Bathroom Makeover
When we moved into our house 5 years ago, we never imagined that we would have to redo everything in our house. When I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING. Siding, drywall, shingles, insulation, our house was essentially taken down to sticks. It was horrible.
At the time, we didn't have enough money to finish everything in our house, so the rooms that weren't so important sat unfinished for years.
In the grand scheme of things, I am happy that we couldn't finish everything at the time. If we would have, I can assure you, my house would look nothing like it looks today.
My style and ability to DIY has definitely changed and evolved over the years.
So let me take you along for a mini journey of my throught process and my challenges I faced during this bathroom transformation and how I came to the end result.
The Before
Wow, I cringe when I look at these before pictures. But these before pictures, also bring me a sense of joy and pride knowing that I was able to transform this space into something that I now swoon over and want to show off.
When I first decided that this bathroom was going to get a makeover, I knew I wanted black and white. If you follow along with me on Instagram, you will already know that I have developed a small obsession with black walls. So, clearly it only made sense to incorporate a black wall into this space.
But black walls in a bathroom? I asked myself this question many times. Was it not "allowed"? would people think I was crazy for doing this? So many questions I had to figure out.
There was one thing I knew for sure. I wanted tile on the walls around the bathtub. So, I felt this was a good place to start. My original plan was to do white subway tile. My husband and I went to Lowes to get tile, and almost settled on the subway tile, and then this gorgeous black and white tile caught my eye. It was love at first sight. The subway tile wasn't even a thought anymore, it wasn't even a close runner up, it was out the window and this tile moved into my heart and into first place for tile choice. I loved how bold this tile was. I knew it was the one, but there was still that thought it my mind, "is it to much for a wall?" "will I regret this decision?'
It bothered me that I had so many questions about my choices. why was I concerned with what others would think. It was my bathroom, a space in my home. I had to live with it. So, if I loved it instantly it was clearly meant to be.
Once I had the tile picked out, it was homeward bound to start tiling. Something about doing the tile work myself scared me, so my husband did it with the help of my lovely amazing dad.
I was going to originally do the tile all the way up, but liked the idea of stopping 3/4 of the way up. So that's what I got them to do.
Once the tile was complete behind the tub, next thing to tile was the shower. For the shower I chose a simple white tile. I didn't want to make the space to busy with a patterned tile for the shower, since the tub surround was so busy already.
I helped my husband tile the shower, it was interesting to say the least. We sealed the walls with a water proof roll on barrier. We tiled the whole shower, and let it sit for 24 hours before grouting... well... that was the plan anyways. The mortar didn't set and the tiles didn't stick. I did not see the super fine print on the back bottom of the container of waterproof sealant that said "do not use pre mixed mortar" so, we had to take all the tiles off, wash the mortar off and start over with the stuff you mix on your own. Lesson learned I guess.
I decided to go with white grout as well, I would have went with black, however, the shower doors I chose had black lines on the glass so I didn't want to many lines for your eyes to follow.
Tile was complete, now onto painting
Painting and the colour choice was the most challenging for me for this project. I stressed over it for so long. I knew I wanted black somewhere. I wanted it by the tub tile, so I painted the back wall black. And naturally I feel in love with how the black wall looked.
The only problem was, I didn't feel I could extend it to wrap around like the tile because it was going to be weird if the black just stopped with no reason to stop, not sure if that makes sense. I just painted the back wall black and decided I should paint the rest white, or at least give it a go and see how I liked it. Well, I hated it.
The white walls no longer made my shower tile look white. My Tub didn't look as white as it used to be and my toilet, well that almost looked yellow. That frustrated me so I put a stop to painting the bathroom white. White is such a hard color to paint. Especially if you have other white things in the space since there are so many shades of white.
I also didn't like how this was looking because it looked odd that the black didn't follow the tile. Ugh, so much frustration.
I hated the white, so I decided to paint the whole bathroom black.
I didn't hate it, but didn't love it.
To me, if you look at something, and you don't LOVE it, then its best to not settle for that look and try again until you absolutely LOVE it. I don't ever think you should need to think about if you love something. If you look at it and need to think about it,you don't LOVE it.
The problem I found with the all black is I felt the tile just stopped at a weird spot. For the black to work I would have needed to extend the tile all around the whole bathroom. And that wasn't an option.
