Having a ‘master suite’ is something of a more modern invention. Like heated seats in your car or the fancy rabbit wine bottle opener – these are things that you didn’t need before you knew it existed but now you can’t live without them. Houses in 1926 didn’t have suites as much, but these days it’s like the distance to the bathroom is a some sort of made-up symbol of success or level of adulthood. EVERYBODY freaked out that we didn’t have a “master suite”. I don’t necessarily agree in the need for this, but if we could make it work while we were under construction, then sure – lets make us legit adults (and better for resale).
The original floorplan was below, noting that there was only one bathroom (see this post to see how we put in the jack and jill bathroom between the two kids rooms):
What is in pink indicates what changed:
We stole from the bathroom to add more space to the closet (thus only a shower in our master bath, not a bathtub). The closet is still small by most Californian’s standards, but that square footage helped (our cousin yesterday said that if she had to share that closet with her husband they would be divorced … she’s joking but you get it, it ain’t big). We made it slightly bigger, then we bumped out the wall into the hallway to add an entrance to the two-room suite. Like so:
In case you missed the whole process and plan for the upstairs demo you can head here. There is something super lovely about having it in “our room” although had it been in the hall that would have been fine, too. As you can tell in the floor plan, the door into the bathroom was super awkward with the toilet. We should have caught it early on and had the architect alter it (maybe we did and it didn’t get corrected) but later we were told there wasn’t room for a proper pocket door, that we didn’t have the inches to go into the wall. What we ended up doing is a pocket door that doesn’t fully open (as there isn’t the room for it to go into the wall the full 30″… somehow we passed inspections …. 🙂 It’s still kinda tight with the door from the hallway, but it all works.
Now for the design plan:
After pinning so many beautiful, more traditional tudor bathrooms (think porcelain mosaic floors) I realized that the vibe we wanted for the house was way more ‘cottage’ than ‘regal’. So I went the more ‘classic and humble’ route. We were more attracted to penny, hex, subway or herringbone tile and beadboard paneling, – with more casual finishes that would overall be more conducive to our lifestyle (casual, simple and warm). The above pins all spoke to me as they felt classic with a bit of country, but still modern and young.
I knew that I wanted some sort of paneling to keep it feeling sweet and casual, but with wallpaper and a color that amped it up a bit and made it feel like Hendersons, 2017. Most of the rooms in the house were plaster walls so wallpapering will be a challenge. But since the bathrooms are new construction I knew that it was my chance for some pretty old-world-meets-modern paper.
With that in mind we started the renovation. This might give you a better sense of the ‘master suite’ situation, with Brian documenting my surely innocuous conversation with a contractor friend.
In our bedroom, as a reminder here is what it looked like:
And now it looks like this:
Due to code we couldn’t keep the original door (they were only 24″ wide and code on new construction is 30″). We sought quotes to make the original doors (the door on the right in the left photo is the original) and it was $800 a pop. We needed 5-7 of them throughout the house. Brian Henderson nixed that plan quickly. We decided that we would splurge on one for the master suite since it was right next to an original door (charlie’s door is right next to that as well) but find something readymade that ‘felt’ similar for the rest.
But of course the lead time for that one custom door was 195 weeks, so Roberto, our project manager and overall genius, BUILT IT FROM SCRATCH in 2 days. I couldn’t believe it. It looks IDENTICAL. As you can see we did end up putting in a pocket door and while that little hallway looks tight, it’s fine in person. Fun fact – they had to completely tear down and rebuild that pocket door wall because it wasn’t originally called for. So at the last minute when we all realized that there was no room to swing in or out for a real door, we tore it down and rebuilt it for that awkward little pocket. I think it cost about $1200 to do that, but we knew that in the long run we would absolutely regret not doing it.
