY out - (giggle giggle) - and lets get to work.  (DON'T FORGET YOUR TABLE CLOTH TOO).

After you lay out your table cloth, get out your supplies.  Lay out your paint tray (this is to work with the fabric hardener and let you get your yarn "wet".  The "Stiffy" is simply liquid glue.  I learned to unroll a good bit at a time to work with - because it gets tangled easily and "Aint Nobody Got Time for That"!  I learned that I needed a starting point (from my first attempt) so I added a crochet ring.  I taped this to the top - using the yoga ball plug as the middle starting point.  This comes in handy later.  Tie the 1st yarn to the crochet ring and wrap the yarn around the ball.  Wrap and wrap all around, and around and around in everyway possible!  Always wrapping around the crochet ring.  This is key because when it comes time to deflate the ball, because you are going to need a way to take the yoga ball out of there....!!  

Once you have applied your yarn - you need to allow this to dry for up to 3 - 7 days!  I know...  Its hard!  And its even harder to keep curious kids away from it as well!!  

This is the pic of my first one..  Which was ruined by my 3 yr old..  But I realized I didn't take any pics of the 2nd one.  But this is how it will look once the yarn hardens..  

IKEA LIGHT - HEMMA Light fixture
**Make sure you buy the correct one you need.  Are you going to wire it into the ceiling/wall?  Or
do you need a plug in fixture?

I needed one that I could wire into my ceiling so I chose a hard wire.

Here is the light assembly from IKEA.  I thought that my INSPIRATION PIECE was cool, but was to simplistic for a dining room.  I didn't like that you could see the light bulb, so I wanted some sort of shade in there to make it look more elegant - I suppose...   But this fixture is cheap looking, but I needed something that would fit INTO the my crochet ring.  ***Make sure when selecting a light fixture to go in your "GLOBE" that it fits into the crochet ring!!!!***  So, to make this lamp shade look more expensive, I took the chain from the GOLD chandelier off and painted it with my goto Rustoleum Oil Rubbed bronze and the cord as well.  I also removed the plastic IKEA cap and used the GOLD one from my chandelier and painted it Oil Rubbed Bronze as well.  I thought this gave it more elegant effect as well.  

Once that was ready to go...  It was time to deflate the ball...  Oh this part sucks!!!  Seriously!  Do it slowly and use a butter knife to push it off the glue soaked yarn as it deflates...  

***I ended up using an old hanging plant chain (with 3 chains) to hold it while I worked on it.  This was very helpful and I ended up using it on my final design...

Once you get the ball out, you will probably need some of your left over yarn to wrap around the crochet ring to "finish" where you had to cut the string to get the ball out.  This is really a learning experience and it is hard to explain here...  Once you get the hole ready for your light, its time to hang the light. 

To keep costs down, I have cheap labor...  XOXO - The hubs is very handy!!  He practically finishes all of my projects for me!  He is the BEST!!  Thank goodness I married and engineer!!

 Like I said, I ended up using my old plant chains to hold the globe centered and attached it to my chain - which I threaded my light fixture cord through.  So basically the IKEA light fixture and chain are the only part attached to the ceiling.  My yarn globe is attached to the chain hanging from the ceiling with the old plant chains....  Make sense?  I hope so...

You can see here, The larger ring is the crochet ring.  The smaller ring is the old lampshade I put on the light.  I wrapped yarn around both to give it a more finished look.  You can also see the plant chain and how I painted the cord, chain and cap.  

And there you go!!  Now you have a beautiful  and UNIQUE light in your home!  Everyone that sees it - just raves about it!  Its one of a kind and you can make it as bold or neutral as you like!  

I know that a lot of people feel as though they don't have TIME to be creative and do these types of projects...  

But I do!!  I have the time!!

Let me help you be creative!!  And to strech every dollar!

Thanks for reading!  Post any questions or feedback below!