upstairs renovation: 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, hall closet
I need help executing a contemporary organic glam design for our upper level, particularly with the lighting (Fig 1). We are hunting for contemporary sculptural lighting in an organic glam style.
Fig 1. Lighting plan. Circled R = recessed lights. Triangle = picture light. P = pendant. Squiggles = flush-mount sculptural lights. Big stars = large pendant and ceiling mount lights. Two bars and a circle = sconces. Ceilings are all 8' high except that there is more height in the stairwell where one light will be. The ceiling is squared off instead of mirroring the stairs.
I am more familiar with traditional/transitional design and materials (Fig 2).
Fig 2. Rear home exterior showing the balcony off His bedroom (top left) and branches of the Norway maple far left.
We have come a long way together on this project to convert 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms to 3 bedrooms with their own ensuites (Figs 3A 3B). We added a plan for access to the attic. We decided on a room-use plan: His bedroom and office, her bedroom, and a work-out room.
Fig 3A. Home plan with upper level shown on right.
Fig 3B. His bedroom (top) includes an office area to the right and a walk-out balcony. Her bedroom bottom left, and workout room ensuite bottom right.
The architect's plan was revised with her approval and assistance to improve access to each bedroom and in so doing captured the setting sun to light up the upstairs hallway and provided lots of shallow storage (Fig 4).
Fig 4. Inspirational photo for the shallow storage and shoji doors planned for the center hallway. Planning on shoji doors on both sides though, and with a cut glass transom overhead at entrance to this narrowed space.
Please see my idea books for every room and then some. We developed a color scheme: dark reddish chocolate; green like coke bottles and evergreens; blue-greys like a snowy winter sky and summer storm clouds while there is still lots of white; blues like navy, cobalt, periwinkle; and violets like garnet and iris.
We selected dark chocolate cork flooring for the hall and bedrooms (Fig 5).
Fig 5. Solid cork flooring, waxed in a cocoa. 24" x 48" glue-down.
We found the perfect dark chocolate half-cut pebble for heated flooring for all three bathrooms and their curbless showers (Fig 5 bottom right).
Fig 5. Chocolate pebble tile (bottom right) with samples of three of the four porcelain tiles and a square of Santa Rita soapstone half-oiled.
We found high-gloss large-format porcelain tiles for the three bathrooms (Fig 6).
Fig 6. Large format high-gloss porcelain tiles. Each bathroom will have two tiles in it. His bathroom: Honed Calcutta Green (top right) on the vanity wall, the water closet toilet wall, and the shower hardware wall; Polished Irish green (top left) on the remaining walls of the shower and water closet, and the wall opposite the vanity. Her bathroom: Mystic Grey (bottom right) on the vanity/toilet wall and the pony wall; Imperial Green (bottom left) on the three shower walls and remaining walls. Workout room ensuite: Mystic grey (bottom right) on the vanity/toilet wall extending into the shower on that wall only; Imperial Green (bottom left) on the remaining walls. The tiles will all be turned vertically.
For his bedroom and doors we selected cherry with a chocolate brown stain. For the vanities for the other two bathrooms we selected a knotty alder with a slightly more orange chocolate stain (Fig 7).
Fig 7. Wood sample on right is for his bedroom closets, doors, vanity. Cherry with a chocolate stain. Wood sampl on left is knotty alder with a greyed chocolate stain.
We also need to develop window treatments. His bedroom has a walk-out balcony with a tree-top view of a back yard rimmed in evergreens and a nearby Norway maple (Figs 2, 3A, 3B). Her bedroom and the workout room have views of a neglected home across the street until trees we planted provide something nice to see (Figs 3A, 3B). I'm thinking top-down blinds there. We favor silk for its anti-allergen properties.
And I need to find or have made a desk for hubby 26.5" high with bullnose edges, around 33" deep and 48" wide.
A few spots like where hubby has his desk chair will need an organic glam area rug to prevent damage to the cork. The workout room needs equipment-fitting rugs under them or a larger area rug for the equipment and floor exercises.
Comments (703)
last monthThank you @Red Ryder The warmest light that mirror gives off is 3,000K. Is that still too cool? I was only thinking about it for the two smaller bathrooms, not the primary, but one of the smaller bathrooms is where I will put on what little makeup I wear.
