Ever wonder how designers can create functional and beautiful spaces so easily? Well it's not that easy, especially when it comes to a major remodel where you have the opportunities to incorporate more functional storage or a more useful space with the ultimate goal of making our client's lives easier and more pleasant to be in these spaces.
This upcoming remodel is at my personal home. Over the years we have remodeled the kitchen, removed old wood paneling, got new doors and painted pretty much every surface. Recently we worked on the systems of the home...re-piped the home with pex, got a new A/C and finally got an outside outlet for our string patio lights! So now back to transforming some interior spaces. This is for our one and only full bath in the house. It's a 1950's home and for that I will say its a decent size room. we have a full sized linen closet and a existing 5' vanity (only one sink but that will change).
I am going to walk you through a design process for the very beginning of a design concept through the construction phase.
The first thought: This is about what is working, what is not and what you need/want to change.
For us this bathroom is just old and tired, it has held up really well for being over 60 years old but its time for an overhaul. Our must haves: 2 sinks, better lighting, hidden eye level storage, bigger mirror, better toilet, wall niche in tub/shower and easy to clean surfaces. This is simple to answer but the wants or nice to haves can get pretty lengthy and always remember what you realistically can/want to spend on a remodel. So what about our wants or nice to haves (if it fits in the realistic budget), this is where material and fixture selections can make the difference in overall costs.
I wanted eye level storage and larger mirror, we only have 1 mirror less than this size so now we will have 2! So more mirror and storage with wood for warmth(https://www.cb2.com/acacia-medicine-cabinet/s496192)
What do we want? Well, everything! But lets reel it in and focus, large tiles for less grout to clean, quartz counters, custom vanity as big as the room can handle (so we gain another 3" for a 63" vanity with all drawers so we can access everywhere in the back of the cabinet. I love chrome for a metal finish, not only is it shiny and very reflective but its also what was used in 1950's homes and its typically priced lower than brushed nickel or almost any other finish.
This faucet is more costly than I wanted to spend but aesthetically was perfect so I found elsewhere to cut costs to allow for this faucet to be incorporated in the design (https://www.build.com/delta-559ha-dst/s1174897?uid=2809027)
Now when you see an individual piece and its cost, you may think that sounds reasonable to you and fit in your budget but not always. Also if there are items you are dead set on then maybe other selections have to be reconsidered to keep within your budget.
I can't share all the design selections just yet (got to keep some surprises) but here are the materials we are going with. These are the materials going in the newly designed bathroom.