At the same time, the products were being pulled together and the original mood board looked like this:
Floor Tile | Faucet | Wallpaper | Towel Rod | Shower | Beadboard Paint | Wall Tile
I suppose that I decided on the beadboard/wallpaper combination first. I didn’t want the wallpaper to feel too bold for fear that it would look too young and be too busy, but I felt comfortable taking more of a risk in the beadboard color. If I ever want to change that color (as if i’ve ever been sick of blue in my entire life) I knew that of all the finishes, that one would be easy to change (as opposed to the tile or wallpaper, even – although changing out wallpaper isn’t that big of a deal).
Speaking of tile, you heard me gush about it in the kitchen, but in case you need a reminder, this tile is insanely beautiful and textured and yet quiet and sophisticated. It’s stunning in person and goes with both old-world style like ours, or more modern contemporary homes. If you are into the whole ‘handmade modern’ thing then consider these folks. If you are considering the ones that I used you should know that it is thick (like almost an inch) which didn’t cause us a problem, but it’s thicker than most (we couldn’t do the shower insets in it because it would have made the inset too narrow to actually put shampoo on it).
The floor tile is a classic herringbone that is brighter than the wall tile, but shares the same tones despite being a different material (I believe it’s porcelain). All the faucets are the very classic and beautiful unlaquered brass, which has now patina’d BEAUTIFULLY (stay tuned) and just today I received the proper polish and wax to maintain them. I originally loved the simplicity of the Devol vanities (that aren’t available in the states) but we ended up finding one that was almost identical, but ready-made, then we put our leftover marble from the kitchen on top. Here is sneak peek:
Of course things changed a bit and got more refined. So we had to update the mood board to reflect that (that light fixture in the photo was just to pass code because ours wasn’t in yet).
Wallpaper $690 (3 rolls). This paper is so impactful considering it’s so neutral. The pattern is hand stamped with paint (not ink) which gives it so much texture. The field (background) is brushed with paint to give it a totally unique and handmade feeling. This pattern stood out as happy and playful but still with a risk-free lovely modern floral pattern.
Beadboard $360. We needed 18 pieces, they are sold in 16′ and are $1.25 per linear foot. We ended up getting ‘v groove’ instead of beadboard. Beadboard has that decorative bead in the middle and V-groove is more like shiplap, but vertical and without the decorative detail and a bit wider. I think it feels slightly more modern and fresh, but I love beadboard, too (it is about 1/3 more expensive, I believe). We used beadboard in the kids bathroom and powder room, but splurged on the V-groove in the master and even the wider version on the front of the island in the kitchen.
Beadboard Paint $100, 1 gallon. Farrow and Ball is high end for sure as most gallons of paint can be as cheap as $25. But I love the pigment and the look of the paint so very, very much. We used their Stiffkey Blue which is a beautiful, happy yet sophisticated color (also used in our den and Ginny’s dining room). I asked our contractor about the quality of the paint and he said ‘really, really good with amazing coverage’ which made me feel good about promoting it. I knew that I loved the pigment of the color, but was happy to hear that as a contractor he was impressed with the quality. This color is not as dark as Hague Blue (which I used in my old kitchen and this reading nook) but still feels cozy and sophisticated. I will say that if you are debating when to splurge on Farrow and Ball and when to not, a medium to darker toned color is when to do it. They have mastered how to create ‘color’, even in a sophisticated more old world home like ours.
Toilet Paper Holder $142.80 I partnered with E-faucets (and Newport Brass) on the bathrooms and while I wouldn’t typically spend that kind of dough for a toilet paper holder (or tell you to) I will say that I’ve used just as expensive accessories in clients house that have been janky and felt cheap. This one is SOLID and so very pretty. If that isn’t in your budget this is not where you should splurge, but if you are looking to design a high end bathroom with high end details, then I can vouch that this one is beautiful. We also had to have the finish match the faucets so typically a toilet holder wouldn’t be so expensive but having it be unlaquered brass kinda upped the price.
Toilet $915 Classic and pretty. Neither a total splurge nor inexpensive, but lovely in every way. It’s hard to go on and on about a toilet, but so far we are happy with this guy.
