Guest Bath Remodel - THE BEFORE

Late last year, amidst being 100 months pregnant, the holidays, Croix's Birthday, wrapping up projects before maternity leave, our Patio Project and Croix's big boy room + Custom Closet projects we decided it would be a good idea to add one more tiny little thing to our plate - the remodel of our downstairs guest bath.

Just writing that I realize how insane that makes us sound, and to be honest I think we did stretch ourselves a bit too far, I mean we literally set our Christmas Dinner table (for 20+ plus guests) on CHRISTMAS DAY! Nothing like the last minute...OY! But there was a method to the madness, so let me explain...In 2017 I designed the bath display for the Luxury Living Show at Phipps Plaza. You all may remember me mentioning it...

Photo via AH&L Magazine.

After the show the displays were disassembled and all cabinets came back to Bell Cabinetry & Design (company I work for). For months the cabinets sat in the warehouse until it occurred to me that I could use them. We have 4.5 bathrooms in our house and I knew Croix's Bath Remodel  was on the horizon and who couldn't use another vanity + giant pink towers? So, Brent and I went and picked them up. Once we got them home we stored them in the space between our kitchen and dining room - the space we had dubbed our future home office. As we have worked to re-do and organize various spaces in our house, this area, the "future home office" area, has become the dumping ground for all the things. Every home has a space like this, problem was, this space is wide open to the rest of the house. There are no doors to block or hide what we have going on in here and worst of all, if you should come visit and enter through the front door, you have to walk past this monstrosity to get to the other areas of our home.

Exhibit A:

If you've been following along you know we re-did Croix's Bath earlier in the year so that got one of the 61" vanities out of the space, but we still had a lot of other items in here including another vanity + giant pink doors and shelves (the actual towers were still back at Bell). It was driving me nuts and knowing that we would have people around for the holidays + the fact that I would be at home for maternity leave first of the year I really wanted to get this space cleaned up and cleaned out which meant re-doing Guest Bath. Let me introduce you to this space...

Much like Croix's bath upstairs, there was nothing wrong with this bathroom. Everything worked properly, but there were two points I hoped to correct by re-doing the space. 1. I wanted to make the bathroom more efficient. Our home was built in the 1920's and before the big addition that was done in 2007 (before we owned the house) this bathroom was the master. So, it came with two vanities.

Two vanities is a plus in a master or a shared bath, but for a Guest Bath it was unnecessary and when you have two 8 foot towers that could take up that space and provide a TON of storage it just made sense to shake things up. And 2....I just wanted to make the space more "us"...you know, freshen it up a bit visually. There was way too much brown going on in here...

So, the plan was to remove both vanity cabinets/countertops/fixtures, the floor tile and the shower tile. A vanity would go back in front of the tub/shower but the vanity beside the toilet would go away forever. The plumbing would be capped and this would be the future location of the linen towers. The tub and toilet would stay, but all other elements would be removed.

The only way we could swing this was to hire out the labor this time around. At this point in my pregnancy and in our lives we couldn't tackle this DIY style. A project that would take us months to finish up could be completed by a professional in a weeks time, so we decided to give the whole hire a professional thing a whirl for this project. Obviously this is a more expensive route than DIY'ing the project so the name of the game was to keep costs to a minimum with the material selections to balance things out. I also had to make decisions quickly which doesn't come naturally for me in my own home for some annoying reason, but I did it and we are very happy with the end results both visually and monetarily. Here is a shot of our living mood board for the space:

The project wrapped in about a weeks time and while I'm currently nailing down some final details with art, etc...the bathroom is totally usable (already been used by several guests!) and the linen towers are full stocked and organized. It's a happy space and I'm excited to show you the AFTER soon.

PS - If you follow me on Instagram you've seen some of the after shots of this space in my stories and on my feed, follow along for the inside scoop on some of these projects before they hit the blog... _CourtneyShearer

Unless otherwise noted, all photos are my own. 

Countertops - Croix's Bath Part 5

Thank you for all your kind words on Baby Shearer #2! Now, to finish this bathroom project so we can move on to Croix's big boy room. His nursery is going to be needed before we know it! :)

Today, let's talk countertops.

