Bit of Victorian Bathroom

Just starting the makeover

Hello, its been a long day but my creative thoughts are flowing full steam ahead! : )  Just wish my body could keep up with it. lol

My most current project I'm tackling is my bathroom.  I've bought just about everything I want except for my decorative towels and new lighting fixtures, I'm thinking a pendant light over the sink and maybe a small chandelier over near the tub area.  My biggest problem is, I have a cabinet in their I want to make over but not sure about what to do with it.  I left it in its original color as it matched the ugly hollow door that I'm not allowed to paint! In the beginning I had it hanging next to the door so you really didn't see it when you came in.  But it was kind of awkward getting things out of it because of the way the three doors on it open and close.  So I moved it above the toilet.

Decor Imitates Life!

I was going through some of my pictures to post my current kitchen and came across these pictures of roosters I took in 2005 while visiting the Sequoia National Zoo in California!  I was amazed at how much they looked like the roosters in my kitchen.  At the time, I had only been collecting roosters for about a year.  In the first pictures you will are from the zoo and further down are pictures of my kitchen with a figurine on my small shelf in the same pose. . .decor imitates life! LOL!   I love my roosters because they are so colorful and brings life into a room when you can't paint the walls.  That is the number one tip for designing when you rent; find other ways to bring in color.  It doesn't matter what your style is, just accessorize!  I'll go more into to decorating with white walls in another post.
Here is life and . . . . .

I even have this pose in white rooster in the spoon rest of the same shelf.

And here is decor imitating life.

My First Room Design

This is actually my first post that I somehow didn't post correctly.  So here it is again, hope you enjoy it.

This experience isn't really about rental design, but it does set the stage of my later frustrations in becoming a renter. So I thought it would be a good place to introduce something of how my creative side began. -_*  I remember being as young as 7yrs old and helping my mom rearrange the livingroom furniture. I would get so excited and would often throw in my own suggestions; some times she actually used them. : ) I would sit and dream about having my own space where I would make the decisions on how things would look. Well that day finally came when I was 16yrs old! I finally had my own bedroom and my mom said I could decorate any way I wanted!!!   Needless to say, I was bursting at the seams to put my own touch on it.

First thing I did was to paint the walls a soft misty lilac. While at the local paint store, I found this cute wallpaper; a vertical stripe design of tiny lavender and pink roses, green leaves, on a off white background. I had never hung wallpaper before but decided to try anyway if the price was right.  Well, since it was the last of the pattern, they sold me 3 double rolls for just $2.50, just right for my teenage budget. LOL   My curtains I found at a yard sale for a steal, priscillas in a crisp white chiffon.  I didn't know if they would fit my windows, but for $5.00 for the large box I couldn't pass them up.  Imagine my joy to find it was enough to fit both windows nice and full.

A Period of Creative Freedom

I've never believed in living in a place and not making the space my own.  When I had guest, whether friends or strangers, I didn't want them to be able to tell I was in a rental just from appearance.  If you've ever rented, you know that isn't always easy, especially if you have health issues as I do.  For 12yrs I had the pleasure of renting from an owner who granted me complete freedom, short of taking down walls, in creative decor both inside and outside of my space.  The space was a rather roomy 2bdrm duplex with a backyard to rival many homes in size.  My health was fairly well at the time, so I did a lot of major project of diy, as well as, interior decorating and gardening.   Unfortunately, I know longer enjoy such freedom as I had to move 6 years ago.  But I do have some pics of a few of my makeovers from that time.  I hope you enjoy the pics.

I'm afraid I'm having problems with some of my pics. This is my bedroom from 2005 with my first attempt at doing a color-wash on the walls.  I created the lamps myself, ordering the parts from ebay.  The lampshades were basic white and I added the details myself.  Don't know if you can tell, but there are crystals hanging from under the fringe.  The bed is queen size and was a dark brown stain when I got it at the thrift for $10.00.  I kept it that way for 2yrs as it went so well when my room was decorted in blue willow.