Guest Bath Details

Thank you all for the compliments.  You're all the best!

 

 

 

But let's take a step back for a minute to a request by Claudia to see a "before" photo.

There's no real "before" because this new bathroom was created by

borrowing space from my dining room, two closets (where the cat

just lost a toy down a hole in the floor) and about two feet of my kitchen.

The door to the kitchen (behind the chandelier) was moved

to the left and an area about 5 feet by 8 feet was closed in for the new bath.

 

 

 

This created a sight line from the front of house all the way to the back.

 

The old bathroom is behind the sliders in the kitchen and that will now

be demolished so the kitchen can be expanded.

 

 

This is the floorplan of the new bath. Just big enough to fit everything.

 

The guest bath door is a salvaged four panel door that I stripped using the

Silent Paint Remover--a much bigger job than I expected--primed and repainted.

It does look great though.  The porcelain knob is from House of Antique Hardware.

The artwork is a contemporary collage by Massachusetts artist 

Bernd Haussmann.  I already had it and it fits the space perfectly.

The floor tile is Sant'Agostino porcelain tile, color is Ferro Black.

This is the 6 x 24 size and I used a 1/3 stagger that, along with the

linear striations in the tile, gives it the feel of wood.  It's a bonus that the

price point is $9 per square foot.  The grout is Permacolor "Raven."

The small halogen light on the ceiling is probably a place holder.

I have a problem with most flush-mount lights and this one

didn't give me any adverse reactions.  I wanted something modern

and inexpensive and this fit the bill.  I threw out the box with

the name but it came from a local lighting chain called Wolfer's.

This shows the junction of all the materials.

The glass towel rod is vintage.  They can be found on etsy and ebay.

The 3x6 subway tile is American Olean in Ice White which is really

inexpensive stuff.  Available at Lowe's or locally at Roma Tile in Watertown.

The grout is Permacolor Bright White.

The small shelf is cararra marble (see sink info for source).

The Greek key mosaic border is Walker Zanger, Tribeca collection

Adelphia border in Flatiron gray, honed marble.

The planks are shiplapped Southern yellow pine painted with

Benjamin Moore "Icicle," #2142-70.

The chair rail was custom made to match the width of

of the marble mosaic.  The paint color is Benjamin Moore

Stonington Gray HC-170.

The tub is the Kohler Bellwether.  I liked this model because of its

straight front edge.  I thought it was a nice match to the modern

lines of the sink and a counterpoint to the more traditional elements

of the room.

All of the shower jewelry is Rohl from the Country Bath collection.

The shower curtain is Restoration Hardware diamond matelassé in white.

Mary suggested I move the shower curtain rod up to the ceiling.

I tried it and I love it.  It adds a little drama.  Restoration Hardware

makes the same shower curtain in extra long and I think it will be the

perfect length.  Thank you for that suggestion, Mary. 

The vanity table is an antique Swedish console table from Darby Road

in Waltham.  It was too long for the space and had to be cut down in

length to fit but I really loved the turned legs so wanted to make it work.

The original wood top on the table was removed and cut down to make a lower shelf

for additional storage.  Because the side of the shelf had to be cut down, Sam used

a similar routed edge and I did a little faux finish using brown stain and gray paint

to simulate the original worn edge seen on the front of the shelf. 

The plumber did a great job of tucking the turnoff valves way up

under the vanity table to keep the look as clean as possible.

I would have like to have used a bottle trap but they're not

approved for use in Massachusetts for some reason.

The turnoff valves are made by Jaclo.

The sink is Porcher (made by American Standard), the

model is Semplice which unfortunately has been discontinued.

The price was really reasonable so it's a line you should check out.

The new marble vanity top is cararra marble that came from a

remnant from International Stone in Woburn, MA. The people at

International Stone were great to work with and I think their prices are

reasonable so if you're local, it's a place I would recommend.

 

The basket is from Crate & Barrel.

I took this photo to show the corner details.

The clipped corner was originally on the Swedish console top and leg

so when I found a toilet that had the same corners on the tank and base,

I thought it was a perfect match.  I had the same detail cut into the marble top.

 

 

The toilet is the Porcher Lutezia.  I splurged for a fancier

seat with nickel hardware which is by Lefroy Brooks.

Because the chair rail ran right in to the faucet, I designed a bump up

with a little integrated shelf.  The lights are the Bryant sconce by

Thomas O'Brien from Visual Comfort in polished nickel.

The antique Brasscrafters mirror has a nickel frame.  It's unfortunately

too small.  I wanted the top to hit above the level of the sconce shades

but the bottom needs to be lower to make it useful for people shorter

than six feet tall. 