The light fixture that looks like a stack of ice cubes is a pendant and the piece it hangs from is 6". I think the pendant is only 4"? I don't know if I'll get it but it is narrow enough and throws enough light (800 lumens per light minimum). The other one is a sconce for the primary bedroom.
Thanks for the vote on the curbless showers. I'll ask the contractor tomorrow when we go to discuss the vanities.
What I can remember about the lighting plan is two cans in each shower, two pendants flanking the mirrors in the smaller bathrooms with a third can behind the person standing at the vanity to provide backlighting. All on dimmers. In the primary bathroom, pendants or sconces flanking the mirror, two cans in the shower, two cans in the water closet, and two cans in the ceiling by the vanity as backlighting. All on dimmers.
At the moment, I am leaning towards chrome and bronze for metals in the bathrooms. This is something I want to discuss with my designer tomorrow on our way to find the perfect wood and stain for the vanities. Were probably looking for a mid-tone chocolate stain. I think the primary bathroom will be walnut. I don't know what the small bathrooms vanities will be. I kinda like this color.
textured. farmhouse. · More Info- last month
So the slab-front floating vanity and pull-outs in the primary bathroom will be cherry now (on right), and we will match the color for the pocket door and the closet doors.
And the slab-front floating vanities for the two smaller bathrooms will be this knotty alder (on left).
Funny that these choices weren't in as defining as choosing the flooring or tile.
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Comments (122)Between doctor appointments and storms that had power surges and outages (lost everything in fridge and freezer twice) and not having running water for about a month, I haven't gotten anything but planning done on the bathroom. We had to replace the jet pump, plumbing, electrical, and pressure tank for the well system all at once. The Square D Liquid Level switch still keeps jamming so I either need to replace it with another of the same type or get something new that involves junction boxes, a float, contactors, etc. I will say that adding a subpanel in the pump house worked out great. Each pump now has its own breaker within easy reach. Also added a proper tank tee to the pressure tank- complete with pressure release valve, pressure gauge, and hose bibb. The hose bibb and gauge came in handy when troubleshooting. Had to replace the check valve to get things to work. Obviously I didn't want to paint when I couldn't wash up. First thing I did when the water was heated enough was jump in the shower. As an aside, I learned that leaving the foot scrubber on the plastic wall left hard water stains so I now put it on the vertical part of the tub. Hoping the hard water stains will come out with some vinegar. I've also started hanging the anti-slip mat over the edge of the tub to dry and I pull the curtain closed to let water drip off of it and dry faster. Can't remember where I put my shattaf, but I found a good spot for it. Still debating where to put the hook for my slippers. I'm planning out how to build some wall cabinets. I plan to mount them with french cleats that will be mounted to studs. I want cabinets above the laundry cart to hold extra supplies like tissue boxes, toilet paper, etc. The one over the toilet will also have toilet paper and perhaps some cleaning supplies. need a place to store extra clorox wand pads, wet wipes, etc. I'm going to measure the cabinet above my friend's toilet and use it as a guide for how to build mine. I'm also planning to add a shelf above the door. The more storage the better. I'm thinkin of nixing the idea of adding a light switch over near the vanity and instead adding a single rocker switch above or near the current light switch. I can put in a 2-gang box instead of 1-gang and run wires through the attic. I really need to clean up in the bathroom. Too much clutter. I have several 5 gallon buckets holding tools in there. Need to gather up all of my tools into a bin, locate the shattaf and other stuff for the bathroom, and get everything organized. Got a wedding to attend next Saturday, but I'm hoping to get at least 1 coat of paint on the door by then....See MoreNew home - 3 bathroom renovations - layout help please
Comments (1)I can't read the dimensions on this, so you'd have to sketch it out to see how the inches end up being allocated. I'd plan on bathroom fights. The kids are pretty close in age. I'd try moving things around a bit and see how it works out. Take the closet in the middle bedroom off that wall (we'll deal with it later). Put the toilet across from the tub with a small linen closet, maybe some hampers. Consider a sliding door (maybe frosted glass for light) between the sink are and tub area, which allows for two people to use it at once. Add a second sink area where the toilet was. Then take out the master toilet. Slide the closet over. Put the middle bedroom closet to the right of the new master closet location. Put the shower along the outer wall with the toilet next to it. Put a larger double vanity on the back of the closet wall. The vanity depicted looks a bit small for two people/sinks, but I can't read the size so hard to tell. Might have to make the closet a few inches shallower, hard to tell. If it were my home, the kids bath access issue and larger master vanity would be my "wants". Worth playing around on paper a bit, even if it just convinces you it isn't the right choice....See MoreRenovating late 1800's Queen Ann Victorian 3 Family