The countertops are FINALLY selected and INSTALLED and we couldn't be happier.

There is always that one element that seems to drive you crazy in a project and for us it was the countertops. I think there were several reasons why, the first being this was one of very few things that we could not DIY. We knew we would have to pay for the material and the fabrication, which was fine, but at the end of the day this is a bathroom for a 2 year old, so we really wanted to be mindful of a selection that was pretty, but also affordable. 

We checked out several Atlanta countertop companies, but were somewhat discouraged by the pricing we received. Ugh over $1k for a countertop just irked me. So, we continued on with the project, and just figured things would work themselves out. Well, as you saw in our last update post we eventually got to a place where progress wasn't really possible without countertops, so we got serious about making a decision. Around the same time I was talking with one of my clients about my countertop predicament and she suggested I consider Crowe Countertops, a company in Acworth, Georgia. I had never heard of them, but was hopeful they could be the solution to our little countertop problem.

The next weekend Brent, Croix and I headed up to Acworth to give Crowe Countertops a whirl and the rest is history. From beginning to end we had a great experience. We were welcomed in without an appointment that Saturday morning and had picked out our remnant and paid our deposit in less than 30 minutes. The next Monday we got a call that they could come template the following day between 10 and 2 with a 30 minutes courtesy call. This is where things got really impressive to me. Not only did they call, like they said, but they were literally at my door step exactly 30 minutes later. The templating group was friendly and efficient. A week later I got the call the the tops were ready and they could be out the next day between 9-12 with the same 30 minutes courtesy call. Again, they were right on time and could not of been nicer and more professional.

I know I'm going on and on about the professionals, but doesn't it make such a difference? 

Ok, ok now let's get to the pretty of it all...the actual countertop selection!!

We selected a quartz by VTI and the color name is Pantheon. It's has a white body with little flecks of gray sprinkled throughout.

I love that it's clean and quite and really just kind of blends in. The floors and wall trim bring a lot of personality to the space, so these tops needed to just sit and be pretty and they do just that! Oh and speaking of personality, check out the little step stool I snagged at an Estate Sale yesterday for $8!

All photos are my own. 

Tile - Croix's Bath - Part 3

Tiling equals instant gratification at it's finest! 

You saw a sneak peak of the floor in my last update, but the finished product with the grout installed is just.........SO HAPPY. 

We selected a gray grout with the same coloring as the gray detail on the tile and I'm SO glad we did. Grout can really change the overall vibe of a tile moment and for this application I really wanted the grout to just disappear.  

Once you grout, you can't walk on the floors for a few days, so we ended up grouting the floor on a Wednesday so we could get back to working in the space over the weekend. Well, as luck would have it we ended up running out of grout before we got the entire floor covered. So, we decided to just cover the floor with a drop cloth and finish up that grout treatment once we were ready to do the shower so we could keep the progress train rolling. 

Next we moved our attention to the tub/shower which ended up taking us 2 weekends to complete. 

Not 2 full weekends, but with other activities going on we tried to fit in as much work as we could on the home front without getting ourselves burnt out.

It's funny, the tile + grout was finally completed on a Sunday, which was the day we both had pre-decided to just lay low and relax. Well, apparently we aren't great at that idea and ended up getting more done on that day then we have in weeks! ha! But the end results make all the difference in the overall feel of the space.

It's like it went from job site to an actual bath with the addition of this tile. I can tell you we were both happy to get that tile saw washed and put away. We went with a white grout for this tile, again in hopes that it would just blend in, which I think it did nicely. 

After we finished up the flooring  and before we started on the shower tile we got the wiring all set up for the new lights over the vanity. Originally there was a single fixture over the mirror but the new plan is to use 2 sconces on either side of the mirror, so Brent moved the electrical around and now we are all set to hang the lights. But before we do that we wanted to get one coat of paint on the walls so we knocked that out on the same Sunday (told you we were on a roll!). I used the left over paint from having our whole downstairs painted last fall (Benjamin Moore White Dove OC-17)) but I'm not 100% certain the walls will be just white, there may be an accent color thrown in. Still marinating on that one. Do note the crown moulding color in the picture above looks super yellow. I didn't paint that  area yet and it looks so creamy compared to the white tile + grout situation sitting directly below. Getting that fixed ASAP, it hurts my eyes!

