If you follow us on Instagram then you have probably been seeing little peeks into what I am considering my biggest project of 2017–our master bathroom renovation. And I have some very exciting news: It’s finally complete and I’m ready to give you all a little tour!!!!
I was super excited to work with Delta Faucet and The Home Depot on this room renovation. Elsie and I both love Delta Faucet and you may remember the pretty black faucets Elsie used in her Airbnb bathroom, and if not then check it out here. My goal was make our master bathroom feel more like us and also give it a little bit of a spa vibe. I was excited to use the Everly faucets and the two HydroRain 2-in-1 Shower Heads, they were perfect for our space! I was wanting something in the silver/chrome family as well as a design that felt sleek and modern (and a little bit like, well, a spa) and this totally fit the bill. The Everly faucets also resist water spots and fingerprints, which is definitely a bonus when it comes time to clean because they stay cleaner longer! I’ll share where everything in the room is from, but first here’s a few more looks inside the finished bathroom.
I’ve never shared a ton of photos of what our master bathroom looked like before we renovated, so here’s a little before and after for you. (You can see a few more peeks in my empty house video tour, around minute 6:30.)
The space is like a long rectangle with a double shower on one end and water closet (with toilet) on the other, plus a vanity space in the center. Compared to our last home, this bathroom is HUGE and the first two years we lived here we didn’t change anything about the space. We just enjoyed all the room and I plotted to change things out to be more our style later.
Here’s a few more pictures of the the bathroom before. It’s a bit tricky to photograph, so I’m trying to show you as many angles and details as I can throughout this post. Please forgive any weird/mixed lighting. 🙂
So as I said, we love how much space this bathroom has. It’s totally amazing to have two sinks and two showers and it makes getting ready in the morning with your spouse too easy. So, loved the space. But what we didn’t really love was how dark the room felt, and very, very beige. We also didn’t love the oversized vanity that was not our style and was so big it was easy to clutter up the cabinets and lose track of things. For how big the room is it felt like we weren’t really utilizing large portions of it, as we never figured out what to do with the space between the vanity and shower. And I never really loved the little half wall that separated the shower from the rest of the room. It just didn’t feel very intentional to me.
We plotted and planned and landed on lots of white, silver/chrome, modern features, and pretty details–plus we aimed to create our own little at-home spa oasis. (How many times will I say “spa” in this post … sorry, just trying to communicate what was in my head for this room. Ha!) And once the plans were in place, I hired my friend Ethan to help me and we dove right into this project.
Here’s a look at the room as we were in the middle of demo. What was going on in my head at this point? I was feeling very sore in places I didn’t even know I had muscles in, and kind of wondering if I’d made a big mistake and bitten off a little more than I could chew. But hey, it’s gotta get worse before it gets better, right?
Also, as a quick side note, remember that large vanity that was not our style? Even though we didn’t love it, it was in great shape and we knew that someone else would. So we donated it to our local chapter of Habitat for Humanity (for the ReStore). I mention that only to say if you’re planning a project like this in your future, remember to donate items when you can to places like HFH or other charitable organizations in your area.
I think we tiled for about a week straight. There’s a LOT of tile in this room. The marble-looking porcelain tile I used is from Home Depot and I really liked working with it. If you remember when we tiled our kitchen backsplash, we used a real marble tile there and I thought porcelain was much easier to work with. Of course, it depends on the look you want, your budget, and what the space will be used for, etc. But if you’re new to tiling I do think porcelain is awesome to work with and a little easier than stone.
We also used a manual tile cutter instead of a tile saw, like we did in our kitchen backsplash. We tried that out because I don’t own a tile saw and renting one for the amount of time we’d need to seemed intimidating. My thoughts? It’s pretty amazing how well it works on porcelain tile, and it’s super safe and not at all intimidating to use. But, I think you can be more precise with a tile saw for a large project like this, so ultimately that is what I would recommend. Now if only I had a time machine. 🙂
Meanwhile, we had a few items in the room that were not a DIY and we got those ordered and going before we started in on all that demo and tiling. First, I knew I wanted a marble looking countertop for the new vanity. But I decided to get a marble-looking quartz over real marble, as I wanted something super durable and that would hold up really, really well against any kind of stain, including water stains. And although our vanity is a great size with two sinks, it’s not a whole kitchen counter situation. So we were able to choose a remnant piece (left over stock from another job) that we had to cut to fit our vanity and sinks. I highly recommend this if the option is available to you.
Second, we decided to pull the trigger and remove the half wall that separated the shower from the rest of the room and replace it with one large pane of glass. I used a local glass company in Springfield, MO where I live and I love how it turned out. If you’re local and need a glass guy, email me because I would totally recommend the company I used. They were great!
I guess I won’t give you a total play by play but here is short list of everything we changed in our master bathroom renovation:
-New tile EVERYWHERE and learned that none of the floors or walls in our (1960s built) home are straight
-Moved the vanity lights to fit the new vanity and added new lights
-Painted the walls (color: Behr, Ultra Pure White)
-Painted the trim and washed closet door (color: Behr, Sparrow)
-Got a new vanity, (we used the 60-inch but this is the style) with new sinks and countertop
-Replaced old shower half wall with a large pane of glass
-Added new faucets, shower heads, matching towel racks, hooks, and hand towel rings
-Added small shelf units, artwork, and a plant to make the space feel like home
-Added about 100 baskets for storage; just kidding, it’s only 9 baskets total.
