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leela4

Spoiler Alert: Lots of pics of modern/minimalist reno

leela4
9 years ago

We (the royal ''we'' as we are not DIY'ers for this sort of thing) have just finished with the remodel of our 34 y/o master bathroom. Our primary objectives were to make the bathroom more functional and to make it feel more spacious while staying within the original footprint. To this end we removed the tub; we have a tub in another bathroom. We enlarged the shower, moved the location of the vanity, and replaced the one window with two. We also moved and enlarged our pocket door. The result has been very satisfying and we are FINALLY done!

The room was taken down to studs. We had a truly wonderful GC, and his subs were great as well. I haven't posted on this forum very often, but I've been researching for this reno a long time, and I read everything I could find about waterproofing and tile and grout etc. (thank you mongo and Bill V.)

Here are some before pics: Old vanity and shower

Tub area:

Old window and shower:

New:



That's probably enough self indulgence for one night. Feel free to ask any questions. We weren't without a few snafus here and there, and of course hindsight is 20/20. But again, we are very happy with the outcome.

Comments (42)

  • AvatarWalt
    9 years ago

    Very nice, and I especially like your countertop. Marble? We're thinking about an edge drain in the shower and, like yours, it would be to the side rather than under the shower head. Does the sideways slope seem strange at all? And not to reopen wounds, but it would be great to hear about your snafus and hindsight, as I'm working on a list of 'things to remember'. Thanks, and congratulations on a great transformation.

  • razamatazzy
    9 years ago

    very nice. Love the backsplash. Nice that you have extra storage. What fixtures are those?

  • Gracie
    9 years ago

    Very pretty! I commend you for your courage in using color. The double windows was a smart move. Are those pull-outs on the counter cabinet or slide-backs?

    I'd love to see a photo of how you notched the drawers. I'd like to do that instead of a sink base because we need towel storage. We don't have a linen closet in our MB.

    What did you mean by Spoiler Alert? As in "I feel so spoiled now"? ;)

    This post was edited by may_flowers on Sat, Oct 25, 14 at 11:25

  • sjhockeyfan325
    9 years ago

    Your style is my style - love it!

    AvatarWalt, we have a linear drain in the same location (sideways slope) and you do not notice it at all.

  • leela4
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks Avatar, raz and may. I have to say I was a little reluctant to post this ''reveal'' as it is anything but traditional, and I see mostly traditional bathrooms here. But I thought our project might be of some help for others.

    Avatar- The counter, threshold to shower, and top of pony wall is white macaubas quartzite. Strangely, that is what drove all our choices for the remodel. The linear drain is great, and the slope doesn't bother us at all. One of the things which wasn't a snafu, but rather 20/20 hindsight, is that we specified toe kick drawers, which we got. I really wanted to increase storage space in there, so that seemed like a good idea. (I wish I had known about those when we remodeled the kitchen). But the toe kick drawers are not very deep. I wish I had thought to make them a little deeper, and had them recessed. That would have made the vanity look more like it was ''floating'', which I do like. But no biggie.

    The biggest real snafu were the sink drawers. Our GC knew exactly what we meant, and we showed the main cabinet guy pictures and all. But that info somehow didn't get transferred to the guy who actually put the drawers together, here, after measuring the sink. So the cutout was done incorrectly. We're so dumb; we thought that was just the way it had to be. But our lovely contractor said wait-this is wrong. So it was redone. Here's a pic of the interior of those drawers:

    raz-The faucets are Grohe Eurocube. The Shower set is a Grohe Grohflex Universal Rough in Valve; the trim is Grohe Grohflex Cosmopolitan Square (single function thermostatic), and the shower head is the Grohe Cosmopolitan hand shower.

    may-The bottom of the vanity tower is a pull-up door:


    The top is a regular cabinet.

    Spoiler alert meant I wanted to warn everyone that there were a lot of pics in case someone was really bored with looking at reveals.

