Master Bathroom Renovation: The Plan

11 Feb Master Bathroom Renovation: The Plan

I’m so excited to share with you our plans for our master bathroom today!  This has taken so much thought and planning, and I really think we are creating something beautiful and classic and unique.  (that’s the goal, at least)  I’ve got the plans to tell you about in detail, and lots of photos of where we are right now.

Let’s start from the beginning though.  This story begins with this photo, the MLS photo of our master bathroom when the previous owners lived here.

This is the largest bathroom we have ever had (we’ve always lived in older homes, nothing built after 1925), and though it is not big by today’s standards, we felt like we hit the jackpot when we moved in here!  In fact, when we first met with the contractor, we mentioned the bathroom being “big” a couple of times, and he gave us a funny look.  Hey, it’s big to us!  : )

The bathroom is pretty much in its original 1921 condition, tile, fixtures, and yes, even the toilet.  So what happened?  Well, we noticed some water coming through the ceiling on the first floor, and knew we had a leak.  It turned out it was coming from the shower in our master bathroom.  Since we had already had a bathroom come through the floor, we knew we needed to find the problem pronto.

Can you believe those showerheads?!  The people who built our home were WAY ahead of the times!

A few quick taps to open the tile in the shower led to a pipe exploding, and consequently, the wall.  It was a mess, and we knew the bathroom was done for until we could fix it.

Thus began our sharing the kids small bathroom, which has been cozy to say the least.  : )

Nearly a year later, we are finally getting to this project, and I am really excited about it.  You can see in the “before” bathroom picture that there is a small dressing room behind the main bathroom area.  You actually step down into it.  I don’t really use that space much except for the closet, so I wanted to incorporate it into the bathroom so it could be more open.  Thus the wall came down.  So you don’t have to scroll up, I’ll post it again for you.  (P.S. notice the pretty (and original) blue opaline pulls.  Yes, I am keeping those and using them in the new bathroom.)

And here it is now after it was gutted, and the wall came down.

Gutting this room took about three weeks.  They literally had to jackhammer the tile out of the floor because it was so thick, which led to a little rain on the first floor after they hit a pipe, but at this point in this house, we shrug our shoulders and move on.  (though I am still lamenting my newly wallpapered hallway ceiling, sigh)  But on the bright side, I’m loving the more open feel.  Plus do you see my little walkway to my closet?  I walk the plank daily to get to some clothes, ha.

You can see in the above photo where my antique barber sink will sit.  The main bathroom floor will be built up again so you will still step down into that second room.  There will be a double sided mirror hanging from the ceiling between the sinks, and the sink will sport a pair of beautiful unlacquered brass faucets similar to this one pictured below, but the faucet I chose is not bridged, it is widespread (to use the three holes already drilled in the sink).

velvet & linen

I have had the electrician wire for two pendants to hang above the barber sink, but I have not purchased these yet.  I’d like to have a pair with blue glass similar to the blue opaline color to tie in the original pulls, but I have been unable to find anything.  This may be a DIY project.

The shower will still be in this left corner though it will be considerably bigger than it once was.  It will have two 12″ unlacquered brass rainheads coming out of the ceiling, plus a slide bar.

After I posted about tile the other day, some of you guessed right.  We chose the Fretwork pattern in Ecru Gloss (creamy white) for the shower walls. The pattern is graphic and really different without being overly modern.  Since the design is based on a 1920’s geometric pattern, I knew it would be perfect to tie in with the age of my home and still be fresh.  Two of the walls in the shower will be tiled, and two will be floor to ceiling glass.

walker zanger

The shower floor will be the same Fretwork pattern, but on a much smaller scale, and in calcutta marble.  The pattern really fades in this setting, but is still interesting, and the multiple grout joints will provide good traction in the shower.

walker zanger fretwork mosaic in calcutta marble

This photo shows you the bathroom from my closet doors.  The door goes to the Master Bedroom.  To the right of the door will be the new location of the toilet (it used to be to the left of the door), and the new bathtub will be set right under the mirror (it used to be to the right of the door). 

I kept the mirror because it is original and beautifully beveled, and I love it.  I like to keep as many original elements as I can.  The tub will be so pretty beneath it, I think.  The mirror has a bit of silvering which will tie in nicely with the tub finish.

Speaking of the tub, it is supposed to arrive here Thursday (if the weather cooperates), and I am super pumped about it.  It will look similar to this in that it is a pedestal cast iron tub (I do not envy the men who have to get this up our stairs), except the pewter finish will not be as aged as the tub in this photo.  The tub will have an unlacquered brass faucet.

Above the tub will be a pair of these french library sconces.  They will be hardwired so you don’t see the plug-in tube at the bottom.

visual comfort

My closet doors are going to get a makeover to make them look a little nicer.  (I’m thinking inset panels of antiqued mirror, oo-la-la!)

To the left of these closet doors, I am going to fill the wall with this vintage campaign wall unit.  It’s going to take some tweaking, but I want it to look like a built-in.

scout design studio

Next to the tub, I want to put a vintage rope tassel bench I bought.  (it is similar to this one, except it has been painted white, so I’m going to try and hand guild it)  I’m torn between upholstering it in my favorite outdoor velvet in peacock blue, or covering it in terry cloth. (with tufting, of course)

The walls will be creamy white with trim detail.  I’m still deciding on how exactly I want the moldings to look.

About the floor…the second little room off of the main part of the bathroom that you step down into has the original wood floors, which I want to keep.  You can see them in the image below.

Therefore, I wanted to incorporate wood into the floor of the main part of the bathroom, and I came up with the idea of using a chevron wood pattern and honed white marble.  Here is a very amateur image of how I’m thinking it will look (except the wood color is wrong).  The wood areas will be 3′ x 3′, while the marble trim will be six inches wide.

It could also be more detailed and heavy on the chevron like this, although I think I like the simpler version above a bit better.

What do you like best?

I want the wood to be very raw and natural looking, like an antique french floor.  The wood on the original floors will be sanded so the wood in both rooms will match.

The bathroom has four windows, and I’m not quite sure what I will do with them yet for window coverings.  I’d like them to just be open, but of course, there’s that whole privacy thing.

Something that has been really interesting during this project is seeing the guts of my house.  This house was built at a time when there were true artisans putting these things together.  I would venture to say home building is not quite as much of an art anymore.

This is what the floor looked like underneath all of that tile.

So there you have it.  The plan.  What do you think?

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