Alright, I think you guys are all caught up on our process. Can't wait to jump into the cabinetry, lighting, mirror and trim work. We are getting close to the finish line and I can't wait!!

All photos are my own. 

Croix's New Bathroom - Part 1

The Croix is moving on up....as in literally moving upstairs. More details on that later, but before we start working on his room, we decided to tackle his new bathroom first. The bedroom upstairs has an en suite bathroom with a tub/shower and we are giving it a complete overhaul! This is our first EVER bathroom remodel. We have done mini face-lifts at Brent's Atlantic House and our last house, but never a full gut job. We are excited slash a bit intimidated, but because this is going to be our long-term home we really want to slowly work our way through each space to make it our own.

Let's take a look at what we started with...

The view as you walk through the door from the bedroom:

Tub/Shower view:

Vanity view from the tub/shower:

It's definitely not the worst, just not at all our taste. So, on Saturday we brought out the hammers and started DEMO! It was messy and loud, but only took us about 4 hours off and on.

One item we were on the fence about was the tub. Originally, the plan was to keep the tub, but during the demo a piece of tile/durarock fell and put a few dents in the tub so we decided to just replace that element as well while we were at it. Of course it is possible to have tubs resurfaced, but this tub was on the small side to begin with, so after discussing we decided upgrading to a deeper tub with a bit of curve on the front would serve Croix better, especially at this age when he takes only baths.

Welllll this turned out to be a way bigger pain than we had imagined. To start, the tub was hard to get out. Brent ended up having to literally cut it into 3 pieces to remove it from the bathroom.

With the tub out, Brent added a few pieces of durarock and now we are ready to set the new tub in place and begin tiling the floor.  All of the supplies are purchased and ready to go. Now, we just need another weekend to knock it out. Stay tuned....I have a feeling things are about to get pretty. 

All photos are my own. 

The Little Bathroom That Could

I'm happy to report another room in our house is COMPLETE! 

The lucky space?? Our downstairs Bathroom!

This little bathroom is a pretty big deal... With the master bath upstairs, this space serves not only as our guest bath, but our powder room for visitors. Given the central location of the bath, and the number of people that would frequent this space, we knew this little bathroom needed to pack a big punch, aesthetically and functionally. I really wanted the space to feel classic and a bit dramatic, despite it's petite size.

Great things come in small packages, right!??!?! 

Dear Lord let's hope...

Let's start with the Before:

This bathroom was once the one and only of the house, so while it is not very big, it does have a full shower/bath that sits directly across from the vanity/toilet wall. While the room is small, the natural lighting is really nice and the space as a whole has great bones. All tile is original to the house and something I was excited to work with. 

Paint was the first item on the to-do list. I really wanted to paint the walls a dark color, as I said before I was looking for drama and nothing says drama like dark walls. The space is small yes, but I knew no amount of light colored paint was going to change that, so I decided to go for it and paint the walls Navy. Martha Stewart's Wrought Iron to be specific.

With the painting underway, it was time to figure out how to increase the storage capacity of this little space. With a tiny vanity and a mirror that doubled as a medicine cabinet, there was really no where to go but up from where we were.

In 2012 I posted about a bath remodel we did at Brent's old house. We were working with a similar medicine cabinet situation in this space. To up the storage and the aesthetic we removed the medicine cabinet and built custom shelves and added a mirror that slid from side to side with cabinet guides. 

We were so pleased with how well this approach turned out before, we decided to do it again in this space. Brent popped the old medicine cabinet out, framed up a new one, added guides and hung the mirror. 

For the mirror, we brought the one used in Brent's old house because it was his Great Grandmother's and has beautiful detailing. We went back and forth about what color to paint the mirror but ultimately decided to paint it Wrought Iron as well so it would blend with the walls. I love interest layered in through texture as opposed to color. 

For the vanity I designed a custom cabinet through the company I work for, Bell Kitchen & Bath Studios. We needed this cabinet to be as functional as possible so we made it as large as we could to allow the door to still open and close past it.  I designed the false front drawer to flip down to optimize storage capacity. 

