House Tour Tuesday, Pottery Barn Inspired

I thought I'd share a remodel we did a few years ago.  Here's the inspiration photo I snagged from a Pottery Barn catalog.

I fell in love with the tile on the walls and since I have a little trouble keeping my hairspray on my hair, I thought tile on the walls might be a good solution to my scrubbing problem--walls don't like to be scrubbed and they don't wear hairspray well either!

I also wanted to copy the harringbone patterned tile, but not the color.  If you've ever lived with a dark floor, you know they are only good looking right after being cleaned--before anyone can walk on them or over them.  That is a lesson I learned the hard way--never again!

Actually, there wasn't anything in this photo I didn't like, but I had a different room (and different cleaning needs) altogether.  This is what to room looked like before the redo.

I really debated whether to show this shot or not, but it seemed only fair, painful, but fair.  Please hurry on to the next photo, get me out of my misery, and look at the after photo.  Aaahhh, more pleasant on all the senses.

 As you can see, I had a totally different footprint to work with.  I removed a fiberglass tub and shower and went with just a shower.  I had never taken a bath in that dinky little tub and knew I would never miss it.  Removing it actually gave more width space too--the fiberglass came out from the wall an inch or two and that made a hugh difference in a shower installation.

I kept the old vanity and just replaced the top, sinks and faucets.  The mirror was given a tiled border.  I had planned to paint the vanity antique white, but that is still undone.

A close-up of the faucet, granite, and moulding around the mirror.

This is the tiled wall--floor to ceiling--and it is continuous into the shower.  I opted for the harringbone patter on the floor, but in a tile that coordinated with the walls.   It gave it a more spacious look with the unbroken color flowing from floor to wall.

I hope you enjoyed this tour of a very personal space and how the thought process went from inspiration to reality.  I loved doing it and had a great contractor do all of the work--my family loves the man, especially my husband because of the headaches he didn't have to deal with, not to mention not having to deal with me on the project.

As always, thanks for reading one more post--I hope you found inspiration or entertainment.  I wish you a great day!  Robin

Linking up with these great blogs

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Debbiedoos Blogging and Blabbing--this one actually inspired this postl

Very Merry Vintage Style

Savvy Southern Style

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No Minimalist Here

Brambleberry Cottage

The Shabby Creek Cottage

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French Country Cottage

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The Reveal

On a post like this, it is hard to know which picture to show first.  This is the big reveal of the master bath redo and because I love it all, it is tempting to just show a full-on shot of everything right off the bat.  But, I think I will remind you of the old shutter-shot first and then move on to the improved version, so............here is the before picture of the tub and the shutters...........

And here is a similar picture after the remodel.   Similar because there is no way to get the same angel in the picture because the layout changed and the axis shifted during the remodel.

Believe it or not, the bathtub choice changed the direction this room would go several times.  The first preference was for a claw-foot tub with messaging air vents to circulate the water, but on closer inspection immediately before the order was placed it was discovered that the claw-foot tub was too small.  When that happened, it changed the floor tile, it necessitated additional cabinetry order for the tub surround as well as a material chosen for the deck of the tub--all items that could effect the budget.  It was a relief to find that the cost of the final tub choice was less than the claw-foot option and we are very happy with the result but can't you just imagine a beautiful claw-foot tub in this space.

This is the tub filler I chose because of the vintage look.  My contractor inadvertantly threw away the part that looks like a telephone receiver and had to purchase it again.  He was not happy about that, but.....

Remember, the vanity I showed you yesterday that was the inspiration for most of the finishes.  Here it is again for comparison to the final product.

image courtesy of Pottery Barn

 Here is our interpretation.....

Pretty similar.  Not quite the same, the center drawers are larger than the side drawers and not all of the drawer are totally operational because of the sink's drain pipe.  Again, Mike, the contractor extraordinaire, was able to modify the inside of this piece.  We went with two separate vanities and both have tall storage to the side.  Here they both are with the storage units married to them.

 

One vanity has doors with electricity inside the cabinet for electric toothbrushes and other accessories.  The other side has drawers for storing clothing so that no dresser is needed in the master bedroom.  Yeah!

Next is the shower, it is about 5 feet by 5 feet now with a nice long bench.  The floor in the entire bathroom, closet and shower are heated.  No cold toes here.  I also wanted a bench for those times when you're sick and a shower is what you need but it just wears you out.  Can you relate?  Maybe I've had the flu one too many times, ya think?

Here's the bench in the shower

The vertical stripe is glass tile that I just fell in love with.  I had to incorporate it somehow and the tile people and I struggled with this one.  They thought I should have used it around the tub someplace too, but I'm happy with it in the shower only.  Kind of an unusual element, but it sparkles.

And because the closet was an very important feature in the remodel, going from two tiny closets to one bigger closet, here is the best picture I could get.  The closet is still not huge, but it is so functional and there are two walls like this one with built-in shelves on each end.  Sorry for the horrible photo.

I took the picture so you could see the top rack that is not even being used for clothing right now.  If you look closely, you can see the other two rack underneath.

Next I wanted to share some of the other details in this bathroom that make it a pleasing space.

This is the light over the tub.  I love the older look of the bubble glass and I did not want a chandelier.  It is on a separate switch with a dimmer so it can be the only light on in the room.  I ordered a lantern from Ballard Designs but when it came, it was huge!  I panicked.  I returned it and was relieved that it only cost something like $6.95 to use their return label  and went to Home Depot and bought this one for 1/3 the price.  Relief.