 

The bottles are the handiwork of Artie Vanderpool from Color Outside

the Lines a/k/a the Cross Bottle Guy. 

 

The faucet was my biggest splurge.  It's the St. Germain faucet made by Horus

(from France) in polished nickel.  It comes with either lever or cross handles.

All of the fixtures came from Waterspot which has five showrooms in the area

including the Boston Design Center.

To the left of the sink is a little shelving unit that is built between the studs.

The little painting was a lovely gift from a long-time follower Dianne Ballard

who says it's a portrait of me.  See more of her work in Dianne's etsy shop.

 

There's another bottle of Artie's, a small vintage unmarked vase,

and a few beakers for supplies.

 

I think that covers it.  The bath is now open for guests so I put this

little arrangement of milk weed pods, hydrangea, caladium, ferns and ivy

together to welcome you.  It's always nice to have flowers in the house.  

 

Let me know if I missed anything and thanks again for the great feedback!

Guest Bathroom Progress

I don't have any pretty pictures of the new bathroom yet but good progress is being made.

If you're new to the blog--or need a refresher--this new bathroom is being carved from

space in the center of my house that was a hallway, a closet, the dining room and kitchen.

It's the space outlined in yellow in the floor plan above.  I already have a bathroom

on the first floor but by moving it, I can get kitchen that's larger and laid out much better.

The bathroom and pantry (that are highlighted in green) will be demoed in the next phase.

These are the two doors you can see in the photo above.

Here you can see the new floor plan.  The new bathroom again is

outlined in yellow.   And the space I'll be gaining in the kitchen is in green.

There's still an issue with the plumbing chase to the bathroom upstairs

(just to the left of the kitchen sink in the new floor plan) but

I'll talk about that when we get to it. 

So the wall that separates the bathroom from the dining room is the 

continuation of a load-breaking wall with a major beam underneath it

in the basement.  To get plumbing in and out of the space, the pipes enter

on the floor and then turn into the wall cavity.  Some of the plumbing will

be hidden by the bed for the floor tile and the shelf in the vanity table

will hide anything else that protrudes.

The floor was also really out of level with the low point being right 

where the sink sits.  Before pouring a floor leveler, all the cracks around the edges 

of the subfloor and holes where pipes go in and out need to be filled with foam

insulation.  With even the tiniest hole or crack and the leveler will leak into the basement.

Here's Sam moving around the floor leveler just after pouring it.

I found this process really scary...but it all held.

While I think of it, three different inspectors had to come to sign off on the job.  

One for building, one for electric and one for plumbing.  When the plumbing

inspector came early on to see how the project was going, he asked for all

the approval codes for my plumbing fixtures.  Remember the toilet that I couldn't

get because it wasn't approved for use in Massachusetts?  I guess, every piece of

equipment sold goes through an approval process and has an approval code for the state.

The inspector was saying that a lot of people are buying things on the internet that

aren't approved for use in Massachusetts.  I was able to call the store I purchased

all the fixtures from to get the approval codes but it's just a warning about 

buying things on the internet if you're doing a project that's being inspected.

To abate any noise coming from the bathroom, we used green glue to apply

the sheetrock on the dining room side of the wall.  Once the inspections were

complete,  the walls were filled with denim insulation for additional insurance.

There's no telling how well it will work but I'll find out.

And then the walls were closed up.  Wonderboard around the tub and

moisture and mildew resistant sheetrock on the walls and ceiling.

The room was about three inches larger than a standard tub so instead

of making the room a little smaller, I opted to fill the space at the back

of the tub to make a little shelf.  It's small but I'll cap it with a slightly

larger piece of marble and it will be a great place for a few extra bottles

of shampoo and shower gel for guests.

The horizontal planking will be made from Southern yellow pine.

Sam made me a few samples of moisture resistent MDF with various sliplap joints

but they seemed too smooth.  So I opted to use pine so it's texture will show.

And that's where we are today.

* * * * *

Zephirine Drouhin rose, thornless and will tolerate some shade.

Rosalind, just wanted to let you know I was thinking about you.

I'm sending you some roses from my garden.  They're an old

bourbon rose and their scent is from heaven.

New Tile

I got new tile today...from Roma Tile in Watertown.  The other tile store wouldn't

take back the other floor tile because it was "special order."  That was news to me.

And there's nothing on their invoice to state a special order could not be exchanged

or returned.  I may pursue it but thankfully the cost isn't a huge deal in the scheme

of things.  I'll probably donate it to a charity when I donate my kitchen appliances.