Vanity $1, 380.46. The vanity that we ended up using came with a carerra marble top, but our guys broke it during install. Lucky for us we had more marble from our kitchen and they fabricated a top for it. We switched out the knobs and handles for unlacquered brass and it looks FAR better than the custom one we recieved a $1600 quote for, with an 8-10 week lead time.
Faucet $615.30. You know how I feel about these faucets. Just so pretty, especially in that high maintenance (yet stunning and old world) finish.
Light $735. A triple sconce that is a bit more modern, to help it feel more fresh. I’m taking a note from the 1960’s French – its ok to do some of your lighting in a simple, but slightly edgier, more modern way. This sconce takes this bathroom to the next level. A triple sconce is always more expensive, but 2 singles or doubles adds up as well in materials and installation.
Floor Tile $804.14 (52 sq feet + 20% Overage). A classic tile in which I will never tire (I’m working on not ending sentences in a conjunction, so all of a sudden my sentences sound super pretentious). It has a lovely variance of tone and reflects the light in such a beautiful way.
Shower faucet: $440.30. Brian and I aren’t rain shower people – I find them secretly annoying as I’m unable to get them off my head without jerking my neck away from my body in a wholly uncomfortable way. This faucet looks really basic, without a hand spout or anything but that’s because I get a little annoyed by those features, too. I’ve put them in before and I don’t use them. I like a good, high pressured shower and that’s it. I wish we could have fit a tub in here, but that shower, in that tile, with those windows, is magical and makes me so happy.
Wall Tile $2, 341 which is an estimate. We aren’t sure how much ended up being used in the kitchen/master bath. We requested close to the same amount for each space so this was the total divided by 2 and we have a substantial amount of overage (to be used in the guest suite downstairs). It’s my most favorite subway tile splurge ever. See gushing above.
Shower floor dam: $578 (needed 6 pieces + overage= 9) We had to buy one box minimum, and to make sure we had pure white pieces and not grey ones as they vary. $671. This was the most annoying and boring splurge that I didn’t see coming. We needed tile for the area between the floor tile and the shower floor tile (that little bridge) but somehow it added up to be that ridiculous amount. I think had we not been in a HUGE hurry to get materials on site we could have found a different solution. I thought it would be like $200 til I saw the amount on my CC bill. Whoops.
The shower door is still not installed. It’s a long boring saga that involves way too heavy of a header piece, in not the right finish, blah blah. We have now moved the door to make it more sturdy so we can nix the header piece. But of course once I saw the crystalline (no green tint) glass in 1/2 inch (which is literally twice the price) I want that … Stay tuned on our decision.
We also had to change out both windows, to vinyl but they both look great (and they fooled me – they look like wood!).
The mirror is a place holder until I find the perfect antique mirror (or customize one). Its clearly too small but does the job for now. The space is so pretty and clean and fresh, and yet colorful enough to make me happy.
That’s just a little sneak peek. Ok fine, here is one more (which you may have seen)- but SO much more to finish!!
That was before the knobs were switched out, obviously, but you get the idea. We’ll be installing the glass shower doors asap. OH, and for all of those who wondered about that in the kids bath, we are not putting in glass doors until they are much older, if ever. We’ll probably do a curtain when they are 4-6 years old, but as of right now it’s not in the plan to do that. In this one, however we have to as it’s not a straight line so right now when we shower it goes all over the place.
We’ll be done in a couple weeks, meanwhile it’s such a bright and happy room to be next to our bedroom. Thoughts? Concerns? Questions?
Ohh I can’t wait to see the whole thing! Love, love, love the Farrow & Ball blue and that iridescent subway wall tile. Already, just in the work-in-progress photo, it bounces the light around so much, will make the room look bigger. We used subway tiles in our kitchen and were going to go plain matt ones without any detailing. Ending up going with Italian porcelain ones that had a very glossy, stippled finish and I couldn’t be happier that we did. The finish hides any imperfections in our old wonky walls and they reflect the light and make the room seem a bit bigger. I love seeing how people renovate small spaces – we renovated our tiny (1.5m x 1.5m – or 5.7ft x 5.7ft for you Americans!) ensuite and it was a challenge.
