Bathroom Reno – “Before”

One of the hazards – according to my husband – of living with an interior designer is that there is almost no such thing as a simple home repair.

 

An example: we recently discovered that the reason our flooring was uneven in one of our bathrooms was due to a leaky toilet…and, well, you can guess where that lead!    Obviously we have to redo our flooring and replace part of the subfloor.  And when we bought this house 3 years ago the bathroom was almost fully in its 1960’s beige glory.  It was definitely time for an upgrade.  So, we might as well tackle the rest of the bathroom while we’re at it, right?  Right!

Now I’m excited.  Who wouldn’t be??

Here is some of the beige splendor: We’ve got beige and white vinyl floors, beige and white tile, and wallpaper with little beige and white flowers on it. And don’t you just love those white bath and shower fixtures?

Although we could go really crazy and totally change up the entire space, we have decided to stay with our existing footprint and basic floor plan to keep costs down. The bath tub which is fairly new will stay, but most of the rest of the bathroom is going, going, gone!

We will be removing the soffit or dropped ceiling in the shower. Right now it feels very closed in and little light gets in there. And as a fairly tall person, I want to move the shower head up.  While we’re at it, we will be replacing the old beige tile in the shower with a large format tile to minimize grout lines and places for mold to grow.

The window will stay and the cabinet boxes will be reused. However, we plan on replacing the doors on the cabinets, as well as the drawer boxes – which will have glides added for easy opening and soft closing. In addition, will replace the dated vanity top, sink, faucet and shower fixtures.

The oddly placed lights – which are currently squished up against the wall – will be replaced with a 3-light fixture that is from another bathroom in the house, and will be centered over the mirror.  Although the mirror is a fairly basic design, and not the newest style in the world, it’s a great size and in good shape, so we’ll be keeping it.  A big part of being a sustainable designer is reusing what I can and “making it work” instead of just throwing things out.

And of course we will get a new floor and toilet!  The toilet is a an early low flow one that is prone to clogging – not to mention the toilet leak is what lead us down the renovation road in the first place! – so it’s time for an upgrade.

 

Interested in watching the whole process? Stay tuned for future developments! I will be showcasing the materials we will be using and explaining why they were chosen. In addition, I will have some 3D-renderings of what the space will be like when it’s done! And of course I will share pictures every step of the way. The best part is, you get a front row seat and don’t have to experience the dust and mess of construction!

 

Do you have a project – big or small – that you need to tackle?  Contact us today, we can help you get started!