My current client: Master Bath Redo

Billy Wilder (a genius hollywood motion picture director from the 1940's and 50's) sums up what I consider to be the standard for bathroom redesign - "I would rather sleep in a bathroom than another hotel."  One of only 5 people to ever win and Academy Award as writer/director/producer of the same film, Wilder knew what he was talking about....his travel schedule was crazy.  But would we say the same thing about our hotel stays today?  Many of the amenities available to us in this decade at a hotel bog box are startling -- exquisite shower heads, yummy tile and a soothing spa experience greet most of us travelers.  Then we come home exhausted to our ho-hum digs.  Oftentimes our own bathrooms provide little if any sense of excitement for us.  This is why I was so pumped to work just recently with my sweet friend on her master bath redo.  The energy is building inside of me so much that I can't stand it!

Our first order of business was to re-work the space design.  With "cave-like spa" as my marching orders, I set out to add some modern touches to the bathroom for her.  This all came to fruition by her actually tearing out magazine pages of bathrooms that appealed to her so that I could get a strong idea of her tastes.  I even sent some pictures her way via email until she found something that was both suitable and interesting for her.  Below is the inspiration picture and we built her bathroom from there:

Although an advertisement for Lutron Electronics Maestro dimmers, this proved to be "the one"

After an initial meeting with the contractor (which I mentioned a few blogs back and am SO thankful for), we hit the pavement for a countertop.  Being that natural countertops are not only pricey but also limited in color, I thought that this was the most logical starting point.  Whereas the choices for matching paint is almost limitless.  Once the counter was chosen (which was fairly drama free because that my client is very decisive), coordinating the other items in the bathroom were breezy.  A few stops by kitchen and bathroom showrooms in the Big D design district as well as the Dallas area and we were on our way to bathroom nirvana.  The client absolutely fell head over heels for an amazingly complicated and beautiful tile from Ann Sacks called Idyllwild for the countertops.  I'm completely jealous! (in a good way, of course...)

Idyllwild will grace the countertops -- gorgeous, an I right?

While browsing the design district, we also picked an elegant tile to grace the floor of the master bath.  Aptly named "Suede" this tile will be placed in an 8x24 pattern on the floor - exactly like the picture above.  My biggest concern?  Ordering the correct amount.  With that in mind, we were careful to measure twice due to the cost of the pieces.  They are expensive and I wanted to make sure that we got our numbers exact so that the tile guy could have enough to match patterns but not so much we could redo another room!

To keep the tub they never use (for resale value) or to replace it with a double head shower?  That was our next stumbling block along the redo road.  After much discussion, we decided that the point of this bathroom was to simulate a spa experience at her home without giving up valuable space.  Why fret over resale at some point in the future?  Good choice!  Plus, there was another tub in the guest bath anyway....So, off we traipse to KIVA in Dallas for shower heads and the like for her custom built dual master shower bay.  It came down to: polished chrome or polished nickel or satin nickel.  Lucky for all of us, Joanne (our wonderful sales rep at KIVA) did a superior job of showing us all the options for the shower pieces as well as the toilet pieces. We left there happy campers.

Nothin' says sexy like picking out a new toilet to meet local codes.  Hot!  This Toto Eco Drake model meets code and only used 1.28 GPF - that's gallons per flush for you newbies.

Our next step was getting the cabinets switched out.  Armed with an primary CAD drawing of potential cabinets, we ended up in desperate need of changing out some of the layout.  With no cabinet guy there to do it for me, enter the drafting skills that I so bitterly complained about in my classes at AI.  TA-DAH!  My prof always said that these skills would come in handy and boy was he spot on.

My creations for the contractor to make some changes to the cabinets.  Think of how much easier this will be with CAD course under my belt?

Albion Single Sconces from Restoration Hardware- another great choice...

Finally, hardware and accessories for the bath. She chose a mirror from Restoration Hardware and sconces to boot.  Monogrammed towels (a personal favorite lavish upgrade) and paint along with stain and we are just about near completion.  "Without further adieu...May I present to you Rhonda's bathroom?" (Excuse the Candice Olson reference but can't a girl have some sense of accomplishment?)

Sure, I have done other projects with designers at my work but this is my first job under my own name and I am thrilled.  Stay tuned.....in 3-4 weeks I should have some before and after pictures of my first official master bathroom.  If she smiles after "reveal", I will be happy.  If she cries, I may just have to ask to come try out that new custom built shower. So, here's to making your bathroom at your house into a place that you can be proud to call your own - whatever that may look like.  Using a step by step process and thorough space planning, you can turn your space into something that even Billy Wilder would want to spend the night in!

Off to soak with some bubbly-
C