Guest Bathroom Renovation

Odd as it may sound, the guest bathroom is probably one of my favorite rooms to design and decorate.  Powder rooms are typically "cozy" in size, yet they are rooms that can pack a big style punch!

It's been nearly a year since we closed escrow on our house (which I'll be sharing about in an upcoming post).  We purchased a house that remained in its original 1955 glory!

We had a three week window to tackle some renovations before we initially moved in.  Part of the first round of renovations included a complete overhaul of the guest bathroom.  Here's what it looked like before the renovation:

BEFORE

It was dingy dated.  We completely demolished this bathroom and started with a blank slate (unfortunately, I didn't snap photos during the process).  I am all for working with what you have, but in our case, nothing was worth salvaging.  We had to address some issues in the shower stall anyway, so demolishing it was more justified. :)  We did donate scrap wood and fixtures to do our part in helping to recycle.

Here's what our guest bathroom looks like now.  It's still a work-in-progress, but it has come a long way from its original roots (kindly ignore the paper window shade).

NOW

The biggest change we made was to visually expand the size of the room.  This was accomplished by installing a floating vanity, adding more light, removing the dark beadboard from the walls, and applying a fresh coat of paint.

VANITY AREA

The old vanity was "bulky".  Installing a streamlined floating vanity freed up floor space.  Its narrower dimensions also doesn't impede into the depth of the room.  In addition to the vanity light fixture shown above, we also installed an overhead ventilation unit that includes light, as well as a new dual-paned, "un-frosted" window.

Tip:  Lighting is a key component to effective design.  Well-designed spaces assess and address general, task, and mood lighting.

SHOWER AREA

Many guest baths are usually powder rooms only.  In our situation, there was also a shower fitted into a very tight space.  The room is only 4 feet wide x 8 feet long (the shower area is recessed another ~3 feet).  We explored the possibility of increasing the room's square footage by taking some closet space from the adjacent bedroom, but it was too costly since structural work would be involved.  The decision proved to be the right one since this bathroom functions perfectly fine as is!

We "enlarged" the shower by simply removing the low bulk head that was in the stall, and tiling up to the ceiling.  This gave us approximately 2 extra feet of added height.

Tip:  If you're on a restricted budget, try combining "high and low" cost tiles. Although I would have loved to use carrara marble tile throughout, it simply wasn't in the budget.  Instead, we paired classic subway tile and accented it with a custom marble mosaic.

Complete bathroom renovations are expensive, especially when tackled upon a home purchase.  With proper planning and design direction, it should help the process go "smoother".  Our guest bathroom design inspiration:

Still pending on the guest bathroom "to do" list:

Tile - floor and shower
Vanity
Toilet
Fixtures
Lighting
Window
Frameless shower door
Window treatment (roman shade)
New window trim
Wall treatment??
Accessories

One bathroom "semi done"...two more to go...