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Comments (3)As Nancy has written, aging in place means many things. FWIW, my experience with my senior relatives and neighbors is that very few of them need wheelchairs in their home. They are fine with walkers and if they used a wheelchair at all, it was because they couldn't walk long distances due to heart or lung issues. In other words, they would be able to navigate to the bathroom with a walker that fits through relatively narrow doorways - I had to use a walker for a period after an operation and I had no issues with it in my very narrow high rise bathroom. If you are aging in place, you might rethink having a tub as a priority if it means foregoing a really nice shower. The seniors I know (even those who are relatively spry) don't take baths because it is too difficult to get up and down and the act of lifting their legs over the tub also becomes problematic. Is the master on the ground floor? Having a bedroom on the ground floor and having accessible entry into the house is probably most critical to aging in place. I say this because I have friends who have steps to enter their home without any kind of railing at all - many seniors who are walking on their own need the assistance of a rail to help them and balance them....See MoreRelated Professionals
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The circled R designates a recessed light. I requested the little ones. The triangles represent a picture light. We have a lot of art. The P is a pendant light. The dashed lines in closets is an interior LED lighting tape. The big starburst things are chandeliers or ceiling hugging lights. I think the circled cross is a table lamp. She didn't finish the plan. The workout room gets all the canned and picture lighting my bedroom gets. And it's bathroom gets the pendants my bathroom gets. In the primary bath she has a lighted medicine chest that we decided against. Some of the recessed lights in the bathrooms are also vents: two in the primary and one in each small bathroom. The squiggly dots are a decorative elongated ceiling light in the hall storage area by the window and the entrance hall in my room. I don't know why the workout room gets a recessed light there. I don't know what the partially circled X symbol in the hallway to my room is. Maybe they are sconces. There is a pair of sconces at the bed in the primary bedroom. They flank an art light.
Lighting plan · More Info - last month
I'm still trying to nail down the tile for the workout room. The vanity wall and wall to the right will be the mystic grey (top right in my post). But I want a colorful tile for the back of the shower. I'd also like the colorful tile on the long door-wall but my designer wants the mystic grey there. I think that's too much grey even if the tile really is beautiful.
One tile I was interested was on display at a relatively local Floor and Decor, so I went to see it after work yesterday. It was more grey than I thought, but I liked the color. It just looked too angry. I think it was because the pattern is so chaotic. The designer thinks it's too grey. Regardless, I'm glad I saw it in person. This one is out.
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The designer likes this tile for the workout room bathroom.
https://www.tileclub.com/products/emporio-blue-onyx-24x48
The samples we were sent were too blue in my opinion. But it may be that we were sent samples that included the more colorful parts of the tile. I wish I could see larger pieces but we can't find a local store.
If we do use this tile, I am wondering if we should use it's white sibling for the vanity wall etc instead of the mystic grey in my post...just for this bathroom.
https://www.alofttiles.com/products/onyx-chic-white-24x48-lappato-porcelain-tile
I wonder if the matching patterns will be important to making it work as well as it does in this picture.
https://www.tileclub.com/products/emporio-blue-onyx-24x48 · More Info
https://www.alofttiles.com/products/onyx-chic-white-24x48-lappato-porcelain-tile · More Info - last month
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I feel like this tile I chose for the workout room bathroom is demanding that I paint my workout room a series of greyed blues from darkest at baseboard to lightest at ceiling. I don't want green-blues; I prefer violet-blues. How grey do I go? More grey than blue, or more blue than grey? This is a workout room with black workout equipment.
https://www.alofttiles.com/products/onyx-chic-blue-24x48-lappato-porcelain-tile · More Infohttps://www.alofttiles.com/products/onyx-chic-white-24x48-lappato-porcelain-tile · More Info
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I've become frustrated with the Emporio blue tile in the workout room. I'm feeling like it's forcing me to go in ways I don't want to go: having three walls of the bathroom tiled in cream when I only wanted one wall to be a cream anti-accent wall to de-emphasise the toilet.
