More Deets on the Rusty Old bathroom Reveal

Yesterday I showed the big reveal of my rustic boys bathroom makeover and shared my secrets on how to remove wallpaper like a pro.  The ugly wallpaper is finally down and the fresh new bathroom is now one of my most favorite rooms in the house!  Here is the before and after if you missed yesterday’s post…

Today, I’m gonna break down where I scored all of the fun elements of the bathroom and tell you a few stories along the way.

Everyone was raving over this old Ford truck tailgate in the bathroom.  My husband stumbled upon this beauty at a consignment store called Easy Street Resale.  Completely by coincidence, the blue of the truck tailgate totally matched the blue paint color on the walls, which is Sherwin Williams 6496 Oceanside. It was a match made in heaven.  Even though I currently drive a GMC, one of my favorite vehicles I’ve ever owned was a big black ’88 Ford truck that I used to pull my bass boat in my single years. Also, my Papa was a Ford truck man, so I love having this reminder of him in Garrett’s bathroom. Some of my earliest memories are riding in his old Ford truck that looked like it was smiling.  Long before we had cell phones my whole family kept CB radios in their cars. My mom, aunts and uncles used to play hide and go-seek in their cars by driving around and giving clues via their CB radios.  One person would hide on a back road somewhere, and the rest of the family would talk to them on the radio to try to figure out their location.  The CB frequency would peg out on the meter when they got closer so they could tell when they were in range.

These are my people.  This is where I come from.  This is why I have a Ford truck tailgate in my five year old’s bathroom.

The red bench is a nod to my husband’s family, in an even more direct way.  This bench came directly out of the boathouse of my husband’s Granny’s house.  She has had this set of picnic table benches since well before 1979 when they built the house on the lake.  Over the years the elements and the dogs have rounded out the corners into perfectly weathered perfection.  Thank you, Granny Carter, for giving us this piece of your history to add to our growing collection of repurposed family heirlooms. The Hatley bug rain boots are an old pair of Garrett’s that he wore as a preschooler.  I meant to consign them but never got around to it. Fake plant is Ikea. Chicken wire basket is from Hobby Lobby.  Toilet paper is Costco.

Sources, I give em.

I scored this GORGEOUS old beat up door turned towel rack while at The Chapel Market a few weeks ago.  I was wondering through the tent outside when I saw the gorgeous pieces that sweet Patricia from Acres of Hope was selling.  Acres of Hope gives a portion of their proceeds to help fund adoptions of children from around the world. I had something very similar to this in mind for the bathroom already, but I didn’t have the energy to DIY it myself.  So, when I stumbled on this beautiful booth filled with treasures, I was ecstatic to find this blue cabinet door with the hardware already attached, AND be able to help a charitable cause with my purchase??  Um, yes! Sold!   The bright blue paint color was destiny, again, much like the tailgate.  I swear I didn’t plan any of this, it just happened. I found the canteen at one of my new favorite thrift stores, The Foundry Superthrift in Fairfield.

The moose and bear heads above the sink were gifts for Garrett’s nursery before he was even born.  When he was a toddler the eyeballs staring down from the walls would freak him out, so they had to come down for a few years so we could get some semi-decent sleep.  They are back up now, and he loves them as long as he cannot see them from his bed.  I can’t say that I blame him.  If you are looking to score one, Amazon has a good collection of stuffed moose and bear heads.

Ok, I have to make a confession about the light fixture.  I had to pull this post together really quickly because I kinda-sorta-accidentally botched my front door makeover post that was scheduled that day instead. But luckily I had all the work finished in the bathroom except for a few minor touches like décor and lighting.  So, I quickly spray painted the existing brass light fixture with some leftover spray paint from the vintage student desk makeover, and when I tried to put it all back together I was missing some important pieces of the light fixture.  So, I rigged it up as best I could and took the photos.  That’s why there is a shadow line behind the fixture when it is supposed to be flush against the wall.  It’s on my to-do list to remedy this situation, but right now it works.  It’s also on our to-do list to frame out the mirror with some matching trim pieces like we did in the basement.  It will help finish out the room for sure!

I found this nautical themed alphabet artwork on Zulily a few years ago, and I’ve searched high and low for them online but cannot find them anywhere.  If you know where to purchase these now please let me know so I can pass the info along.  I found some similar ones on etsy, but not exact. 

The assortment of rusty fish came from one of my favorite local metal-artisans, Simply Ornamental. I bought these for our lake cabin a few years ago and they’ve been sitting in a drawer since we sold it.  I love these rusty little guys, though, so they made a comeback! If you’re not a fisherman, that is a bream, a crappie and a largemouth bass.

You can read all about how I DIYed the ruffled burlap grain-sack window covering over here in this post. It looks MUCH more at home in this bathroom now than it did with all that formal wallpaper in the before pictures. Those awesome wooden stars up top came from Shaunna at Perfectly Imperfect’s booth at Chapel Market.

I love that the wooden stars echo the cute little galvanized stars hanging from the curtain.  I scored those galvanized stars at a boutique shop in Grayton Beach, FL that escapes me right this minute. I also cannot remember where I got the metal “G” since I’ve had it for years. And, unfortunately, I did not get the name of the man who created this reclaimed wood star that I found at a vendor booth.  If you really need a source let me know and I’ll dig deeper.  The galvanized bunting was made my be with a tutorial found here.  The antique fishing basket was another flea market find without a source.

Ok, so maybe I lied about giving you all the places to buy this stuff!  I will admit that I spend a great deal of time rifling through old junky buildings that have “Stuff for sale” signs parked out front.  I try my best to keep things straight, but eventually they all run together in one giant rust-colored blur.

This is one of the hazards of being a picker and a junk-lover.  That and the tetanus shots and lead testing kits.

Hope you guys enjoyed the full rusty, junky bathroom tour today!

Be sure to check out the other posts about this bathroom makeover, including the step-by-step tutorial on how I created the ruched burlap balloon shade using old grain sacks!

And also, How to Remove Wallpaper Like a Pro: