Do-Over in the Dungeon (Our marble bathroom DIY story & reveal).

A marble bathroom DIY makeover…

Time for a marble bathroom/DIY bathroom renovation story.

At night, after we read bedtime stories, the kids usually ask us to also tell them a made-up story. I love this, in concept. But in reality, there’s a problem. That is that after a long day of preparing three-course meals Ramen Noodles, running interference during skirmishes about someone else having the audacity to look at them, answering a million questions (incorrectly) such as…

Q: How does the internet work?
A: Sorcery

WHO HAS THE ENERGY FOR IMAGINATION?! So I have a new strategy. Today, I’m drafting a bedtime story ahead of time so that tonight, I’m ready. I’m gonna run it by you guys, and ask for some constructive criticism and editorial commentary. Here it goes:

Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away (actually a 1950’s cape cod in Maryland, but this is fiction, folks), lived a haggard housewife beautiful, fair, brilliant, accomplished but humble queen (work with me here). She had three lovely servants….er, children who vowed to be good little royal offspring by helping to keep the fair queen’s castle well-groomed and respectable at all times (or at least once or twice a decade).

Because the queen loved her obedient, tidy children so very much (and because she wanted FIVE MINUTES to drink half of a cup of coffee in SILENCE), she renovated what had been a dark, decrepit, perilous dungeon (or basement) into a glorious playroom.

There, her children could enjoy hours upon hours of imaginative and enriching playtime, getting along harmoniously, whilst happily and equitably sharing in all the kingdom’s toys (I LOVE this part, so nobody rain on my tirade, er parade here).

But there was a problem…DUN DUN DUN. This was the dungeon lavatory.

Obviously, not at all appropriate for our royal heirs. I mean….that’s a plastic shower curtain…grody to the max.

Princess be lookin’ at me like:

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And the two princes? They be lookin’ at me like…

And…

It’s an eclectic royal family here.

Instead of using this low-class loo,

the royal children would trudge their way back up from the playroom, and infringe, no…bother…also no…how about “kindly visit” the queen during her five minutes of zen, requiring to use the facilities in her part of the castle.

The queen decided to take matters into her own hands.

Do you see the queen’s look of fatigue coupled with sheer determination?

What do you mean unrealistic? Maybe most queens don’t use power tools, but our queen is a bad-a*&!

The queen toiled and toiled, lovingly, painstakingly, putting this DIY bathroom/marble bathroom back together again.

Oh look! There’s the king and the queen tiling together over a beer! NO, that can’t be right! That must be tea. Tea in a fancy bottle-esque-looking cup.

Also, the king and queen had graciously given their ladies maid and valet the day off, sooooo, they weren’t dressed in their normal attire. Anyways…

At last, the castle’s new facilities were complete. Still no natural light (boo hiss), BUT, a lot more charm and royal pizazz, if you will.

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It’s difficult to see, but the ceiling got some special treatment in here, as well. You can see a tad more in the image below, which was taken before the shower enclosure was completed.

The ceiling is covered in beadboard, and in real life, looks lovely.

Note since this is a bathroom, which inherently has moisture, do NOT use real wood beadboard if you want to try this.

Go with the PVC/plastic variety…trust me. It looks great, paints easier, is simpler to install, and will not warp or buckle with exposure to steam from the shower.

We installed a heating element under the tiling to keep the princess and princes’ toes-eys toasty. The floor tile is hexagonal Carerra marble.

*If you want to learn more about tile patterns, WE HAVE A WHOLE POST ON TILE PATTERNS HERE*

It is a marble bathroom, for sure.

The shower surround is a combination of several types of marble tile to include (mostly) white carerra marble subway tile, marble pencil moulding tile, marble chair moulding tile and a smaller accent area of a more expensive glass, steel and marble mosaic tile similar to THIS one (I’m not sure our exact style is sold anymore).

American Standard is the sink, and it’s a console-style. You have to purchase three pieces ( sink, faucet, and console stand) separately.

One of my favorite features of this bath is the rustic medicine cabinet. It is an upcycle from a vintage window.

The back got stenciled with a Moroccan geometric pattern using the same paint color that is on the walls. It adds a vintage element to an otherwise very polished, shiny, metallic room.

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And so, the good people of the kingdom could now rejoice! The dungeon bath had been banished, and now, the queen could (hypothetically) enjoy her coffee in peace while the princes and princess frolicked in their royal playroom. It was a very happily ever after for all, indeed.

Want to learn more about tile patterns? Or see other bathroom renovations? How about the latest bathroom renovation we tackled…our master bathroom? Click any of the highlighted links to head to those posts.

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