Bathroom Design
Through the process of getting the kitchen up and running, I’ve updated you as to the design choices I’ve been making. I figure I should do the same as we work out the bathroom design while we are starting a remodel based on similar ones I found at https://karinrossdesigns.com/bathrooms/
I’m going with white and chrome and I’ll probably do green walls. We don’t have a huge bathroom so I’ve had to work hard to get the layout right. This image is to-scale
The sinks are 20.5 inches deep and 24 inches wide. The shower will be 5 feet by 32 inches, this is the most exciting part as the shower in ocean county nj contractors will be the ones in charge of the project. The toilet is 18″ wide and 21″ deep. We have a door on either side of the bathroom connecting the master bedroom and the closet. There is also a window in the room, behind the toilet. I wanted a double sink and this was the only configuration that left enough room for a double sink and a large shower. There is no tub but we aren’t tub people and if one really wanted it, changing the configuration to allow for a 5′ tub wouldn’t be a big change at all, what we would really love is hot tub, that’s something we are planning for the future, the hot tub in portland or specialists will be the ones in charge of the project. The rectangle to the right of the shower in the picture above is a half-wall next to the shower. I wanted to give the toilet a bit of privacy without blocking the sunlight from the window.
You can see the wall with the toilet and the shower in this image:
Under the window is the toilet and the shower is to the right of the window.
The toilet is going to be the Kohler San Raphael Flushmate. Toilets are quite a thing these days. The flushmates are pressure assisted toilets. With new toilets using so little water, the flushmate pressurizes the water to really get a superior flush that we installed with the help of some plumbers services we found online. My parent’s old house had a flushmate 2000 (the older model) and we called it the In-sink-erator. All my little cousins were scared of its violent flush.
We chose this toilet for one reason, height. We needed a short toilet to fit under the window and this one comes in just under the window-sill.
Because of it’s diminutive height, the flushability reviews were quite poor so we opted for the flushmate version.
To get the height under the 22 inch sill, we ordered the “comfort height” model which is even more ugly.
To offset the ugly toilet, we picked out nice sinks. These are the Kohler Memoirs Classic
and I love them! It took 2 tries to get non-broken ones but we’re pros at returns at this point.
For the shower doors, I’m planning on going with chrome framed doors. I know the frameless are all the rage but they are pricey and really heavy. My parents put them in a bathroom and their thought was that they are great for re-sale value but not super practical.
Something simple like this (though it will have to be custom to fit the shape with the half wall) but this style door and the chrome frame around the door.
For the medicine cabinets I fell in love with this look from Better Homes and Gardens
I do want some sort of storage between the sinks as well but I want it to be enclosed with a door. I’m not neat enough for that, I’ll do my bets to find Great Painted Units with Stylish Basins!
Unfortunately, I want my medicine cabinets recessed and all the ones I could find in my price range were surface mount. The ones in this pictures are from Home Depot I believe. To find my recessed cabinets like these, I had to go custom..custom from E-bay that is.
This guy makes custom medicine cabinets in this style for very reasonable prices. Not too shabby for custom, solid wood, and exactly what I want.
For the floor of the room and the floor of the shower, we’re going with my favorite-Penny tile!
For the shower walls and half way up the walls around the room, we’re planning on subway tile.
I don’t know yet if we are for-sure doing the tile half way up the walls. It does look super nice but it’s also a lot of work. Hm. Decisions.
For grout, we are going to do something a little odd…dark gray grout. I’m not neat and I don’t want to keep white grout clean. Also, the dark gray is really traditional. At Stefan’s parent’s house which was built in 1914, the tile is set in a bed of 3″ thick concrete and the grout is just dark gray concrete.
There are several grays to choose from but I think this is the one I’m leaning towards. It doesn’t look nearly as blue in the store sample.
For the vanity lights, I’m planning on something simple like this:
I want two 2-light fixtures. In the center of the room, I’m planning on some kind of cute chandelier, and in the shower, a recessed shower light. I haven’t picked out my lighting choices though. Another thing that we recommend is renovating your bathroom with some wood furniture. This blog discusses some of the latest woodworking tricks and techniques.