I just can’t imagine an ensuite of that size, is it a wet room? Does it have a shower, sink and toilet or is it an 1/2 bath ensuite?
Hi!
I like the overall look and the fact that you style the bathroom with wallpaper and wood, but have you had earlier these kind of niches in the shower corners? I and some of our friends have similar things built in the shower corners, but they will be finally quite annoying – if it’s not built with a slope big enough, the water will stay in and the joints between the tiles will be quickly dirty. Do you also have something to add regarding choosing the wallpaper/wallpaper glue to fit into wet rooms?
Thanks!
I’ll ask my installer. I asked F and B about wet rooms and they said that its more about the glue than the paper. I’ve put them a lot in powder rooms but less so in steamy bathrooms … I’ll let you know how it goes 🙂 By niches you are talking about the insets right? I think they are on a slight slope. So far so good, but I could see that being annoying if they aren’t for sure. and thank you 🙂
The niches in Emily’s shower are on the same wall as the shower head, so I don’t imagine water would be spraying directly into them: they won’t collect much water, if any.
Hi – Slight slope is great but not necessary if properly waterproofed. If your niche is framed out of cement board like the rest of hte shower just make sure to tape, mud, and waterfpoof all corners well. Schluter makes a great waterpoof product (Kerdi) that also includes niches. Other prefabricated niches can be purchased that fit into a standards 16″ OC stud space and flush out with the cement board. Sealant is needed to fill that seam and cover all fasteners then waterproofing should be applied over the niche’s flange. They can be easily tiled…thin set adheres to them…so any moisture that gets through the tile will not infiltrate into the wall behind causing mold, rot, or mildew. Make sure to use a bullnose or miter the tile edges (or any other tile edge detail) around the edges of the niche since most tile is not finished on the edges which might be visible around the niche 🙂
I am so excited to see the full reveal! I love that wallpaper. I also love all the brass fittings. I am trying to plan a bathroom reno of my own but have yet to find decent brass fittings here in the UK. Maybe we are a bit behind the times!
I remember seeing your vanity… i think on instagram or instagram stories… and being really surprised (not in a good way) with your choice of handles. Ha! I should have realised they were being swapped out ? i didn’t even think of that!
Yep! I found some great classic ones at Liz’s Antique Hardware in LA. WHen brand new (super shiny brass) they look 80’s but now that they have aged a bit they look pretty. stay tuned 🙂
I am absolutely loving your new house posts and this is so beautiful. I love the blue and the wallpaper and the floor-tile especially. But how do you clean inside the shower with a fixed shower head?
Oh you mean how do we clean the glass? Or clean the floor? Hmm. I just assumed with a rag … and a window squeegie thing ….
And that’s the only reason I like a handheld wand in the showers — for cleaning the shower itself! I feel oh-so glamorous with my big sponge and a bucket to rinse down the walls ….
I love it, great use of a tight space! We remodeled our master bath two years ago after discovering a horrible mold issue due to a 12 year hidden leak. I vowed that no mold would ever invade my bathroom again! But using bleach or harsh chemicals isn’t great for many materials, or for people. I use Dawn dish liquid and a good scrub brush periodically, and if I get a hint of mildew I use a Clorox bleach pen just to hit that specific area. The handheld shower is the best for rinsing after cleaning! But hands down the best preventative is using a squeegee on the walls, glass and floor after each shower, then following up with a cotton bar towel and drying the whole thing completely. It’s almost impossible to get every surface or corner or grout line draining properly, so this the only way I can ensure it gets dry. It takes me about three minutes, but dramatically cuts down on soap buildup and mildew, and the amount of time spent doing any serious scrubbing. Does my husband do this whole process? No! But he will use the squeegee, because, well, we all hate mold now.… Read more »
That shower tile plus wallpaper is To Die For. Love it.
When I was growing up we had wallpaper in our bathroom and even with a fan, the wallpaper eventually started to peal off the wall due to the moisture from the shower. Are materials better now? Is that a concern?
