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lkplatow

Master bathroom reveal - cottage/farmhouse/vintage style

lkplatow
7 years ago

Our master bathroom is finally done (more or less...). Between planning and construction we've been working on it for close to two years and I have sporadically posted questions on this forum. Now that it's mostly done, I wanted to share since I always loved looking at other people's completed projects.

Our house was built in 1998. The original bathroom wasn't horrible
(if you like green tile), but it was definitely showing its age. The
cast iron sink had huge rust spots around the drain, some of the tiles
were falling off the wall in the shower, etc. We very much wanted 2
sinks because my husband has a very long complicated dental care ritual
and it was a pain waiting for him to finish so I could have the sink.
The tub was enormous and took the entire water heater to fill so we
rarely used it. It also bumped out into the room. There was also a big
soffit thing over the counter area and we thought that if we could
remove that and straighten out the tub bump-out, the room would seem so
much bigger.

Nasty shower with mold that wouldn't go away:

Vanity with not enough room for storage so crap was piling up all over the countertop. One socket in the light fixtures had shorted out and no longer worked. Oh and the sink faucet cold water leaked so badly that we had shut it off at the valve and had been brushing our teeth with hot water for like 6 months before starting the reno.

So here's the new improved version. Paint color is Ben Moore's Violet
Pearl. Trim color is Ben Moore's Simply White.

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I wanted to maximize the storage in the vanity area so we went with
custom cabinetry that I had built by a local cabinet guy. I agonized
over getting the proportions just right and making the 3 cabinets on top
equal while still centering them over the non-equal sink and center
cabinets below.

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The countertops and tub deck are soapstone, which I have always
loved. We went with a much narrower tub so we were able to eliminate the
tub bumpout. It's a Jason Microsilk K3666 model. So far I've taken one
bath in it and it is nice (though I haven't really noticed the softer
skin that Jason touts as a benefit of Microsilk).

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The old tub deck had a laundry chute built in that was one of our
favorite features of the bathroom. We were able to keep it in the new
deck though it had to be moved back a foot or so (which necessitated
patching the laundry room ceiling). The old chute was lined with copper,
which the contractor re-used.

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We opted to keep the enclosed shower instead of opening it up -- I
like the feeling of it being almost a private separate room and I like
that it stays warm and cozy in there -- I didn't want to lose that by
opening up the tops of the shower walls or going with glass walls. We
chose 6" square tile in a brick pattern for the walls and ceiling of the
shower. We deliberated hard about adding niches but ultimately decided
to just install some corner shelves made from soapstone.

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We also added a leg-shaving/product overflow shelf along the back
wall of the shower, again from soapstone. We also wanted to brighten up
the shower a bit so we added a transom window that you can prop open or
leave closed to keep the steam in:

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The window from the other side. The shelf over the toilet is for DH's
wireless Sonos speaker that he uses to stream music while he's in the
shower. We wanted it somewhere up and out of the way and because it
requires an outlet, that was about the only place we could stick it that
was allowable by code (couldn't be over the tub.)

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Now I could still use some advice! I still have some final details to
work out -- namely what to put in the shower doorway. I will probably end up using a curtain for now but am also considering a frameless glass door -- the old bathroom had a framed glass door that
hinged on the right so the door opened away from the toilet. That was
good because you could step out into the room but it was a pain because
the glass door could sometimes hit the toilet. If I go with a frameless
door, my understanding is that it can swing in and out -- so maybe I'd
want to hinge it on the other side and just open it inward most of the
time? Any thoughts on glass door vs. curtain and if door, which way it should hinge?

We are not currently using the shower because of a long drawn out
issue with the grout not curing properly that we're still working with the grout manufacturer to solve. So we have some time to decide about the shower door.

Also, I am not sure what to do about hand towels at the vanity. My
original plan was to have the wainscoting be about 6" higher but the
contractors talked me out of it and now I regret it. The higher
wainscoting would have allowed me to mount hooks or shaker pegs in the
trim piece at the top of the wainscoting and hang towels from there
(hand towels next to each sink and towels over the tub deck). But with
the wainscoting 6" shorter, the hand towels and bath towels hit the
countertop/tub deck. Over the tub, I used an antique brass rack, but I
have no idea where and what to use for hand towels near each sink. The
end cabinet doors open outward toward the side walls and are often open
when we're brushing our teeth (the electric toothbrushes are stored
inside) so I think having the towels be somewhere other than the side
walls where the medicine cabinet doors open would be good. Suggestions
are welcome!!!

Thanks to everyone who helped with my questions along the way
regarding this project. I'm super happy with how it turned out (well
except for the whole shower grout thing...but that will be solved soon
hopefully!)

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