Joe

My ongoing problem today is choosing the thermobalance shower guts. I've looked at them on eBay but I never know for sure what else I need. I don't know if it's smart to buy now and after it gets here try to get whatever else I need. My afterthought is a hand held so I can rinse the walls. I'll have a walk in this time and I think size does matter!

I have posted my "Out-Of-Africa" master bath and my "Equestrian" powder room...cause that is how I roll!!! I notice the professional pictures look so awesome...mine don't look so good from a cell phone. I am tempted to invest in a professional photographer when I complete a room...kind of a nice way to celebrate!!!

My thoughts on this subject

1). One reason is that many people who write within these pages are a single trade and don't get to see the finished product.

2). Many questions here I'm sure are posted by alias accounts and friends - designed to start conversations and ask good questions that they have the answers too.

3). Many of your experts are in fact retired and not working anymore.

4). People are too afraid to share their work and have it "%^&*" on - when they in fact love it!

5). People are lazy. To lazy to learn. To cheap to pay for advice. Lets get free advice and move on - "I have a tee off time at 4:00". They get the advise and we don't see them again.

"Who gives you your advice? Ask for their business number. Ask for their WCB number. Ask for their insurance companies letter of insurance. Ask to meet them. Ask them to send you a picture of their last job."

"Is your expert an expert or a bored retired Accountant from Indy?"

Good Questions.

Many of you know me quite well. I have seen a picture of Bill in his shop and still to this day can not find a stich of info on Mongo. Bill and Mongo offer up solid advice every day here. Within these pages it is their voice that stands tall. I ask you to question the source of any other advice - mine included!

Don't ask the "Box" dude. I just saved a guy from buying a $120.00 Freud Ripping Blade because that was the advice he was given beside me.... Here is what he asked "I need to build from stairs for my deck. I have to cross cut some fir 2"x12"'s for my treads. I'm notching the treads into the stringers - "What's my best blade?"

So I ask you this...

"Is this the right blade for the job?"

"Should I shut my mouth and not give a %^&& and let the guy waste his money?"

"What would you do in my shoes - Yesterday?"

It was painfully obvious to me that this man had means and some expierence. He went to "Where the Builders buy" and got crap advise. This salesman is a great guy - I enjoy our cooler talk. That said I would sooner ask my 4 year the same question. They are both equally quailfied to answer it for me......

The blurry photo on the far wall is Notre Dame in Paris (b/w). The view is from the corner of the street of the apartment where I was staying on my last trip.

The thing in the floor next to the toilet is the radiator connector. I removed the gigantor one that was there (original to the house) and will be replacing it with a smaller, slimmer unit.

The paint in BM "silver mist" that looked gray on the chip but it's reading blue so I might change the paint... not sure yet, but I originally wanted a light gray

Great bathroom!!!! Can you tell me what your topped your tile baseboards with? I'm debating whether to do tile or wood baseboards in my bath remodel.

Also what tile did you use in your shower and on floor?

Thanks, Jani

BM Healing Aloe is a gorgeous color and should contrast with the browns and creams in your room really well. Once it's up though, if you're still not happy with it, try a lighter gray that has a blue tint to it as opposed to a blue with a gray tint. I would stay away from the beiges, I just don't think they'd do the room justice and the cooler colors will give you the spa feeling I think you're going for. We used SW Sea Salt, it's a light gray too (even though you can't tell in the pics) So far though I love the choices you've made, it's beautiful!

Minette: Great job, I know getting pictures is hard, I'm having the same problem. Love the choices you've made though, it's beautiful and I like the gray/blue.

Well I usually post old pics, but here's some newer ones but first this is how it looked for the first 3 years we were here, it was an out of service Jack & Jill:

entry view:

cabinetry (93 inches worth)

Close up of paint color which doesn't photo well

Interior

Wall feature

Niche & shelf

Floor & Noir Travertine bench

The 2nd Jack & Jill door is gone

Granite - Note the shamrock :c)

Granite curb - Per Bills Recommendation and he was so right! :c)

Lighting - a compromise - could not turn down the 22.00 price tag :c)

Hardware:

Well, thanks for being so nice and letting me post them (again) we love it!

