A cottage bathroom renovation…
Are you a fan of cottage style? I hope so! Welcome to our cottage bathroom. It didn’t always look…well, “cottage-y”.
We have been lucky enough to have a number of our projects featured here and there on TV and in print. I never dreamed we’d have anything to do with TV, but I definitely had not envisioned our TV debut would be a cameo…for our toilet…on a show called “I Hate My Bath”.
We have been lucky enough to have a number of our projects featured here and there on TV and in print. I never dreamed we’d have anything to do with TV, but I definitely had not envisioned our TV debut would be a cameo…for our toilet…on a show called “I Hate My Bath”.
Secretly, I had hopes of possibly being a Bachelor contestant or something uber-glamorous like that…but no, our bathroom is apparently the star in our household.
Truth be told, we’re ok with that. At this point, with one husband and three children in, I’m thinking the production team of the Bachelor probably would not be giving me a callback. Sigh.
Above is a picture of the main level bathroom we remodeled in our cape cod style home in Maryland. This was how it looked when we bought the house (BEFORE).
Not so cottage-y to say the least.
Our biggest issue with this space (besides the questionable tile and overly brassy shower frame) was that this home was built in the 1950’s. And as such, there was only one bath on the main level.
In order to access the bathroom, people had to walk through our master bedroom. Not the best for guests…or us.
Here’s what we did:
First, we added another door to the space, so that the bathroom could be entered from either the main level hallway, OR the bedroom.
We did not have enough budget (or square footage) to add a second bath on this level, so this was the only feasible option we could dream up to make the space work. The door seen here goes into the hallway.
We opted for a neo-angle shower pan in order to conserve more floor space in the room. And used a frameless glass enclosure in order to make the shower feel a little less cramped.
Next, since this bath needed to function as our master bath as well, we insisted on putting in a double sink.
It was very difficult to find a double vanity that would fit into the room…and this one was TIGHT. It is a cane-door style (here’s a similar, but larger version), and we added the marble top. On the floor, we laid pebble-style tile.
We put in the wainscoting, and the new medicine cabinets (Pottery Barn). The door below leads into the master bedroom.
The paisley wallpaper is by Sandpiper Studios, Cottage English collection (which has since been discontinued 😰). We wanted something that would be happy and fit with the cottage bathroom style we were aiming for. It’s a bit beachy, as well, which we dig.
The pictures may be a bit deceptive…the size of this room is only 35-40 sq. ft. We jammed A LOT of stuff into a pretty small space.
All in all, the room turned out great, and fit the feel of the rest of the house. DIY network contacted us about the space in 2011, and it was featured as a “great DIY remodel” in one of their shows in the premiere season of “I Hate My Bath”.
And the rest is history. We have a famous toilet 😉
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The Crowned Goat says
This bathroom is beautiful! I can't believe you were able to fit so much function into such a small space but you guys handled it like total pros. It's totally fantastic.
Angie Forte says
Beautiful job! Love the floor and love, love, love the paisley!! Thanks for sharing at Something To Talk About!!
Candace Duval from Lucky Scarf says
So much more functional and beautiful! Thanks for linking up with the Creative Spark Link Party!