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66and76

Tiny Bathroom Bianco Carrara porcelain tile

66and76
10 years ago

I hesitated as to whether to post our tiny, humble bathroom renovation. I have drooled over many of your beautiful transformations. We had no room to bump out our 5x8 bathroom and didn't want to spend a lot of money on such a small space. A previous owner had installed the one-piece fiberglass tub/shower unit in the early 1970's. It needed to go! We replaced the toilet and vanity a couple of years ago and decided to keep them.

At first I wanted real carrara marble but, after reading all the pros and cons, I selected American Olean Mirasol Bianco Carrara porcelain tile: 12x12 matte on the bathroom floor, 10x14 glossy for the shower walls, and 2x4 matte mosaic for the shower floor. The grout is Procolor ProSpec Moonlight. The shower doors are KOHLER Fluence with clear glass. The hot/cold handles and shower head are Pfister polished chrome, which match the sink handles.

The local contractor we hired turned out to be a gem: friendly, on time, efficient, clean, and very professional. I know we are going to enjoy our updated bathroom.

The room is so small, it was hard to take a picture. I'll put the finished picture on the next entry.
Before:

Comments (20)

  • 66and76
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    After:

  • 66and76
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Closer picture of tile:

  • 66and76
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    The vanity side (See how small this bathroom is! I had to stand inside the shower to take the picture.) I kept the same paint color, Benjamin Moore San Antonio Gray AC-29

  • southofsa
    10 years ago

    Nice job! Thanks for posting your pictures.

    I can relate to your size constraints. So many times people post beautiful "after" pics and when I look at the dimensions, they're about as big as my MBR lol! Don't get me wrong, I get ideas from a lot of the pics, but when you're working with smaller sizes you work with what you have.

    Can I ask what shower system you went with? Am trying to narrow down choices and am having a tough time.

    Thanks- Lisa

  • 66and76
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Lisa, Thank you!
    I'm not quite sure what you mean by "shower system".
    We just have a shower head and hot/cold handles
    by Pfister. The shower floor was hand built and tiled,
    not a pre-made shower pan.
    Does this answer your question?

  • crl_
    10 years ago

    So pretty! I like how you used different sizes of the same tile. Thank you for posting!

  • hunzi
    10 years ago

    That bathroom is awesome! Thank you for posting a "normal bathroom!"

    Love the tiles! I'm planning to use "marblelain" (my newly created word for marble look porcelains - remember folks, you heard it here first!) in my 2nd floor bathroom - shared by all 3 bedrooms. I'll be using this bathroom for inspiration Mine is a little bigger, but only because my house was built before indoor plumbing - so they converted the smallest bedroom into the bath (10x10).

    Thanks for sharing!
    Always ;-)
    Hunzi

  • enduring
    10 years ago

    Great job. I am so glad you posted! Nothing wrong with humble, it is a very good character trait. There are lots of small bathrooms and it is fun to see the strategies used to make them efficient.

    The two different pictures look like there is different paint color but you state the paint is the same BM color. I really like the warm look of the paint on the walls of your remodeled bathroom. Floor is very nice too. Shower looks very spacious and would be such a nice change from the surround. A picture would look very pretty in that space between you vanity and your shower. Or do you need that for a towel rack?

    I had an 8x5 bathroom. It really is functional at that size. Except I had to get a towel rack that hooked to the door hinges so I could hang my towels. My problem was that I had 2 doors coming into the room. It was very crowded because of the 2 doors inside the bathroom almost touching across the 5' span of the room when they were open. I had to get rid of the 70's shower/tub just like you. I fortunately had the opportunity to enlarge the room, taking it back to the original size before the 70's remodel. I could then add a a washer/dryer center so that we can "age in place".

  • lotteryticket
    10 years ago

    it came out so nice and I like the vanity you decided to keep. The backsplash is a nice detail and the dark wood is a good contrast to the light tile and paint. I personally do not want a huge bathroom as I have no interest in cleaning that much. Every time I see a 4bdr 4 bath house on HGTV I shake my head. Who wants to clean all that?

    Enjoy. It's great!

  • prbetsi75
    10 years ago

    It looks great! Your shower Niche reminds me of mine with it framed. :o) I wish I would have went with larger tiles in my shower. I thought the smaller ones had a more 'classic' look, but I just like the look of larger tile better....plus less grout to deal with.

    Nice job!

  • 66and76
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    crl, Thank you! I debated about the sizes of the tile as well as the color. In such a small room, I didn't want anything too "busy". I just wanted a simple, clean look.