Jani: Our tile came from The Tile Shop. Shower is an inexpensive ceramic cuz I hate cleaning grout and showers. I loved every stone I looked at, but doing our shower in stone was well over our budget. We spent the money on the floors instead. Our next makeover on the list is the guest bathroom. I'm doing the floor in ceramic, there were so many really pretty ceramics, I especially fell in love with both the gray and multi-color slate look-alikes.
Shower walls: ceramic Augusta Marfil (12 X 18)
Shower Floor: marble Emperador Light Mosaic (set on diagonal)
Floor Tile: marble Cafe Emperador
The marble tile baseboards just have paintable caulk on top I believe. I painted right over it up to the marble edge.

You're right SW Sea Salt doesn't photo well. It's not blue or green at all but a very light gray. The thing is, it has blue green undertones so depending on lighting or what's in the room it will take on a blue or green tint.
Actually, I didn't know it would go on so light, my intent was to just pull a blue gray that is in some of the tiles and this was the closest match. Everyone was telling me I should just do cream or beige, but I wanted contrast. Our contractor thought I was crazy until he saw it up. :c)

If you like color and want contrast, the color you have or a nice gray will offer you that. If you decide to try something else, with the elements you have in the room, I'd probably go with something like BM Pewter or maybe a shade darker than Pewter because you can always bring in shades of blue with your towels and accessories. I know painting is the pits, but don't compromise with your color, find a shade that you absolutely love.

Marble? Are you referring to the counter? After all the etching in our powder room, I was too scared to use Marble, the counter is granite. We wanted to just buy a remnant but once again the counter was too big. ugh...cha ching...

Glad to hear you sealed the marble, I wish the PO of our house had. :c( It sure is pretty in your bathroom! BTW, I love the basketweave! It's one of my favorites. :c)

Thanks so much for the info on the tiles.

Jani

So how does a thread asking for photos of finished bathrooms segue into you becoming an internet stalker? lol

I'd tell you more about my background and professional resume right now, but the school bell just rang. Study hall is over and I have to get to gym class.

I like seeing the same pictures in multiple threads. Especially when it answers the question the poster asks and many times it brings out elements I didn't notice before. Most posters here notice more details than I do. :) I've posted mine in several threads and I hope people aren't bothered by it.

lukkiirish, love your bathroom! Your granite and cabinetry are so pretty.

massagerocks, I love yours too! The marble floor and the shower floor are gorgeous. I have SW Rainwashed in my master bathroom and it is hard to photograph also and it's a shame because it's so pretty.

minette99, I just commented on your bathroom on another thread. You have a small space and turned it into a jewel box with the blue colors and prettiness. :)

I think I'll post both of mine again, just for grins. :-)
#1 bath

#2 bath

Yes, please MORE finished bathrooms!

Love seeing pics of everyone's bathrooms.

I've tried to coordinate a black/white scheme for two baths side by side, which can be closed off and used as one master, or a portion of it left separate when there are guests. That is the next big project, but only if I can get the contractor to finish the bumpout for a clawfoot tub in another bathroom first.

I'm bathroom poor, you might say. Only the smallest is almost finished. When the dust settles, I hope to post pictures in the gallery.

Can you please tell me the brand and style number? Where did you purhcase yours?

It's been a while since I bought these so they don't have them anymore. However, the other day I saw one at our Costco thats more contemporary in design and it's in the satin finish too.

Shower:

Half wall by toilet:

Cabinets:

Floor:

Some Pics of mine:

Here is the link to mine 3 baths, 2 are VERY difficult to photograph, size wise.

Just a guess.

So many nice pictures in this thread.

lukkiirish, I adore your slate!

