Bathroom Dreams to Bathroom Reality

Watercolor paintings of the finished product; the space is tricky to photograph.

Two closets and a large windowless bathroom were combined and repartitioned to make one small bathroom (with natural light!) and one small laundry room. I contributed modeling and interior finish selection.

Before

After

Ideation

In the early stages of the renovation, I created a SketchUp model to calculate tile square footage, test out different designs, and see if we could justify the really fancy tile as an accent.

I sourced inspiration and reference images for mint green tile, tall wainscoting, and a shower window. The house is a simple bungalow built in the 1920s and features plenty of wainscoting elsewhere.

Sourced from Retro Renovation, Reddit, and Victoria Elizabeth Barnes.

I checked how likely green tiles would have been in the 1920s. Not too unlikely.

Sourced from Period Paper (left) and Lou Horacek (right).

Renovation

Instead of “very fancy tile on some parts of the wall,” we chose “moderately fancy tile on all of the wall.” We ended up with 2″ by 4″ tile installed vertically. The glaze is the same one as originally envisioned: Fireclay Tile’s “Seedling,” a celadon that’s simultaneously springy and soothing.

Before the tile was installed, I went online to research waterproofing windows in showers. “Just burn the whole house down,” one person commented on Reddit. Helpful. We went with a lot of waterproof membrane and silicone caulk underlying the vinyl window frame.

The shower required additional glasswork. Clear glass on the pony wall kept water contained and reeded glass made the window a little less anxiety-inducing.

The reeded glass was, however, still transparent. I hemmed a curtain from a shower curtain whose bottom edge had hair dye stains. I had vague hopes of installing a curtain rod instead of adhesive hooks, but put it off long enough that my brother bought more hooks and screwed them to the wall, exactly spaced to the curtain’s holes. They certainly aren’t going anywhere now.

My favorite detail: the trim that tops the wainscoting.

I wanted a few sections of the trim to become narrow shelves, so I picked out three trim components: one upside down baseboard, one big chunky semicircle, and one small piece to transition between them. Some of the chunky semicircle trim I ripped down on the table saw and some I padded out and sanded smooth to create a 3″ deep shelf. You can see my test assembly above.

As we wanted to reuse the old sink, which provided little counter space, my shelf scheme provided new surfaces to leave toothbrushes laying around on.

I also hand-sanded the trim return on the pony wall to match the profile of the bullnose tile.

As the trim dips down diagonally, it goes from the level of the pony wall to a level bisecting the sink and mirror, as is maximally convenient for toothbrushes. The trim then meets up exactly with the storage shelf. I love this detail. It was very annoying to multiple people to execute.

The walls are painted in Benjamin Moore “Parsley Snips,” which we had to pick it before installing the tile. “I was skeptical, but it worked!” said our finicky contractor. I love how it shifts in different light. The floor is wood-look vinyl; a budget-based choice, but it keeps the warm tones of the oak flooring in the rest of the house.