master bath progress

Happy Friday my friends!  As I'm typing the sun is shining, birds are singing- it's a beautiful day.  I'm feeling kind of lost today though, it's quiet in my house.  No one trudging up the stairs, banging hammers, running saws, swearing talking.... it's like when my kids left for the first day of school. No, it's not finished.  I'm just waiting.  Again.  For plumbers to come hook up the fixtures.  For the carpenter to do the casings and the trim and the stairs.  Sigh.  This small reno IS GOING ON FOREVER.  I'm hoping to actually get up there by June.  This June, not next June.

Now don't get me wrong, lots of work has been done.  We have a coat of paint done- one more to go, but I'm not too jazzed about painting upstairs today on an 85 degree day when I have to go to a Mother's Day tea at school.  I don't want to be "stinky mom".  So painting will continue this weekend. And, actually, I don't really ever want to be "stinky mom".  Just thought I'd clarify that.
All the tiling is complete- and I love it.

As you may already know, our home is a century old farmhouse.  It appears (when you go back to studs) to have had three additions put on in it's lifetime.  I really want to keep that vintage-y old farmhouse feel to it.  A modern country style is pretty much my style anyways, and I wanted to be true to it.  I feel like this bath is really hitting the mark- it's my favourite room in the house right now, and it's not even finished.

For the floor I went with white mini hexagon tiles.

I had a really hard time deciding on tile- I waffled back and forth a ton.  I've never been 100% happy with our downstairs bath, and I didn't want to feel like that again.  And I don't.  I love, LOVE my tile.

So does she.


For the shower, I knew I wanted white subway tile.  It's classic, easy to clean and looks great.  Plus, it's not a terribly expensive choice.

The floor is a rectangular shower pan and glass will be on the two sides.  The shower base is from Mirolin.

We are using 2 pedestle sinks, instead of a vanity.  The peds are the Barrett collection from Mansfield.

Tim really wanted a backsplash behind it and we went back and forth on how we were going to do it. Then I drew this to get an idea, but I wasn't sold on the awkward stopping point mid-wall.

So I suggested to Tim that we tile the whole wall.  Top to bottom.

I love it.  My tiler didn't.  

*Reno tip* Don't get talked out of what you want.

On our first reno, I let myself get talked out of the tile that I had wanted (hex tile floors!) by the tile store dude.  He told me it was not a good choice as it was a dated look.  I also let the guy at Home Depot talk me out of stuff too. And I don't love that bathroom floor.  

I almost got talked out of this wall too.  I'm a people pleaser and I don't have oodles of confidence. My tile guy told me that he thought this wall would be too busy, he wanted me to stop it about 4 feet up.  I hemmed and hawed and emailed Tim about it.  He told me that was crazy and stick to my guns.  So I did.  And am I ever glad I did.  When you're doing a reno (or a new build I'm sure) you have so many choices to make, it can get overwhelming.  Look at books, magazines and (my favourite) Pinterest and see what you consistently like.  If you check out my bath board, you'll see there's a whole lotta white subway tile.  You KNOW what you like.  And YOU are the client- YOU have to live there and YOU have to pay for it.  DON'T get persuaded or guilt-ed.  This is experience talking guys.

My tub!  Oh how I love my tub.  That's just about where it's going to sit - in the midst of the three windows.  I'm a tub-er.  I cannot wait for this to get hooked up.  If you can't find me, I'll probably be in here.  The tub is the Sax from Maax.

The taps are the Cassidy collection from Delta Faucets.

I really wanted the X handles- they are so gorgeous in person.  I can't wait to get them installed.

For lighting, we have one pot light and two pendents over top of each sink.   The ones I picked up are very similar to this one from Shades of Light.  

I got mine at Home Depot, but I can't find them online to link them up for you.

I hunted for mirrors high and low.  I've been looking pretty much right from the start, but I could never find exactly what I wanted.  More like TWO of exactly what I wanted.  It got me to thinking- Tim had ordered most of our fixtures from work (they do industrial supply, and have a huge plumbing section) why wouldn't I get him to get me the Moen mirrors I had been eyeing up at HD.

I have to wait now, until the fixtures go in, to see what else I need or what can fit in. If you've kept track- no storage so far.  

We have already picked up this old jam cupboard to use for towels.

It's pretty big inside, so once I get it up there, I'll have to see what else I really need.  

All of us are looking forward to the completion of this job.  Not only to get the rooms, but to get our space back and go back to normal.

**************************************************************

On another note- it's Mother's Day this weekend.  The boy and I have had a rough week.  Attitude and sass were a hot commodity around this house and I am not a fan.  Sometimes being a mom is just hard.  This week I felt like a jerky screaming fish wife that was doing everything wrong.  I posted about it on my personal Facebook page, just cause I was having such a rough day.  I can't tell you how much better it made me feel to have my friends chime in and give me encouragement.  It just took a little pressure off and helped me to breathe.  So, I thank you my friends- for encouraging me, and letting me know it's not just me.  It was a little "hands across the interwebs" moment and it was great.  So all you moms out there- you're not alone.  It's hard.  It's messy.  It's crazy.  But it's worth every minute, am I right?  They may drive us crazy, but we are crazy about them, aren't we?  

From me to you, Happy Mother's day.  xo