We picked a beautiful remnant piece of white marble for the countertops from Construction Resources. In order to increase counter space we had the top banjo, meaning extend over the toilet to the wall. Not only did this increase the usable counter space but it elongates the room, making it feel deeper.

During this update whirlwind, we replaced the toilet (Home Depot), light fixture (Rejuvenation), faucet (Kohler) and sink (Porcher). We also added fluffy white towels and a soap dispenser (Target) as well as a fun shower curtain (Crate & Barrel). Things were coming together quickly and we were able to get the bulk of this space completed before we moved in, making this one of the most finished spaces of the house for a long time. 

The above photo represents how the bathroom looked for over a year. It was taken by photographer, Barbara Brown when she was at the house shooting the kitchen.

As much as we loved the space, there was one giant item standing between us and calling this bathroom complete....The window treatment. We loved the natural light that flowed in but for some reason our guests were averse to a bare window you could see straight through. Can you say high maintenance??? ;)

We needed a solution that would allow light to come in, offer privacy and be visually pleasing. Once we really thought about it we knew the answer was a stained glass piece. It just so happens Brent's Mom is a stained glass artist, nay genius. She is the name behind Cindy's Glasswork Designs and she does custom work all over the Southeast; in fact, she made the window we hung in the bathroom at Brent's old house. For this space we wanted something totally different and Brent came up with the perfect concept. He sketched the idea out and talked through the vision with his Mom/Cindy. 

Once the idea was transferred, things moved pretty fast. Measurements were taken, glass options were presented and the frame finish was considered.  A few weeks ago the piece was finished and Cindy brought it up to Atlanta to install.

 

Three panels were designed to virtually float between the frame. The panels are suspended from from springs, giving the piece an industrial - modern vibe. The frame was stained dark brown to tie into the vanity color.

It's unbelievable what an instant impact this stained glass window had on the room. Not only is it a bold focal piece, but it allows light to pour through (so much so that it's hard to photograph) and offers privacy - everything we were looking for and more!

We are so happy with how this space turned out. Not only do we love how it looks, but we feel we optimized every inch of functionality we could and really helped this little room be the best it could be!

Unless otherwise noted all photos are my own. 

O' Holiday Project Deadline

O' Holiday Project Deadline, O' Holiday Project Deadline, how terrible areeeee your limitationsssss. In case you can't tell, I'm singing. You have to read/sing the above to the tune of "O' Christmas Tree." Get it? I know, I know, I'm good - move over Taylor Swift.....

It's only 7 days into November and I can already feel the hustle and bustle of the holidays! I feel like I've seen and heard more about Christmas as of late than I usually do the entire month of December. Granted, I do realize this proclamation comes from the girl who posted about a Christmas House last week (cough, cough hypocrite.) But, so far, I've seen a lit Christmas tree in someone's front window (THE DAY BEFORE HALLOWEEN, mind you) and yesterday at lunch I drank from a crystal goblet with painted holly around the rim. Oh, and hello! Walk into countless department stores and find holiday decor for sale galore! But, in my world the most common holiday topic is:

 "If I begin my kitchen or bath remodel now, could it be completed by the holidays?"

The answer: Maybe, but at what cost?

I think there's something in the air right after Halloween that has a certain way of lighting a spark within people prompting them to hurry and complete, or in some cases start, projects before their holiday parties begin and their guests arrive. It's like all of a sudden somewhere around late October it occurs to people that their houses will be full of friends and loved ones and they want to bring out the magic wand and POOF - all projects = complete.

As on board as I am with a home being at it's best, especially during a time of such high foot traffic, I think it's important to keep in mind the holidays are stressful enough without the looming completion of giant project that has a way of taking over not only your house but your life.

If the face you see above doesn't look like something you want to be sporting this holiday season, let me recommend pumping the breaks on impending projects if they haven't started yet. As I've mentioned before, those projects that are carefully considered and thought out ALWAYS turn out the best. By beginning any project with a tight or unrealistic time frame you are literally setting yourself up for stress and half-arse results all wrapped up with a shiny red bow.

So, instead of allowing this time of year to stress you out and cause you to irrationally jump into projects ill prepared , use this time to your advantage. