Master Bathroom Renovation Update

06 Mar Master Bathroom Renovation Update

I wanted to share with you today an update on our Master Bathroom renovation.  You can read more about where we started and what prompted the reno here.  

Not a whole lot has changed from the inspiration board, but I am pondering tweaking one or two things.

As you can see, we have a subfloor now, and the walls have been made smooth.  We are ready to paint hopefully soon.

We built this small platform so our barber shop sink will have something to sit on to give it a little more height.  My husband had this idea, and I think it is so smart.  (have I mentioned lately what a great design partner he is?)  He wanted the sink to feel like part of the main bathroom, and I think this platform is just the unity these two spaces needed.  The sink will be perpendicular to the main floor, so one will step down and turn to use the sink.

I am very passionate about saving as much as we can of the original bathroom, so the old trim was carefully taken off and put back.  We replaced wood only as needed.  You can see where the old and new blends in this photo.  Of course, when it is painted, you will never know.

As happy as I am to see this room opened up (I seriously cannot believe how much lighter it feels), I am most excited about the shower transformation.  It is fully tiled and grouted, and it looks fabulous.

This is the only tile in this bathroom, and I really wanted it to be a wow factor.  I love that this tile pattern was based on a 1920’s design since that is the era of my home.  Isn’t it amazing how some design elements are timeless?  This geometric design will look classic, fresh, and modern ten years from now.

When you are designing a space, little details make all the difference in what is pretty and what is amazing.  The marble mosaic floor tile is a smaller version of the wall tile, and I laid it so it would look like it traveled up the wall and nestled itself inside the niche.  You can see the flow here.

Against the wall where the shower valves will be located, the tile is moving horizontally.  It adds some interest.

The ceiling tiles are a simple subway brick.

One of the riskier design elements in this room is the main area floor.

We are planning for it to be a combination of wood and marble.  We wanted to incorporate the wood floor in the step down area of the bathroom since it is original.  I love the parisian apartment look with chevron wood floors, and I love the color of raw wood flooring.  This is a sample the flooring guy made up for us.

When the original floor was sanded down, I knew that was what I wanted.  You can see here how we experimented with water and oil sealers.  I definitely like the water sealant better as the natural wood floor color does not change much.  The raw wood is on the right, raw wood + an oil sealer is in the middle, and raw wood + a water sealer is on the left.

The main bathroom floor will consist of 3′ x 3′ squares of chevron wood surrounded by six inches of marble border.  I originally wanted to place the herringbone squares on the diamond.  You can get the general idea here.

I just think that is going to look strange, especially around the shower where you are going to have weird cuts and fractions of this herringbone.  The asymmetry may be discombobulating, I’m afraid.  To be honest, I’ve always been a little unsure about this plan, but it looked better drawn on the diamond than it did in straight rows.  However, this is a perfect illustration on how things look different on paper than they do in real life, and you tweak as necessary.  Therefore, I’m thinking the herringbone will be laid in rows, surrounded by the marble.  The chevron piece we have is about eighteen inches so double that to get a feel for the size of the wood square.

My friends over at Bottega Design Gallery, who I ordered all of my tile through, really came to the rescue on the marble.  I needed large sizes (24″ long and 18″ long), and the original marble I picked out had been discontinued in that large size.  I was pretty bummed as the original tile I chose was the perfect milky white with subtle streaks of gray and hints of gold.  But Rebecca (owner at BDG) found me a new marble that looked just like the other one.  The only thing was, it only came polished so we had to get it honed.  (which is not very expensive by the way!)

As far as other updates, the attic entrance needs to get moved to the guest room/my office,

I’m still pondering what to do with my beautiful bench I bought for next to the tub from Scout Design Studio (I’m still thinking gold legs and peacock blue velvet),

and all of the hardware has arrived except for the slide bar for the shower.  I’m torn on aging the unlacquered brass myself, or letting it age naturally.

That’s all the news!  We are two months in now, and I’m of course ready for it to pick up a little bit.  But don’t all good things require patience?  : )  I enjoy taking you along with me step by step, and I hope to have another update sooner rather than later!

Still, we’ve come a long way, right?