There’s been a lot of bathroom talk going on around here lately. From the powder bath makeover I did a few weeks go to our upstairs guest bathrooms that we’ve been wanting to spruce up to the main bath at the beach house, I feel like “potty talk” is all I had.
We’ve definitely reached a turning point at the beach house where most of the behind-the-scenes work is finished and now we are waiting for our shiplap to be delivered in the next week or two. That also means that we are finally reaching a point where the design is all about the pretty stuff!
We’ve started buying furniture and some decor and I’ve been obsessively shopping for light fixtures and tile. We’ve also been disagreeing on a few things but for the most part B and I are on the same page when it comes to the overall vision.
This past weekend, we took a trip to Home Depot. This is actually an adventure for us because we live an hour away from the closest Home Depot stores in three different directions. At the beach house we are just 20 minutes away but are usually working the entire time so we never get to go.
We decided to check out their bathroom fixtures to compare to what we’ve seen elsewhere and I have to say it was well worth the drive. We not only scored some pretty floor tile and confirmed our shower tile, we also found a vanity that will fit the vision. Oh, and we also scored a glass shower door enclosure on clearance for $40!
I hate buying finish materials on the spot without planning but I broke my own rule with the floor tile and after we got home, I started frantically putting together a rough plan for the coastal bathroom.
Normally I like to build a bathroom plan off of the vanity or other larger scale piece. Sometimes it’s the flooring but I don’t generally buy flooring without some kind of a plan first.
In this case, B spotted this large-scale gray porcelain tile. Porcelain is a good option for durability and we want the beach house to be done once and then not have to think about renos again any time soon. Porcelain is also low maintenance which is great because I don’t want to spend a ton of time cleaning when we are on vacation.
B always tends to gravitate toward very modern and sleek tile designs. In our Phily house we used two contrasting tiles that had vertical lines through them and this time reminds me a lot of those tiles without the actual texture.
We had already seen and fallen in love with a white subway tile with an imperfect, hand-made look edge in a glossy white from Home Depot and have both said again and again, that’s what we want in the shower. I have to say that the gray tile B picked out for the flooring wouldn’t have been my first choice but with the glossy, hand-made subway tile, the look is absolute perfection.
The white and gray base also is an absolute perfect match to our already chosen paint colors for the walls and trim throughout the cottage. Sherwin Williams Extra White and Front Porch will be the walls and trim pretty much everywhere and the tile couldn’t look better with those colors.
I do want to add some color in the bathroom since there won’t be room for a lot of extra furniture or accessories in such a small space, I have been toying with doing some kind of board and batten wainscotting.
With my tile and paint swatches together, I think the middle blue (rain) will be perfect. A little different from the colors we’re using in the kitchen and main living area, this blue has more of a green undertone and feels softer and may give me the perfect spot for these two beach themed art canvases I’ve been obsessed with since we bought the cottage last year.
As the title suggests, this plan is still a work-in-progress and elements are subject to change. The design plan process takes time and plenty of trial and error and this is just my initial thoughts.
I’d love to know what you think and what elements you tend to pick first for any makeover project. Do you start with the floors, a piece of furniture or a rug? I’d love to know.
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