This is a detail I added to the granite that adds a vintage detail.  I remembered seeing it on antique wash stands.  The granite people thought I was nuts, and asked me to make an exact template for it which scared me to death, but I am happy with the end result.  I wanted the same edge put around the undermounted sinks but the granite company said no to that idea.  This picture also gives the detail of the mirrors.   I kept them simple on purpose.  Because each vanity was a different size, I had to have the mirrors made and I was surprised at how affordable it was.  We hung the mirrors ourselves and one fell of the wall the first time we hung it.  It survived with minor damage that I DIYed it and I barely notice it now.  It was about a heart attack for me when it happened.

This is the water closet--separate and distint now with no glass anywhere close.

That's it for this project.  Hope you enjoyed the process.  Thanks for reading.  Robin

Linked Up With

Thrifty Decor Chick 01.02.12

An UGLY Bathroom Gets Worse

To refresh your mind on what the title of this post is talking about, yesterday was the "before" of a master bathroom remodel and today is the demo.  This project gets a little worse before it gets better.

Mike, the fantastic contractor, came and began demolition and had the bathroom totally gutted the first day.   And we all know that tearing something up is the easy part.  The tricky part is when what is torn up has to be put back together again, but that's tomorrow's post.   So, without further ado, here are some lovely demolition pictures to enjoy.

Here's a lovely view of the bathroom without the postage-stamp-sized shower stall and the always-cold-on-the-bum-no-matter-how-hot-the-water-is bathtub.  Now let's move around the nicely gutted room and notice the other changes.

Where the ladder stands used to be one of the closets--it looks like a nice size here because you are looking at the long wall that was wasted space in the prior life of the room.  The new closet will go back into this space BUT it will utilize the long walls and borrow a little space from the entryway.  When Mike, the fabulous contractor, was tearing this space out, he noticed that the ceiling could be raise to allow for the triple racks!  Hallelujah! 

The next picture reveals a little bit of the entryway and the other closet space, blue in the picture (that lovely color looked like a bad bruise and the whole master bedroom was the same color with a rose border when we moved in.  Gosh, why did we change it?).  The reason the entryway is visible during this part of the demo was the removal of the entry closet and a hallway.  This was done to enlarge the remodeled closet and to remove one of the doorways into this bedroom--it had two.  Why?  It remains a mystery to us too.

The next shot is of the extra large patch to the wall in the entryway when we removed one of the two doorways that led to the bedroom.  The thermostat, the humidifier controls and the doorbell all had to be moved and we were without heat when the wrong wire was cut.  We were cccold for a few days.

And the final picture today is the inspiration photo that launched all of the decisions I  made for this bathroom.  This was the largest, most expensive project I had ever been in charge of and it was exciting and scary.  My friends and family knew I was eating, sleeping and dreaming about this bathroom for months before anything happened.  It became my obsession for a while but it was worth it-- it is my favorite room in the entire house.  So here's the inspiration, remember, it does not take much for me to start designing and I love the process--and the stomach aches.

Until tomorrow, thanks for reading.  Robin

An UGLY Master Bathroom

It's been a year since we started this project and it was done in about four weeks with the help of my favorite contractor, Mike the Firefighter, but I thought it would be fun(?) to show you all the steps involved in the transformation.  Here is what the bathroom looked like before (please remember, we knew it looked hideous, that's why we redid it).

For various reasons, my husband is the only one who uses this bathroom--one reason was the shortage of closet space and another reason was shear ugliness--I mean really, what else could it be?

The wooden shutters will be all that remained the same after the remodel.  But let me show you some of the reasons a complete "gut job" was necessary. 

First up is the placement of the shower right next to the toilet--it was so awkward to get in the shower it wasn't funny and the size of the shower was like a postage stamp--really, who designs such awkward spaces?  And, just a side note, glass doors right next to a toilet, need I say more ladies?  Because there was so much space between the vanity and the closet, the room almost echoed and was always cold.  We hated this room, but let me show you a few more reasons.



Here is the lovely toilet/shower arrangement

Yes, that is a Mickey Mouse towel--that is another blog post.  Maybe. 

Someday. Maybe never!

This is the former double vanity with the strange angled edge on the left side of the picture--this was done to mirror another strange angled wall by the toilet that cut off part of the already too small closet.  I think this bathroom was orginally designed on a Friday night after the framers had had a few beers.  You know the conversation, "Hey, let's make this room really funny--toilet by glass shower doors, closets too small, echoing room, marble tub that never, never gets warm no matter how hot the water is, ha, ha, ha!"  Oh well, I digress, it happens often when I talk about this room in its former state. The doors reflected in the humongous mirror are the closet door, directly behind, and to the side the double doors to the bedroom.  These all changed with the remodel.

 

Now, shall we even begin the discussion of the closets, yes, that would be two very tiny closets that both had chopped off angled walls in them.  Of course, the doors were both placed on the longest walls and the clothing racks were on the short walls.  Both opened so that you had to try to step into the tiny closet and close the door to see clothing rack #2!  Ridiculous!  But, remember, we willing bought this house, so who's laughing all the way to the bank?  The builder and the original owners, that's who.  We do love the house now, but we have complete redone everything except the cabinets in the kitchen and laundry room.

Well, on that happy note, I will leave you with the UGLY room and show you the demolition tomorrow.  In the end you will think my contractor is an angel and so do I.  I seriously love the man and my husband knows it--he does too.

As usual, thanks for reading and have a marvelous Wednesday.  Robin