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bathroom help!!

4 years ago

I recently changed my tub to a shower and updated with tile above shower. I like the look and want to now work on vanity/mirror area. bathroom is a design challenge as it is very small and I am not sure what to do? thoughts on removing Wainescoating or painting? I recently put in a medicine cabinet that looked out of place so I removed. I now am struggling with what to do. I have thought two round 16inch mirrors but that would take away the storage I need. take a look and I will welcome any ideas..

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Comments (4)

lmmcnitt
4 years ago
What about the obvious: a mirror over the pedestal sink and a cabinet with doors above the toilet for storage? Paint wainscoting, it’s cute and the alternative would not improve matters. The light fixture may need to be moved to be centered over the mirror or replaced to go with the style of the mirror and cabinet and new shower. Be consistent with styles and choose everything together.
K R
4 years ago
I would do a recessed mirror cabinet basically the size of whatever was there before. And I would get a small vanity with storage.
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olychick, thank you for taking a look. :) I'm relieved to hear you think a white shower pan is best. I am heading out now to find porcelain marble look tiles for the shower walls to pick up the gray as you suggested. I want a shiny finish to the walls. Tell me if you think that's a misstep. I am avoiding marble as I have a marble topped vanity now that is pock marked with etchings. As far as seeing myself in the vanity, yes, I think I will be able to do so. I was planning on a black framed mirror spanning the vanity. My current vanity is 32 1/4" high (as will be the new vanity) and when seated on my vanity stool my reflection is seen up to my chest. The only issue currently is that my knees are pressed against drawers. I failed to mention that I was thinking of using absolute black granite for the vanity top for two reasons: one being cost and the other being to avoid etching. Will doing so deviate too much from my inspiration? Lastly, I had the idea of applying pieces of beveled mirror framed by black molding floor to ceiling along the back wall and continuing behind the toilet (similar to this only floor to ceiling with the exception of base molding & crown): [Traditional Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2107) by Northbrook Architects & Building Designers Michael A. Menn Thoughts? Suggestions? Thank you for reading this far. :)
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I had a door something like that in a bathroom once...they can be an eyesore, frankly. In your situation, I wonder if you could extend the small white cabinet upwards somehow to cover the door? Maybe add a shelf unit on top of it? That would make the room look more finished. Then you could add white accessories in different textures -- thick, fluffy white towels with some kind of white rug, maybe a white wicker waste bin or white mother-of-pearl accessories, etc. You have a good start with some of the items on top of the cabinet.
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That looks really nice. I like the gray floors and walls, and matches really nice with the Lago. In a way it looks similar to what we're doing, gray floors, gray shower floor and white step. Our shower walls are white though. Since the Covid started they just placed the tile and had to stop work. They are allowed to finish starting this week since we already had 2 inspections approved, I don't have pictures yet of my lago top and bench but hopefully by end of next week. I'll post them here as well, since I had a hard time finding examples of people actually installing this. Maybe it will benefit someone else too. Anyway, I'm glad it worked out for you, it's always nerve wrecking, you never know until it's placed. Thanks for the reply, appreciate it.
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If painting them would not be possible then I suggest install wall panels over it.
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Flo Mangan
4 years ago
You only have room for one mirror over sink. Are you keeping pedestal sink. If you can replace that with small vanity cabinet that would be great.
Nick Miller
4 years ago
+1 on recessed medicine cabinet / mirror combo above the sink. Recessed will give you a more minimal look, not take up extra space, I think the frameless one like in my below pics would fit in with any style. And still gives you adequate storage.

You could remove the wainscoting but it will likely be a lot of work to smooth out the walls for paint, especially if it's glued down as there will be leftover adhesive stuck to the walls. I removed some in a small bath once and had to skim coat the entire lower half of the walls.

Plus... the wainscoting seems to match the style of what else you have going on, like the pedestal sink and the shower tile. If you were going for a more modern look I'd say get rid of it but as-is it looks just fine. Just caulk any gaps, sand any imperfections if needed, and give it a nice fresh coat of white paint.

I'd paint the walls a light color. Doesn't have to be white, or even a neutral, but just not too dark. I think small spaces should feel light and airy. Maybe a light blue or light gray.

Might consider changing your light fixture and receptacle covers to white instead of black/oil-rubbed bronze. Generally all the fixtures in a room should be the same finish for visual consistency.

Regarding storage, in addition to replacing the pedestal sink with a slim vanity, you could do floating shelves or recessed shelves next to the mirror.

Another idea aside from centering the light fixture that is above the mirror is to move it to the side of the mirror (better face lighting) and install some overhead recessed lights in the ceiling for fill.

Another mirror option would be to have a LARGE mirror that goes from wall to tub, filling the whole width above the sink and toilet, with a simple wood frame. This would help the room feel larger, but you would sacrifice any storage options on that wall which I'm guessing is a no-go.

Whatever you do for the mirror, I would not do two mirrors, and 16" seems pretty small. Personally I don't think you have room for a round mirror that would be large enough.

Some of these ideas I'm borrowing from my own small bath remodel... it's more of a modern take, but it's only 5'x7' and might give you some ideas of how you can utilize the space and/or storage in a small space to work with.

Some of these pics are WIP before everything was installed.

I recently added this second floating cabinet to the right of the toilet and there will be a shelf between the two for an extra place to set things.

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