A Mermaid Inspired Bathroom on a Minnow Budget

Hello fabuless fashionistas.  Teresa, here, and today I am going to talk to you about the magical world of Mermaids.  Huh?, you might say, I thought this was a blog about fashion and thrifty shopping. Of course you would be correct. However in this blog  I am going to talk about “house fashion”, better known as home décor.  And don’t worry all you fantasy creature lovers, there will be Mermaids involved.

I had been thinking for a while that I would like to change the look of my very tiny bathroom, but was unsure exactly what I had in mind. But inspiration struck me one evening as I was indulging in a wonderful warm bubble bath.  It had been one of those less than perfect days, (I’m sure you all know the kind of which I am speaking), just the type of day where nothing seems to go your way.  And for me a nice soak in the tub always manages to help ease the tension.  In fact the water was so warm and soothing I found myself letting my mind wander to balmy tropical places and rolling ocean tides.  If only I were a mermaid I thought, I could live in such a place all year without a single care. ( I didn’t think of sharks at the time, as I was so relaxed.)  Then a poem came to my mind, which gave me the inspiration for the new look for my bathroom. And here it is…..

MERMAID DREAMS

I am a shining mermaid

with a home beneath the sea

Dancing among the fishes

it fills my heart with glee

Twirling spinning swimming

in the ocean all day long

I burst through the water’s surface

to sing my siren song

And all the sailors on their journey

seeking riches from the sea

Come to hear my mermaid tune

and try to capture me

I laugh of course because they can’t

I’m willful wild and free

So away I escape and once again

I’m home beneath the sea

Then I hear a tiny sound

a gurgle gasp and glub

And I realize tis all a dream….

I’m just sleeping in my tub!

That was it! A mermaid inspired bathroom. So I started looking for ways to decorate without spending an “ocean” of money. Of course thrifting was the answer.

Here a few pics of the items that I found . Please keep in mind that my bathroom is very small and it was a little awkward  trying  to get a good angle on some of these pics. I was not able to get an overall view of the entire bathroom but I hope you can get an idea of how it looks.

I made a copy of my poem and put it in a beautiful frame that I purchased at Goodwill for $1.99. The glass  seashell is actually an old Avon bottle that I just added  blue food coloring to make it a little more ocean like. This was also thrifted for less than $2.00. A 99 cent wine glass holds glass marbles and a blue battery operated tea light purchased at Dollar Tree. The candle works well as a night light.

 

Below the framed poem and shelf is where I keep some of my bathroom necessities. Another 99 cent wine glass from GW holds my Qtips. (To me they look like sea anemones)  The small square container holds cottonballs. It is hard to tell from this picture but it is glass and the finish can appear to be  both silver and gold. Perfect mermaid colors! I use the blue and black container with the silver lid  for my coconut oil, which I use as a makeup remover. It is so much prettier than the jar it comes in from the grocery store. A pretty blue dessert cup holds sea shells  and sand dollars, some of which I  collected from a beach trip last year. It is a nice touch that brings back some good memories.  Of course all of these items, (except the shells), were thrifted and each under $2.00!

The white shelf with shell accents was another Goodwill find. It was a little pricier than some of the other things. I believe I may have paid a “whale” of a price for this one, if I remember correctly it was a whopping $3.99! The pink ceramic fish was a gift from a friend, along with the starfish. The ceramic blue and yellow shell and the mermaid were both only 99 cents. The frosted green container holds more shells, glass marbles and another battery operated tea light. It makes a pretty glow through the glass when it is turned on. The frame is thrifted but the picture was painted by my daughter when she was in elementary school. I have kept so many of her pictures and thought this one looked like a sunset on the ocean.*   Worked out so well!

This is my shower curtain. The coloring in the photo is not exactly right. The places that appear brown are actually more of a sea green. The embroidery on it made me think of ocean waves.  I had looked online for mermaid shower curtains, but the ones I found were pretty expensive. Of course that would not do for a thrifty girl like me. My friend Kimmy was with me at Goodwill and actually pointed out that this one  had a very beachy vibe  to it. And at a price of $4.99, it couldn’t be beat. One day I might break down and take another look at the ones online, or of course I could just keep checking thrift stores. You never know what you will find. Until then I am happy with this one.

A pink ceramic shell holds toothbrushes. A glass candy dish is used for my floss picks. Once again Goodwill to the rescue. The mermaid bath sign I purchased from Amazon. It is actually the most pricey piece in the room, BUT I had a been given a gift card at Christmas so I used that to make the purchase. So to me it was FREE! I had the small white frame but nothing to put in it, so I asked my talented  friend Kimmy, for a suggestion. She took the frame and returned it to me with gorgeous mermaid picture which she had colored for me. She even made the mermaid a brunette which made me very happy!

These are my storage shelves. Sorry they are a little messy, but I try to contain everything with baskets and other thrifted containers. The ones on the middle shelf are actually an old canister set that I have had for years and hadn’t used but didn’t want to throw out.  They came in handy for storing hair products, razors and more.

And there you have it. My mermaid inspired bathroom. Almost totally thrifted, and  it didn’t cost me a sunken treasure!

Hope you enjoyed! Until next time be thrifty and stay fabuless!

P.S. If you have any of your children’s or grandchilren’s artwork, they can be framed and hung on the walls, not just delegated to the refrigerator. I have several drawings my daughter made framed and hanging in my kitchen!