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Bathroom Reveal-From "Hotel" To Swell!

8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago

My long-awaited bathroom renovation has finally come to fruition. After over a dozen years of my "Hilton"-style vanity, rickety wicker drawers, peeling grout and increasingly- worn finishes, we finally pulled the trigger last October.

The undertaking should never be underestimated. If I can tell you anything, it's that. The thought process, decision making and choosing of finishes and fixtures is as involved as redoing a kitchen.

I've learned so much from this forum and consulted it almost daily to try to make right decisions, and avoid wrong ones.

Which brings me to two things that I'll mention specifically. The first is the bathtub. I am eternally grateful for the opinions here on tubs and experiences with installing and wear. I decided on a cast iron tub, but vacillated between that and steel/acrylic/fiberglass for a very long time before deciding to stick to my guns and tell our contractor I was standing firm on the cast iron. I realize it's a pain in the you-know-what to haul that tub and make sure it's supported safely, but I'm not budging.

So darn happy because I feel I have peace of mind with the best material you can choose, if you can.

The second is lighting. In my experience, less is not more and more is good! In our 5x8 bathroom, we installed one recessed light in the tub/shower area, 2 smaller, directional recessed lights in the "main" area, and 2 vanity lights flanking the mirror.

If you have no natural light, put much thought into ambient and task lighting from above, in front and even from the sides. You want to illuminate yourself as best you can, and illuminate the beautiful surface choices you've painstakingly made.

So, here's the old bathroom vanity:

And here's the new bathroom:

Materials:

Countertop- Fantasy Brown quartzite

Custom Vanity- Hagerstown, Cherry with espresso finish

Mirror- Pottery Barn Kensington Pivot Mirror

Pulls and Knobs- Top Knobs Ascendra

Sink- Kohler Ladena

Vanity Sconces- Hinkley Laurel

Faucet- Grohe Essence

Tumbled Glass Mosaic tile- Elegance by Casa Italia

Field and Floor tile- Crossville, Moonstruck Unpolished Gemini

Toilet- Kohler San Souci

Tub- Kohler Bellwether

Shower system- Kohler hydrorail, Purist

Rails- Kohler Purist

Tile Edging- Schluter Strips

Exhaust Fan- Panasonic WhisperCeiling

Light Switches and Fan Timer- Lutron

Paint- Benjamin Moore Sparrow

Comments (17)

  • 8 years ago

    Beautiful, Mimi!!! That Fantasy Brown is amazing.

    User thanked Bunny
  • 8 years ago

    Thanks, Linelle. I feel like we got a lot of bang for the buck with the small footprint we had for the vanity surface material.

  • 8 years ago

    Wow! Stunning space. It is boutique chic!

    User thanked roarah
  • 8 years ago

    Thanks, roarah. I was going for a "spa" feel, but with very little space to work with!

  • 8 years ago

    mayflowers, we did find a FB remnant. We used the same granite fabricator that we tapped for our kitchen. He has slabs and remnants in stock and let us choose the exact piece of a (partially used) FB slab for our vanity top, marked it off and cut it.

    Our contractor for this bathroom was also the designer for our kitchen! His input was critical with regards to the final design and use of the tile.

    My original plan was to run the large field tile horizontally, and place one large, rectangular niche in, but he quickly deduced some worrisome details with that plan.

    Hence, the vertical field tile and swath of mosaic that runs through not one, but two stacked niches. We did this so that whether showering or bathing, you could reach a niche.

    The decision to place a bar between the niches was decided last minute. I thought perhaps I should place the bar lower, for bathing, but I don't bathe, I shower!

    So, higher up it went (both sites had been reinforced for the final decision) and I was sure I made the right decision from the first time I used the shower.

    I can turn around, have soap in my eyes, closed eyes, not being able to see, and that bar is right there to grab onto for stability.

  • 8 years ago

    huge improvement, so very nice..very calming indeed. it is so clean lined, indeed chic. love all the colors. and i just love your granite-take it from somebody who's usually not a fan of granite. which informs me once again, that every choice can be beautiful

    User thanked aprilneverends
  • 8 years ago

    (i also applaud the look and position of grab bars-these are not easy to get right, not at all)

    User thanked aprilneverends
  • 8 years ago

    The grab bars were another one of those decisions that would seem to be easy, but are not.

    I should say the horizontal bar position wasn't easy. The vertical entrance bar was pretty straight forward.

  • 8 years ago

    Absolutely beautiful. A masterpiece of serenity.

    User thanked cpartist
  • 8 years ago

    As you can see I like every thing, even all the lovely comments, lol. If you become old in this place, you can always buy a grab bar that straddles the tub edge. Love the vertical bar at the business end of the shower. Love the quiet look. Though the old look was rather quaint, this is so nice and more durable. I too have a Bellwether tub. I have the smaller sized, I think you do too. I do bath in it from time to time, but it isn't a soaking tub. I think it would be a great tub for a shower. Mine is just a tub installation, with a facet and handheld unit. It has a tile surround with grab bars so it can handle the random spray. Mine is more for kids and pets. Nice size for kids.

    Love the colors too. Warm neutrals, well paired.

    User thanked enduring
  • 8 years ago

    Thanks, enduring. Our bellwether is a standard alcove size, about 30x60, iirc.

    It's nice to have the grab bars and I also thought about future sale, using the tub for bathing kids.

    A soaking tub would have been nice, but that would have meant a higher step over. Since I don't soak, it was wasn't as important to me.

    If a future buyer really wants one, they can figure out how to outfit the house with one!

  • 8 years ago

    Right on!

    User thanked enduring
  • 8 years ago

    I LOVE it! It looks beautiful!

    User thanked cat_mom
  • 8 years ago

    The dbl niche done in mosaic stripe is positively dreamy.

    User thanked bossyvossy
  • 8 years ago

    It is a warm and comfortable design. I, too, love your quartzite! It is so beautiful. The tile does look right in the vertical direction in the shower, so your designer was worth every penny. I also like the way you used the Shluter edge on the backsplash. It is a nice finished look.

    I have been working on my bathroom remodeling plan for three or four years now, and am buying the last items I need. Today I was at the Grifforms site getting a price on a shower pan and I looked at the shower caddies. I was looking at their five foot high one, thinking, "my grab bar would have to go across the front of that, I wonder what that would look like?" Well, thank YOU for showing me!

    User thanked Nancy in Mich
  • 8 years ago

    My favorite part of your beautiful bathroom is your countertop. And it would look awesome with my new kitchen cabinets ;)


    User thanked Loretta Seeker