The Ol’ Bathroom Shelf Switcheroo

We’ve had this floating shelf in our master bathroom since we moved in two and a half years ago. Holy cow, two and a half years?!

I’ve really been loving small, inexpensive changes around the house that, to me, make a big difference. House tweaking, if you will.

So when I happened across a beautiful shelf at TJ Maxx, I decided to grab it to fancy up the guest bathroom. Other than staining the cabinets and putting in a pretty shower curtain, we haven’t done much in there.

This is where the floating shelf used to live in our bathroom.

    

We’ve had a giant bathroom shelf behind the toilet in the guest bathroom, and it’s secretly been driving me crazy. For such a tiny space, there just isn’t room for such a large shelf.

But I knew that we still needed some storage in there, too. So this new shelf seemed like the perfect idea.

I tend to think that I have perfect ideas all of the time…

And guess who the lucky bugger was to get to make all of my perfect ideas come true today?

Already, the space feels so much bigger without that large rack.

But I should have known this would happen. I bought a new shelf and loved the look of it…and I’m never in the guest bathroom! So I decided to steal the new one for our bathroom, and then give the old floating shelf to our guests.

Maybe I’m mean. But it makes sense to enjoy it more on my side of the house.

Right? Guys, right?

So we took down the old shelf and got the new space ready for it. Yippeeee! This is going to be awesome!

The old storage rack that we removed had been anchored to the wall, so I filled those up with some nail filler. It will dry white and then get painted. I’m not going to sit to watch it dry, but that could be fun, huh?

Once the holes were filled, it was time for my shelf installation expert to get to work putting up the “new” floating shelf in here. Hubby is really good with a level.

The holes for the new shelf have been drilled with drywall anchors in place. The metal holster can now go up, on which the floating shelf sits.

Holster…check! It’s probably not even called that, but I will call it that from now on!

   

Now the fun part…actually seeing the shelf go up. I won’t miss this guy in our bathroom. I’m so tickled with the new one!

I don’t normally show pictures of toilets on this here blog, so you are in for a real treat today. Toilets galore!

So now we can put up a towel basket and some purdy flowers. It still needs a picture hanging above, but I found just the frame at Goodwill a few months back.

If it ever warms up again, I will spray paint it and get it ready to go up. At least you know that today won’t end all of this toilet fun!

So I’m really happy with how the new floating shelf turned out in here. And I love having that giant storage rack gone. It makes this area feel so much more spacious.

Now for the really fun part…a new shelf in our master bathroom!

Hubby is really good at being patient and ensuring that proper measurements are taking place to hold this shelf up through a nuclear blast. I tend to get so excited to see the end result that I am not as careful when measuring.

We make such a good team. I can’t think of how I help in the equation, but he is really good at making my projects come to life!

Here is a sneak peek at the new shelf! It’s totally unlike anything else in my house. It’s almost rustic, I daresay. But I know with the right modern accessories, it will make a nice, eclectic addition to our bathroom.

Who knew that the words “eclectic” and “bathroom” could ever be used in the same sentence?!

These are the two best-looking things in our master bathroom…a new shelf, and that hot Hubby of mine.

What is this yellow thing he keeps checking? I would have tossed that out the window hours ago. And the shelf wouldn’t have stayed up for long, either, but who’s counting.

Ta da! What do you think? Yes, I love it, too. But I agree with you in that it needs some proper staging.

Ahhhh. That’s better. You can ignore that broken clock. It was a casualty of this new shelf being installed. Luckily. I have another clock in a drawer just waiting to live its life mission in our bathroom. And it’s silver, so it makes the whole wall look even cooler and intentional.

I bought the basket at TJ Maxx, too. It was bright purple, but it was the perfect size. I’ve never let the color of something keep me away from giving it a good home. I knew that a quick spray of paint would make it the perfect towel basket on such a narrow shelf!

Done and done.

And the plant…well, let’s just say that it was a very successful day at TJ Maxx. Man, I love that store!

I don’t buy things there very often (no, really, Hubby!), but when I do, I really love whatever I get.

