From Norma to marilyn: PRINCIPAL bath reveal
Let’s start off by saying how we fell in love with Norma but saw the potential of Marilyn. One could certainly state that the actual Norma was beautiful and didn’t need to become Marilyn but for arguments sake (and this renovation) lets assume dear Norma had seen better days and needed a face, body and soul lift as did the Principal Bathroom. Which leads me to…
FINALLY we’ve got a post on the Primary Bathroom. Since the arrival of Baby King the last two months have been more about baby and less about the house. We’ve still been tackling projects and finishing up some details, but as far as the blog has gone there’s been a delay. Instagram has seen a little more action but nonetheless here it is!
First let me start by saying, I love our bathroom. It’s bright, clean, and feels fresh. I had the best time making design choices and T.J. really had to do some hard work in this room. There are some things we’d have done differently but sometimes you don’t know until you see the finished product. We went back and forth when trying to decide on the exact configuration. The biggest thing was that I wanted to keep the giant window. Admittedly, it’s made it so there’s some unusable space but it was so important to keep that gorgeous light. Plus, it’s rare to find a house with floor to ceiling windows. One thing to note, we were on a slight deadline to just get IN the house with the baby on the way. That sort of forced some of our decisions to just get things done.
NORMA: The original bathroom was laid out for a handicap person. So there was significant space to move around or do a turn in a wheelchair. In looking to redo that room I think this is a plus because who doesn’t love a spacious bath. Things working against Norma were low hanging sofit, dark wallpaper, toilet directly next to door (zero privacy), underutilized bench space in shower, horrid tile, zero storage, and just very dated but not in a good way. Oh and all the drains in the house needed to be redone. Hence the holes in the concrete and dirt in the photo.
OUR GOALS: To have a spacious airy bathroom that’s practical with a luxurious feel. Style wise, we wanted to keep it modern but also give it a classic vibe. Such as timeless tile, a contemporary layout, ageless vanity and mid-century lighting.
CHALLENGES:
We needed to take a couple feet from the closet to make the bathroom more comfortable for a 72” double vanity as well as an over sized tub. Speaking of tub, I love taking baths. We contemplated just doing a large spa shower but at the end of the day Mama needs a bubble bath. We also knew the space would be a little tight for a soaker tub AND a separate shower so we did an oversized combo.
With any arrangement we would need to move some aspect, if not all, of the existing plumbing.
We also wanted to move the toilet so it wasn’t the first thing you saw when you walked in. Build a privacy wall that also contains shelves for storage.
You’ll see below that the new layout has the vanity to the right and the tub/shower to the left.
If you look back at our blog post “Bath Dreams” you’ll notice the mood board ended up being pretty close to what the final design became. Remember how I said there were a few things we’d do differently? Well between the two vanity mirrors, hidden under the middle fern frame is an electrical cover plate that was put there because I said I wanted side lighting. Yeah that didn’t happen. There wasn’t enough space on the wall to do three and one just looked silly. SO, we’d have skipped that middle outlet.
FUN FACT: I made the pressed fern art!
Now, down to the vanity area. The lighting is from West Elm and I’m seriously obsessed with these sconces. They were on sale when we bought them so if you like them too keep a look out for that sale price. I like that they give homage to the era the home was built in. Plus they feel modestly glam…If that’s a thing. The Threshold mirrors are from Target and were a screaming deal. Cause lets face it, 2020 threw everyone for a loop and she on a tight budget!
Hello Vanity! This navy blue charmer is from Willow Bath and Vanity. It comes with a white marble top and holes pre-cut for the fixtures. This vanity has really great storage and it’s a solid piece of furniture. We added Moen Doux Chrome to give it an updated touch. Something to note regarding the faucets is the chrome will show hard water stains. Both our sink and shower fixtures are chrome and before we softened the water it really did a number on them. The shower especially, and we are still experimenting with products to get those out…Anybody have suggestions?
Let’s dive into the shower/tub. It’s an oversized Kaldewei Puro combo with the Moen Via Chrome Posi-Temp fixtures. This baby is legit built for soaking, lounging, and relaxing. We’ve also added six shower niches because we all need more shower storage. Goodbye shower caddy, and hanging racks. Just to keep it stylish, I found these snazzy bottles with waterproof labels on Amazon.
On to my favs, the tile! Seriously, I’m super happy with it. For the shower we chose a 4” x 12” Italian style (meaning it has some movement/texture to it and looks slightly less finished) with a subtle gray hue to it. The hexagon shaped floor tile has a marble look without the marble price tag. Score! It’s actually porcelain which means it’s really durable, less slippery (great for a bathroom), and easier on the wallet.
The veining in the floor tile matches the vanity counter (real marble) and ties in with the shower coloring as well. There’s just something about tile done right that makes me happy. Tile can be a statement and I love what ours is saying.
For a final note let’s highlight the storage. Originally we had discussed doing built-in closed shelving but after further thought it seemed too heavy visually. Luckily we have plenty of closed storage in the vanity so why not keep it open. I like when functionality meets design. In this case its having things you use daily displayed in stylish way. Plus open storage allows you to see what you have and what you need.
Okay now if there’s any room in the house for some humor it’s the bathroom. Hence the Quarentine Candle Company who’s candles are made from wine bottles consumed during the pandemic. Also, yes I have featured our toilet paper on the blog. Hello, toilet paper is serious business (insert bathroom joke). Who Gives a Crap is an eco friendly, affordable, easy on septic tanks (which we have) company that goes to great lengths to provide sustainable tissue for your bum. If you haven’t already check it out. You can use this link for a discount too!
That’s our Master Bath (aka Marilyn) update in a nutshell! You can see video of the demo and deconstruction on our Instagram page. Heading to take a bubble bath now, see ya!