Primary Bathroom Renovation

  There was nothing wrong with our primary bathroom. It was fairly neutral with builder-grade... everything. The thing that bugged me the most was the way the room was set up, but I didn't know how to fix it. Or at least how to fix it without a major renovation. The shower stall is wedged into a corner, the giant jet tub overpowered the room, doors everywhere, and worst of all, the giant meaningless space right in the middle of the room. When thinking about updating the bathroom, it quickly turned into major structural changes, and I (Mike Richardson) was not up for that at all. 

I started pinning what I liked on Pinterest, and I knew exactly the look I wanted. Of course, I wanted it to feel like a spa (who doesn't) or a boutique hotel, or a Parisian apartment. So yeah, low expectations. I wanted to pick things that would not date themselves. In general, I prefer a very traditional design aesthetic, so I knew I wanted timeless materials. What says traditional more than marble? I picked a beautiful off-white brushed marble wall and floor tile. I selected a few different shapes as I wanted a border around the room. For the border, I picked a mosaic mother-of-pearl tile for a little bit of glam. And Mike picked a hex-shaped tile for the shower floor. 

We decided to leave everything in its place, except we extended the shower out approximately a foot and we shifted the tub over a bit.  

I wanted a vintage furniture piece for the vanity, something I could put some elbow grease into and fix up myself. I found a mahogany buffet on FB Marketplace for $70! It had a high gloss lacquer finish on it and some deep scratches, but none of the damage ruined the veneer, so I knew I could refinish it successfully. I still can't get over the fact that it only cost me $70!!! It also reminded me of my mom and dad's bedroom furniture. They had a beautiful mahogany set with drawer pulls that were very similar. It's crazy, but every time I open one of the drawers, it takes me back to my bedroom when I was a kid and sounds like my mom opening her drawers in the next room. I love that little memory.  We had the countertop cut to the exact shape as the original wood top in gorgeous marble-looking quartz. As soon as I saw the slab at the granite store, it was love at first sight.  My hope is to make something from the wood top, but I haven't decided what I will make yet. 

We have zero storage in this bathroom for towels, so I bought a wood tower on Amazon. It was the perfect shape and size, but the color was just not right. I stripped and stained it to match the vanity (sort of) and it looks great. I just can't leave well enough alone; I always have to alter it! It's a problem, I know... but so worth it! 

The vessel sinks are unique in that they are not entirely on top of the counter. Half of the bowl is underneath and half is above. I think it looks so sleek, I love them. I mixed metals in this bathroom. Anything that is permanent, or should I say, more difficult to change is in chrome like the faucets, shower door hardware, and door handles. All the light fixtures, mirrors, and handles are antique brass. In the case of the drawer handles, they actually are polishable brass, and I am amazed what a little Brasso did on these beauties. 

The walls are an elegant plain off-white paint in a satin finish and the trim is the same color in semi-gloss. Speaking of the trim, Mike Richardson did the crown molding many years ago and it looks great, but he really outdid himself with the box trim all the way around the room. This trim is probably one of my favorite features in this bathroom. 

So, without further ado, let's check out the before pictures. Of course, I didn't think about taking before pictures for a future blog, so they are crappy, and I had a bunch of junk just lying around. Oh well, it may just make the transformation look even better.  

The door on the left is our bedroom and we are looking at a big unnecessary space next to the tiny shower. 

Oh Boy, this is the small shower stall. No shelf, no place to shave my legs, could not get it perfectly clean. 

See that vent on the bottom to the right? We extended the shower to the vent. That bought us a little over a foot of extra shower space. 

Door to our closet and door to the water closet. And that stupid scale that has been my arch enemy for years. 

Partial shot of the vanity. Builder-grade cherry cabinets, laminate counter, a giant slab of a mirror and you can't see in this shot, but a long chrome light fixture with big round white bulbs. 

I hate this tub! I always thought I wanted a jet tub, but turns out they are not all they are cracked up to be. As a matter of fact, they are gross! The few times I did fire that baby up, black stuff came out of the jets. Yeah.. gross. I'm sure I was supposed to maintain it in a certain way, but I didn't, instead I just never ever used it. It really was just a dumping ground until I could put things in their place.    

Let's take a look at the before pics of the buffet I bought on Facebook Marketplace for $70 bucks! (These are actually the pics from the listing) Look at the thick lacquer finish and the scratches and gauges. The handles are so tarnished and she was pretty dirty too.  Boy, is she a beaut! 

I stripped her and discovered this amazing tiger wood finish. What??? I loved it even more! 

In this pic, you can see how I evened out the stain for a more consistent look. You can also see the incredible freshly polished brass handles. 

Now... the moment we have been waiting for. 

This is a shot from my bedroom walking into the bathroom. You can see how we extended the shower and the new towel tower that I stripped and stained. It solved my towel storage problem and filled that unnecessary space. 

Better shot of the shower and towel storage. 

See how close the shower comes to the vent now? What a difference that little bit of space makes. The shower doesn't feel like a tiny dark stall anymore. 

Can we talk about how great it is to have a shelf for shampoo and soap and a ledge to shave my legs??? Game-changer!

Mike Richardson also beefed up the trim around the doorways with a stack moulding. So nice! 

So, the giant toilet seat...it's a bidet toilet seat! When we went to Italy, Mike Richardson fell in love with a bidet, so I had to get one for him for our bathroom. This is by far his favorite part of the whole project. It's big, it looks a little clunky, but it is AMAZING! 

Here she is! The finished vanity in all her glory! Isn't she gorgeous??????? And look at those light fixtures with the milk glass shades. Come on... how beautiful are they? 

The soaking tub is really quite nice, and a ga-zillion times better than the jet tub! Here is a little fun fact, the artwork is downloaded from the Smithsonian open access. I knew I wanted vintage botanicals, so I downloaded them, print them on cardstock, and added them to Ikea frames. This art cost me around $22 TOTAL! Seriously, does it look like it was only $22???

Notice the mother-of-pearl border that goes all the way around the room. It's subtle, but I love it!!!

And let's not forget about this freaking chandelier!!! This chandelier is the cherry on top, the icing on the cake, the star on the tree… what else can I say? It is just so darn awesome!  This is another Amazon purchase for under $100 and it looks like it’s worth a million dollars.

I could not possibly love this bathroom more than I do. These cell phone pictures do not even do it justice. I wish you could see it in person, you would fall in love too. Every family member and friend that we have had over to the house since we finished it is forced into the bathroom within mere minutes of stepping in the front door. I can't help it, I just love it so much and I want everyone to see it. I am pretty proud of this project, that is for sure. 

Let me know what you think.

~Sheila

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