When we purchased our home, a few pieces were left behind by the previous owners such as a pink teepee, fuzzy bathmats, and landscape blocks. We have gotten rid of most things (i.e. everything listed above), except for this contemporary glam round mirror in our half bathroom downstairs. The half bath has looked exactly like this for 3 years now and we decided it’s time for a little makeover.
We knew we didn’t want to spend much on this project, but knew we needed a new mirror and something to fill up the blank wall space over the toilet. Industrial decor meets warm vintage wood tones is very much my dream. I’m a sucker for natural textures against cool tones like gray and black. Of course, we decided to build two “mini” pipe shelves.
We purchased a 6′- 1″x6″ pine board from Home Depot and cut it down into 2- 22″ long boards. After giving them a good coat of weathered oak stain, I decided it was looking too gray, so I followed up with a quick coat of dark walnut stain. Then a few coats of polyurethane and they were ready for hanging!
For the pipe brackets, we decided to go with the 1/2″ diameter pipes, because the larger ones just seemed like overkill and too bulky for our small bathroom. We purchased 4- 1/2″ black iron pipe floor flanges, 4- 1/2″x8″ black pipe connectors, and 4-1/2″ black iron caps. The coating on this kind of black iron easily rubs off on your hands and they tend to rust over time, especially in a bathroom. They’re obviously not designed to be decorative. We used Goo Gone to remove the gunky stuff and then followed up with a paste finishing wax to help fend off rust.
Tyler used his best friend, the laser level, to hang the floor flanges to the wall, bringing them a couple inches in from where the end of the shelves would be. The pipe connectors screw into the flanges and then caps onto the open end of the pipes.
Lastly, we placed our boards on top of the shelf brackets, decorated the new shelves, and hung a black, rustic mirror over the sink! Poof! An instant transformation! (I will link all the the decorative items I can find online and detail the cost breakdown at the end of this post.)
We plan to replace the light fixture with one to match the lights in our kitchen and hallway, but as always, we’ll update you when we do! Hope you enjoyed this quick transformation! Don’t you guys think a rich paint color or a funky printed wallpaper would look so cool in here?? I love small spaces because they’re so easy to make a big impact without hurting your wallet!
Shelf Costs…
- 1- 1in.x6in.x6ft pine board ($9.72)
- 4- 1/2 in. FPT Black Malleable Iron Floor Flange ($2.83/ea)
- 4- 1/2 in. x 8 in. Black Steel Pipe Connector ($2.92/ea)
- 2- 1/2 in. Black Iron Cap (2-Pack) ($2.67/ea)
- TOTAL: $38.06 (+tax)
Shop the half bath…
- Black, rustic rounded rectangular mirror (Hobby Lobby)
- Natural rush basket with handles (Hobby Lobby) *you can buy them individually in store)
- Small, green herringbone texture glass vase (Hobby Lobby)
- Black, wire basket with “stuff” label (Hobby Lobby) *I attached rubber feet to the bottom so it doesn’t slip around!
- Mini, stacked wooden bowls (Hearth and Hand) *I found these on clearance at Target for $4. I don’t think they carry them any more, but they were regularly priced at $14.99! I don’t think I could ever pay that much for them, but they are cute!
- Black float frame with vintage print (frame from HomeGoods, similar from Amazon) *The vintage print I found in an old box of photos at my parents house. It’s a copy of an old advertisement from a newspaper dating 1888. I love that kind of stuff!
- Green vases (vintage hand-me-down from my MIL)
- Plant (Golden pothos, AKA Devil’s ivy) *This plant has spent most of his life in our front room where there is plenty of light, so I’m not sure how well he’ll do here. He may have to move back!
- Cinnamon tea light holder (gift from my best friend when she went on vacation abroad!)
Thanks for stopping by!