Introducing our new master bathroom

Introducing our new master bathroom

Oh my goodness you guys, we could not be more excited to show you our new master bathroom. Our old second-floor bathroom was cramped, dark, dingy and pretty depressing. Nothing about it said “master” or “relaxing” or “pleasant” or “let’s hang out in here for a while”… or any of the things that I think a master bathroom should be. Well, have a look for yourself. This is what it used to look like.

As you can see we had a very small standup shower next to the toilet that was shoved awkwardly between the wall and heating vent. The available floor space was minimal, and the dark tile, dark vanity, while not bad on their own, did nothing to enhance the space. It also didn’t help that our medicine cabinet door broke off about a week after we moved in, and we didn’t bother to fix it for three years since we always knew we’d re-do the whole room eventually!

And now… Well. This is by far the most dramatic transformation of any of the renovation projects we’ve undertaken so far, and we’ve done some doozies (remember the garage? the back deck? and most recently, the awesome kitchen?). We called this our “urban cottage bathroom” when we were designing it, and, personally, I think we nailed it. But I’ll let you take a look for yourself!!

So, what do you think??!!

We did not move any plumbing or expand the footprint of the room at all, but the room feels like it’s doubled in size. Just by choosing the right materials, like a clawfoot tub versus a walled-in standup shower, adding bright-white wainscoting, cheerful minty walls, a light-colored marble floor, and heavy doses of white and reflective chrome, we visually opened up the room in a pretty dramatic way. We also have a bathroom that looks more appropriate to our 1890 house, which is something we take very seriously with every change we make. Everything in here looks like it could be original — even though there weren’t any bathrooms when this house was built, and we found out that this room used to be part of a stairway!

Because I love the drama, here’s a couple of before and after photos.

I mean, seriously. It’s hard to believe this is the same room!

As you know, we put a lot of work into this room ourselves. After our contractors demo’ed it, updated the electrical, installed a ceiling fan, and set up the plumbing for the new fixtures, Andy and I came in and did all of the tiling by ourselves, which you can read about here, here and here, made our own plank wainscoting from plywood (and we’ll have a followup to that process for you tomorrow), and painted everything. Our contractors then came back and installed the new clawfoot tub, toilet, sink/vanity, and light fixtures. Doing what we could by ourselves was an excellent way for us to save some money as well as to learn a TON of new skills. We had no idea what we were doing half the time (or probably most of the time!), but I’m SO PROUD of what we accomplished.

We still have a few more things to do before this room is really done. We want to add some shelving for storage next to the sink, some art to make it homey, and we’re still missing a place to hang towels and even toilet paper, haha, minor details. Of course you can expect a few DIY projects in there, for sure!

So in case you’re curious, this is a breakdown of where everything came from:

• tile, Hampton carrera marble 3×3 hexagons from The Tile Shop
• acyclic clawfoot tub, faucet and surround by Barclay Products (ordered through our contractor at Welker-McKee in Independence, Ohio) — I’ve gotta say, we were both a little worried about what it would be like to take a shower in a clawfoot tub, and it’s way better than we thought.
• console sink, polished chrome pedestal vanity, and faucet, all American Standard from Amazon
• toilet, American Standard from Lowes (I could write a whole post about how much I love this toilet!)
• globe pendant light from West Elm
• vanity lights, Mercer Triple Sconce from Pottery Barn
• mirror, MOEN Glenshire in chrome from Home Depot
• soap dispenser, Target
• bathtub caddy, Brookstone
• shower curtain, Target
• window curtain, Ikea Emmie roll-up blind
• stool, Target (old)
• paint on walls, Valspar “sprinkle” 5008-9A in satin finish from Lowes
• paint on wainscoting and trim, Behr “ultra pure white” in semi-gloss from Home Depot
• our contractors, Imperial Home Center in Lakewood, Ohio — we cannot say enough good things about these guys!!

Alright, so what do you think of our new master bathroom?! Who is coming over to take a bubble bath?!

— Kerry