When our three-year housemate moved out, we realized we needed to re-paint our spare bedroom, for ourselves and for a new housemate...and I jumped on the opportunity to bring our downstairs bathroom into the 21st century.

The floor was already nice, diagonally-installed tile, updated in 1995 to match the downstairs halls and kitchen. I didn't like the shiny, chrome fixtures, and the metal on the vanity lights was eroding and rusting.

I couldn't understand why the original remodelers had put bright, honey-colored wood with blue and burgundy tile; or why the previous owners had painted white on top of blue, and left globs and rivulets of paint near the ceiling and baseboards. They'd also left several areas un-caulked, leaving lovely gaps between vanity and wall, wall and baseboards, and cabinet doors and wood.

The mirror was a piece of unframed glass, mounted with those cheesy plastic clips. (I forgot to take a "before" pic while the old mirror and lights were still up. In this photo, our painter had already done the caulking.)

The bathroom before (fixtures stripped and new caulking already done):

We already had Ward Hardy, the painter, on the job, and we had some leftover wall paint from three years before. I got one additional can of Sherman-Williams "Virtual Taupe" to cover the vanity and wood picture frame, plus a cheap coffee table in our family room (whose paint was chipping and sticking terribly).

First, I'd fallen in love with this driftwood mirror from Pottery Barn. I'd been staring at it for weeks, even before I decided to change the bathroom. I realized it probably wouldn't go on sale for several months, if ever. I shopped for cheaper equivalents, but they weren't the right size, and/or didn't look as natural and pretty.

And, after researching how to glue driftwood on the existing glass, I found it was going to be expensive and time-consuming to acquire small, treated driftwood and make it work. So, the PB mirror became the Big Purchase ($200), and I made it the focus with which to coordinate.

Since we were having the wall painted and patched, now was the time to change fixtures. I shopped for pewter-colored fixtures online, and ended up with some great deals on sink fixtures (eBay), towel and T.P. rack (PB clearance), vanity lights, and cabinet knobs. 

The vanity lights required a couple go-arounds, as Home Depot and Lowe's were short on choices -- bronze and nickel are still the trends -- and my first online purchase from CSN Stores ended up being more like brushed nickel than pewter. Back it went; luckily, shipping was free! I ended up buying lights online from ATG stores, after a quick phone consultation with their customer service rep. re: color. I'd found the Seagull lights on eBay, but ATG stores actually had a better price.

I found the cool, swirly knobs at Home Depot online, $14.99 for a pair:

...And the look started to come together! Tafi was our best little helper, the whole time. Oh, he's a verrry good supervisor.

The toilet paper holder is supposed to be a combination T.P./magazine rack. The T.P. mount is a little close to the wall, but of course you can put the roll on the long rack instead. I think this minor defect was why the fixture was $10. Whatever; it's bendable too!

The towel rack, also from PB clearance. It wasn't the same style "family," but I thought it coordinated well. I already had the taupe-colored towels:

The vanity lights wouldn't fit with the mirror with lamps hanging downward, so we mounted it right-side-up. Fortunately it worked, even with the bathroom being somewhat small:

The final touch was the recycled-glass soap and lotion bottles (Target, $12 each). I also got two recycled-glass bottle vases from West Elm clearance online, can't remember the exact price, but they were less than $20 total.

The only thing with the fresh grass from our yard is that it's a bit too fascinating - almost lost the sink vase! I may have to get some dune or meadow grass, pre-dried.

Nighttime view (before I got the glass vases):

View upon entry:

I put the other recycled glass vase (aqua-colored) in the corner of the tub, visible from the doorway. The curly, dried flora I got for it isn't in yet...I'll have to add a photo!

...And, the money stops there! But I'm very pleased. Huge thanks to - what is the term? "DH?" Greg for drilling and plumbing!