Anyway, I've posted my hall and master baths in the past. Here's another look. The hall bath is long and narrow and hard to photograph. Clicking on the photos will take you to the Picasa album.

From Hall bath

Thanks annkatheryn! I appreciate it, we love it too! :c)

Minnette, my tub deck and vanity counter are leathered Jet Mist Granite. We used it for my kitchen counters and in our fireplace front too. I love soapstone, but thought granite would be more bulletproof. So far it has been. Nothing seems to show.

Moccasins,

Here are the details:

Mouser Cabinets, tub surround & mirrors
Artic White American Olean tiles for shower & chair rail
Rejuvenation lights over vanity (Halfway)
Danze Opulence faucets and hardware
Carrara Marble basketweave tile floor

Bath layout-Not to scale. It was small.

rotted subfloor and floor joists where tub was

wall separating tub and vanity area that was rotted

Existing built in cabinet that had a horrible stink and 1000 layers of paint.

All the wallboard (fron 1955) had to come out, as well as the "off Peach" wall tile.

Joists and subfloor replaced and toilet and tub reinstalled. We went with a new toilet later but due to budget, kept the old original cast iron tub. HEAVY!

Got a new 4 plug outlet at vanity and gfci at sink (professionally installed)

Cement board and tape and bedding install.

Is that a precision cut or what?

Tub tile almost done

My dad built these built ins. Doors not installed yet.

Finished! Hard to get a good pic with all the angles.

If you can't get it to work, just email me (address in my profile) and I'll be happy to help you with it.

Before: Shower

Before: Sink

Before: Flourescent Lighting

Before: Linen Closet

After: Shower

After: Sink

After: Linen Closet

I love the way your shower looks.

Sandsonik: Thank you so much, we've been so happy with it. :c) All of the tile work on the floor and in the shower is real slate and it's called Indian Autumn. It's less common than the popular multicolored slates but a lot of places still carry it.

If anyone is interested, here's the link to Debraks bathroom photos:

Every bathroom posted here has something I like...too bad I only have 1 more bathroom to do.

mg70, could you please tell me the name of the stone you used for your counters? They are gorgeous!

Thanks!

Weekly (or longer), I use a portable, hand steam cleaner to keep it clean and sparkly. The hand steamer works great, too -- I love the steam cleaner for the whole bathroom and I use it all over the room. It feels really clean after and looks sparkly without having to use a bunch of cleaning products. And it's kind of fun to use, too. But I don't have hard water so I don't know if this helps you or not...?

We kept the footprint of the bathroom but replaced everything except the clawfoot tub (which we painted and refnished) and the beadboard.

We also did some minor upgrades to two other baths, which I will post as soon as I can. I know how helpful it was for me to look at pictures when I was going through the process.

Somewhere I have "before" photos..but suffice it to say, it was a mess. :-)

Like others have it, it was tough getting good pictures of such a small room.

I'll answer any questions the best I can.

An older one of the floor:

What color are those walls?

Beautiful bathrooms, mg70, chelsercat and aunttomichael!

Sorry I haven't checked this forum for awhile. You've probably all made your decisions by now but just in case:

The vanity is 24" Empire Malibu. If you do a search you'll see tons of pictures, but I'll link to one below.

The floor is Carrara marble hex. To deal with the step edge next to the tub, we put in a marble door threshold/saddle.

HTH

Aunttomichael

I'm in the middle of planning 4 bathrooms myself. I think Ann Kathryn is correct about why people don't post. After all of your planning and hard work, it's difficult when people are less enthusiastic about your project, even when you know every single flaw yourself!

Posters need to be mindful of individual taste and geographical location. Certain remodels may not suit everyone's style, but that's why there's chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. My Mother used to say, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all!"

We recently set the tub into place and tested it, yet again, for any leaks...

Have my fingers crossed for this weekend. Toilet/Vanity are going in today.