Picking the pretty

The last week has been spent picking out materials for the bathrooms, and signing off on the cabinets and vanity designs.  I'm pleased to report that decisions have been made!

Master Bath
The master bath is (predictably) going to be white and sparkly, and (hopefully) spa-like.

The free-standing tub will look something like this.

Wall sconces (the crystal doo-dad is a lot whiter than this photo suggests).

Decided to go with a single sink.  This one is 30" long, so two people easily could brush their teeth at the same time without spitting on each other's head.  I think.  

The vanity is a custom piece that will be (duh) white.  It also will float on the wall, which will make the dog hair easier to sweep.  :-)

From a materials point of view, the floor tiles are dark brown, with the look of wood grain.  Sadly, this doesn't photograph well, so just picture dark wood but in tile.

Maybe this photographs better.  At the top of the photo is the coolest accent tile.  We will use this big bubble motif as an accent in the shower.  Below it, looking a bit like crushed crystal, is another accent tile that also will be used as the tile in the shower stall.  At the bottom is the countertop (which might be marble, or it might be granite - this requires further investigation).  And the big white tile in the background is ... the big white tile that we will install in some sort of brick pattern in the shower.

And in a rare burst of colour, a nice botanical fabric will be used for curtain panels on the window behind the tub.

Guest Bathroom

The guest bath will be light and sparkly too.  The countertop is a quartz with lots of little iridescent sparkly bits.  The grooved subway tile looks a lot like the tile in the kitchen - white with a bamboo texture.  The little mosaic marble bars will be used as accent.

The wall sconces are nice and shiny too.

The vanity will be custom built and will be a fairly standard 48" wide, white one with lots of storage.  The faucet is what I fondly refer to as "the puking water kind".

So that's most of it.  The electrician is first up, as he needs to rough in the myriad lights for this reno.  He also will advise whether placing a chandelier over a bathtub is "to code".  Seriously, what could be the danger of putting a large pendant light fixture over a steaming tub of water?

It's ON!!!!

You knew it was coming.  And now that spring is here, my thoughts have turned to a master bath reno.  And you know, while that wall is open ...

In order to make the bathroom big enough for a free-standing tub and a decent sized shower, the wall had to be moved out about 4 feet.

This meant that the original window in the bedroom needed to be replaced with a smaller one, and then a second window was added to the bathroom, to give some balance to the exterior of the house.  The free-standing tub will go on this wall, and we'll hang a little chandelier over the tub to give it some bling. Because you can never have enough chandeliers.

The little walk-in closet was annexed to make room for the shower.  It's going to be a good-sized shower too - hexagonal and about 4' by 3' by whatever measurement that long piece is between the two sides.  

So there it is, in its gutted glory.  The scope of the master bath reno involves:

• Creating larger overall space
• Installing large custom vanity with deep trough sink and natural stone top
• New flooring with heated undermats
• Installing custom shower with built in shelving and multiple shower heads
• Installing free-standing tub
• Subway tiles where required
• Recessed lighting
• Chandelier over tub
• Sconces flanking mirror
• New mirror
• Installing a skylight (and what the heck, let's do a new roof while you're up there)
• New toilet (because even toilets can be pretty)

Of course, when you remove a girl's walk-in closet, that must be addressed too.  To that end, then, the scope of the master bedroom reno involves:

• Custom closets and built-ins for clothes and shoe storage
• New carpet
• Smooth the ceiling (because flocked ceilings should be illegal)
• New chandelier
• New light fixture near entrance to bathroom
• Recessed lighting
• Bed solution for Lou (seriously - his Big Chair might not fit in the new bedroom)

I'm working with the same great team that did last year's reno, and I'm confident we'll achieve the same great results.  We've finished selecting most materials, and work should begin very soon.