Holy crow you guys – dare I say that this is one of the last remaining spaces in the house that we have yet to remodel and it’s FINALLY happening? It feels so surreal! We actually have three major house projects that are happening over the next several months and I couldn’t be more excited about it because it feels like we’re kind of crossing some sort of finish line and turning this house into a very livable, spacious, functional abode for our growing family and guests. The first of the three projects is this guest bathroom remodel that will also serve as our kiddo bathroom, and kind of at the same time we’re having our small kitchen pantry reworked by California Closets to be as functional and organized as possible by the time baby boy arrives. And then the last and biggest of the three projects that we’re hoping will begin in late August/September is our main bedroom/bath/closet addition that’s going to make such a big difference for our fam on the space front. We’ve spent almost two years dreaming up that project and getting it underway, so we’re beyond excited about it and can’t wait to bring you guys along for the ride!
Kids and Guest Bathroom Remodel
Our Kids and Guest Bathroom Before
For this guest bathroom, just like our current main bathroom, I really wanted to keep it sweet and simple so it remained a timeless, cottage-inspired space that would age well with our family and house, but still make it a little bit of fun. Because it just wouldn’t be a space in our little cottage abode without some fun design and decor elements in the mix, right? You can check out my design inspiration board for the space below, and you can probably tell at a glance what my favorite piece of this design puzzle is – that green-grey watercolor tile!
That tile is by Adex and is part of their Habitat collection, and this specific color and finish is called “Leaf Glossy” which is a really soft, subtle sage green that also reads slightly grey in some lights. The size we’re doing is a 2”x10” field tile, which is a longer field tile or subway tile and not only do I love the look, but larger tile also means less grout all around, which I’m all for (less to clean). Another really cool thing about this tile is that the individual tiles aren’t uniform in tone and the glaze is a “multi-tone” glaze which put together gives the tile a really beautiful, varied watercolor look with slightly different shades of that pretty soft green color throughout. Magic! I found all of our tile at Craftsman Court Ceramics right in Old Town Scottsdale, and if you live in the Phoenix area and are looking for a deep, deep well of really cool tile choices of all shapes, sizes, styles, colors and materials, I highly recommend them. I had so much fun at my appointment and when I showed the design associate an inspiration pic of what I was hoping to find, she immediately pulled out this perfect, green-grey tile and I loved it instantly.
I also thought I wanted to do a matte or glossy ceramic white penny tile in the back of our new niche in the shower, and she pulled out pretty much every penny tile imaginable to show me the options and they were all so cool. But then she pulled this Akdo Carrera marble penny tile and much to my shock and surprise, I fell in love with how it paired with the soft green field tile. It just felt so timeless and slightly more elevated that just a classic white ceramic penny tile, and I’m so glad she showed me that option because I would have never chosen that on my own!
Oh oh oh! And another thing I love about this tile? Much to my surprise, the Adex tile is pretty affordable in general and comparable to similar tile we liked at other tile shops in town (which was so surprising given how unique it is), and we really don’t need a lot of the Akdo penny tile (just enough for the back of our niche) so that ended up being really affordable for such a gorgeous product as well. So all around right on budget and not a scary price tag by any means!
In general for this project I’m trying to find that balance between items that I’m willing to spend more on (like our tub, the tile overall, maybe some fixtures, the vanity, etc.) and items where I can get away with saving (like our new vanity mirror, possibly the sconces, some of the hardware, our sink faucet that’s relatively new and that we’re reusing, etc.). Since we have more projects on the way and this is a guest/kids bathroom, budgeting with that balance in mind is important to us.
But there’s so much more happening in this space than just the tile, so check out all of our plans for the bathroom below and see some of the decor elements we’re considering for the space! We’ve chosen a good chunk of the key pieces we need for the space and ordered them so they arrive in time for our project start date next week, but there are a few elements that, unsurprisingly, I’m having a hard time deciding on. Typical. So you’ll see all the options I’m considering for each part of the space broken out below – make sure you click through the sliders to see them all!
Hooks | Shower Curtain | Train Rack | Towels | Flooring | Vanity | Green Field Tile | Bathtub | Marble Penny Tile | Sink Faucet | Bathmat | Sconce | Mirror
New Tile for Tub & Shower Surround
Below are the links to the tile elements we’ll be incorporating so you can see the collections and the brand. The colors of the Adex tile aren’t represented that well on their site, but these links are just for reference so you can see what we’re workin’ with and find a dealer in your area if these inspire you!
https://adexusa.com/portfolio-item/adhgl821-2-5×10-3-field-tile-leaf-glossy/
https://akdo.com/materials/stone/mosaics/penny-round/1246-penny-round-carrara-bella-h/
New Bathroom Hardware & Fixtures
I wanted to keep it really simple and classic by using chrome hardware & fixtures throughout, which also matches the style of hardware in the other bathroom on this end of the house. That said, with this design plan I think that matte black hardware and fixtures would be beautiful and give the space a more contemporary look, as would brass hardware and fixtures, which could also give it a more contemporary or alternatively, a classic look depending on the shape of the fixtures/hardware and the finish (matte or polished).