  • Pipdog
    9 years ago

    very pretty -- what a difference!

    Can you share the info on your linear drain?

  • Bunny
    9 years ago

    leela, it's awesome!!! The tile work in your shower is dazzling and shows whoever did it really knew what they were doing. I'm unfamiliar with linear drains but I love the look.

  • leela4
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    sjhockeyfan, pipdog and linelle-thanks to all of you as well.

    pipdog-I apologize, but I can't for the life of me find the info for the linear drain. I can't even find the email where our GC discussed it with us. I'll look some more, but it's not in the file with everything else, so I wonder if it got tossed (not by me).

    Linelle-Our tile guy was awesome; a little anal (or maybe a lot), but that is probably a good thing for a tile guy to be. He has gotten to the point where he only works for our GC; his ''other'' job is as an accountant. So yeah, he did a great job. We had to do a little finagling to get the grout lines in the field tile on the floor and ceiling to match the lines in the glass. But it was worth it.

  • suzanne_sl
    9 years ago

    I totally believe that the granite counter top drove the rest of the design! Our whole color scheme was driven by the shower curtain.

    Could you open a toe kick drawer so we can see what that looks like?

  • ck_squared
    9 years ago

    leela - don't apologize for your modern design. It's exactly our aesthetic and it's nice to see. We will be starting our MB remodel in a few weeks.

    You did a wonderful job with all of your finishes. I also love your linear drain and would love the info on it if you can find it (especially the price, if you don't mind sharing - our gc tells us it's as much as $800!). I like how you used the white macaubus in the shower as well, to tie the whole bath together.

    Nice to see Grohe faucets in use in a bathroom. We have Grohe kitchen faucets and are still debating about the bathroom. The pop of turquoise/aqua really sets your bathroom apart.

    Really nicely done overall!

  • enduring
    9 years ago

    I really like the contemporary look too! I did my second bath in contemporary and love it. Your floor and other tile looks very nice together. Love your vanity too.

  • sjhockeyfan325
    9 years ago

    Pipdog, we have a linear drain too. What is it you'd like to know?

  • numbersjunkie
    9 years ago

    leela - love your new bathroom! We are in the planning stages of a similar project and I may steal some of your ideas! I love the lift up vanity cabinet, and the shape of your shower. Is the toilet to the right by the window? Please post more pics and details!

  • MongoCT
    9 years ago

    Nice work!

    Never apologize for you style. What we need in this world is for more people to design for themselves instead of for their neighbors.

    For whomever asked:

    The brick pattern on leela4's drain looks sort of like a Novalinea drain, but there are several companies that make brick pattern grates.

  • leela4
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Wow, thank you all again for the kind words.

    sjhockey-please do share your info about your linear drain. I could write my GC and ask him what the brand and price was (I'm ''sure'' it wasn't $800), but it might be helpful for folks to hear others' experience.

    Here are some details:
    Vanity-custom in natural maple. Frameless.
    Floating mirrors were our design; the same company did both the mirrors and our shower glass.
    Vanity lights are Montana Wall Sconces by Justice Design.
    Towel hardware is Gatco Bleu.
    (all finishes are polished chrome)
    Pocket Door Hardware is by Linnea - that is the edge pull and privacy pocket door lock. The pocket door is solid, not hollow core and the hardware for that is Johnson. That door is heavy, so I'm glad we got heavy duty hardware for it.
    The finger pulls are Berenson; the small square pulls on the vanity tower are Hafele.
    The toe kick drawers have no hardware; they are ''tip on'' which means you just push in with your foot and they open.

    Here are some more photos:


    Toilet area: Yes, something needs to go on the wall above the toilet. Interestingly, our GC also paints; and his style is abstract/expressionistic, so something of his might work. (He's an interesting guy).
    We reused our Toto Drake here.


    Pocket door:

    The field tile we used is a Tierra Sol Porcelain: Imprompta Materia D Forma; color Tortora.
    The glass tiles are by Interstyle-Glass hues in rare Turquoise.

