We embarked on our bathroom remodel because there was a problem with the plumbing. The shower was dumping gallons of water into our basement. We stopped using it and shut off the water while we determined what to do about it. However, plumbing doesn’t like to sit unused and it eventually began to emit sewer gas smells throughout the house, so we jumped in.
There can be a lot of pressure when you remodel a bathroom because it feels very permanent. Most people only remodel their bathrooms one time while they’re living in their homes, so it’s important to make sure you’ll like the finishes in the present and going into the future.
It can be hard to predict what your tastes will be throughout the time you live in your home, so I recommend sticking with styles that are timeless, not trendy. My recent remodel reminded me that there are ways to play with trends without being stuck with them down the road.
Selecting materials for this bathroom took some thought and consideration since we will not be renovating it again. I knew I wanted to use white marble, it’s such a timeless material. Marble is everywhere and has been for centuries, I’m not worried about it going out of style. I went with rectangular tile on the floor. I didn’t want to do anything busy because it’s a long and narrow floor. Anything thin and long would make it look like a bowling alley, so I just kept it simple.
I did add some flare in the shower using the herringbone tile pattern and I love it. I also added a vanity to ceiling backsplash on the sink. I’m really happy with the way it turned out. This is something that could be viewed as trendy. If I’m ever tired of it down the road, we could technically rip it off and drywall the area. I don’t ever expect to do that, but just one example of how you can change things up down the road.
I did think quite a bit about what finish to go with on the shower head, faucet, towel bars, etc., and I went with the matte gold. Again, this is something that could be considered trendy down the road. I can always change these things out. It would be an expensive pain, but again, it is an option.
Vessel sinks are my favorite and I’m so happy with the way the vanity as a whole turned out. I think it’s my favorite part of this design. I met with a cabinet maker to create the vanity and he tried to steer me away from stained wood and just go with white instead. Monochrome white is very in right now, but I wanted to bring a bit of that French country vibe into the bathroom.
I have always planned to move a washing machine and dryer up to our first floor because the laundry is in our unfinished basement. I took this opportunity and we added a stackable washer and dryer into the bathroom remodel. Because of this addition and the window in the bathroom, I was somewhat locked into the old layout of the bathroom.
I moved everything down a bit for the washer and dryer closet and took some of the real estate from the shower and long vanity that was in place previously. If the window wasn’t in the bathroom, I would have put the shower at the end so that the bathroom didn’t feel so long, but with older houses, sometimes you just have to work with what you’ve got. I wasn’t willing to take out the window or add glass privacy blocks.
Bottom line, there are SO many decisions that you have to make when remodeling a bathroom. Many I didn’t even think of before we started this process. My advice, take your time and really think about what you want. Don’t rush through the process and make knee jerk decisions that can and will impact other decisions as you go.