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My Work: A Tale of Three Bathrooms

by - Tuesday, October 16, 2012

As you can probably tell by my lack of posting, I've been bogged down with book writing. Things are busy but pretty exciting... the submissions for the book are so fantastic! Lots of bloggers that you might not be familiar with and tons of photos you won't see anywhere else are making in their way into the book.

Unfortunately, that means not much progress on the basement. We just have to make it through our first book deadline then we can focus on finishing up this place. So let's talk about something else that is done, shall we?

Small Bathroom Makeovers


Earlier this spring I helped my sister M with some renovating at her house. And by help I mean helped her select pretty finishes and told her where to spend her money, ha! I'm such a kind sister ;) M's house was already spectacular with a big exception - the bathrooms. 

Three of their bathrooms hadn't been touched since the 1990's so it was time to bring them in line with the rest of the house. There was a lot of work done to the bathrooms and the transformations are pretty impressive so I thought I'd share them with you over a few posts. First up...

Boy's Ensuite Bathroom




This ensuite bathroom is attached to my 8-year old nephew's bedroom. It looked how you would expect a child's bath to look: simple finishes, a plain vanity, a tub and shower combo. Only a few updates had been made to the room - a fresh green paint was put on the walls and a fun shower curtain was added. 

As my nephew got older, the room was used less frequently for baths (showers are his thing) and the room looked juvenile compared to his stylish bedroom. In considering what to change, we recognized that having a bathtub here was not a necessity (there are other tubs in the house) so we could go with a roomy shower. With a few upgrades in finishes, this bathroom is definitely not looking so juvenile any more:


We wanted the bathroom to be one that would carry my nephew well into his teen years. Doing that meant blending durability with functionality and beauty. We decided on a masculine but clean palette, mixing whites with grays, marble finishes and simple ceramics.


The biggest change was removing the tub and shower combo and replacing it with a large enclosed shower. A sliding glass door keeps drips in (and off of the marble floor). A rain showerhead and adjustable hand spray ensure that this growing boy will enjoy taking showers.

Using elongated white subway tiles adds a modern touch and emphasizes the roominess of the shower. The mosaic of glass and marble tiles brings in the colours found in the room and adds interest to the shower walls.



I used marble basketweave in my own bathroom and thought it would work great here. To balance the more opulent finishes, the custom vanity was given a very basic shaker profile. A simple framed mirror hangs above the vanity and both were painted in a nice warm charcoal gray. The cabinet handles have a bit of a nautical feel so we built on that by choosing lighting that had similar styling. They sort of remind me of lighthouses. A fun chevron blind (every kid needs some chevron!) made by Tonic Living is the finishing touch.


Now its a bathroom that any kid (or adult) will enjoy.

Two more bathroom transformations coming up!

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