Shore Files: Mod Beach Bathroom Renovation Part 1

So its time to do the big reveal of the bathroom. (I should warn you I'm breaking this up into two posts because I don't have enough time to write out the full explanation today but I hope you find it worth waiting for!)

Let's start off at the beginning - the before photos. From afar it doesn't look so bad really. Kind of sad and dull but not terrible. But photos have a way of glossing over all that is nasty in person. Like a rusted tub that won't get white no matter what you try. Or craked tiles over an uneven floor. Or shoddy workmanship in general.
Before1Before5Before4
But honestly, if it were just those things we would have probably left it alone for another few years. Sure its been a few years since we've wrapped up the reno on the limestone but I wasn't looking forward to having to deal with it again - even in minature. Despite wishes to put it off, we got some indication that there was water leaking from somewhere beneath the tiles. Once we heard that we knew we had to do SOMETHING. We could have ripped around in there looking for the leak and just fix whatever it was but we figured we might as well just do the whole thing the right way now. We also happened upon a contractor who was doing work in the complex already so the stars were aligned I guess.

With that decision made, I had to get thinking about what I wanted it to look like. We wanted to keep the bill down so we left the layout exactly as is. As for the finishes, I struggled a bit at first. I could have went with the obvious choice - beachy cottage. You know the style well - beadboard, pale blues, cottagey woodwork, etc. I was sure I didn't want that (not that there is anything wrong with it, its just not what I wanted) but I didn't want to totally ignore the setting either. So I set out to do a style I'd like to call "Mod Polished Beach" - deeper blues, lots of clean white with a splash of sparkle and grey to punch it up. Here is a sneak peek of my selections but more to come on that.
Reno5

After I had decided what I wanted, the whole thing was gutted save the toilet (which we just installed ourselves 2 years ago so there was no reason to junk that)
Demo2

New plumbing and electrical were first to get, natch. And then the other essentials including a new subfloor, sheetrock and tub.
Reno1Reno4

After a brand spanking new window complete with frosted glass (hooray - no more gross blinds in here!) , the floor went down.
Reno9Reno6
Reno7

Finally it was time for the magic to happen - the wall tiles. I toyed with the idea of having some kind of basketweave pattern on the tub wall but I ended up scrapping it. I luvrve me some basketweave but it wasn't going to work with the concept I had in my head for the room.
Reno6Reno10

I won't lie - I wasn't 100% sure about that decision. I was worried it might look a little flat. But once I saw the tiles in, I felt so much better. It was coming together exactly as I imagined it. Of course, we weren't there yet.
Reno11Reno12

Time to paint!
Reno13Reno14

So close! It was just a matter of adding the fixtures, hardware and lighting before we were at the finish line. But this post is already too long so I'm going to stop here. I promise you'll see how it all turned out along with a source list in my next post.

40 comments:

  1. oooooo....the suspense is killing me. It looks fab. Wonderful tile choices!

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  2. I love how sleek it looks. The tiles remind me of the glass stones found on the beach. Pefect combo.

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  3. aw, I can't wait to see it. I love the contrast tiles along the top of the white and the dark grey wall. I have a frosted glass window in my bathroom and it's wonderful!

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  4. i'm a new follower and am dying to see the finished look. i looooove the simplicity of it with tons of style.

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  5. This is looking quite good!! Love the clean look, literally and design wise! :) Can't wait to see the finishing details...Janell

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  6. Anonymous10:53 AM

    Pretty pretty! I love where you're going with this!

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  7. Cant wait to see the final product!

    We gutted our bathroom after finding some major plumping problems...

    http://bontempsbeignet.blogspot.com/2010/04/hall-bath-nightmare.html

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  8. Anonymous11:17 AM

    Already looks fabulous!!!