Only freaked out and felt overwhelmed about 3 times throughout … so pretty good. 🙂
Sources: Faucets/Home Depot, shower heads/Home Depot, tile/Home Depot, vanity/Home Depot, mirrors, and sconces/Home Depot, shelf units/Home Depot, baskets/World Market, Target, and TJ Maxx. Bath mat and towels/World Market. Black and white print/Randal Ford. Purple kilim rug/Ebay. Bathrobe/IKEA.The blue Lagoon picture taken by me on vacation two years ago. Let me know if I missed anything you want to know about!
Well, we’re at the end of this bathroom reno saga and I must say, I am so so happy with the overall vibe of our master bathroom now. It feels so fresh and modern, and just like a SPA. Ha, I had to get another one in there, friends! Thank you for letting me share. And do you all want me to give a tour of the space on Instagram stories later? Let me know, I’ll even show you the toilet if you really, really need that in your life. 🙂 xo. Emma
Hi Emma, wow such a transformation! I love the look of the more minimalist glass shower screen. Do you ever use the shower on the left and if yes, do you find there’s a lot of splash onto the main bathroom floor? We’re going to redo our ensuite bathroom soon and am undecided if I should do a walk in shower or a door. Thanks
I love. Love. LOVE that vanity the excellent use of space for storage is excellent. Thanks for the inspiration!
Wow! Looks great!
Love what you did with the bathroom! Also, love how unique the shower is.
Hey Emma, I love this design! We’ve been planning to do a remodel for a while and this has totally inspired me. Thanks for sharing.
Wow! Incredible job! I really love the final look of your bathrooms, excellent design. The finished works look amazing. I also provide Home Remodeling services. I am gonna link them up in case anyone needs it.
https://rwthomeremodeling.com/
I really like the showerhead with the raincan although it’s a little pricey.
Did you run the tiles vertically to deal with a gap over the length of the shower? I never thought of that before.
I am so ABSOLUTELY in love with this renovation! Looks like a completely different space. Congrats on achieving a *very* spa-like bathroom. ????
Fashion of https://www.abestfashion.com/
OMG This is so super phenomenal. I really love the final look. I totally understand the feeling that you get at the end of renovation. I got my bathroom renovated last year and I remember how exhilarating it felt when I saw the final look. I got mine renovated by Kitche-n-Catch. The guys were super professional and affordable as well. I am gonna link them up in case anyone needs. http://www.kitchenandcatch.com/
This looks awesome!
Hi Emma, love your designs and talent for making them look great! That shower head looks amazing, where can I get one?
Hi Emma, I love your bathrooms, excellent design. The finished works look amazing!
What your renovation idea for your master bedroom? What do you want to add that is not there now and how will it improve your shower experience? These are some of the questions to answer before you renovate your master bathroom. Don’t just restore by painting and forget about other appliances such as faucets.
Hello Emma, thanks for sharing this amazing post. It looks incredible, these are some of my favorite kind of posts. Loving the before and after shots. I always find your home renovations so inspiring and they make me want to give it more of a go. Thanks again!
Aldrin of Bathroom International
This is an option when your bathroom fixtures, the knobs on the faucets and such, are still in good condition but your bathtub and/or your shower stall is looking a little shabby. When that’s the case, a surface-level bathroom remodeling can give you the feel of a whole new bathroom, without the price tag. It’s a great project to take on if you don’t have the budget for a complete overhaul just yet. The rule of thumb to follow here is, “Cover, don’t replace.” Replacement adds to the time and costs of a remodel because you’re paying to have what’s there already removed. Covering uses the structure of what’s already there and simply gives it a new face. Some of the not-so-pricey items you need to invest in when doing a surface-level bathroom remodeling include prefabricated shower units, bathtub or shower liners, bathtub refinishing, and easy-to-install wainscoting.
I love how bright this bathroom is now! We are redoing one of the bathrooms in our house so this is very inspiring!
Where are the towel rods from?
Hi Emma!
I’ve pinned your bathroom and am using the vanity as inspiration on our reno. I LOVE the “furniture” look of it where there is space all of the way under the bottom shelf to the wall. However, my husband thinks it would collect dust and be a pain to clean underneath. Now that you’ve lived with yours for some time, what are your thoughts about this? I love the look, but don’t want to collect dust and hair and make more work for myself. Help!
This might be a silly question, but where did you get the toothbrush/toothpaste holder? I have the same toothbrush and toothpaste, and this would be perfect for my space!
I loved it.. the entire transformation into a much lively room! The spaces, the plants and the aura it has- has indeed increased the overall design value.
I want to know more about how you’re keeping that plant alive and bringing a spa vibe to the room with no windows (if I’m correct that there are no windows?)! We have an extremely similar layout to the master bath in our house, including the large tiled shower taking up an entire end, but with no windows I both find it kind of claustrophobic and totally confused about to bring any plant life. Also would really like to know where you got that towel rack because given the similar shape of our bathrooms – but our is in a big L instead of a rectangle – having trouble figuring out how to place towels right outside the shower and get any airflow on them for them to dry.