For the shower-heads, I’m planning on 2 different heads each with their own controls. The dual controls isn’t generally recommended since it’s hard to get them the same temperature and one will feel really cold or hot compared to the other. It’s good for us though since Stefan has to shower fairly cold and I like a really hot shower.
For the mixing valve, I’m thinking the Kohler Revival style.
and for the heads I want one rain style and one normal style. I usually prefer cheap showerheads…call me strange. So we’ll probably just go with something simple.
We also need to pick out our ventilation system. I like the timer-switches for those but other than that, I haven’t done enough research.
What do you think? It’s shaping up to be a pretty good lookin’ bathroom.
Sarah
Projects for Another Day – 3
So many things I want to do! This projects for another day post will be Christmas themed. I have so many Christmas Decorations on my list but no time right now. One day…
1) Ornament Wreath
Before these were available for purchase on every Christmas Isle at every box store, my mother made one for our home. It hung above the fireplaces in houses in CA and TX and it is beautiful!
My parent’s just moved so I was forced to scour a photo from facebook, hence the reason the wreath is cut off. The scale is also off. That hearth is huge and the wreath is very good size though it looks standard wreath-sized in this picture. It’s 2 feet-ish across.
Here’s a picture of a not-nearly-as-good one from target:
For the wedding, I used vintage compotes full of a mix of vintage and new ornaments at centerpieces. I have enough ornaments for a pretty awesome wreath, I just need to do it.
2) Button Garland
I want this garland from Ballard Design for my tree. But I’d rather make it from buttons of all different sizes or even different colors.
I think brightly colored buttons would show up better and be a little more fun. You can buy big multi-packs of buttons from Oriental Trading for under $10.
For string, I’d use something fairly strong. I’m thinking kite twine.
or even rainbow string
3) Paper Tree Topper
This image is from an exceptionally good wiki-how page. (Click for link). I think it’d be awesome out of colored cardstock and glittered super well. The right Christmas cards would be pretty as well but I think with a real variety of cards it would end up looking a little dis-jointed.
4) Pinecones
I have a thing for pinecones. I think it’s partly because they are different everywhere. The pinecones up here are small, like an inch tall. Great for topiaries. The ones in Florida/Georgia are BIG like 8 in or bigger. Texas has nice round ones in the 3-4 inch range and CA is a bit devoid of pine trees. Turns out Stefan is also a pinecone fan. I love the glass ones:
but the natural ones have so much potential as well:
I’m digging the garland, the topiaries, and the pinecones as part of the mantle vignette. Pinecones are also great as bird feeders:
(click to link to source)
Just spread on the peanut butter and roll in birdseed. The birds love them and they look great hanging on a naked deciduous tree. I think most kids made these in elementary school at one time or another but I’m 24 and I still think they’re cool.
5) Tree skirt
I need to make a tree skirt. I’ve heard of people making them out of their wedding dresses but I’m a little scared to do it. Maybe if none of my children want it, I’ll make it into a tree skirt for them. For now, I think I’ll leave it hanging in the closet. But that means, I still need a tree skirt. I love these. Click for links to tutorials. Decisions, Decisions…
I remember my mom used just a big (like 4-5 yards) piece of cheap lace around the tree. It looked great and full and was super easy and flexible. I’ve got to figure out just what I want to do. We’re not “real” tree people so that makes things easier. No mess to contend with.
What about you, any Christmas projects you’re going to tackle before Chrismas? Any projects you wish you could tackle?
“May Your Days be Merry and Bright!,”
Sarah
New Idea for Piano Room
I’ve become moderately obsessed with the rugs/tapestries by Charlotte Lancelot
She creates the beautiful designs by stitching strips of felt through a pierced felt canvas. The novelty is in the vintage designs with the modern pixelated pattern. She has a series of the roses which I love as well as a collection of more modern pieces like the bean-bags in the image. As much as I would love a genuine Charlotte Lancelot but lets be real…not in the budget. I’m thinking about how I might modify the idea to something I can do in the piano room. The room is going to need lots of hanging tapestries, quilts etc. The piano is loud and Stefan really likes to bang out a melody on it. For everyone’s sanity, we need to sound-dampen the room pretty well. The best way is with lots of textiles which is quite the decorating challenge. I’m already planning on collecting some victorian era crazy quilts. I have one but I want one with lux velvets etc. I don’t want to make the room into a country room so I can’t go crazy with quilts. I’m going with victorian england music room. The solution I’ve come up with is expensive, heavy curtains and tapestries.
