I love my bathroom. It is the room in my house that makes me the happiest. My bedroom is nice and my kitchen is fabulous, but I love my bathroom! I love everything about my bathroom.
I knew the floor tile the very first time I walked into the tile department of a hardware store before I even meant to start planning. My tile is gorgeous. It is an Italian porcelain 8x8 flora design. (I can no longer find the exact one that I have.) Its fun and playful without being so busy that your eyes hurt.
Next I needed to decide on the cabinets. I wanted a tall cabinet for towels and a hamper and I nice long vanity. My husband wanted the medicine cabinet tower in the middle. Just like in my kitchen, I wanted these cabinets to go all of the way to the ceiling. I also wanted to have lots of drawers in here. Storage is important and I didn't want to waste any space. Having a specific color on the floor I needed to either match or compliment them. This was a really difficult decision because the color looks different in every light. I didn’t have a sample tile to bring home to look at in the actual room. (And I would like to take a brief moment to complain about the size of samples. How do they expect you to make accurate decisions when you only have a little 2 inch piece of paper to guess by? Ugh!) It was really a guess I decided on at the cabinet makers last minute. I was really just hoping for the best, but not confident at all. Anyway, I made a fabulous guess! I was shocked when my cabinets came in and they matched the flooring perfect! They are Homburg Gray by Sherwin Williams.
For the counter tops I decided that I wanted them to be one solid piece to make cleaning easy. And I wanted them to have a little sparkle. I chose to go with Corain. (Sorry I do not remember the name of the one I chose.) I highly suggest finding a store that specializes in countertops. They were so much more helpful than the general hardware store.
The faucets are always a place that I choose to add curve. I wanted ones with single handle for controlling the water. I chose Arvo by Delta in a nickel finish. (I chose the same one in black for my boys' bathroom.)
I wanted my bathroom to feel like a luxury retreat! I chose to bring in my sparkle here. Crystal knobs on my cabinetry, on my hand towel holder and the mini chandelier above my bathtub. I love when the sun shines through my windows and the prism rainbows are cast all through the room. I ordered decorative mirrors. And I carried over my hammered glass into the vanity lights.
And I know that the toilet closet is the popular thing right now, but the idea of it is terrible to me. I wouldn’t say I’m super claustrophobic, but the tiny of a space is a little creepy to me. But I did tuck it in behind the vanity. I found the neatest toilet paper holder. Instead of that spring holder that you have to get in just right, this one has a bar that just lifts up and you drop it on. Then you put it back down and it is held in place. It is pretty fabulous!
The Shower!
I wanted a zero entry shower. (Remember, I’m never planning to move and who knows if I’ll have trouble lifting my legs when I’m older. As I watch my parents and grandparents age, I’m trying to think way ahead.) The zero entry was going to require cutting out part of the joists. I didn’t want to mess with that so I told them to put the shortest step they could. I should be able to manage 2 inches someday.
I chose a large vertical tile in a cream color that complimented the floor tile that I carried into the shower. The large tile on the wall looks great and besides, who want to clean extra grout?
My requirements for the showerhead was a medium size head with a hand held sprayer. My husband wanted a giant rain can. He absolutely loves it. It makes me feel like I’m drowning so I’m nota huge fan. But its his shower too, so I am glad that he has it.
I chose to have niche shelving for shampoo tiled into the wall. And I got a tiny little corner shelf shin height for propping a foot to shave. Its worth it ladies!
The long linear drain makes it look very sleek. If you are like me and lose a lot of hair when you shower, you will have to clean it out every now and then. There is a hair catcher in it so your actual drain doesn’t get clogged. But it is a little gross when it comes time to do it. I would make the same decision to use it again.
The Bathtub!
My bathtub is amazing. I wanted a drop in tub. The free standing ones are beautiful, but I knew I didn’t want to have to crawl around to clean behind one. And I love having the edge around it to set my water or tea on. And sometimes when my plants are alive I will set one there to make it even lovelier. My husband is a big guy and he wanted a big bathtub. I left the final bathtub decision up to him.
Side story…Our bathtub in our original house was a sight to behold. I wanted a bathtub and I found an old cast iron one on craigslist. They sold it to me for $50. I refinished it with a kit from Lowes and had a handy man help my dad install it while I was at work. They didn’t want to take a jack hammer to the floor so they bought some brick and propped it up so the drain could be high enough to. It was 4 foot long. So tiny! And since it was cast iron and we had it in the basement the water would get cold very quickly. We used to run a space heater in the area fora half hour before a bath to get the iron warm so that the water would stay warm. LOL
So that helps you understand the desire for the tub a little more. Our tub is 6 foot and glorious. I picked out a beautiful curved faucet. And I could (and have) spend hours in it.
I found these beautiful blinds that also brought in just a touch of luxury. (I had the same one in gray at my old house and loved it. I wanted to use it somewhere again.) They compliment my mirrors very well.
And I love our stone bath mat. Not water everywhere or soggy towels and rugs. These things are great. I have one in all of our bathrooms.
When we finally got to move into our new home and people came to see the new house, my bathroom was the place I was most excited to show our guests.
FYI...For my bathroom, since this is not a shared common space I chose to use a pocket door to save on space. I did not want this any place where my children were going to be. I did not want to risk them breaking them or knocking them off track. (I don’t know how those boys manage to be so destructive???)