Here’s what’s included in that:
A train rack (with or without towel bar)
Towel hooks
Reusing our current vanity sink faucet
Shower head
Hand shower
Tub faucet
Vanity knobs and pulls
New Bathtub
The bathtub we chose is the Kohler Underscore Alcove Bathtub with a Chrome overflow drain (you have to buy the overflow drain separately and you can choose from a variety of finishes), and it’s ordered and on its way to us! This was one of the elements of the remodel that my mom and I researched at length, reading review after review of all of the tubs that looked like they might fit the bill, and overall the Kohler tub got great reviews and had the largest water capacity, which would make for a nice, deep soak should anyone ever feel the urge. It’s also just a great looking tub, with a simple, clean, transitional shape and a nice, flat lip all around to set things on, which are all things that I think will help the tub age well.
Bathroom Flooring
We’ll be keeping the flooring we have in here, which is the same flooring we have throughout our home. It’s Nucore waterproof LVP from Floor & Decor in Driftwood Oak finish and we still love it. It’s done so well in this bathroom, too. Our contractor may have to add some flooring once they move the wall and bring int the new vanity, but that’ll be easy enough.
Larger Bathroom Vanity & More Storage
First, our contractor will be blowing out one of our walls in the bathroom to give us about one more foot of space that we’ll use for a larger vanity with more storage. That space will be taken from our hall closet, which really won’t be that affected by the change (the shelves will be slightly more shallow, which is fine). Then our contractor is making us a new 36″ vanity that sits flush to the wall on the left side and our countertop fabricator will be fabricating a beautiful quartz countertop for the vanity with marble-like grey veining to coordinate with our marble penny tile in the niche in the shower. The vanity I included on my inspiration board is absolutely beautiful and sort of the inspiration for our vanity (the storage isn’t sufficient, but more about that below), but keep in mind that a vanity like that, as is that case with most pre-fabricated vanities you’ll come across out there (not all, but most), won’t sit flush to the wall on one side. Which my mom pointed out is slightly lame because in small bathrooms like this one you so infrequently have space for a freestanding vanity that doesn’t sit flush to one wall to maximize the space. Like I mentioned, another important attribute of our new vanity will be storage. There are so many vanities out there that are absolutely beautiful, but lacking on the storage front and that just doesn’t work for us. We need max storage, max organization for this relatively small space. Ideally, the storage in our new vanity would be akin to what’s happening with this vanity. Now that’s some serious storage for a 36″ vanity, am I right?
New Bathroom Mirror
Originally I thought we’d do another big mirror in here that filled the entire wall. That was the plan. But upon contemplation, it just felt like it was unnecessary in a bathroom this size and for this purpose (guests and kiddos). Then I thought I might do a chrome tilt/pivot mirror to coordinate with the rest of the chrome hardware and fixtures, but it started to feel like the space was getting a little too sterile with not enough warmth. I’ve always loved this Target mirror (it comes in and out of stock so if you love it, just sign up for email alerts for when it’s back in stock, or use their site’s feature where you can search for it in-store at a store in your area) and have almost used it in a couple of different spaces over the last year or so, never pulling the trigger. So when I felt like I needed a mirror that was both a little bit more interesting and warmer for this space, this immediately popped in my head and it happens to be a perfect fit for our needs. This mirror is slightly more narrow than the vanity which will give me space to place a small sconce on each side, which I talk more about below!
New Bathroom Sconces
This is one of those parts of your bathroom design plan where you can have a lot of fun, or just keep it really simple and classic. And I’m totally torn on which way to go! So feel free to weigh in here in the comments or maybe I’ll put another fun poll up on Insta Stories because you guys are always so helpful there when it comes to my decor decision paralysis. I love hearing what you guys think and seeing your personal style shine through when I do decor polls. Below are a ton of choices I’m considering for our bathroom sconces that I think could be fun, so make sure you click through the slider to see them all and weigh in over on Stories today (or in the comments below).
We can’t wait to show you the finished space it’s done in a few weeks so you can see all of the final decor choices and all of that pretty tile installed! So make sure you check back here in a few weeks to see all of the after snaps – t’s gonna be good.
Have you ever done a guest bathroom remodel before? Let me know in a comment below!
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