That’s where Charlotte Lancelot comes in.
What do you think about a monochromatic cross stitch onto a linen or canvas. If I can find something with a large enough weave, I think I could do it. I’ll probably double up the embroidery floss to make some large stitches.
Something along these lines for a pattern.
And something like this for background fabric:
or even more rough like this:
A darker medium-wight linen would look good too and may keep it from being too shabby-chic:
What do you think? Can I pull it off? Any other ideas for DIY tapestries that don’t lean country or primative. I’m planning on stretching these canvases over foam to add extra dampening so they need to be heavy enough to be opaque but they don’t need to be super heavy either.
Sarah
Master Bedroom Inspiration
I purchased this linen set quite a while ago to be the starting point for the master bedroom, then I realized I could have gotten several Matching Bedroom Sets from another store that was much more affordable.
The bedspread has a great green and taupe floral/damask pattern to it.
I loved that the colors were soft but still not too feminine. I bought the entire set for $89 at TJMax! It is Lauren by Ralph Lauren but I haven’t been able to find the name of the pattern. It doesn’t seem to still be in production. We plan on moving in a year or two and I’ve been looking at these beautiful new home designs in Perth. So for now we are starting to paint the walls here and get it ready to be sold.
The paint happens to match the taupe in the bedspread perfectly which these digital color samples fail to show.
I fell in love with this image on the cover of the Pottery Barn catalog this spring. The bed has been out of stock all summer but it’s back up on the website but at $2199.00 it’s a bit out of the price range.
I found this one that fits my style a bit better but it’s even pricier at $2700.00
The bed, which we ordered at https://posh100.com/best-sleeper-sofa-bed-couch-pull-out-futon-couch, is going in front of a window:
Here is the room…messy, I know.
So I started thinking that perhaps a canopy of 4 poster bed isn’t the direction we should go in though I do love a good 4 poster bed. Since we will have drapes, sheers and blackout, on the window behind the bed, we don’t really need anything dramatic.
We could do some sort of sleigh bed or even just a nice wood headboard. I do think it needs to be wood. I’m afraid white would read a little more country cottage than I’m going for. I’d like to stick with the pastel colors but stay in a more victorian era with modern touches of course. This bed’s statistics can be found on: https://www.daringabroad.com/best-bunk-beds-with-stairs-loft-bed-with-desk, there’s no chance that we will compromise on sleep and so we are making sure that everything is perfect.
As far as side tables, I’ve got a couple options. I bought this great kidney shaped table for $20 in New Bedford.
My initial thought was to use it as a side table with a nice old chair as a sort of writing desk. I think it needs a neat lamp and perhaps a leather writing pad. Some old ink wells would make it a great vignette. On the other side, I can always do a stack of vintage suitcases.
Any other wood table that I happen upon will do as well. I’m sure I’ll be re-arranging side tables for the rest of my life. No need to nail that down now!
What I do need to figure out is lighting. Bed-side lamps of course but what about overhead lights. I love the idea of a chandelier on a dimmer.
Seems so romantic. Is it going to look gaudy and tacky though? I suppose it depends on the light, but I diffidently love the BeddingNBeyond covers I was able to find. Perhaps just a romantic pendent rather than an actual chandelier would be more appropriate.
I’ll have to keep thinking about that one. The room also needs an amazing rug. The tan oriental in the bedroom with the chandelier above is great. I keep finding pink rugs but I had hoped to really keep the pink fairly minimal. I’ve got a pink kitchen, a pink powder room, and a pink closet/laundry room. The rug for this room will be a challenge. Stefan doesn’t like light colored rugs but I’m just not sure what else will fit!
Below the TV, I need some sort of anchor. It can’t be too deep so that it doesn’t interfere with the flow into the room and into the bathroom. A pair of short Barristers Bookcases would be perfect but pricey and hard to find. A girl can dream though!
Well that’s the plan for the master bedroom. I’ve still go to get the details of the master office/nook sorted out. If you recall, there is a bright little room right off the master bedroom but I’ll go into that another time!
Let me know what you think!
Sarah