The people at Roma were much more helpful and gave me samples so

I could see everything in my house which makes all the difference in the world.

The new floor tile is Sant'Agostino Ferro, a ceramic tile from Italy.

The color is called black but it's a dark gray with subtle striations of lighter

gray and a tiny but of rust.  I got it in 6-inch by 24-inch pieces which I'll

stack in a grid pattern.  And it was a very reasonable $8.95 per square foot.

Although it could lean to a very modern setting...

...I think it has very traditional soapstone associations.  

I actually also see it as foundation of gray flannel.

The white subway tile will be a crisp white cotton shirt. 

And with a Greek key belt.

I'm much more comfortable with this choice.

The plumbing and electrical work have begun and I hope to have

the inspections completed next week so we can start closing up the walls.

I thought the beams in the ceiling just outside the bathroom were worth showing.

Not only are they gorgeous but there's some markings carved into them.

I'm not exactly sure what they mean but I think it's some method of keeping

track of which beams go where or some kind of checks-and-balances system to

ensure that all joists were pegged in to the main beams.  There are very 

few of these big major beams and as much as I love them, their placement

just didn't make sense leaving them exposed.

And, finally, thank you all for your well wishes for Angus!

He just had his follow-up visit to the ophthalmologist and he's

healed very well.  The surgery cost about the same as a 

Shaw sink and Rohl bridge faucet but it was well worth it.

Here's the happy boy this morning.  He's one handsome dude.

Vanity/Sink Options

via

First, blogging friend and Urban Cottage supporter Tricia Rose from Rough Linen has received some wonderful news.  She's been nominated as a finalist in Martha Stewart's "American Made" contest!

Martha Stewart!

If you don't know Tricia already, she makes/sews the most beautiful linen products you've ever seen and she could use your support.  This is a great opportunity to support a small business without having to spend a dime, although you might find something pretty to buy too!  Please take moment to learn more about Tricia and show your support by voting.  

Go on.  I'll wait right here for you.

via Tokyo Jinga

Thank you for supporting Tricia!

Back to the bathroom.  Someone asked me if I would be doing a period bathroom for the downstairs/guest room.  And that's my difficulty with it.  The house was built in 1842 so a period bathroom would look a little something like this:

This might be a little too rustic so I'm looking for something a little more timeless.

Photo courtesy of Donna Seger, Streets of Salem

I've always felt a console sink would be a perfect timeless choice and I was happy to see 

 Edith Wharton's home built in 1905 in a recent blog post by local historian Donna Seger.   A console sink does eliminate the opportunity to incorporate some storage but it also maximizes visual space in a small bathroom.  But in a way, I feel it's a cop out.  I'd much rather have the challenge of finding something unique to repurpose.

One major limitation I have is space.  In the architect's plan, they've placed a 30-inch sink.  It appears like I might have a tiny bit of leeway but not much as all.

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My biggest complaint about bathroom sinks is they tend to be too small.  They're fine for rinsing your fingers but try to wash your face and you've usually got a counter floating with water.  Don't you?  Maybe I just have a bog head.  

I do love this old chest with what looks like a chunky square basin.  I also the wall mounted fixtures on the marble tiled wall.  But vessel sinks seem to come with higher maintenance.  How do you clean behind it?

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Here's another handsome bathroom with a vibe that fits my house but no storage underneath.  I don't mind the exposed plumbing at all.  If this had a lower shelf, a few basket could provide additional storage.

This has long been a favorite of mine since I saw it in--was it Country Living?  Rustic meets modern and little shelf below for storage.

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This one's perhaps a tad too country but, again, I love the juxtaposition of the old chest and modern sink basin.  And it looks like a nice large one too.   And a little closed storage too.  

A big sink in a small space sacrifices counter space... 

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...but maybe an adjacent built-in would provide a place for guests' toiletries...

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..or perhaps a little narrow shelf above the sink for a few special soaps and toiletries

for a guest to pamper themselves.

So I have my mission.

I'm off to look for sink solutions.

Thanks to Camille whose bathroom Pinterest board I totally raided for inspiration.  I love your taste!

That New Construction Smell

The construction portion of the new guest bath is done.  It's my favorite part of a project.  The dust, the noise and the strangers in your house are replaced with the smell of joint compound, new wood and primer.

I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Now my works starts.  I have two new thresholds that need to be stained and finished to match the floors, wood casings need to be spackled and painted...

...walls need to be painted in the dining room...

...and in the kitchen.

I love the view down my mini enfilade but the path and the view is partially obstructed by the TV stand in the living room.  It's been a real challenge figuring out a solution for this but I think I've done it.

Stay tuned.