Before And After: Our Upstairs Bathroom is Finished!

2023 has been such an incredibly busy year for us…and August is only getting started. With our bedroom/bathroom addition finally wrapping up after 18 looooong months, the last thing we wanted to do was to take on another renovation. Then, in early Spring, we noticed a pretty sizable crack in the shower surround in our upstairs bathroom. Instead of pouring money into repair costs, and in a bathroom that DESPERATELY needed renovating, we decided it was best to bump it up on the ol’ project to-do list. This began our five month renovation adventure!

I am so happy with how this bathroom came out, and I’m excited to finally be able to share it with you all today!

We kept the original footprint of the bathroom, which helped keep costs down. It also didn’t really make sense to change it, as we weren’t prepared to start removing walls or stealing space from the upstairs bedroom, that this bathroom is attached to.

This is what that same view looked like before!!

We are getting ready to do some bedroom switcheroo’s around here and once our bedroom/bathroom addition is complete, this upstairs bedroom and this en suite bathroom will belong to our teenage daughter. So, I wanted the space to feel kind of fun and whimsical, while still feeling like it belongs in our rustic, chalet-style home here in the Pacific Northwest.

Now, let’s get into all the details and take a closer look at everything, shall well?

The Vanity

Tile | Vanity | Drawer Pull | Mirror | Wallpaper |Runner | Faucet | Sconce | Hand Soap | Mushrooms || Scrub Brush | Tray | Horse Painting

Landscape Painting | Nude Lady Sketch

Finding a vanity for this space was tricky. It’s not a standard size…not even kinda close. And there was no room to fudge with a wall on one side and the opening for the toilet, on the other. I finally found this one and not only was it the right size, but it’s GORGEOUS. I mean, just peep those legs! It’s solid teak and has a good amount of storage, probably due to the fact that all the drawers are functional and open. They have cut-outs to accommodate the plumbing that’s behind the vanity on the wall. The vanity was the starting point for the entire bathroom, and once I selected that, everything else just, sorta, fell into place. Even the tile!

The Tile

Shower Door | Teak Stool | Shower Faucet | Wiggle Hook

Bathroom Floor Tile | Shower Floor Tile | Shower Wall Tile

After living with an old fiberglass shower surround for nearly four years, I was so excited to start fresh with all new tile everywhere. All of the tile in the bathroom is from Ann Sacks, my absolute favorite tile source! We went with this tile for the bathroom floor, which we had laid in a herringbone pattern. The color is called metallic black, and has lots of depth to it. It’s one of those neat colors that changes depending on the lighting, and I love that about it! I think it’s cool and sophisticated, while still feeling like a classic choice. For the shower walls, I fell hard for these Swiss Cross Mosaics, from their Savoy line.  This is the paperwhite color option, and it’s a lovely and warm shade of white. Perfect, IMHO. The swiss cross shape felt just right for a teen girls’ bathroom, and we went with a light gray grout to accentuate the playful design. The shower floor is also from their Savoy line, but in the herringbone pattern. I thought it was a cute nod to the flooring in the main part of the bathroom, but on a smaller scale. The color is called Lantern, a blueish gray hue that I LOVE.

Just check out these Before shots!

Can you even believe that this is the same space?!

The Walls and Ceiling

Seated Woman Painting | Wiggle Outlet Cover | Wood Blind

Originally, in this bathroom, there was a small section of ceiling that was clad with a five inch cedar tongue and groove. We always loved that about the space, probably the only thing we loved, in fact. Ha! But we thought, what if we continued this cedar throughout the entire ceiling? Yes, please! I love the warmth that it adds and the cedar gives it kind of a spa type vibe. We sealed the boards before install for extra protection from moisture. The walls are also a five inch tongue and groove, but in pine. We went with the pine for the walls because I knew they would be painted Extra White by Sherwin Williams. This is the same white that I’ve used throughout the house. It’s a true white without any undertones. At least, any undertones that I can detect with my ultra-sensitive undertone detecting eyes.

| Wiggle Toilet Paper Holder |

And that’s a wrap! It feels so good to finish this project up, I mentioned earlier this week how this is my new favorite space in the house and I meant it! I LOOOOOVE every square inch of this little bathroom, and I cannot help but smile when I walk in.

XOXO

PS…I tried to source everything for you guys. But, if I missed something, let me know in the comments below, and I’ll do my best to track it down for ya!

 

 

 

The light of all lights!

This post is sponsored by Blueprint Lighting 

Ever since we finished our bathroom at the beginning of the summer, the most frequently asked question that I get is; Where did you get the light above the vanity? I knew it was the ONE as soon as soon as I laid eyes on it! See what I mean…

This particular light is the Monarch Articulating Wall lamp in the Greece color from Blueprint Lighting. If you aren’t familiar with Blueprint Lighting, they are an NYC based company that produces quality, boutique wall/ceiling lamps, as well as chandeliers at a palatable price. Easier said than done! I love them (well, for many reasons really) but, especially because they produce handcrafted lighting, without the crazy lead times that you see from other custom lighting companies… I have seen anywhere from 8 to 24 weeks from other places! And with all of the color and metal options they offer, they really have something for everyone!

The Monarch light is perfect for a vanity light as it adjusts in two different spots so you can direct light in any direction that you prefer, but also disperses the light beautifully in a way that lights up the entire bathroom. The glossy blue and brass combination is so funky and adds just a little bit of personality and sass to the bathroom. It’s really the perfect combination of form and function.

Our kitchen is also outfitted in Blueprint Lighting lights. For our flushmount, we went with their Model 130 Strobus in unlaquered brass. It is a show piece and definitely acts as the star of the kitchen!