So, Plan C I guess? Although I wasn't sure what that was. I needed to make the transition of the tile ending not so blunt when you looked at it. I needed to make it look like it was suppose to end there.
Someone suggested to me, the option of a possible wood beam on the ceiling to serperate the tub area from the rest of the bathroom.
That idea was brilliant, and even more brilliant would be to extend the beam down the wall on either side. Okay, I was so excited. This was the turning point for this bathroom where I knew I was going to love it.
Once the beam was dry fit, and I could see how it was going to look, It only made sense now to lighten the rest of the space and paint the rest of the walls a super light grey. It was almost a white, but not quite.
The light grey was perfect.
Now it looked like the tub was in its own cozy area, separate from the rest of the bathroom. This was better than I even envisioned.
The Vanity
My next challenge was my vanity. I would have bought a new one in a heart beat but, since had to buy shower doors and taps, I didn't want to spend anymore money then needed. My original plan was to .... wait for it.... paint it black.
But in the end, I decided to simply change the hardware and the faucets. I'm happy I didn't paint it. It is so crazy what a hardware change can do to a piece. To the surprise of some, the hardware isn't black. I went with a brass color.
In my option, you do not need to stick with one or two colours for the whole room. I chose have the light fixture and the vanity hardware be brass, and then I tied in that brass to other small parts of the room.
The tile was done, the walls were painted and the vanity sink area was complete. I installed all the baseboards and made some towel hooks out of walnut. Simple but perfect for the space. They would tie in perfectly to the wooden beam.
In the mean time, we had went to battle and Gibson to order some gorgeous shower doors, and while I waited for them to arrive, I took that time to shop for some decor items and figure out what I wanted to do for a door.
The decision about what sort of door caused me so much stress. I wanted a normal door since it was a bathroom, but I also couldn't really have a normal door because it would either swing into the glass shower doors, or swing into the vanity. I didn't like either of these options.
I was hesitant on a barn door for a bathroom for some reason, but once I realized a normal swing door just wasn't going to work. I had to settle on the barn door. I did have many people suggest a pocket door, but that also wasn't an easy option since I had plumbing on one side and electrical on the other.
So barn door it is. I ended up purchasing a normal 3 panel door, and sprayed it white. Instead of drywalling where the door jamb used to be, I decided to case it all in white. I am so pleased with how it looks.
The door was hung, but the battle to find a handle was also another headache. I knew I wanted a black handle, but I wanted a large one. All the ones I found were only around 15" and they were upwards for $400, and needed to be ordered. I needed and wanted a handle right away, and couldn't justify spending that much on a handle.
I decided it was cheapest and best to make my own. I got my dad, who is a welder to make some brackets that would hold a 1" wooden oak dowel. I sprayed the brackets black and the dowel black and fell in love with the handle.The dowel cost me around $10.
Another thing I decided to do was paint my tub taps black. I wanted to so badly buy new ones but the ones I wanted were over $600 so to keep costs low, for the time being I decided to paint them.
Many people will problem cringe at this thought and say the paint will flake and chip over time. And who knows, maybe it will over time, but I painted them with an automotive primer and paint and so far they are holding up great.
The bathroom was complete, but I still felt that something was missing. And then it hit me, there clearly needed to be a hanging light above the bathtub. The perfect light would bring so much elegance to the space. I found the perfect light off Wayfair, it tied in so nicely since it was black, and it also had some brass on it which was a huge bonus.
I do have a little secret about this light. I doesn't work. It is just for show. I thought about climbing up in my attic and trying to figure out how to tie it in. But, with the windows, and the 4 other lights in the bathroom there is ample light. So, I decided to keep it simple and just hang it for decorative purposes only.
Even though it doesn't actually turn on, it brings so much to this room. I absolutely love it.
THE BIG REVEAL
When I reflect on this space, I am so proud of what I did with it. I did face numerous challenges, but sometimes, those challenges are what makes the job so rewarding. I don't look at challenges as failure, I look at them as opportunities to push yourself.
Thank you so much for following along with me while.
I can't wait to start on another room. Now which room should it be??
Be sure to also follow along with me on INSTAGRAM
Can't wait for our next DIY together
XO
Amber