Everything in the house is SO lovely! I am so happy for you.
We were told that materials are better. But i’ll absolutely let you know. xx
Agree! Not a fan at all of rain showers; I want hard and fast water pressure, not to be spit on in a shower!
I used beadboard tile in a bathroom. Costs more, but it looks great.
And if there’s anyone out there who has a glass shower enclosure which stays clear, I’d love to meet them. Mine is forever clouded by mineral deposits. Cannot get ’em off.
We got a water conditioner for the fix, but it was too late!
Are you living in the house the whole time you’ve been remodeling? Were there spaces (like the kitchen or the kids bathroom) that you for sure wanted done before trying to live there with toddlers? My boys are about the same age as your two, and I have this insane idea that maybe I could hire someone to quickly remodel both upstairs bathrooms at the same time to save money, but then I think that’s something that someone would only do if they hated themselves.
Love, love, love, of course! I also just wanted to add a huge AMEN to your statement about rain showers. I hate them. I like high pressure and at an angle. I don’t know how people get their hair thoroughly rinsed with the rain showers.
I hear its mostly a dude thing – especially for tall people so they don’t have to crank their head under a shower to get their hair wet. Plus I think it looks fancy so people are attracted to it for that reason. I like the showers that give you all the different options, we just didn’t feel like we needed it for us. xx
I’m the same! I feel like I’m either drowning or standing out in the cold. I like to stand in the shower with constant warm water on the back of my head and back, not pouring buckets over my face.
These bathrooms are gorgeous. I’m in love with all the wallpaper and have always wanted to do it in our bathroom but I’d heard that it can start to pull apart at the seems if it’s in a bathroom with a steamy shower (and have seen it happen first hand at my parents’ house). Did you do something special to combat that?
Sorry…just saw someone else had the same comment!
One thing that’s been puzzling me is that dead space in the center of your house. I wondered, why is it there? Does it exist on both floors? Are there dead bodies in there?
Apparently you were able to eliminate it by enlarging your closet and bath, which means it truly WAS unnecessary dead space. It’s mystifying.
Oh man, I hate rain shower heads and detachable ones too! Don’t even get me started on the ones that shoot at you from the sides. How do people ever lather up or shave their legs with all that water gushing at you???
I remember feeling like we didn’t need a full ensuite when I had babies (you share space at that point constantly anyway. Now, however, I adore our adult bathroom. Those sweet little babies get gross as they grow up.
Beautiful. Love the blue.
I can’t wrap my head around paying nearly $150 for a toilet paper holder unless it also goes and gets you more when you are running out.
That paint color is amazing, though. I love it.
I spend $5 at Starbucks all.the.time – we all splurge on different things. I’m certainly not going to be one to throw stones.
As far as being “that person” who calls out someone for making a typo, you are that person whether you find one error or several. While I appreciate typo-free copy as much as the next person, it’s not crucial to my enjoyment of this blog. Plus, let he/she who has never made a typo cast the first stone. Anyone? Nope. We’ve all done it, and by done it, I mean that we’ve all been so eager to express our ideas at one point or another that we’ve left a smidgeon of grammatical imperfection in our words.
I don’t expect everything to be free of typos, but yes, I expect people to at least run spellcheck on their professional sites, even blogs. I didn’t point out the minor grammar points because most other people won’t be bothered by them, but I did point out this one because 1) it was egregious and 2) I thought she might want to fix it. As it turns out, I was right, because she both fixed it and edited my comment.
I’m also not “throwing stones” about the toilet paper holder; I’m just saying I personally can’t imagine spending that much money on toilet paper holder. I’m sure other people can’t imagine spending what I spent on a small pair of earrings from a high-end jewelry store last weekend, and that’s fine too. I was just commenting from my perspective, just like everyone else. No need to jump all over me.
I fixed your typo – you left out an ‘a’:
“I’m just saying I personally can’t imagine spending that much money on a toilet paper holder.”
You are welcome!
