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callieandkarin

My finished DIY calacatta/glass bath. So many thx to the forum!

callieandkarin
15 years ago

After many long months of thinset, dust and sleeping in the guest room, my new bath is finished. It was 100% DIY after work and on weekends, and we could have never done it without the design,tile and plumbing help from this forum.

The room is small and narrow (14'x 5.5'), carved out of the master bedroom of a 1910's era house some time in the 1960's. They never demo's the old walls, just piled in the plumbing and the new walls inside the old plaster. Needless to say, demo-ing down to the studs was a nightmare. We removed a bathtub and went with a big walk in shower instead. The design attempted to be modern and eclectic, with some traditional touches to nod to the original era of the house.

Here are the materials we used. Thanks again to everyone for their help.

Wall Tile: Artistic Tile Calacatta Oro Marble 4"x16" and chair rail and Opera Glass 1"x2" in Puccini Purple accent tile

Floor Tile: Ann Sacks Savoy pennyrounds in rice paper

Vanity: 48" Kraftmaid Venecia

Shower and Faucet Hardware: Jado IQ

Rainhead: Grohe

Towel Bar and Trainrack: Restoration Hardware Albion

Countertop: Statuario Marble (1/2 the price of a calacatta slab, matches very closely to the tile)

Sink: Toto Lloyd undermount

Toilet: Toto Soiree ADA

Medicine Cabinet: Robern

Overhead light: Hubbardton Forge Kakomi

Radiant Heat: Nuheat

Here is a link that might be useful: Karin's master bath

Comments (28)

  • cat_mom
    15 years ago

    Karin, it's beautiful!! What a great job you guys did--I am so impressed (you DIY'ers are such a talented bunch!). I love how everything flows. With regards to it being modern and eclectic, with some traditional touches to nod to the original era of the house, I think you nailed it!

    BTW, we got the Soiree Toto for our downstairs bath (not installed yet, reno's in-progress) and plan to get it for the two upstairs as well. How do you like yours so far?

  • kitchendetective
    15 years ago

    You have a lot to be proud of. You did a beautiful job!

    (However, you must send your kitty to me immediately!)

  • pharaoh
    15 years ago

    That marble is heavenly! Beautiful bathroom, nice choices of materials and textures.

    Is there a reason that one tile is crooked? Maybe it is a zen thing like wabi-sabi :)

  • yadax3
    15 years ago

    Really awesome! And I L-O-V-E Hubbardton Forge lighting - can't seem to get enough of it. Your bathroom is gorgeous. I hope ours turns out near as well. Enjoy!!

  • mahatmacat1
    15 years ago

    When I saw it was you posting a finished project, I knew it would be a winner :)

    Really beautiful, a symphony of rectangles. Smart use of space, too.

    How are you finding the Venezia? Do you like it?

  • callieandkarin
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks for the kind words! That is so gratifying coming from such a knowledgable bunch.

    cat_mom-- The Soiree is terrific-- good flushing, good style, no complaints on the noise now that I am used to its sound. I can't wait to see how your bathrooms turn out-- I give you so much credit tackling more than one at once! I credit your backsplash for turning me on to the Opera glass-- that is nice stuff to work with, especially in a bathroom, because it has super smooth edges.

    kitchendetective-- the cute kitty is Callie (also in my username). Whenever I am on Gardenweb, she insists on getting involved! :)

    pharoah-- thanks! I first thought that one crooked tile is to prove we actually did DIY, but I like your zen explanation better.:) Honestly, I thought that glass tiling was going to do us in-- I know you are familiar with the stuff.

    yadax-- the HForge light is one of my favorite things, and I picked it out last minute when I couldn't make any more decisions. They make such good stuff, can't wait to see your bathroom!

    flyleft-- You are my original DIY/glass tile/"smart use of space" inspiration woman. Regarding the Venecia-- it's okay, sometimes I like it, sometimes I'm not 100% sure. Seems a bit overpriced for the quality-- although I like the style, I probably would look elsewhere if I did it again.

  • charlikin
    15 years ago

    OMG! That is a *gorgeous* bathroom! I can't believe you DIY'd - I'm so jealous of your skills (both technical and design).

    So - poll: what's more beautiful? The bathroom or the cat. :-)

  • cat_mom
    15 years ago

    Karin--we're not tackling all at once. Just doing the downstairs one now, other two will be done together (late spring-early summer) because we'll be stealing space from one to make the other bigger.

    I'm so jealous you got to use Opera Glass in your bathroom! Maybe we'll get to sneak in some somewhere else, too!

  • annkathryn
    15 years ago

    This is a beautiful bathroom - well done! I don't think I've ever seen purple glass tile with marble, but it's a brilliant combination, very unique and just perfect for a bathroom.