The sconces are their Campana Wall Sconce in stark white. I love them! Just like the bathroom fixture, they are fully adjustable and make a statement without overpowering the overall design of a room.

If you are in the market for some quality, handmade lighting, you’ll definitely want to check out Blueprint Lighting. I have a feeling you guys will love their selection of beautiful fixtures. AND OMG I just saw on their site that many of their wall lamps are BOGO right now! SERIOUSLY, RUN!!! Happy Shopping, friends!

 

Bathroom Reveal…It’s Finally Done!

Hiya guys! I can hardly believe that I’m typing these words, but THE BATHROOM IS DONE!!! Even though this was a small space (just 5’x8′!), it was definitely one of the more challenging spaces that we’ve remodeled. COVID certainly didn’t help, and we found ourselves without supplies that we just couldn’t get our hands on for weeks at a time. At one point, we ran out of grout, and thought we would be able to simply pick some more up curbside from our local home depot, but they were out of stock. So, we ordered from them online, and didn’t receive it for almost three weeks. Insert eye roll here. But, that’s all in the past, and I can’t wait to show you how it looks now!

I thought it would be fun to take a trip down memory lane and have a look at this space pre-renovation. Allow me to set the mood…think lots of dark, oak cabinetry from the 1980’s, reflective shower doors (adjacent to the toilet, so I’ll let that sink in for a sec), and the color brown for dayzzzzz. WARNING – it was so bad!

The space just felt sad. I assumed that it hadn’t been updated since the house was originally built in 1984, but we found wallpaper behind the cabinets so I guess it had to have been updated at some point. Scary, but true! In addition to how bad it looked, it also didn’t function well. The cabinet above the toilet was a hazard, and we were always bumping our heads on the doors when they were left open, which they always were. The faucet was leaking, and constantly had a small stream of water running down into the sink. The shower doors spent more time off of their tracks than on. Finally, the shower head was so low that Nate and I both had to crouch just to fit underneath for rinsing off during a shower.

The bathroom is so small that I decided early on that leaving the layout as is would be the best choice. Tip for ya; if you’re thinking about starting a bathroom renovation (or any room, really!), keeping the existing layout will save you lots of dough, in terms of budget. Moving plumbing/electrical is costly, and you’ll be forced to hire that work out. With that said, don’t be afraid TO hire work out, if needed. Nate and I aren’t comfortable with drywall/texture work, and can’t achieve the look of a professional no matter how hard we try…and trust me, we’ve tried! We always hire that out, and I feel good about that decision. We save money doing most of the work ourselves, so it feels justified in that way.

Ok ok ok…let’s get to the good stuff! Here’s how the bathroom looks now!

 

Ahhhhhhh can you believe it?! What do you guys think? Can you even handle how cute it is now? I will admit, I have been caught a few times over the past couple days just staring. It makes me so happy now!

A few thoughts on the overall process:  I wanted to have some fun with this space and mix some metals, you can see that I mixed brass, matte black and brushed gold. They all are different but I think it works! Everything had to go during the renovation which allowed us to start fresh. After the new water resistant sheet rock went in, we applied a coat of Redgard, and then had all the walls repaired, skim coated, and fresh texture was added. If you have a keen eye, then you might have noticed that we even replaced that old vinyl window with a modern black window from Sierra Pacific Windows. The clear glass lets in waaaay more light, and the modern lines helped to bring this bathroom from sad 1980’s to modern 2020. Welcome to the new century, Bathroom! We debated (heavily) on doing a glass shower door, but ultimately opted for a simple shower rod and shower curtain combo just to keep things light and airy. The shower tile pattern is a vertical stack, which I worried might feel too modern, but I think the handmade artisan look of the tile keeps it from feeling toooo modern. Nate and I learned a lot during this remodel, and now I’m itching to use everything we learned on our upstairs bathroom!

Link time! So if you wanna know where I scored a certain something, it should all be there for you in the list!

Vanity – The Morris 30″ from Signature Hardware

Hand soap

Mirror above vanity

Vanity light – Monarch Articulating wall light from Blueprint Lighting. Mine is in the color called Greece.

Sink faucet – Matte Black Tenet Widespread Bathroom Faucet from Pfister Faucets

Tub – Sitka Tub from Signature Hardware

Shower tile – Glazed Thin Bricks in Lewis Range from Fireclay Tile

Shower grout

Shower trim kit – Brushed Gold Tenet Tub and Shower Trim Kit from Pfister Faucets

Shower curtain

Shower rod

Shower hooks

Black heat register cover

Floor tile – Kasbah Trellis from Fireclay Tile 

Floor grout

Window – Urban casement style from Sierra Pacific Windows

Window Blind (that has yet to arrive) This is another good option for bamboo blinds that I have used in the past and loved (ships super fast too)!

Shelves above Toilet – Made by Nate who has a tutorial saved on his Instagram page @honeydudelist

Print on shelves (top left)

Print on shelves (top right) – Corinne Bizzle Art

Print on shelves (bottom right) – Thrifted but I linked a very similar look here

Wall baskets on shelves – Thrifted but I linked an even better set here

TP holder 

Stool by the tub

Rug – Vintage rug from Rug & Weave but I linked a similar one here. Everything on their site is amazing!

Plant hangers – Braid & Wood Design Studio

Whew! Well, I think that’s about it! Thank you so much for following along and for all of your comments, questions, and for cheering me on during this project (love you guys!)…even though it seemed like it kept going and going and going. Also, I’d like to thank my sponsors who I worked with and I’d just like to say how much I appreciated their patience with me during this project. Everything took WAAAAAY longer than I had originally planned, and everyone was so gracious. So a big thank you and a big hug (virtual, of course. Thanks to COVID) goes out to all of these generous partners for believing in me, and this little bathroom! I couldn’t have done it without you! XOXO