JESSVII, if you don’t understand why a professional website should be held to a higher standard of quality than a comment on that website, I can’t have a conversation about this with you. Besides, as I said, I didn’t point out every error; I just pointed out a major one that I correctly thought she might want to get fixed.
I also don’t understand why people think I’m passing judgment when I say I can’t imagine spending $150 on a toilet paper holder. It’s just a comment about my though process and priorities. Rational people can disagree without passing judgment. I don’t know if Emily paid that much (she says she partnered with a company, which seems to imply that it was gifted), but even if she did, she also says “…I wouldn’t typically spend that kind of dough for a toilet paper holder….” It’s a little weird to have people jump on me for a thought very similar to one put forth by the writer but to have no problem with the original comment.
If you look for a reason to get upset, though, you will always find one.
Agreed! When you’re remodeling and want it to be the way you want, sometimes you just want what you want, and sometimes those things are expensive. And like you said, some people have no problem spending $5 at starbucks daily and who cares. If you work hard you should be able to buy what you want. I’ve seem Emily do so many amazing things for others out of the goodness of her heart, which is more important than what she buys.
I’ve been in love with that tile (square version) for a while…we’re doing a full remodel of our kitchen this May and are hoping those white zellinge Cle tiles fit in our budget with our Semihandmade cabinet fronts!
lovely! we are working on a master suite ourselves, cause you are right, we just NEED one 🙂
I would love any tips or resources for a small space, yours looks lovely but I imagine probably 1/3 bigger in size. I imagine you have some past posts about smaller master suite bathrooms or just small bathrooms in general. What are your tips for things to focus on in a master bath when space is limited?
Love it! It is so classic and lovely. It’s totally inspiring me to tackle our main bathroom finally in our 1940 bungalow. I too do not understand the total draw of a master bath, but it probably comes from never actually having one…ha!
Also, the floor tIle is a marble. I’d make sure to seal it every once in awhile so it doesn’t stain too badly! We’re doing something similar in ours!
Hi Emily. Both bathrooms make my heart skip a beat. Beautiful. One question: you choose lighter (almost white floors) in both spaces. We would love to do that, but dread the constant need to clean or the easily viable dirt/hair. Plus, the kids! Yikes. How’s it been for you so far?
I’m glad I read your blog and am regularly educated on matters of good taste and expense in home decor, because I am cheap and have no sense of high end taste. It’s a sad thing. Like that wallpaper – fascinating that it’s painted and stamped with paint. I can imagine the texture!
Having noticed that you’re trying to end sentences on words that aren’t prepositions I thought I might offer one more trick I’ve taught over the years as an English teacher. Start sentences in gerunds (-ing words) occasionally. It adds a nice variance to sentence structure.
Writing well isn’t pretentious in the least, I applaud the effort because thinking about your thoughts and how to phrase them as you’re thinking them is weird and confusing. High five to you for doing such a thing.
I love it all. I have always wondered about the maintenance of all that grout with all that beauty tile work. Are there any trade secrets to keeping it clean during daily wear and tear (other than employing a cleaning service to deal with it)? i love the aesthetics of the small tiles but always wonder about the practicality. I know this isn’t a necessarily a design question but wonder if this sort of practical issue is addressed with design services.
i am DYING OVER THAT SUBWAY TILE! it’s magical! i can’t wait to see the big reveal. one question for you: do you worry about steam + wallpaper in the bathroom? i ask because i am considering wallpapering my tiny NYC bathroom, but my paper guy said it could peel over time (not a guarantee, but a possibility). would love your thoughts on whether doing it is a yay or nay.
congrats on the new house! i am so loving seeing everything come together!
The shower door saga does not sound boring at all – please share!
Everything is looking gorg!!! What a wonderful addition to your home!
