May 13, 2019

Our Guest / Henry’s Bath Re-Renovation

(photo by Michael J. Lee)

The alternate title for this post would be “painfully expensive lessons I learned by making mistakes the first time I renovated”. :)

When we first bought our house, we did the one full bathroom we had over as well as the kitchen.  Because the cost do do those things was so expensive, I was looking for places to save money.  So when our contractor suggested re-enameling the cast iron tub and tile in the bathroom to save a few thousand dollars (our tile is what’s called a “mud job”- the tile is attached to the wall in cement, making the demo much more expensive than usual), I thought it was a good idea.  And am now paying for it.

(photo by Michael J. Lee)

The re-enamel job was terribly done and after about two years it started chipping and cracking. Now sheets of it are coming off the tub in 2″ sections and it looks horrible (and is not super safe with a little one around). And once it’s been re-enameled, it can’t be done again. So now I have to rip out the tub and tile to replace it, which means also demoing the the old archway framing the tub, which means replacing the floor.  It’s a domino effect! Luckily, my custom vanity and top can stay, as well as the new toilet.  So while we’re doing all this, I figured let’s give this bath a facelift too. I still love how it looks, but now that it’s mostly Henry’s bath, I want to make it a little more masculine.

I love this art (print from Artfully Walls, frame is antique) and am kind of using it as a jumping off point for the design.

So here’s the plan. I have long been obsessed with checkerboard honed marble floors, so since this bathroom is small, I’m doing them in here! I’m going to repaint the black to a deep smokey green and if my budget allows, update the plumbing fixtures to brass because I think it would look SO stunning with the marble and green color. If not, I’ll leave the polished nickel as is, and it’ll be JUST fine. :) The tub will be replaced by a more modern, streamlined alcove tub (maybe now I can actually take a bath, as our current one is so low it’s almost impossible to relax in it).  Also, the elongated 3′ x 9″ raw edge subway will run from tub to ceiling (maybe even across the ceiling) and I’d use grey grout to emphasize the texture.

 

sconces // shades // mirror (or this one) // trim // hardware // shower set // faucet // towels // shower curtain // tile // tub // floor- honed Bardiglio and Oriental White.

As much as I am kicking myself for not doing this right the first time around I AM excited to see the finished product. We plan to do this over the summer while we’re away for a week- so stay tuned for progress shots!