POWDER ROOM REVEAL...FINALLY !

We decided to get the wallpaper project done the weekend since I had everything ready. My budget did not allow me to get outside help to hang the wallpaper and I wanted to do it myself ourselves.

Being extra nice (making sure no arguments, agreeing to everything that Mr. Tweaks said) and batting lot of eyelashes all week long, Mr. agreed to DIY.

It was lot of batting.

Oh wish, just batting those eyelashes could get him agreeing to everything I want.

On a Saturday morning, woke up all excited. The previous night, I had all the supplies ready. Scissor, ruler, pencils, an aluminum foil tray, an exacto knife, an old credit card and old towels to clean the mess.

Mr. Tweaks measured and we marked and cut the first wallpaper. Using it as a template, we cut rest of them while making sure the diamond design aligned with the next one.

Once we had cut all of the wallpaper, we immersed the first one in a big aluminum foil tray filled with water to wet the paste on the back of the wallpaper. Like so.....

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A minute later, I pulled the wallpaper out of the tray. And slowly Mr. Tweaks hung the first one smoothing out the bubbles with his hand. There were few wrinkles and it did not align correctly with the ceiling. A minute later, the wallpaper rolled down. 

Between some swearing and few tears, I tore threw that away and started again. This time with lots of patience and a little prayer. I so badly wanted this to work.

Mr. Tweaks comforted me saying we have never done this earlier so it might take couple tries..

And he made sure not to utter a word (about hiring someone to do it).

The second time Mr. Tweaks stood on the ladder and I handed him the wallpaper, which he aligned along the ceiling first and ran his hand over it very slowly starting from the top to bottom with an old credit card, removing air bubbles.

We waited for 3 minutes and when the wallpaper did not fall off the wall, I did this....

Via

By the time we hung the third wallpaper we were a semi-pro. Two hours later we had finished hanging all of the wallpaper. After lunch, I painted the section below the wallpaper. Later in the evening, we went to Lowes to pick the chair rail to cover the separation between the wallpaper and paint.

Next day morning, I measured and cut the chair rails using these the saw and miter box. The miter box are very helpful when it comes to the corners.

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I did not do a good job for this corner, so I used plaster of paris and covered the gap between the chair rails.
Then I painted the chair rails and base board with white paint.

 

The next weekend, one of our friend, helped with hanging the light fixture as well helped Mr. Tweaks to change the faucet.

So here are all the pictures of the powder room... 

You know the story of the mirror and the spray paint. 

I decided not to hang anything on the wall behind the toilet. It would make the small room crowded. I picked this fake succulent on the toilet water tank from Ikea during one of my previous visit. The pot is from Ikea too. The tissue box has been with us for few years. I gave it a coat of brown paint.

This is how it looks with the lights on.

I found this brand new towel ring on eBay for $2. And if I bought 2 of them, it was free shipping too. I used one here and the other one lying in my hoarder pile in the garage.

Used an old basket to store the extra toilet papers.

I was so happy with the result that I every half an hour I would just open the door, give a glance and walk back. And every guest had to take the tour of Powder room with complete detail. Pity our guests.

A final before and after.

Here is the budget break down:

Wallpaper (Lowes): $10
Mirror (Craigslist):$20
Faucet (Lowes):$25
Light Fixture (Lowes): $6
Chair Rail (Lowes): $10
Soap Dispenser( Bed Bath & Beyond): $15
Faux Flowers (Michaels): $4
Towel Ring (eBay): $2
Succulent on the toilet (Ikea): $8

The total came to $100, I did not add tax to any of the purchases...:-)
I did it, the complete makeover for $100 plus the tax. 

Linking at:
http://www.homestoriesatoz.com, http://www.simplydesigning.net, http://www.notjustahousewife.net, http://theturquoisehome.com, http://myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com, http://www.astrollthrulife.net, http://www.madetobeamomma.com/2014/05/hit-best-shot-17.html, 
http://diybydesign.blogspot.com/,
http://www.frommyfrontporchtoyours.com/ 
http://glamorousbride.blogspot.com/ 
http://www.serenitynowblog.com/, http://www.thriftydecorchick.com/