Projects

26 Apr Master Bathroom Renovation: Island Counter

  This might be my first Saturday post ever, but I realize I have not written as much this week as I usually do, so I thought I would update you on the renovation of our Master Bathroom. In fact, just yesterday, the countertop arrived for our little island furniture piece that rests next to the sink.  My favorite element about the island (besides the fact that it looks great) is that the middle section of the back (which you can see in the photo above) pulls out to reveal a hamper!  Since this piece is about 44" wide, and 24" deep, I knew the drawers would be crazy deep, which did not seem necessary for the items we would be storing.  Toothbrushes, toothpaste, razors, etc. do not really require nearly two feet of drawer depth.  Therefore, the idea for the hamper was born. The three drawers on either side of the unit will provide plenty of storage, and I am so thrilled with how the design turned out overall.  The carpenter on this job has been fabulous, and I have really been impressed with his design knowledge and ideas.  After I told him I wanted to incorporate the shower tile pattern  somewhere else in the bathroom, he came up with the idea to turn the pattern on the horizontal and add it to the cabinet. When the carpenter first brought in the unfinished piece, my mouth hit the floor. I knew it was really special, and I told him again and again how spectacular I thought his work was. Of course, then I had to find a countertop, and I visited nearly every remnant shop in my area.  Since I didn't need a very large piece, I was hoping to find something exotic and interesting at a great price.  I also knew I wanted a white background, and I wanted the marble to be honed.  (not shiny or polished) I was sure I wanted something fairly thick too, at least 3 cm, which is a little over an inch. There were a few stones that caught my eye...like this one.

15 Apr Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems

I have pretty much decided no construction project would be complete without a bit of angst.    (I know many of you who have done projects big and small are nodding your head right now.)  As much as I truly like and respect my contractor, he cannot be everywhere at once, and as someone with an eye for detail in design, I am going to pick out every little thing that is not quite right. For example, we got the plumbing hardware installed in the shower (can't wait to show you, but everything is covered in plastic sheeting right now because they are painting), and I noticed the little button with the pretty lettering would turn whenever you turned the knob.  (there are three of these knobs, and they were all turned in different directions)  Therefore, the letters always looked like they were diagonal, and it was driving me crazy. When I mentioned it to the plumber, he kind of shrugged his shoulders and made some comment about "how it was a little loose".  My reply:  "Yes, but what can we do?"  His response:  Shrug. Little did he know he was talking to someone that would forever be bothered by the crooked letters.  "I'll be right back", I said. A few minutes later, I showed up with two supplies to remedy this problem.  There has to be a creative solution to this complication, right?

08 Apr Master Bathroom Renovation: Wood & Marble Floor

If you follow me on Instagram (@astoriedstyle - following me on Instagram is a great way to keep up to date on my projects and installations), you saw the above sneak peek of our Master Bathroom floor.  This design was a collaboration of ideas between my husband and I, and consequently was the only design element of the room I felt a little insecure about.  Although in my head it looked fantastic, I could not find a picture of this type of look on the Internet anywhere.  Oftentimes, I feel a little sad when I have what I think is an earth shattering idea or plan, google it, and see it has been done a million times over.  So it was nice to feel unique and a little scary that I could not see a real life picture. In case you are new to A Storied Style and the renovation of our Master Bathroom, you can play catch up by reading this post about "The Plan",

and also by reading this Master Bathroom Renovation Update post. We decided to incorporate wood in the bathroom because the room you step down into from the main bathroom had the original 1920 floors.  I thought it might look strange to do all marble or tile and then step onto the wood.  Thus the idea for the wood squares surrounded by marble was born.  You can see the original (dusty!) wood floor in the below image. I love French chevron wood floors, and I love the raw, natural wood look, so I had my fingers crossed that when our original wood floor was sanded, it would be a beautiful organic looking color.  Once I saw the difference in what was sanded and what had the oil stain on it, I seriously wanted to sand my entire house.