BATHROOM REMODEL – DESIGN DILEMMA

3 OF 5 IN THE BATHROOM REMODEL SERIES

In this post, I’m discussing the bathroom design dilemma we ran into with our remodel and how we approached the changes to the original design.

Looking for the first and second posts in this series?

• Bathroom Remodel – The Before + Wishlist
• Bathroom Remodel – DIY or Hire Out + The Design

The tile for this project was a no brainer for me and I made those decisions pretty quick.

The vanity and walls however I struggled with.

A lot.

Initially, I wanted to incorporate wood into the space via the vanity. I wanted to bring in some warmth and character and a sort of living space kind of vibe (if that makes any sense).

Basically, I was trying to get away from a stark and sterile feeling environment.

Some of the pins on Pinterest that were sources of inspiration for me were this one, this one, and this one.

I loved the warmth that the dark wood vanities brought into the space. I also loved the charm and character the antique furniture pieces added to the room. Helping the space feel not too new. Like it had grown together over time.

the hunt for the perfect vanity and the dilemma

The way I intended to do this was with a rich, medium-toned wood vanity.

My initial searches at the usual suspects left me uninspired and not finding quite what I envisioned.

I was moping around, which is my usual MO when I can’t find what I want, when I learned that a favorite antique store of ours could custom make one for us! AND, the best part was that it wouldn’t break the bank and we could support some of our favorite locals! WIN! WIN!

Now, I would like to be able to say that we overcame this design dilemma and the bathroom turned out exactly as I envisioned…but as projects sometime go…this is not the case.

I was 100% on board and ready to write the order for the custom-designed, wood vanity but Mike, however, was not.

He was worried about the timeline and wasn’t sure the vanity would be completed on time for the install. I still believed we could make it work but honestly, I think Mike had a hard time wrapping his head around the word “custom” and not getting something “off the shelf”, ready to go.

I quickly rethought the design direction and decided to go with a black, double sink vanity with a Carrara white marble top from Wayfair. A piece I do truly love in the space.

Now though, I needed to figure out another way to bring in the warmth of the wood look that I so desired.

the walls

For plan b, I played around with the idea of incorporating wood into the space via our walls. The plan was to install shiplap to the lower part of our walls and instead of painting, I had the idea to stain the wood.

We picked out a warm, mahogany color and started prepping the wood. We sanded for what seemed like days…days at the end of a very long project that we were both ready to be done with.

I sanded, and filled nail holes, and sanded some more. It got to a point where I either needed to suck it up and push through or change gears.

We decided to take a 24” x 24” piece of extra wood and stain that piece to see how it would look. We wanted to make sure all this hard work would be worth the effort.

I’m a super visual person and I sometimes need to see a visual representation in the space to make the game-time decision. And in this case, I am glad we did.

Being able to see a sample of the stained wood in the room helped me to see that it wasn’t going to achieve the look I was going for.

I am not an expert at finishing wood by any means. Nor do I pretend to be. I kinda thought after we prepped the wood, we would just apply the stain and that would be that.

I was wrong though. Staining is no joke and I quickly realized that I couldn’t just “wing it”. I didn’t want the walls of our bathroom to be my first rodeo.

What little I was able to do and test didn’t look promising to me. The small piece we used as our sample, showed rings around the filled nail holes where the stain didn’t take. The stain also seemed streaky and uneven.

Now at this point, I wanted to cry. Two months into this project and the holidays were fast approaching. Family would soon be on their way to stay with us for a couple of weeks.

This wasn’t my original plan or design for the bathroom and this twist just didn’t seem like something I should rush or try to make work at the last hour.

changing design directions…once again

On top of it all, I was tired of showering in our free-standing shower in the basement. The potential to run into a spider was highly likely.

I also felt like the design in my head wasn’t translating in the bathroom like I thought.

And I wanted to be done.

Mike calmed me down, and together we decided to scrap the idea and paint the walls and the wood white.

I don’t regret our decision, which I am thankful for.

I worried I was making a rash choice. That I would regret not sucking it up and pushing through at the end. I didn’t want to feel like I had sacrificed the look and feel I wanted when I was so close.

But I do not. I know it was the right choice and that the warmth and character I’m after needs to come through in other ways. Like the decor and finishes that are selected. And this is very much a work in progress.

My favorite look is a mix of high and low and a mash-up of styles like traditional and modern.

I have found some pieces that work perfectly in our bathroom but others I am still hunting for.

I believe that you need to live with a space for a while to get a better idea and feel for how it will function for you. Because a space can be gorgeous, but if it doesn’t function well for you, what’s the point?

Next up, I am sharing our search for the perfect vanity and the process for narrowing down our options.