    If anyone has any more questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

  • mgmum
    9 years ago

    Wow! It looks great! I love the lift up cabinet thing! Does it have a plug in there; it would be a great place to hide the hairdryer, curling/ straightening irons etc. And the laundry basket! BRILLIANT!

    I love the green/turquoise. You must be so happy with the change!

  • LE
    9 years ago

    It's refreshing to see a less traditional bathroom here-- good for you for getting what you like (I like it, too). I bet you learned, like we did recently, that "simple" isn't necessarily easy (or cheap!)

    Don't you love the laundry pull-out? We put one in our MBA a few years ago when we remodeled and I realized I didn't want to look at a plastic hamper in my closet any longer.

  • numbersjunkie
    9 years ago

    Agree with MGM that the pull up cabinet would we great for hair dryer, etc.

    leela, can you share the dimensions of your shower - including the length of the straight wall by the toilet and the connecting angled wall ?

  • leela4
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    MGM and numbers: There are plugs in the bottom part of that pull-up cabinet for hair styling stuff, and that's also where we keep our electric toothbrush plugged in.

    numbers: The shower dimensions are as follows; these are all interior dimensions. Front to back - 58''. Back width (where the glass accent wall is) - 48''. The straight wall by the toilet, which also has our shower head, is 38''. The angled pony wall is 28'', and that's where the valve is located. The pony wall height is 42.5''. I can post a floor plan if that would help. Here's another view of the shower from a little farther back and before the shower glass was installed, which might help:

    HTH

  • numbersjunkie
    9 years ago

    leela - yes, please post your floorplan! Can you also tell me how wide your shower door is? Thanks.

  • leela4
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    numbers - Here you go: (hope this is readable)

    The opening to the shower is 28''. We have no shower door; that was one of the things we really wanted and struggled with to get the design right. We considered trying to have it be a curbless shower as well, but decided we really didn't have enough room to do that. This has worked out well. We have no overspray at all. We are so OCD, however, that when we were considering this layout we mocked up the new ''extended'' opening, placed brown paper down on the floor, and showered with one of the old sliding shower doors open. Both DH and I did this as our shower habits and size differs. There was no over spray into the bathroom proper in our little experiment, so we felt that it was safe to do it this way.

    It sounds like you are in the planning stages for your bathroom - is that right? Good luck and let me know if there is anything else you would like to know.

  • Babka NorCal 9b
    9 years ago

    Oh my! We are on the same wavelength! Exactly my style. You have done a magnificent job. Our bathroom is a bit smaller, but similarly configured. I wish I had seen that rectangular shower bar when we did our bathroom last year. It is perfect. All my hardware is square/rectangle like yours. (except for my shower slider bar, nuts) We have those Eurocube faucets and the square knobs, and the large square tile floor. I even found a square lighted make-up mirror! We have all drawers too and I wouldn't have it any other way. Kudos from a rectangular relative. ;-)

    -Babka

  • numbersjunkie
    9 years ago

    thanks leela for the additional pic and the plans! This is very helpful to me - seeing things on paper are one thing, but to see pics really helps me to "feel" the space. I really love your colored tile too. I was not thinking of doing any tile accents, but now I am!

  • enduring
    9 years ago

    I love that you can look outside while on the pot. My carpenter built his house so that in the bathrooms they face the window so you can see out. Raehelen, who used to post on this forum, has a window near her toilet that looks out to a beautiful garden.

  • leela4
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    enduring - Having the bigger window space (two v.s. one) is one of my favorite things in the new bathroom! We live in the woods and you never know what you might see wandering around out there. Plus-we also live in the PNW, so things can be gray here, and more light helps with that.

    I should take this time to thank you specifically, enduring, and you, too, Babka, as you both helped me along the way with some of your choices. And linelle, too.

    numbers - I have really enjoyed seeing bathroom remodels that others have shared. I am pretty visual as well, and last year there was a thread called ''Finished Bathroom Reveal Thread'' that hobokenkitchen started that was very helpful to me.

