Grey Bathroom Reveal. Dancin’ in the Mirror, Singin’ in the Shower

FINALLY, the grey bathroom renovation is done…

Our grey bathroom is complete. And this is NOT an understatement when I say that never, ever, have I ever, been SOOOOO excited to show you a room reveal. THIS is our BIGGEST renovation project EVER. And it was 100% DIY.

It took us AGES to complete this beast. But I gotta say, I couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out. Here she is:

*This bathroom project was sponsored by the following wonderful (and very patient) companies…and as always, opinions, cheesy jokes and 80s music references are mine all mine: Build.com | DullesGlass.com | Hayneedle.com | TheBuilderDepot.com | Schluter.com

*Below are exact items we used in this space. Click on the image of the product to be taken to the store where the item can be purchased:

And before we get too deep in the deluge of AFTER pictures, here’s a reminder of where we started. When we bought our home, this is how the bathroom looked:

Even before the remodel, it was always a big ol bathroom.

It was just dated. Not offensively so, perhaps. Just a bit…1992. GREAT year for music (think “Jump Around” – House of Pain, “Baby Got Back,” “I’m too Sexy” ?….but 1992 was NOT a great year for home decorating.

Almond, buff, nude + 4×4 tile + brass = 1992 dream home.

To say nothing of the brass or tile, the color combo alone reminds me of my liquid foundation. Which is made for covering up ugly blemishes on my pasty pale skin ?. Nuff said.

Anyhow, we were able to make the footprint of this soon-to-be grey bathroom even larger because we stole space from the room next door (our old closet, before we did a massive renovation and moved the closet into a room off the master bedroom).

If you haven’t seen our closet renovation go check it out (here).

Here are all 9 months of this renovation condensed into a 4-minute time-lapse if you want to see some of the efforts, horrendous outfits worn, and bad hair days experienced while making this space.

The space we gained from adding that old closet square footage is now where our vanities and the bench area of the shower reside:

The new vanities are a big improvement over the old.

The interior of each of the new Hayneedle vanities has 6 soft-close drawers and one large pull-out tray. I love the built-in storage and organization that these vanities provide…because left to my own devices, things would NOT stay super neat ?.

We opted for marble counters in this space, and beautiful single handle faucets by Moen.

The exterior wall of the old bathroom had one set of average-sized double-hung windows. They were wood-framed, old, leaky, and I don’t think they even locked anymore.

We demolished the existing window, made it larger, and added another huge window. Here’s that exterior wall before:

And now these giant picture windows (each one is about 4′ x 5′) are my favorite part of the space.

We put up blinds (faux roman shades with roller blinds behind them) this weekend (after these photos were taken) so that we have some privacy in there when needed.

We also just put up these awesome living wall frames with succulents from Planted Spaces…

I have to admit, I was a little sad to see the jacuzzi tub leave. Not because it was pretty. It was not.

In fact, I think it made a much nicer looking lawn ornament than a tub. But…

I did kind of like the bubbles. That said, I rarely ever take baths. I always think I will, but I never do. And this gorgeous, modern vessel tub is stunning.

The Moen tub filler is from build.com. Not only is it super sturdy, but it’s also incredibly pretty. The kids like to pick up that water sprayer nozzle and pretend it’s a phone ☎️.

Plus, I figure if I really decide I want to kick it old school with my bubbles, I’ll buy something like this.

What do you think of the lighting above the tub? They are stunning in real life. I had picked out some other lighting for this space, but when my index finger scrolled past these on Hayneedle, I did a 180 on the lighting plan.

When I created the mood board for this grey bathroom ages ago, I called the look “London on a cloudy day.” I knew I was going to use the amazing wallpaper you see on the ceiling.

That cloud print paper was the first thing I picked out, and the design kind of fell into place once that was decided upon. These feathery lights remind me of clouds, which made them PERFECT to put in here.

See the door beyond the tub? That space used to be our shower…

But now, it’s our linen closet.

See the transom window on top? I had that little piece of stained glass custom made on Etsy.

It’s meant to mimic the tartan print found in the tile accent in our shower.

The door was a vintage find that I picked up from my fave local “door guy” here in Maryland. I got that baby for about $50, then cleaned, sanded and stained her to kind of match the stain on our vanities. And I think it turned out pretty awesome. You can see the stain color in the door and the vanities below:

I cleaned up and re-used the vintage doorknob as well. It has a serious patina on it. Following the clean-up, it could have certainly been painted, but who doesn’t love the charm of the old, banged-up finish?

There is a bunch of storage room inside the linen closet, too.

I went a little wacky with my label maker in there. It felt great to put things that had been living in boxes in my bedroom back in their own space.

I didn’t buy anything new for storage in here, I just raided other closets in the house for baskets and buckets I could repurpose in here. 

The water closet was the only part of the original space that didn’t move at all. 

It’s tight quarters in there. But I think we made the most of it. I painted the ceiling the same color as the section outside the wallpaper feature in the main part of the grey bathroom. And we used the same feather pendant lights used over the tub.

And I decided to make use of the dozens of picture frames I had sitting in storage and made a huge gallery wall feature full of family photos.

It’s difficult to see the floor tile in the wide-angle shots, but here’s a close-up:

Trust me when I tell you it is gorgeous. It’s an inexpensive and super durable porcelain tile, with a herringbone suiting fabric type print. A classic look, but a bit edgy at the same time. I love love love mixing patterns, as you may already know.

Since this grey bathroom has a color scheme that is WAY more neutral than my designs usually are, the fun for me in this space was mixing different patterns and materials together.

The plaid tile, the herringbone tile installation in the shower and herringbone print on the floors, pebble tile floor in the shower, the graphic cloud wallpaper on the ceiling, the feather chandeliers.

The pattern and material mix gives the otherwise grey bathroom some depth and personality, I think.

To me, the most luxurious part of the whole room is the shower. 

We designed the shower to be as big as possible. It has a bench, three custom storage nooks,

a trough-style “hidden” drain, and dual rain showerheads.

It took us FOREVER to tile this shower.

But I looooove how it turned out. The kids love it, too. Now, instead of asking to take a bath, they all want dibs on the shower.

My favorite thing about this grey bathroom? Well, make it two:

1.) It’s FINALLY done.

2.) When a storm is rolling in, the best place in the house to watch it coming is now from our bathroom. I can stand in the shower, relaxing, and watch outside over the farm as it gets dark and cloudy. It’s gorgeous.

After all, I did create this grey bathroom to look like London on a cloudy, gloomy-like day. Not a bright and sunny one. This is my “moody” room. It’s my calming and cozy place. A recharging the batteries kind of room.

No more does this bathroom scream 1992.

This grey bathroom is now modern, chic and with the times.

She’s singing a different tune. The one that comes to mind? A little Becky G ??…

“dancing in the mirror, and singing in the shower”

So there you have it! Phew. We’re so so happy it’s done. And we’d love to know what you think!! Leave us a comment below, or pin an image or two from this grey bathroom to your fave board on Pinterest.

grey bathroom pin #1

You can even leave a comment on the pin! That will help others find us, and helps Pinterest find other pins and pinners whose style you’ll dig, too.

grey bathroom pin #2

Pssst…before you go, I sure would love to hang out with you again really soon! Sign up now and get a FREE copy of “Builder-Grade To Beautiful: 10 Totally Transformative Home Decorating Solutions, All Under $100!” Click here or on the image below. Your copy will be sent right away!