    Hunzi, Love your newly created word, "marblelain". Our house is old, too. It was built in 1910, but it doesn't have a fourth bedroom to borrow to make a larger bathroom. You are lucky ;-) Post pictures when you redo your bathroom!

    enduring, Thanks! I loved the paint color enough to keep it, and I think it works with the new tile and the chrome accents. A picture on the wall between the vanity and shower is a good idea. I had a towel bar there, but this time I'm just going to use the one on the shower door and the extra one I have on the inside of the door of the bathroom. I simply can't imagine TWO doors coming into a room this small. So glad you were able to expand.

    Lotteryticket, Thank you! I like the dark/light contrast, too. The vanity and toilet were in too good of a condition to get rid of. I saved money by keeping them.

    prbetsi75, I love the niche. It is so handy. Our other bathroom has the 3x6 classic white subway wall tiles as well as 2" hex floor tiles. It is so hard to keep the grout clean!!! Our contractor used a product called Procolor Stain Guard ADMIX for this tile installation. It is supposed to merge with the grout all the way through. This keeps stains, mold, and mildew from getting into the grout and makes cleaning much easier. We shall see.
    Here is a picture looking down into the shower:

  • hunzi
    10 years ago

    Paula,

    Mine is a little bit older - built in 1884, no plumbing until 1925, hence the use of the 4th bedroom on the 2nd floor.

    I really like the shower floor!

    I definitely will use marblelain when we do the 2nd floor bathroom, and I like the big tiles, but I want a more vintage look.

    Your shower tiles remind me of the "beach house" I used to visit - it was a gorgeous mansion with huge 18x24 (probably, I was a child so I'm not sure of the size) real marble tiles. I loved that room! I love that look.

    Always ;-)
    Hunzi

  • raehelen
    10 years ago

    Your tile looks great. I don't know if you can edit the title of your post, but if you could, I would add reveal in there, so those of us who love seeing everyone's BR pics will click on it.

    I am also a member of the tiny MBR club, some of the showers posted lately are bigger than my whole BR! LOL I actually thought I was lucky getting a MBR that 'big' in a 40+ year old house! When I was growing up, my parents built a house and we thought we were 'rich', cuz they had a BR in their bedroom, even tinier than what I have now!

    Aren't those nice big showers a treat? Wonder if 40 years from now, the next generation will be ripping them all out, and putting tubs back in? LOL

  • southofsa
    10 years ago

    Yes, pfister was the manufacturer's name I was asking about thanks!

    Lisa

  • debrawnelson
    9 years ago

    Pinkpaula: your renovated bathroom is very pretty! I realize it hasn't been that long since your project was completed, but how is the Procolor Stain Guard Admix working out so far? I am considering adding it to the grout for an upcoming project, and I am wondering if it really makes a difference. Also, did you seal the grout (even though technically this isn't required when using the admix)?

    Thanks for your feedback!

  • 66and76
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    freshman, Thank you. I still LOVE the bathroom remodel. As far as the Admix goes, I have to say that it is perfect everywhere EXCEPT for the shower floor. About three weeks after installation, after daily showers, a couple of the grout lines remained darker. It looked like they didn't dry out as all the rest of the grout lines did. I don't know why; perhaps the admix was not thoroughly mixed. I even used my hairdryer on them, but they remained darker. It bothered me to the point that I bought some Polyblend Grout Renew all-in-one Colorant and Sealer in #11 Snow White and carefully applied it to the darker grout lines. It worked great! So far, all grout lines now return to a light gray after drying. I am happy again.
    *No, the grout was NOT sealed after the initial installation.
    We used our leftover tile with the same grout in our powder room. No issues there, but the floor doesn't get soaking wet as it does in the shower.
    Good luck on your project!

  • debrawnelson
    9 years ago

    pinkpaula, thanks for your reply! It would bother me to have a darker wet-looking area too. I have that with my limestone backsplash directly behind my kitchen sink, and I've used the hairdryer on that spot to no avail, so I am totally with you on this issue. I wonder if taking the extra step to seal the grout after installation would help. I am glad you were able to eliminate your problem!

  • mvitale75
    6 years ago

    Hi there pinkpaula! Love the bathroom. I'm wondering if there was much variation in color between the matte floor and glossy ceramic? When I look at the samples the matte seems darker than the ceramic and I'm worried about combining the two... thanks for your advice!

  • Nancy in Mich
    6 years ago

    Hi PinkPaula, I love your marblelain bathroom! You did a nice job of mixing up the tile sizes while staying in the same tile brand.. The shower stall looks so much more spacious than a tub does.

    Thanks for info on the admixture for grout. I do believe that one must wait a while after grouting to do the sealing of grout. I think it is a month.

    Enjoy your bathroom!