Bathroom Inspiration

The time has come for us to finally renovate our bathroom.  Yes!  We live in a 60’s brick ranch with small rooms, no closets and no thought put into storage or organization.  These were cookie cutter homes built solidly (thank goodness) but without much fluff back in the day.  Of course we love the area we live in and the street we live on and there are only two of us (humans at least) so we really don’t need much room.  But, storage and comfort we could use.

Keith and I physically cannot tackle the renovation/remodel of our bathroom.  He is not allowed to play with electricity, certain power tools unsupervised, ladders….there are lots of stories to tell and our family and friends totally understand why.  I may be slightly crafty, but not enough to complete a monster DIY like this.  Neither one of us have the patience to deal with this on our own and would probably kill each other or burn down the house in the process.  That is why we hire someone else.  And we are perfectly happy to do so.  And luckily we have a great contractor to help us with our vision of a totally new, modern and functional bathroom confined to the tiniest space possible.

So far we have just met with him and gone over our want/idea list.  Thank goodness for Pinterest!  I have been pinning things that I wanted for bathroom inspiration for quite a while, knowing someday that they might come in handy.  And boy did they.  All I had to do was whip out my iPad and start showing him my visions for functionality and storage.  And before he left I was emailing him my Pinterest Board so he could use my pinned ideas to come up with a plan for what will now be a total gut and rebuild, not just a cosmetic fix.  It will take a few months to accomplish but I am excited to see how it will turn out and what ideas I will be able to incorporate into our new bathroom.

Here are some of my wish list items:

I would like some kind of small floor tile.  I like these small hexagon tiles.

And these are okay, too, with an alternating colored tile.  Maybe not black and white.

For the walls (except in the tub area) I want some kind of wood with a small, narrow shelf to prop up our beach art, like this.

Or this.

Or this board and batten treatment.  I also like the sink design.  I had wanted to try to make a vanity out of an old piece of furniture somehow but I don’t think we will find one small enough.  Plus, I have decided that on the right side I want a pull out drawer with a hamper in it.  My sink may be a little wider (not much) and may only have one door for under the sink, with the pull out for the hamper on the right.  I wouldn’t mind having the sink offset to the left with a little bit of counter on the right.

And behind the toilet I would like built in storage like this.  Not sure if I want cabinet doors, but if I do, they would be glass fronts.

Like this.

And as I mentioned earlier, the only place I want tile is in the tub area.  I am thinking something large, like these large rectangular tiles or even larger square tiles.  And nothing too shiny.  And I am loving the built in recess for storage inside the shower.  We also want a deeper and slightly wider tub so that Keith can enjoy a soak.  We don’t need a whirlpool, just something a little bigger and wider and hopefully porcelain, not fiberglass.

Did I mention that I want recessed areas inside?  Like these? Oh, I did.  Maybe one on each side of the enclosure.  I even like the tile here, it’s a bit smaller, but it’s not subway tile and it’s not super shiny tile.

And this.  This is really what I have in mind for the tile, large for the enclosure and I love the small accent in the recess.  But not necessarily these colors.

I don’t really have any particular colors in mind, but I am thinking white for the tub and toilet and sink, with some kind of granite or stone for the counter.  Maybe in a light gray with light gray tiles in the tub area. Hmmm….with white painted wood on the walls and sink and a light gray / blue above.

Now for towels, I am thinking maybe racks on the back of the door, like this…

And hooks for elsewhere.  These are cool, made with vintage hardware.

And so are these old door knobs.  We may have one towel rack near the sink for hand towels and one in the tub for washcloths.  But everywhere else I want hooks, I think.

And a shelf above the door for extra storage.  I love this for baskets of stuff you need but don’t want out in the open.  And see, there’s a hook.

Well, my contractor now knows what I have in mind and let’s see how much of this I can incorporate into the actual final result.  It will be interesting.  I am happy that I had everything ready for him, thanks to Pinterest!