Guest Bathroom Renovation

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When my husband, Kevin, and I first bought our house about two and a half years ago, we knew the bathrooms would be the first things we’d want to renovate.  They were functional but fairly outdated.  We didn’t own the house we lived in prior to this, so we were very excited about the idea of being able to do whatever we wanted with it.

About a year and a half after moving in to the new house, we decided to start on the guest bathroom.  It was really a spur of the moment decision on a cold and rainy day when we didn’t have anything else to do.  Tile, drywall, shower doors and cabinets started coming down, then there was no turning back.  I would not recommend starting a project in this manner.  Plan, budget, then plan some more!  With luck on our side, it all worked out in the end.

As you can see, the bathroom had the generic blue and off-white square tiles with the white grout that had badly discolored over the years.  It wasn’t terrible, but definitely not our style.  The floor to ceiling cabinet was too bulky and in the way for such a small bathroom. And the mirror sliding door on the tub had to go!

We knew we wanted to try shiplap and subway tile.  For the color scheme, it was decided we’d be going with an all-white look to keep it bright and to appear larger.  The shiplap was done the cheap route by using 1/4″ plywood stripped into 6″ wide runs.  We bought the plywood at Lowe’s and had them cut the strips on their giant wood saw in the store.  It was much simpler this way!  The subway tile was also bought at Lowe’s at a pretty reasonable price.  You can read about a little fiasco we had with the subway tile here.  It was pretty comical and a lesson well-learned!

Other than the shiplap, one of the things I knew I absolutely HAD to have was herringbone marble floor tiles.  I was originally thinking a 3×6 or 2×4 marble tile to be laid out individually into a herringbone pattern, but Kevin wasn’t too hot on that idea.  It would be a lot of work!  So after more research, I ran across some 12×12 marble herringbone mosaic tiles on Amazon.  They were perfect!   If you’re interested in these tiles for yourself, you can follow the Amazon link I’ve provided here. — Carrara White Italian (Bianco Carrara) Marble 1 X 3 Herringbone Mosaic Tile, Honed  BONUS:  They’re almost always on sale!

As much as I love the classic look of white grout with marble tile, we didn’t want to do that on the floor with the chance of it becoming stained in the future.  We live in the dirty and dusty land of Oklahoma after all, and not everyone takes their shoes off when they come in.  The grout color we used is called Delorean Gray in the TEC brand from Lowe’s.

The vanity came from Wayfair at a great price compared to other vanities we checked out!  We had a little difficulty finding the right type of vanity that would fit in the nook provided to us, but eventually ran across this one at Wayfair and couldn’t be happier with the outcome.

I better point out that another thing I had spotted before starting this renovation and knew I’d be wanting was the mirror.  It was in the Pottery Barn catalog and was love at first sight!  The oil rubbed bronze finish with the tilting movement and rounded corners were absolutely perfect for the modern farmhouse look we were striving for.  If/when we move out of this house some day, the mirror may have to come with us.  It’s just too pretty to leave behind!

All of the decorative pieces in the bathroom were found at random places over time, mainly TJ Maxx and Hobby Lobby.  The ceiling was originally popcorn texture including a giant hole where the tall storage cabinet once was and an odd lowering over the shower that made the room feel closed in.  To update this, the lowering was removed and the warmth of wood planks were added here since the rest of the bathroom would be white.  We used simple, pre-stained tongue and groove planks found in the lumber section of Lowe’s.  I’ll be creating another post very soon to tell about our process with the new ceiling.

Overall, we are extremely happy with our guest bathroom now and wouldn’t change a thing about it.  Let us know if you have any questions or comments in the comments section below or on the Contact Us page!  Love to you all!