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  9. Looking good! Howevah, you are such a tease ;) Looking forward to seeing more! Our home was built in the early 70's and our master bath is hideous! We can see our sink from our bedroom, it's in the bedroom! Then the toilet and shower are in their own space next to the sink behind a door. Oh how I want to do a reno!! My hubby is making me wait, why? Heck I have no idea but I'm about to go postal, ok, Mexican on him ;) (I'm allowed to say that cause I'm Mexican and he's not, hehe). see ya at your next post ;)

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  10. Oh it is looking GREAT. Can't wait to see the finished room. Hugs, Marty

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  11. Ahem, you are a renovation goddess. Seriously. You have such an amazing design eye.

    LOVE it. Can't wait to see the finished product!!

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  12. Loving the accent tiles! A lot. And I'm pretty excited about the wall color - it looks to be a medium tone yay!

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  13. The accent tiles are the bomb!!! Loving all the colors and I'm dying to see it completed! Always such beautiful work!

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  14. Anonymous12:51 PM

    Nice so far

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  15. Oh that looks so yummy. What is the paint color on the wall?

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  16. Looks great so far. I'm debating whether to gut my bathroom also but I want to DIY most of it. Any recommendations on gutting a bathroom? I have a pre-fabricated stand up shower stall instead of a bathtub but I'm completely lost and where to go for flooring and replacing the shower and stuff. Do you have any good resources you can recommend?

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  17. I can't wait to see the final photos!
    I'm curious to know what the renovation cost you (new floor, walls, tile, paint, fixtures, etc). I need to re-do my bathroom terribly...

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  18. Anonymous2:47 PM

    Wow. Did you do all the demo/tile work yourself? It's amazing!

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  19. Love the bathroom, this is inspiring me to tackle our horrible bathrooms in the new house. I love all that white tile. I'm sorry if I missed it, but could you tell me the source for your tile?

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  20. Oh yeah baby! This is looking great! Can't wait to see the finished bathroom!

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  21. amyks3:53 PM

    Looks great so far, can't wait to see the finished room.

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  22. Loving it so far Mrs.L, especially the elongated subway tile.

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  23. It's looking so good...Love subway tile, how can one go wrong? I'm excited to see the results...

    Cindy

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  24. Did you work on the bathroom on the weekends, or if did you have contractors work on this all during the week? (Like, where did you shower/pee while all this was going on?)

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  25. I've never seen floor tiles like that. Looking forward to the reveal.

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  26. Love it! I'm hoping you will provide us with a source list when the bathroom is complete? Pretty please? Can't wait to see the grand reveal:)...

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  27. I'm as antsy as a kid who REALLY has to pee. Can't wait to see the final reveal!

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  28. Anonymous6:02 PM

    I really have to come back the long way from Norway to see you finishing this:)

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  29. Love it - I really love that you did the marble chair rail type piece - it really seems to pull together the white/gray/black colors. I love seeing how you work with much smaller spaces - can't wait to see the second part!

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  30. Ahh, I love it! So classic!

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  31. Love it! Cannot wait to see the big reveal!!

    Melissa

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  32. Looks great already! I love the warm tone on the walls to compliment the cool tile. Can't wait to see how you finish it.

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  33. Already looking fantastic. I love the glass backsplash- so pretty! Can't wait to see the rest.

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  34. Oh gawd- I have that exact same crappity vanity cabinet in my rented apartment. You have no idea how cathartic it was to see you rip it out in these pictures! I wish I could do the same!

    Everything's looking as amazing as we'd expect for one of your projects :)

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  35. Loving it!! You have impeccable taste and I so enjoy your bog! Enjoy your day
    Maureen

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  36. Anonymous11:39 AM

    Well, for a minute I thought you actually used something sharp to remove the old finish from the walls. That is what "scraped" means. I looked for a picture of that, then I realized you meant "scrapped" as in throwing it out on the scrap pile. A double letter creates the short vowel: I hoped my bunny hadn't hopped away. Like that.

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  37. Thanks anon. Obviously a typo.

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  38. Love what you've done so far! I can't wait to see the reveal :)

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