  • vicnsb
    15 years ago

    Beautiful work! Your choices are really pretty, congrats!
    vic

  • na_praha
    15 years ago

    Unbelievably beautiful - I missed that it was DIY when I was first looking at the photos, and really was surprised to learn after seeing them that you'd done this all yourself. As others have said, you have so much of which to be proud. It's perfection!

  • bluekitobsessed
    15 years ago

    Beautiful!

  • gardenspice
    15 years ago

    That's a Wow!
    You should be very pleased.

  • raehelen
    15 years ago

    Karin,

    It is beautiful, calming and unique!

    Your layout is very similar to what I'm planning on doing in our MB, except, that my door will be at the end where the toilet is, and the vanity would be right next to the shower.
    My DH is worried that our shower will not be wide enough, and is talking about changing the brand new window (which I don't even have the trim up on yet!)so that we can make our shower bigger. Would you mind telling me how wide your shower is? And, if that's big enough for you? I'm assuming it is 5.5' long. (Ours would be 36" wide by 63" long)

  • callieandkarin
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks to everyone for the nice comments (and for being kind enough notto comment on the grout holidays in the #(*%&(#*^% pennyrounds!)

    Hi Raehelen-- the shower is 43" wide to the middle of the curb (ie the glass). So far, I find it very spacious after being smushed in a bathtub previously. I don't think 36" would be too narrow, especially if you put your shower head(s) and handheld on the short walls (so they are pointing into the 63" expanse). We had no choice but to put our handheld on the back wall, and if the shower was significantly narrower, it might spray too much onto the glass.

    Good luck with your project! It is certainly a layout challenge to fit everything into a small space-- we went through about 10 variations before we decided, and even now I keep picturing if we had put the door down the other end. Post pics when you're done, would love to see your layout.

  • thetews
    15 years ago

    Your bathroom turned out very beautiful. I'm really impressed. It's good to know that a total-gut DIY master bath remodel DOES eventually get done. DH & I have been working for months on ours and still have at least two full weekends worth of work to do.

    Congrats to an excellent job. - And your cat is beautiful too.

  • callieandkarin
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    thetews-- I feel your pain. We started in April, and I thought it would be an 8 week job and it ended up being 3x that long. At every step, there was always something unexpected that took extra time-- two layers of wall material to demo, water damage, uneven floors.

    As I'm sure you know, the tiling was so arduous to do part-time, due to all the prep time of mixing/cleaning up the thinset even when you only had a few hours to tile. There was a good chunk of the summer that I despised the project, didn't care if it got done, and refused to give up my weekends. The good news is that after it's done, its like childbirth. All you see is your new room is, while forgetting the pain and fatigue it took to get there. Good luck!

  • weedyacres
    15 years ago

    A belated "yowser" from this end. Beautifully done!!

  • redroze
    15 years ago

    I REALLY love your bathroom, especially the vanity, countertop, sink and faucet! I'm not normally into modern fixtures but your faucet is gorgeous. You did a great mix of traditional and contemporary. I'm curious if there are any benefits to having a bathroom sink with that shape, besides it looking really cool?

  • callieandkarin
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks, redroze-- I love the Jado IQ faucet too! We chose the angled sink shape for aesthetics. So far, the good thing about it-- the shape keeps the faucet from splashing as much as it would on a flat surface. But, because it's so deep we had to cut out a fair amount of the inside of the vanity to fit it in (and we lost some storage space in there). Good luck!

  • kylewest
    15 years ago

    Exquisite. Wonderful taste level and choices. About to install a calcatta bathroom with a mosaic floor pattern and 2"x8" running bond on wall. Even more exciting after seeing your walls and how nice it looks.

  • evilbunnie
    15 years ago

    Wow! Meow! That is beyond gorgeous. You did a great job sourcing materials and installing them. I'm inspired!

  • neesie
    15 years ago

    DIY? No way! I am officially jealous!

  • lilathabit
    15 years ago

    "The design attempted to be modern and eclectic, with some traditional touches to nod to the original era of the house."

    I think you nailed it! It's just gorgeous. And a DIY? I am in awe.

  • organic_donna
    15 years ago

    I am so impressed!!! That is an absolutely gorgeous bathroom. Every detail is immaculate. You did an awsome job. I love it all and especially the cat.
    Donna

  • gsciencechick
    15 years ago

    Wow! This is stunning! Everything is so exquisite.

    Love the kitty, too. :)

  • callieandkarin
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks for all the kind words, you guys made my day. The kitty loves sprawling out on the radiant floors!

    kyle- definitely post pics when you're done-- I would love to see your tile (2x8 sounds really interesting!).

  • folkman
    15 years ago

    amazing! I really love the tile choices. I also have the Toto Soirree and love it. Wonderful work!