The pot has a fake succulent inside that doesn’t look fake. And the beautiful aqua teal pot didn’t need any paint from me to make it look better. I fell in love and knew that it would be the perfect way to update our bathroom shelving situation!

The wire basket is just so cool. I love it. With a satin nickel finish, it rounds out such a rustic shelf perfectly. And you know that I love bursts of color! I am in love with this plant!

Green and blue? Sign me up!

The present clock being silver ties everything in so well. Maybe I’m glad that this guy got broken?!

Yippeeeee! I love it. I don’t know if I should tell you about spilling some milk, but I found the coolest fish and painted him bright, glossy yellow. He was going to be properly named and put on this shelf as well, but he was too slick when I tried to pick him up. He fell, crashing to the floor in a million (or seven) tiny pieces.

We still can’t talk about it. And the past few weeks have been unsuccessful in my search to find a replacement animal for this shelf. For some reason, I think we need something “living” there!

What do you think of the changes? I love them. A little work goes a long way for me (or, more properly for credit, Hubby)! Now I smile every time I walk into the bathroom. But that was probably too much information, huh?

The Vegas Strip in the Daylight Hours

After a wonderful evening exploring the Strip on foot, it was time to see it again for an afternoon. This time, the sun was out. And so was my hunger, after not getting much to eat for dinner!

So I walked to the monorail station after a wonderful night of sleep on the seventeenth floor. I still had about three hours left on my 24-hour monorail pass.

Best $12 I spent in Vegas, that’s for dang sure!

This is the Hilton attached to the Convention Center, and the home of the monorail station closest to my hotel. I only had to walk a few blocks to arrive here this morning.

Pretty, isn’t it?

Up, up and away to the monorail station! It wasn’t much busier than the day before, but El Capitan happened to hop on the same car as me to ride to the Strip today.

What a small world!

Since the monorail station was on an elevated platform, if gave me the height to take a picture of the Strip in the distance. Way too far to walk, right?

Soon I was exiting at my monorail stop to walk to lunch. I had found on a map the night before where my lunch destination would be today.

And it was going to be much more affordable than last night’s dinner at Serendipity. (And much better, too, but I didn’t know that yet!).

At first, I considered eating some tacos for lunch at Cabo Wabo. But their menu was the typical high Vegas prices, and I was ready to wander for a while until I found what I wanted.

This is just outside the Planet Hollywood entrance.

There are two entrances to the Miracle Mile Shops. Had I known that, I would have walked a few more feet and entered in the farther door. Going this way, however, I got a fun view of the interior of the casino, as well as lots and lots of stores.

All filled with people. There isn’t a recession on the Las Vegas Strip, apparently!

After taking the long way, I finally arrived at the Earl of Sandwich. It sounded like the perfect solution to calm my hunger, since I happen to like sandwiches quite a bit.

Just not Subway. Yuck.

Hi, Earl! You’re about to make me very, very happy!

Especially with a delicious side like red potato salad. I’m an Ideeho girl at heart, since my Dad grew up there. My Mom even lived there for a few years decades.

Spuds are just a part of me, and I’ve come to terms with that knowledge.

But this. Oh my. This.

A hot sandwich on crusty bread, filled with turkey, ham, and probably avocado. I can’t remember which sandwich I got. But I can remember that it tasted heavenly.

And it was nice for my wallet, too, since my entire meal was less than ten dollars. Now we’re talking!

Soon it was time to head back outside. I still had about an hour before my monorail pass expired, so I decided to walk the Strip again.

This bull is to pay tribute to the cowboys entering town this week for the professional bull riding championships. It’s probably up all the time, but I’m sure that the cowboys noticed and appreciated such love from Vegas.

And then they probably got wasted here. Since that is what visitors to this town seem to do for fun.

     

It was a little overcast, which made for a nice day to wander outside. Here is the front of Planet Hollywood, and across the street is the new Cosmopolitan.

The yellow building is Aria, I think. And lots of construction still taking place on some shopping buildings in front of it.

