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Motherhood Simplified.

A simple IKEA hack: Painted Bathroom Cart

July 8, 2015 | 7 Comments

ikea bathroom cart hack | themombot.com

Our new home has two small bathrooms. Like most women, I’ve always had big dreams of a giant master bathroom with a soaker tub where I could lock the door and escape… but of course, we can’t have everything we want. A master bath is one of the things we sacrificed when we decided to purchase our home. Oh well, such is life.

Not only are our bathrooms small, but they have zero counter space. The vanities are nice enough, but they are all sink. And, hello, I am a woman. I need somewhere to set my makeup and my blow dryer and my hair brush and my flat iron… clearly a man designed these zero countertop vanities. For shame.

So to supplement, I found this great GRUNDTAL bathroom cart at IKEA that fits perfectly in between my vanity and our toilet. The only problem was, it was stainless steel and all the finishes in the bathroom are rubbed oil bronze. So not only would it stick out like a sore thumb, but the stainless steel reminded me of a hospital cart, which is sort of creepy. So I decided to turn to a can of spray paint.

I found some oil rubbed bronze metallic spray paint by RustOleum and got to work painting the bathroom cart pieces before I assembled it. It only took a couple of coats to cover the stainless steel and even as I was painting it I could tell the finish was going to look authentic. I did the entire cart with only one can of spray paint, although I ran out at the end and would have liked to cover a couple more spots, but I’m cheap so I left it be. After it dried and I assembled it, it looked like a totally different cart.

ikea bathroom cart hack | themombot.com

I love the finished product! I was a little concerned about the paint scratching off, but so far it is holding up great and I have had zero issues (even though I pull those baskets out off the shelves daily).

ikea bathroom cart hack | themombot.com

ikea bathroom cart hack | themombot.com

So concludes another chapter in my “IKEA solves all problems” book.

Related posts:

  1. Ikea Hack: DIY Mudroom Benches
  2. Vintage Pantry Door
  3. What a difference a handle makes
  4. Christmas card display ideas

Filed Under: crafting, home Tagged With: DIY, home tour

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HI! I'M AMY.

I'M A BLOGGER, GRAPHIC DESIGNER, MOM, COFFEE ADDICT, DIYER, CHRONIC MULTITASKER AND STRESSCASE, A COOK AND A LOVER OF A GOOD GLASS OF WINE.
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I get it. It's a little weird. But the girls I've I get it. It's a little weird.
But the girls I've seen do it best, look adorable.

I think it looks best with an oversized tee or sweatshirt, tennies or slides, and a small crossbody bag.

You can't argue with comfort.

For the record, these are women's sleep shorts that I've had a couple of years from Old Navy. If you buy actual men's boxers, you might consider sewing up the pee pocket 😜

Don't spend a lot on this trend; these shorts are made from the thinnest of fabric and shouldn't cost much. Don't be fooled by a retailer that wants you to spend just because it's trendy.

But if you see some cute boxers and want to give it a go - then do! Bonus - if/when the trend ends, you'll have pajamas on the ready 👏

It's solid weekend wear, but I'm not going out to dinner in it...

#boxershortsforgirls #boxershort #ootd #womensfashion #styleinspiration
Another project down in my son's room! I knew I w Another project down in my son's room!

I knew I wanted some sort of built-in feature in this bedroom, but it was hard to figure out what, because we turned it into an active space where he could run and play and needed a lot of room.

So I settled on a built-in bookcase with the slatted design feature, which I'm in love with!

The best part about it is that if he ever decides to upgrade his bed, the space will also accommodate a full or queen size bed going in the opposite direction. It adds so much interest to this room and hopefully will be here for a long time!

One of the things I love most about DIY projects is figuring out how to make something - it's like a giant puzzle. I saw photos of these slotted wall room dividers on Pinterest and just figured it out as I went. All in all, I had very few hiccups and it only took me a few hours to put together. I think I only cursed once?!? And so I call that an extreme DIY win...

Now that the sports wall, the climbing wall, and the built-in feature are complete, the last thing to do in here is some additional painting. I'm thinking of using a contrasting blue color for the closet doors and back side of the built-in, and perhaps trimming out the window with it as well. Then I need to switch out the light for a fan and this.room.is done 🙌

Details: I used two IKEA billy bookshelves, screwed together and secured to the wall. Then wrapped them in white oak plywood. I ripped down 2x4s into 1.5x1.5" square dowels (heavily sanded!) and used pocket holes on the back side of each to secure to the bookshelf and the 1x4 in the ceiling. It's very sturdy!

Go back in my reels to see the other projects from this room! 

#diy #boysroom #roomrenovation #roomrefresh #kidsrooms #climbingwall #soccerbedroom #builtins #bedroomredo #girlswhobuild
This climbing wall took half a day and cost under This climbing wall took half a day and cost under $100!

We are lucky enough to have 13' ceilings in our bedrooms, so a climbing wall seemed to make sense in my son's room as we worked on the remodel.

He is a super active kid with #ADHD, so his room redo has involved lots of activity spaces! Go back in my reels to see past projects and follow to see me finish this up!

#diy #roomrenovation #roomrefresh #kidsrooms #climbingwall #soccerbedroom
Another to-do checked off my list for spring break Another to-do checked off my list for spring break room makeover!

I added very subtle striping to the wall to mimic a soccer field and keep things classy. ⚽

Stick around to see the next project - a climbing wall!

(And go back in my reels to see the sports wall)

#roommakeover #soccer #kidsroom

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