The Complete Renovation of Our Master Bathroom

This post may contain affiliate and/or sponsored links for your shopping convenience. As always, all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting brands that support House Full of Summer!

Designing our master bathroom from scratch was fun but also the most challenging room in our full home renovation. I have lots of experience with updating dated rooms and styling spaces to give them a completely new look. I did not have experience with all of the intricacies that go along with finding and purchasing the correct fixtures and valves, etc. to get our shower plumbing to work as desired. But more about that in a minute.

Although dated, the size of the master bathroom was a pretty big selling point for us. Remember, we were looking at older homes dating back to the 70s or 80s (some of which had been renovated or added onto) and back then, large master ensuites were pretty much unheard of. So, to find a home in our price range with an attached bathroom that was spacious enough for separate sinks and a large, walk-in shower was a real treat!

This is what our bathroom looked like to begin with:

It was well maintained but just a bit dated and the layout didn’t work for us. After 5 years of living with our own dated bathroom in the old house, we were both very excited about getting to design our own bathroom. Well, truth be told, I just had to create the images you’ll see in a moment for my husband who is very visual. He needs to see it on paper to get what I’m talking about. I, on the other hand, just need to stare at a room for 15 minutes and then I can put it on “paper” or create it digitally in this case.

Here is the photoshopped version of what I began to dream up:

I just used some product photos for this, so the fixtures and mirrors are just a rough draft - enough to give my husband and the contracts an idea of what I was going for here.

Again, everything was in great shape and totally move-in ready, but the goal was to create (a very close version of) our dream bathroom so we moved ahead with demolition right after closing on the home.

I had a soaking tub and a separate shower in the bathroom at our last home and I only used the tub a few times when we first moved in. It was a pretty easy decision to move forward with a large shower instead of trying to fit both a free-standing tub and a shower into this space.

The bathroom has a large window next to the vanity, but it is a deeper room, so the shower itself would sit the farthest away from the natural light. This is why I opted to keep the tile light and bright.

Because the back shower wall is so large, I chose a fun angled herringbone pattern using hand-made tile that has some wave to it. The finished look is just beautiful! Light bounces off of the wavy tiles and an off-white grout allows the pattern to show up in a subtle, yet striking, way! Our contractors can tell you that that laying this pattern was no easy task. Several levels were used during the process because the tile could easily make you go cross-eyed before the grout was applied! :P Extra cuts are required for any pattern other than a brick stacked subway tile. Turning the traditional herringbone pattern on its side looks a little more modern but also reduced the amount of tile edges that needed to be cut.

While I totally DO care about aesthetics, I also tend to struggle with my own practicality. This bathroom reno was certainly not “cheap” by any means, but the materials I chose could have been a lot more expensive! Perhaps that topic should saved for a different post because that is a pretty important one! Many of us don’t even begin to tackle renovations because we don’t think we can get the look we want within the budget we have allotted. I didn’t exactly have a bathroom budget, but my logical, money-saving nature keeps me searching for less expensive alternatives and great sales. I’ll definitely be talking more about that in a later post, but you if you are planning any remodels, you may want to pay special attention to the sconces I found for under $50 a each and the wall mounted sink faucets with the valves included for under $100 each!

The shower floor and niches are both a beautiful marble-look hexagon mosaic tile which complements the warm wood floor very nicely. I’m so glad I didn’t have to choose a separate tile for this bathroom floor because I was already overwhelmed with tile choices as it was. Once we decided to take out the existing hardwood floor, carpeting and tile throughout the home, I was thrilled to be able to continue our flooring throughout every room of the house! I think it really makes this space feel so cozy, even with all of the white and gray tile.

In a previous post, I revealed my plan for using mixed metals and a vintage modern nautical design scheme. Since the guest bathroom incorporates lots of fun nautical items (you can check it out here if you missed it), I wanted our master bathroom to feel a little more elegant by using more traditional elements like the brass wall sconces with lamp shades. Also, the master vanity is built to look like a piece of furniture, rather than just some cabinets attached to the floor/wall.

My practical nature reared its ugly head and was almost glad to find out that the marble vanity top came with pits in it right near the faucet holes. I ended up returning/refunding the counter top that was already practically giving me nightmares and replaced it with another slab of our same kitchen quartz. Thank GOD I can now use Clorox wipes on my countertops and shower and not have to worry about staining anything with purple shampoo or hair tint! That was a close one. I’m so glad I went with quartz! I even incorporated it into our shower seat and threshold. It was a bit scary not knowing if the creamier color of the quartz would blend well or clash with the white and gray shower tiles, but it worked out perfectly!

Instead of traditional faucets, ours will come out of the wall - a trend that’s increasing in popularity. I chose this because I hate to see water puddle up next to the faucets on the sink. My husband was in agreement with it for the same reasons. Plus, we could raise them up even higher than a normal faucet. We like things bigger/higher/taller, if you haven’t noticed! ;) This photo actually shows that the sink is not in line with the cabinet doors and faucets. The fabricator realized the cut was one inch off and corrected and replaced the countertop for us. Although my vision is not 20/20, I can spot something off center or asymmetrical from a mile away!

Aren’t some of these photos scary!? Ha! You’re not going to believe what it looks like now! The process was truly alarming to me in some ways because I couldn’t fathom how this disaster was going to turn into something so polished and pretty. Below is the mood board I put together for our space.

I’m still choosing the towel hooks, toilet paper holder, etc. The cordless roman shades I finally ordered online should be arriving next week. I measured the windows at least three times, because the first set of shades I ordered were literally a quarter of an inch too big! Pretty sure I cried after a long day of moving and then finding out the gorgeous items I ordered weren’t even going to work. I know you have been there…not the proudest moment. Haha

Lastly, our glass shower door and panel were installed yesterday and I couldn’t resist running to grab my camera as the sun was setting and snapping a few pics. I can’t wait to show you the finished product! I hope you’ll be following along on my Instagram stories, as I’ve been sharing lots of “behind the scenes” photos and videos of what’s going on at the #BentPalmHouse :D

Sending Sunshine,

No, wait…someone needs to send ME some sunshine!! It’s been such a cloudy week. I may need to be airlifted out of here and dropped on a sunny island somewhere if this weather doesn’t turn around! ;)

Jessica