  • enduring
    9 years ago

    You are most welcome, Leela :) I remember Hoboken's bathroom thread, it was really fun.

    I love your floor plan. I think that sized room is perfect for a bathroom. My first BR remodel was (and is) 6.5x9.5 in size. I feel it is just the right size for the need. No shower though, just a tub.

  • Aletia Morgan
    9 years ago

    Leela, this is terrific - I love the modern (but not cold) style, and this captures it perfectly.

    We're doing a bath expansion with a lot of similar features - more modern styling, trench drain, and cabinet drawers rather than traditional doors. Great idea to use kickplate drawers - that would be worth adding, and as you commented, they can create a bit of a floating look, which we would love.

    We haven't had the courage to go with large tiles for the shower floor, and are still looking at 3" mosaics, even with a tile drain. DH wanted larger tiles, but I know I'm a klutz, and if it's possible, I'll fall.

    Congratulations and thanks for sharing!

  • Nancy in Mich
    9 years ago

    Leela, thank you for the reveal, your bathroom is beautiful! Thank you also for providing all the information, especially your layout.

    My favorite things: Your bold use of color - the turquoise tile is great - color and texture just beg you to touch it and the surrounding tile has a warmth to it that is very inviting. Next I love all of the storage. I also like the shape of your shower. It has the illusion of being a lot bigger than it really is, and this is a good thing. It is just big enough! I also like your restraint in shower fixtures. One fixture - a handheld - is clean and simple and shows me that my plans were far too cluttered! The shower makes a wonderful toilet alcove and whoever designed your floorplan gets an A+ in my book.

    Questions:
    1. Do you like the handheld as a showerhead?
    2. Trench drains and hair - all of you who have them, can you tell me how do you collect the hair? I have a lot of hair shed with each shampoo and I need to collect it so it does not clog the pipes. I have always used something in the drain to catch it. How do you do this with a trench drain? Even with my hair now just below my ears, there is enough to choke a pipe with each shampoo!

  • leela4
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Hi Nancy-
    I love the handheld. DH and I are both prefer showers over baths, but we don't like (or need) a lot of extra spraying or whatever one might get from jets or even a rain shower head. That said, our handheld does have 4 functions; I am out of town right now so I can't tell you exactly what the 4 functions are, but I do know that one of them is a rain spray and one is a jet spray-and jet is what I always have it set to.

    We haven't used the shower long enough to see how it will handle hair. I also ''shed'' hair, but I just got about 3 inches cut off last week so it's not shedding quite as much (ha). I would also be interested to see what others say about this.

    AHMIowa-We were a bit concerned about the larger tiles in the shower as well. There was no good match for our tiles, and we really wanted to get away from a bunch of grout lines if possible. So since we're the ''mock-it-up'' king and queen of the universe, we took the samples of the tiles we used, in their 12 x 24 format, and put 2 in the shower with us before we remodeled. We stood on them with soap/shampoo on them to simulate real conditions, and squirmed our feet around (sorry to be so technical with my terms) to see how slippery they were. They were/are fine. They do have a slight texture, which helps, and they are also matte, not glossy.

    Our original design had the pony wall straight back to make the toilet ''alcove''. I started thinking about the toilet area being w/c accessible and how tough it would be to maneuver a w/c in that space and to transfer etc. (DH and I are both retired PT's, so we think about this kind of thing). So we modified the design to have that wall angled, and it really serves to open things up, I think, and also to make the shower and really the whole bathroom feel bigger.
    Hope all this info helps.

  • Babka NorCal 9b
    9 years ago

    We have had our linear drain for a year and a half. No problem. The grill cover lifts up (Schluter supplied a little metal hook) and there is a plastic strainer cup that sits in the 2" drain. Easy to wipe out.

