A Hallway Bathroom Makeover Coming Sooner Than Later
Well, this was completely unplanned. I mean, it wasn’t completely unplanned. I’ve been wanting to make some changes to the hallway bathroom for a a while now, but I just hadn’t planned for those changes to start right now. I kind of have my hands full with the studio, the studio bathroom, and trying to get the ball rolling on the addition. But I was thrown a bit of a curve ball last week.
When I bought the quartz for our master bathroom vanities, I had to buy the whole slab, for which I paid about $4000. It was a splurge for that bathroom.
But the bathroom only required half of the slab, so I told the woman who owns the shop that I wanted to use the rest of it on another project. There was no way I was going to let half a slab of quartz that I had paid for be put into the scrap pile. So she’s been very graciously holding it for me all this time.
Well, that grace period has run out. She contacted me last week and said that she’s closing down her fabrication business, and I needed to arrange to pick up my quartz slab. Ummm… 😀 How does one go about picking up a 10-foot-long half slab of quartz? It’s not like I could just drive the van down to the shop and pick it up myself.
So I’ve been frantically trying to find another stone countertop shop that can go and pick it up for me. I finally found one that could do that immediately, but I knew that no one was going to pick it up and then just store it for me out of the goodness of their hearts. And sure enough, the man picked it up for me yesterday, and then the woman in the office called me almost immediately and asked when they could come out and measure for the countertop. He stopped by at lunchtime yesterday after finishing his scheduled installation and did the measurements, and now my quartz slab is in line for fabrication. So…yeah! We’re doing this right now! Because, evidently, I don’t have enough plates spinning in the air right now. 😀
But it’s fine. I’m really excited about swapping out the dark wood countertop for something lighter and brighter. But one change will lead to another because that’s how these things go. I’ve mentioned the other changes I want to make in past posts, but I was still trying to make decisions and weighing various options when I shared previously. So here are all of my final decisions.
The countertops will go from the current dark wood to the light gray that’s in our master bathroom.
I got the fabric for the new shower curtain last week, and it’s so colorful and beautiful! Here’s the current shower curtain on the left and the new shower curtain fabric on the right.
The new fabric is just as colorful and fun, but the colors are more me.
The vanity will get a new paint color, and now that I have the shower curtain fabric, I can actually choose a color. It’s going to be in that dark pink range from the fabric.
I’ll also be replacing the tile. I don’t dislike the way that the current tile looks, but I don’t like the fact that I had to paint some of the tiles in order to get it to look that way. I installed the current tile when I did the original bathroom remodel, and it was actually quite a bit darker (which you can see on the left below). And then when I did the colorful makeover, I brightened the tile with some paint (which you can see on the right below).
It was fine for a temporary solution, and that temporary solution has lasted for four years. But I don’t like the idea of having painted tile as the final look in this bathroom, so I’ll be swapping it out for another gray and white tile. I have yet to verify that this tile will go with the new countertop, but if it does, this is the tile I’ll be using.
And finally, the sconces will change. I’ve already shown y’all these sconces, but I’ll show you again.
I bought these a while back, and they’ve been waiting for their makeover. What I really wanted was a flower sconce that is more substantial and looks more hand crafted (like this one) but there was no way I was going to pay almost $450 each for new sconces. So I’ll be using air dry clay (and maybe some papier-mâché) to make them look more carved and hand crafted.
I had considered painting the ceiling in the bathroom, but for now, I’ll be keeping the stained wood ceiling. I like the warmth it adds to the room, and I like that it’s different from all of the other rooms in the house.
Most of all, I’m just anxious to get rid of that orange vanity. I can’t wait to pick out a new paint color and get that painted!! I won’t be in a rush to get the rest of this stuff done because I really do want to stay focused on the studio for now, but once the new countertops are in, I just may take a few hours and paint the vanity.
I couldn’t help chuckling about how I imagined the expression on your face when you got the phone call to ‘come and get the slab.’ Well, necessity is the mother of invention, which you confirmed by taking such quick action. While I love that bathroom as it is, I think the change will be fabulous. I am looking forward to seeing the final result. I would want to paint the vanity quickly, too.
What do you do with the items that are still good but that you’re replacing ie the lighting?
I was thinking the tile backsplash looked great with the quartz countertop but I can understand your wanting to replace tile that had been painted. I do like the new tile very much. I like the new shower curtain fabric – I love the look of watercolors! I also like the choice of a dark pink for the vanity. I like the flower sconces you bought just as they are, and much better than the $439 sconces. Perhaps you should install them and see how you like them before altering them.
I’m so impressed by how you are able to use colors you love to project the mood appropriate for each room. The breakfast/sitting and living rooms, for example, incorporate all the lush colors you gravitate toward, yet maintain a very peaceful and restful presence. Then the workout room basically incorporates the same colors, but those colors are used in such a way as to energize, not relax. Such a great study of color and pattern to express different moods!
BRW, I love the dark paneled ceiling of that bathroom. 🙂
I love the new fabric for the shower. Where did you get?
Might have been Spoonflower, but not sure
I think the fabric might be Wild Grasses by Spoonflower.
Oh my goodness for a moment you had me thinking you were going to change the floor tile, not the wall tile. I still remember all your hard work with that bathroom.
More fun!!! Your quartz countertop is beautiful and the curtain fabric is such a pretty stylized watercolor design.
Have you ever used apoxie sculpt? It’s much better than air dry clay because it dries hard as a rock. It has a decent working time, about three hours, and is paintable. It’s a two part epoxy clay that you mix in equal parts. It’s easy to use, doesn’t sag or crumble and is impervious to moisture. Its original use was for marine repair like repairing or replicating carvings on vintage, antique boats.
WOW – well, you SAID you were going to do it…why not now! It is going to be spectacular, although the way it is now is very nice too. But, I LOVE that fabric…did you buy it somewhere that we could order from too? I would try to use some of that too if you remember the name. I think the bathroom is going to be gorgeous! Love the counter…and love that tile that you picked for the surround…sure hope it looks good with the granite, as you said. AND, that pink you are looking at will be a beautiful color for the vanity as well. I don’t know about anyone else, but a week to redo this bathroom before going back to the Studio-plus is OK with ME! 🤣
I am happy that you are going to keep the ceiling the same. It is one of my favorite parts of your house (which is lovely). If we didn’t have large ceiling AC vents in our house I would try to replicate it in my own.
Call me crazy but I like the sconces you bought so much better. I like the taller length and the the less chunky petal. To each his own, right?
Good luck. Oh and I’m in love with your fabric. Is that something that can be ordered?
👍🏻 👍🏻 👍🏻
When it rains, it pours…any chance there is enough left over to do either your studio vanity or to use as the countertop for the pass-thru between the kitchen and the addition?
It’s so exciting to see stuff come together!!!
I was so relieved when I read you’re keeping the stained wood ceiling! I think it’s beautiful and unique. I’m really glad you’re keeping it. 😀
You are so talented. I wish I could visualize rooms like you!
Kristin, I wanted you to know that I just saw an advertisement on Facebook of Texoma Luxury Bath using before and after photos of this very bathroom as their work. I reported the ad.