So I think I will use the pair of tiles I selected for the secondary bedroom (my bedroom) for use in the workout room too. It is not as busy as the Emporio blue was. And I am ok with having three walls in the Imperial Green and just the vanity/toilet wall in the coordinating Mystic Grey. And I also am ok with having both in the polished finish. I think hubby is happy because he really loved those two tiles too and will enjoy seeing them in the workout-room ensuite.
The other thing I didn't like about the Emporio Blue Onyx was that it was trapping me in only choosing a blue wall in the workout room. And it was giving me fits about the door color. I was struggling with whether to paint it and decided wood would be safer because of how it looked when open. Now with the Imperial Green having so many great blues and greens in it, I feel like I can choose any blue or green I want for the walls and the doors too. We started with a theme of green walls and blue ceiling. Now I feel like I am being true to that.
Secondary ensuite · More Info - last month
For the center hallway I am thinking about dandelion chandeliers and ceiling lights. These have so much glitter I am thinking I can have brass. Also, last I knew, we are using brass door handles. So my question is, would you have brass or polished nickel lights on the ceiling? The walls are SW rock bottom green. The walls are either green black or dark charcoal blue.
dandelion puff · More Info
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@Red Ryder @Little Bird @brydrvn my designer called yesterday and agreed with us all. She has seen both, loves them, and says the brass will be fine in the center hallway. She said it will repeat the brass door handles in the hallway but either would still be fine. She also told me it's a great version of Sputnik style chandelier that won't be as quickly dated. I was waffling between the sharp pointy Sputnik and dandelion and had decided to lean into my softer side.
Also she forgot how dark the walls were going to be and is back to wood doors at least in the center hallway. I told her that Sherwin Williams has a dark grey green that matched the green tile we chose for the primary bathroom but it has an awful name: Rock Bottom (left). Oh well, who cares. She said she has seen it and loves it and the Charcoal Blue for the ceilings to camouflage the attic door. She got really excited when she remembered I asked for anaglypta wall paper in the hallway. She suggested we take the wallpaper all the way down the stairs and also glaze the wallpaper after painting it to catch the horizontal light those walls will get. And she suggested some up-lighting to accentuate the vertical. I think now she is understanding how much I love lighting and why I like dark walls and ceilings... to show off beautiful lights and lighting. She was already planning to light each step in addition to the chandelier dandelion. And since we want stair rails on both sides, acrylic. Oh dear... brass or chrome or even bronze? She assured me we don't have to match. What is important is whether or not you want contrast
She also approved a light fixture for the shoji-door hallway/closet: I call it a squiggle light because that's how it looks on the lighting design. I love that the lamps are adjustable so I can point them wherever they are needed. https://www.lampsplus.com/products/pro-track-ascend-6-light-gold-s-wave-led-track-fixture__291v1.htmlWe still need to choose a transom and the shoji doors. I'd like the shoji doors to be 18" off the floor to line up with a stool and window bottom in the far end.
lucite stair rail to de-emphasize horizontal lines · More Info
in polished chrome? · More Info
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@Little Bird I think my space is too small for shoji doors... sigh. I think shoji doors are supposed to have a horizontal emphasis and be used as room dividers. They sound perfect for you.
The width I have is 67", so I should be looking for 30" wide panel doors with no hardware. I found a few. Unfinished would be nice so I can stair them the color I need.
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Just when I think I've got it all figured out... I need one chandelier in the stairwell and one at the top of the stairs. I would like them to match sort of... Which pair do you like? Dandelions or Ginko leaves?