    Many shower slider bars allow you to put the head at any height, and at any angle, in addition to the adjustable spray pattern. They do much more than a fixed head. If I put mine (Grohe) up high enough and aim it down, it gives me an overhead rain shower effect. Some don't have much adjustment, so you do some shopping.

    -Babka

  • anrol
    9 years ago

    Very nice! Loving the maple, too! It really keeps the bathroom light and bright.

  • Stacy Rahn-Dennis
    6 years ago

    bumping to see if leela4 could update pictures! saw a pic on another thread and looks similar to what i'd like to do. would love to see more! thanks.

  • amanda99999
    6 years ago

    I wish I could see the photos too!

  • leela4
    6 years ago

    Well, thanks to both of you for asking. I'll post a few and if you want to see something more specific just let me know. By the way, we still love everything about our "new" bathroom, and have had no problems or regrets.

    Vanity:

    Shower:

    Vanity drawer cutout for plumbing to provide extra storage:

    Pocket door:

    Pony wall:

    Most recent wall decor item:

    Floor plan:

    HTH

  • Nancy in Mich
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    I remember this bathroom, now! Loved the tile, the view out the window, and the light and airy feel of it all. Beautiful maple cabinets.

    Now, three years later, I finally have a date for my own bathroom remodel. We will have a pocket door, as well. Leela4, how do you like your hardware for opening and closing the door? I am just starting to investigate it. I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Hypermobile Type (connective tissue disorder) and sometimes the joints in my fingers hurt and my thumbs are often out of joint. I wear Oval-8 splints on index fingers at times and have a couple of different styles of spica splints to wear for my thumbs (though I only do when they become unbearable). So how does your door-closing hardware work? I have seen ones where little rings can be popped out of the door front, or narrow loops popped out of the leading edge of the door to help pull it shut. Do you recommend any particular style of closing hardware, given your own use of the door and your professional experience? (I could not have found a better couple to ask about this!)

  • Nancy in Mich
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Thank you so much Leela4 (and Enduring) for just the info I needed. I saw up above that you and your spouse are retired PTs, so that is why I included all the medical info and asked you about the hardware, I knew you were the perfect person to ask!

    I sprained my knee this summer and used my rollator walker around the house (once I was able to walk at all), and we were planning to widen the bathroom door to 36" with this remodel, but now we are widening all of the doors. We had to take the bedroom door off the hinges to get my walker in. I was able to scoot it into the bathroom sideways, but having it in there has made me widen the room a bit and narrow the counter top by having a vanity custom made. I am trying to balance needs when "able" and "unable" and it is a difficult task in a very small bathroom. Now that the contractor has decided to do a pocket door, that is one less thing for me to worry about, but it opened up the world of their hardware to me, which I have no experience with.

  • Stacy Rahn-Dennis
    6 years ago

    Leela4 - Thank you so much for posting your pictures and floor plan! Your countertop with the light cabinets is what originally caught my eye. Beautiful! And I love your use of color, too. Your vanity is about the same length as ours and I want to add a tower as well. Any chance you have a pic of the pull up door open? And the top opens as a cabinet door? any issue with water splashing on the tower?

  • Nancy in Mich
    6 years ago

    Now that I am no longer seething with questions about the door hardware, I have the leisure to admire the new wall decor. It is a beautiful piece of stained glass work! Very nice.

  • leela4
    6 years ago

    SRD-No issues with splashing on the sides of the tower. There's 8.25" between the sink and the tower. And the top does open as a regular cabinet. Here's a pic of the bottom part:

    nancy- I love that mirror too. It's made by a local mosaic artist; I wish I could afford some of her larger pieces!

  • amanda99999
    6 years ago

    leela4 - thanks so much for reposting the photos! How nice of you. I love everything, and the hardware choices are great - lift up cabinet, pocket door - all so nice.

  • Stacy Rahn-Dennis
    6 years ago

    Leela4 - thanks for the additional picture of the bottom cabinet. just what i need! beautiful bathroom!

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