Handheld showers can be great. They have several settings, you can just detach them to rinse the specific parts of your body, for exam to rinse your feet or to warm them up without taking the shower or worrying that water from a shower head will spray your clothes. Or maybe someone doesn’t have a bidet so they’d quickly take a shower. Handheld showers also allow to select the height of the shower. It’s good for smaller kids using the same shower, or it’s good for women who don’t want to spray water on their hair on the days they are not washing their hair. Also good if you bathe smaller kids or have a dog that needs to be washed in your shower. I don’t like the rain showers either, but if the shower head is larger and has the right pressure it can be even better than a small shower head you have. The small ones give you only one area where the water sprays. If someone tends to be cold and enjoys a warm shower, they may like a larger shower head as the water tend to hit a greater surface on the body. The rain heads… Read more »
Trust me, if you live in this house long enough for your kids to be teenagers, you will be ever so grateful that you took the time and dollars to invest in your own master suite! If you don’t, then the new owners certainly will!!! Too bad there wasn’t room for a tub though… but it will certainly be beautiful!!!
Just wanted to say that I love your new house posts! And I really appreciate that you are going out of your way to be transparent on cost and what you consider splurges/saves. Obviously not every one works with the same budget in a reno, so it is really nice to know what it would cost to get exactly your look at your quality level. I am sure it can be uncomfortable to open yourself up to criticism on prices, but I find it really interesting as a reader. Can’t wait to see the finished product.
You are so smart to avoid shower doors in the kids’ bathroom! Having bathed babies and kids in a tub that has a sliding door, I know it can be a back breaker, and sometimes unsafe. Not to mention difficult to clean.
If you ever need to use that bathroom for guests, you can use a tension rod and shower curtain, then store away when the need has passed. Once you install a shower rod on a permanent basis, the ones that curve out are wonderful — you get lots more elbow room in the shower but it looks normal from the outside.
– as with other commenters, I’m also very curious about wallpaper in the bathroom. I’ve seen it fine in a powder room, but thought it would be a problem with the humidity of a shower or bath.
– I know we saw the tile in the kitchen, but it really makes an impact in your shower!
– I like how you show us sneak peeks, instead of wanting everything to be “done” and “perfect” before posting about it.
I absolutely love this tile in the shower (and kitchen, I believe?). Stunning, absolutely stunning! When we return to the states, I have you on my list of interior decorators to contact.
Loved reading about how the bathrooms (this and the kids’) were designed. The decision-making, the blueprints, the materials, the prices. So informative.
Where is the black placeholder light from? Thanks!
Oh my, everything about it is gorgeous. I love all of the details you’ve chosen. It will be such a luxurious space.
It looks like it’s going to be amazing. I just had to chime in on rain showers – I hate them, too! I love that we share this disdain. 😉
Looking great!! Do get the Crystalline glass…..way worth the extra $$ to not have the green tint.
Can’t wait to see the finished pics!
Emily,
First off, I love your blog and enjoy every design you do. Please come to Alabama and decorate my house! You may talk about this in the full reveal of your bathroom, but I noticed that you only have one mirror over your double sink. Do you and Bryan fight over mirror space? Is the symmetry thrown off because there are 2 sinks and 1 mirror?
What brand are your windows? Finding vinyl that look like wood is a big win.
This is great! Just a content suggestion: it might be fun to use your house as the basis for your budget posts. In other words, do low cost versions of your rooms and see how low you can go.
Oooo, I second this suggestion. That would be awesome!!! A lot of what you use isn’t really in my price range (which is totally understandable since a lot of your decor is gifted by companies you’re partnering with and/or you’re dealing with LA prices), so seeing similar options from places like Target that are doable for me would be so, so appreciated. That’s probably a lot of extra work though, so maybe it could function as its own post as a companion to the original room reveal posst.
I looooooooove the shower tile!!! Def keeping that in mind for my next house!
Awsomé! It looks so good! That shower tile jumps off my screen – fantastic! Love the blue paint! Stoked for you and your new bathroom!!
I just learned that before WWII pink was for boys (it’s a watered down version of “powerful” “masculine” red) and blue was for girls. So enjoy all the blue to your hearts content (which of course you do anyway).
Love that wallpaper! Excited for the full reveal as I can’t quite fathom the shower tile – or vinyl windows that look like wood.