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Glad to help @Little Bird. I ran across something else that made me think of you, though I have no idea if you have a use for it. And generally I love this light source. It has the same level of tasteful and more interesting items as the Artful Home that you introduced to me. As with most items, they sell multiple versions, one fish to a school.
https://vakkerlight.com/products/crimson-swirl-koi-chandelier
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@Red Ryder and @Little Bird in my realization that my door space is 67" wide and three shoji doors will be two wide, and even two shoji doors will be too wide, I switched to interesting regular ol' closet doors that I showed last time. Then I realized nobody is going to see them, and when we do, we will be face to face with them. I thought... Well maybe I just get plain slab doors and paint them or maybe put a mural on them, but no... The effect of a mural also is best at a distance. Hmmm... What works in small spaces? Mirrors! What about creating an infinity space in there with the closet doors being mirrored? And they would amplify the light from outdoors. I wondered... What view would they amplify? One door would amplify the setting sky since we are uphill from that side of the house. The other would amplify the trees from the neighbor's back yard until my trees get taller. I had mirrors for closet doors in high school and remember they can show dust. And I know which way the doors will have to overlap so you don't see the seem from the hallway. I think I'm liking the idea. What do you guys think of both sides of this inspo space were mirrors?
I had envisioned top-down blinds for the window at the end in a pale blue or green with a prism hanging from the top of the window. I think that would still work. I found a transom for the entry to the closet area that I like, but there are others that could sub if this one sells.
The designer thinks I need a light fixture in the closet area instead of recessed lights. I found this fixture with multiple pointable lamps.
It's very functional, but four recessed lights can be pointed too (gimble). And they can have metal rings, not just white, and they can be painted too. I'm thinking the natural focal point is the window in the closet area, so why would I want a ceiling fixture that could pull attention from it? What do you guys think? I'm trying to imagine it in the night too. Should I have the lights in this area wired with the dandelion lights so they all come on together? Or should they be separate? If separate, what would reflect off the mirrors in the dead of night? The lights from the neighbors yard down the street, not the stars. Maybe the moon sometimes in summer. That could be cool. Ok, wired separate? Any downside?
https://www.lampsplus.com/products/pro-track-ascend-6-light-gold-s-wave-led-trac · More Info
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I am not a fan of too many mirrors. I only use one full length in the master bedroom to check my outfit. They can reflect too much sunlight when they’re on the outside of the closet and facing windows.
For the ceiling light, I would be concerned that style won’t give enough diffused light. You may not have enough to figure out if a shirt is black or navy blue.
My walk-in ceiling lights are like these.
- 27 days ago
The closet I am talking about is the one in the center hallway. Its only 3' wide. Its shelves are only 6" deep. It's for cleaning supplies and replacement personal care items. There are two sets of doors that face each other, not the larger space. And there is a window at the far end. The brown rectangle represents a little stool. I don't want the light fixture inside to be seen under the transom window. It must not distract. The closet doors would only face each other.
- 26 days ago
@Red Ryder I like the idea of a light-diffusing lamp shade, but it would have to diffuse light from the bottom as well as the sides. Frosted glass maybe?
I found a picture of a bathroom with mirrored doors facing each other with a window between them. My space would be half that wide, but it lets you know the idea, good or bad. My floor would be dark chocolate cork, not shiny marble. My ceiling would be dark grey-blue or green-black. My window would be smaller and narrower, and the walls above and below it a dark grey green. The space would be framed with a doorway including a headwall with a transom window in beveled cut glass if I can find it. The point would be to bounce in the light from the outside and to make the 3' wide space feel a tad roomier. This space starts about 10' from the top of the stairs.
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@RedRyder yes, we are so close to being ready. There is storage space I could design further, like the space between the toilet and the shower in the secondary bathroom. See the picture below? I'm thinking PVC tambour doors. https://www.tapeease.com/pvc_and_aluminum_tambour_door_systems.htm
PVC for the high humidity? Painted to blend in with the honed Mystic Grey tile? I'm thinking I need to divide the space into upper and lower, but maybe I'm wrong. Maybe just a single door floor to ceiling, opening from right to left? They offer up to 60" tall x 32" wide. What do you think?
https://mmgmarble.com/product/porcelain/mystic-gray-porcelain-tiles/ · More Info
- 5 days ago
marylut