If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

Saturday, January 20, 2024

Primary Bath Update - The Inspiration

We recently updated our primary bathroom. The intention was to have it updated so that when the Mister returned home from double knee replacement, he could easily step into the shower. As things do at times, plans changed. The knee surgeon didn't think the Mister was a good candidate for doubling down on the surgery. So, the expected need for a short rehab facility visit was not necessary and he came home to struggling with the climb over the side of the tub during his recovery.

The good news is, when the second knee surgery takes place, he will have no struggle. The even better news is, we now have a newly updated bathroom!

Like any good home renovation project, it started with a search of photos, and pins, and saved ideas for inspiration. Way back in 2015 I had toured several nice homes that were featured in the Parade of Homes near our home. I even snapped a photo of  bathroom floor that I liked. The look of that floor stuck with me over the years.


It is a basket weave tile and I was truly drawn to the pattern of it. Other pins and ideas I'd saved were these:


I liked the look of the marble shower. there was enough pattern to hide when it needed cleaning but seemed light enough that it wouldn't feel like standing in a cave. Of course, I read and heard all sorts of bad things about having marble in a bathroom - like the staining of the stone.


The light blue vanity and the brushed nickel faucets made me save this as an idea. I'm a sucker for most anything blue and the light blue seemed like a good choice since the adjoining bedroom walls are a light blue.

Source unknown - found on Pinterest

As I kept searching, the light blue vanity concept seemed to become a trend in the pins I saved and the ideas I gathered.


The info about this shower stopped me in my scroll. It was described as being constructed of large slabs of stone. That intrigued me because I know that with tile there is the issue of keeping the grout clean and there is a battle with mildew and grunge. So, less grout might mean less scrubbing for me!


That same bathroom featured the vanity above with the cute little shelf! I liked the concept of the vanity countertop matching up with the shower and the shelf seemed like an added bonus.

So, the shopping for materials began for me. The Mister gave me free reign to choose whatever I wanted. Little did he know just how dangerous that could be! I spent hours online looking for different tiles and stones. I started a shopping cart from our local big box DIY supply store. Then, I put together a drawing to get a better idea of what my choices might look like and if it would be pleasing to look at once it was all together. I felt certain already that the updates were going to make it more functional and satisfactory for our needs. So, the appearance is what had me wondering about my choices at this point.



We called a couple of local folks to get estimates and timelines of when the project might get done. One estimate seemed a bit on the high side but the timeline seemed good. One fellow never got back in touch after coming to measure. Next, we gave Richard Stanaland at The Tool Chest a call to come for measurements and an estimate. He is our go-to guy for home updates - probably because my cousin, Faye, is his wife, but he also does great work and gets things done in a timely fashion. 

I shared the drawings shown above with him and showed him my shopping cart of supplies that we were getting ready to order and he became enthusiastic. Within a couple of days he gave us what we thought was a reasonable estimate and a great timeline. So, we asked him to put our name on the list and we looked forward to getting it all done!

Then, the surgeon gave us the news that he only felt confident that the Mister was a good candidate for one knee at a time. So, our bath update timeline got pushed back about a month. Tomorrow, I will share more about the recent bath update.




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