I couldn’t agree more about rain showers. I don’t get them at all. Are there people who like their face under water the entire time they are showering?? I do have a hand feature though and find it really handy when I want to shave my legs without taking a full shower. It’s easier than the whole balance act of trying to shave in the sink without getting shaving foam everywhere and without falling over.
I love seeing all the progress of your home and the layouts, it’s so exciting! It’s nice to see a different style (other that MCM) working into an older home. Don’t get me wrong I love and use a lot of MCM. However it’s nice to see a stylish traditional-modern/cottage/tudor even though it’s not my personal style.
Maybe it’s my computer or wet paint but the in progress photos of the bead board look darker than the outcome. Were they repainted or just a photo taken at a different stage/time of day?
It’s lovely. I think my favorite things are the floor tile and the light fixture.
This is so boring, but I want to hear more about your wood-impersonating vinyl windows!! We’re putting a master bath in a closet, and our lovely wood windows will need to be replaced mostly because of the moisture thing but also because they are SO energy-inefficient. What did you end up with in your master bath?
Do you mind sharing the source for the black iron framed shower doors? I am in love with that look but have no idea where to find them.
Can’t wait to see the full reveal, you are knocking it out of the park with this house! I’m living vicariously, a classic Tudor is my all-time dream.
Not to speak for Emily (since I have no idea where she sourced hers), but I used Coastal Shower Doors. Their Gridscape series has readymade options in True and Full Divided Light, and they can also do custom.
http://coastalshowerdoors.com/gridscape-series/
Emily – if you see this – can you tell me what type/brand of grout you use? We are remodeling a house as well and they did our kids bath with “power grout” it was supposed to be a bright white, as that’s the name and what I wanted, but it’s actually a cream with a sandy texture. I hate it and am going today and start dremeling it out and use a pewter gray. It’s never supposed to mildew and keep it’s look over time, that’s why we want to use it. I also ordered the same tile for my kitchen that you have, I love it! We haven’t installed it yet, but I was also curious what grout you used for yours and what color you went with. It looks white to me, but sometimes monitors change the appearance of colors.
I should also say your bathroom looks amazing and I love the tile in there too!
I really love the clean design and am anxious to see the full reveal since just this sneak-peak/moodboard has me anxious to see the blue tied in elsewhere (perhaps in styling or artwork?) because now to me it seems a bit stand-alone. I also think starting with a somewhat neutral palette with the pop of color on the V board is a good way to let yourself have flexibility with changing the blue color in the future if you want to freshen it up or if the deep blues are no longer trending (I note this because your inspiration pictures has the blue beadboard with the ink blot wallpaper and I had seen that bathroom before in its state of green). I have a question generally on exterior renovations, which I don’t think are featured very often on the blog (and this makes sense for privacy reasons). Given that we don’t know what the exterior of your house looks like, is there any way to expand or add square footage to the upstairs by building up above the living room and/or the space behind the kid’s rooms (which I’m assuming is garage?) I know the living room ceiling is vaulted… Read more »
Looking forward to the full reveal as right now I’m struggling a bit with the relationship of the slightly green undertone of this blue (stiffkey?) and the seemingly warmer neutrals and brass in the room. Probably just the lighting or my monitor, but I’m getting a warmer mauve-y tone off the wallpaper. Love the stiffkey on the main floor though!
I am so in love with this house, I can’t wait for the full reveal. I did have to comment because of your door hardware – I never see people use thumb latches! I have seriously old doors with latches and I love them. Would you mind sharing your source for them?
Love how it’s looking so far! I will be starting my master bath renovation next month and I was looking at the same vanity that you used (except mine is for one sink). I used to be opposed to gold/brass fixtures as it makes me think “old” but seeing your bathroom is warming me up to the idea. Also because we have these huge mirror closet doors with gold trim in the bathroom that we’d like to keep. I don’t think I’m ready for all gold fixtures yet and I’m hoping you can give tips on how to mix the gold with brushed nickel and not have the room look like everything is mismatched. Thanks!!!