Delia’s
4. Niches and Half WallsStructural upgrades in the bathroom that would require a full remodel to do later are wise to tackle now. These include tiled niches — perfect for soap and shampoo bottles — as well as half walls for glass shower walls and doors. You might also think about how you can incorporate niches and half walls in other areas of your home, perhaps for displaying art or partitioning rooms, respectively. Any remodel that requires framing and drywall is messy and disruptive, so unless you’re prepared to live with the dust, now is the time to discuss these ideas with your builder.
After you create your budget, subtract 20 percent. Construction being what it is, there are always situations that arise that will increase the cost, and those are hard to foresee at the beginning of construction. It’s a very complicated process involving many people and a lot of communication, so there usually are things that happen that will eat into that 20 percent contingency. The contingency should not be used for upgrades to counters or splashy fixtures. On a recent project, our clients had to spend thousands of dollars to get their utilities hooked up again, as the electrical feed from the street was torn up by mistake. On top of that, since the utility’s own drawings said that the feed still existed, there was a three-month delay on top of the reconnection order so that the utility could update its drawings. Even though this these will never be seen, they were absolutely critical and had to be completed before construction could be completed. Keeping a 20 percent contingency allows our clients to end up spending what they thought they would spend initially, and they can sleep at night.
Choosing a color toilet can create beautiful statement effects, especially in a simple neutral-on-neutral palette. Consider going with a black lid on a white toilet or go bold with an entirely black toilet. Just make sure to pick up the black accent with other objects so the toilet doesn’t aggressively stand out.
Designer Beth Kooby considers bottle sizes and overall proportion of the niche in relation to the rest of the shower. “What’s also very important to me is that there are no cut tiles, so I usually wait to decide on the final dimensions of the niche once we have the tiles on site and I work it out with the tile installer,” she says. This bathroom serves as a quiet retreat, so a calm, peaceful and uncluttered look was key. Kooby extended the Ann Sacks glass tiles from the shower across the vanity wall for a seamless look. The concrete vanity counter also has bits of recycled glass mixed in it.
4. They can let in the lightIn addition to maintaining flow, with a sliding door you can create division between two spaces without having to completely block out the other space and therefore its light.Seek sliding doors with glass or, if you want the light but not the full visual connection, opt for a frosted or seeded glass door for privacy.
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