Master Bathroom Renovation: Wood & Marble Floor

08 Apr Master Bathroom Renovation: Wood & Marble Floor

If you follow me on Instagram (@astoriedstyle – following me on Instagram is a great way to keep up to date on my projects and installations), you saw the above sneak peek of our Master Bathroom floor.  This design was a collaboration of ideas between my husband and I, and consequently was the only design element of the room I felt a little insecure about.  Although in my head it looked fantastic, I could not find a picture of this type of look on the Internet anywhere.  Oftentimes, I feel a little sad when I have what I think is an earth shattering idea or plan, google it, and see it has been done a million times over.  So it was nice to feel unique and a little scary that I could not see a real life picture.

In case you are new to A Storied Style and the renovation of our Master Bathroom, you can play catch up by reading this post about “The Plan”,

and also by reading this Master Bathroom Renovation Update post.

We decided to incorporate wood in the bathroom because the room you step down into from the main bathroom had the original 1920 floors.  I thought it might look strange to do all marble or tile and then step onto the wood.  Thus the idea for the wood squares surrounded by marble was born.  You can see the original (dusty!) wood floor in the below image.

I love French chevron wood floors, and I love the raw, natural wood look, so I had my fingers crossed that when our original wood floor was sanded, it would be a beautiful organic looking color.  Once I saw the difference in what was sanded and what had the oil stain on it, I seriously wanted to sand my entire house.

It’s just so hard to get new wood floors that look like this.  The cracks, the uneven color, I love it all.  It is kind of a bummer the stain is on the floor in the rest of the house, huh?

The original wood floor is made up of white oak planks that are two and a quarter inches wide.  (an unusual width)  Therefore, when the wood floor guy was planning what wood to get for the chevron, I made sure he used the same width and type of wood as the original floor.

Laying the chevron was no easy feat, let me tell you.  Since this is an old house, nothing is even or square.  It took nearly a month to get this floor done.

It was neat to see how they did it though.  In the beginning, they laid a grid of six inch wide wood planks where the marble would be, and then the chevron pieces were hand cut and placed.

After it was all laid (it was a marathon), they caulked the cracks and let it dry.

Then the boards were removed, and I could start to see what it was going to look like.  My excitement was majorly building.

After two coats of water sealer, the floor was ready to have the marble put down.  We chose the water sealer because it does not change the color of the wood like oil sealer does.

I’m so glad we decided to lay the chevron floor straight and not on the diagonal.  I think the diagonal would have been plain weird.  We designed the layout of the chevron floor so you step right in the middle of a wood square when you walk in the door.  (The marble is a little dusty in this photo FYI)

It’s amazing how the two floors work so well together.  I think if we had tried to match the wood floors exactly (old and new in the straight plank style pattern), it would have been a disaster.  But since we went for the same color of wood, yet altered the pattern, it works beautifully.  I’m thrilled with it, and I can’t wait to show you the whole finished space.  (when we get there)

And yes yes, the tub.  I love it, and it deserves a post of its own.  : )  More to come…