A distant view to the south. Can you see Mandalay Bay waaaaaaay down there?

And here are those fancy-pants stores that I walked past last night. What on earth would I do in a Prada store?!

I took a skyway to cross the Boulevard so that I could walk north on the west side. I did the other side last night, so I thought that it could be fun to see the buildings from a different vantage point.

Man, I live a life of excitement!

Hi, Planet Hollywood! Thanks for lunch. It was the best thing that I ate for my whole trip!

   

Hi, Bellagio and Eiffel Tower at Paris. You’ve been swell to me these past few days!

I can’t stop at just one picture of the Bellagio, since it’s so dang purdy.

And these tunnels underneath the driveway light up in bright blue at night. So neat!

Hello again, Bally’s. I saw Chewbacca last night in front of your property. In fact, lots of Star Wars people were wandering around in full costume. It made me wander if I didn’t get the memo.

The bright pink and orange signs are Serendipity, where my dinner was served last night. See what a great view I had all during my meal?

Oh, those Osmond's. I’ve never seen them in concert but have heard they’re pretty amazing.

And look at this! The Imperial Palace is completely gone! They are doing extensive renovations to this. It will be fun to see what it transforms into next time that I get to visit.

Hail, Caesar!

And Shania, apparently.

This is my sister-in-law’s favorite spot at the Strip, so this picture is just for her.

But now it’s time to head back to catch the train. I don’t want to spend another $12 because I missed my monorail by just a few minutes!

This will give me time to read for a few hours back in the hotel lobby until it’s time to meet for our flight home. Perfect!

Goodbye, Strip. You’ve been such a nice friend to me these past few days. And I didn’t lose a dime! It helps that I also didn’t gamble a dime, either.

It’s like they are blowing the train whistle for me!

Just kidding. That would be kind of creepy, actually.

Lots of construction going on behind the scenes. Maybe they are making more parking spots for the Strip? That would be nice, since it’s tough to find a good spot sometimes. I’m glad that I didn’t even have to mess with a car on this trip.

Just sneakers and monorails and airport shuttles for me, thank you very much.

It kind of looks like an ant farm, huh?

Goodbye, back of the Strip. You’re pretty nifty!

Since I had some time to kill, and I was safe with my monorail pass since I was already on the platform, I decided to ride to the “end of the line” near the MGM Grand to take a peek around.

Seven minutes later, I hopped on the same monorail and headed back towards my hotel.

Man, I’m so adventurous!

Soon I was near my hotel once again. Except that I decided to be even more adventurous by going to the end of the line in the opposite direction!

Somebody…stop me!

It was only one stop past my hotel, so no biggy. But it got me closer to this pretty thing. It’s the closest I’ve been to the Stratosphere yet.

This is the barn where all of the monorails spend the night. At least, the three hours a night that they get to rest. This is a town that doesn’t really sleep, remember. So I doubt they give any slack to their monorail system, either.

I’m not sure what happened to this poor little train. Did he run out of steam? Couldn’t quite make it to bed for the night? Or maybe he is dragging his feet as he preps to come on for the wild night shift?

You just never know with monorails.

But this was the main reason that I wanted to ride the monorail all the way to the end. I wanted to see this classic (though presently closed) casino. This was one of the grandest buildings back in the day when Vegas was first getting its party town name.

Remember the Rat Pack? They were here. All of the stars were here. And now it sits empty and vacant at the end of the monorail line. At least it had one visitor today…friendly wave from me!

From this last station, I walked back to my hotel. I read a book for a few hours before it was time to head to the airport for our quick night flight home.

And, since it’s only two pictures, I will end with the proof of our quick night flight home. It was such a fun few days!

Welcome to fabulous
Welcome to fabulous
Laaaaaaaaaaaaas Vegaaaaaaaaaaas
Give us your dreamers, your harlots and your sin
Laaaaaaaaaaaaas Veeeeeeeeeeegaaas
Didn't nobody tell you the house will always win?

- Brandon Flowers