Inspire Me | Bathroom Edition

Since the weather here in the Northeast is anything but cooperative, and we're stuck inside waiting to start our outdoor projects, I figured I'd share with you our plans for the upstairs bathroom.  

Because we don't have a bathroom on our main floor, our upstairs bathroom is the main bathroom.  Not only do we use it on a daily basis, but guests also use it when nature calls.  Keeping this in mind, we wanted something spa-like with a modern feel, but with some traditional pieces that would not make it feel out of place in our 84-year-old colonial. 

So, although these aren't necessarily the exact fixtures and items we'll be using in the final bathroom, here is an idea of the direction we're heading in: 

   

1. As most of you know, I love a good paint color.  Not only is it relatively cheap, it can set the mood for the entire room.  Even in a space that is mostly tile and cabinetry, like a bathroom, paint it still important.  I'd like to try Gentle Tide by Glidden, which can be found all over the web and used by some of my favorite bloggers like Young House Love and House*Tweaking.  It's been described as a light blue-gray with a green undertone, and I think it'll look great with the dark woods and white fixtures we plan on using.

2. For the shower I'd like to use white subway tiles for the surround.  Although early on Mike said we would not have a tile surround because of the maintenance and the fact that white tile can look "unclean" after awhile, we've actually haven't had any trouble with the existing white tile that's most likely been there since the 70's.  I think with a light gray mortar, the tile will pop a little more, and also reduce the yellowing of the mortar after time.

3. From Day 1 I've told Mike that whatever we chose to do in the bathroom, it had to include this shower curtain.  I actually found it at Target while I was shopping for our living room curtains, (what, like you only look at one thing in Target when you go there?).  The waffle material screams spa, well I guess you don't really want screaming in a spa, so it whispers loudly.

4. For the vanity and the new shelving behind the door, we know we're going with a dark espresso finish with shaker style doors.  This will add the warmth the bathroom needs and and prevent all the white from looking like a hospital.

5. As for the hardware on the cabinets, we plan to use our default favorite.  These satin nickel pulls will add a modern touch to the more traditional dark cabinetry.  They'll also tie in with the hall linen closet, since we used them there too.

6. For the flooring we both decided that something similar to the existing small, white, square tiles would be nice in the new bath.  But, one thing had to change and that was the stark white tile with white grout.  One of the biggest bathroom gripes Mike has is my hair.  Not only does my hair require a lot of tools and accessories, (by building shelving behind the door we hope to wrangle all of my stuff), having long dark hair means that the bathroom floor also has long dark hairs, all over it.  Though I try to keep it to a minimum by vacuuming in there regularly, I don't want to worry that our guests decided to come over on one of my vacuum off days and can see every single long hair in there.  That's why we plan to bring in some hexagon tile with some gray veining in it.  Not only for the nice detailing it brings, but also for the added hair camouflaging characteristics.  And, I like that fact that the hexagon tiles bring a little more detailing in then the simple square shapes we have already.

7. We're still undecided on the countertops, but whatever material we decide on I like the look of the light-colored Silestone here.  Something that ties in the warmth of the dark wood, but also complements the white sink.

8. I'm in love with this sink.  The mission style is modern, yet functional for everyday use.  Both Mike and I liked the idea of using vessel sinks, but I was scared of the everyday practicality of it.  The giant bowl sinks look neat, but how do you clean underneath it?  And where do you put the soap?  I like this because it has modern lines, but also has room around the edges to set your toothbrush down, or put soap down on the ledge.

9. Because the sink has a single hole for the faucet the fixture was pretty easy to pick out.  I simply googled "single hole brushed nickel faucet" and this one stood out as being modern, while still working well with the other fixtures picked.

10.  The lighting is still under discussion.  Currently we don't have any overhead lighting, just two boob lights over the vanity.  While these mostly light the room just fine, while the shower curtain is closed, (which just so happens to be every time we shower), little light gets through to the person in the shower.  This is where we'd add some can lighting overhead, with some down-lighting from something similar to these fixtures above each sink.

Although we're a long ways from starting the demolition, I'm looking forward to implementing some of these designs into our new bathroom.  What do you think?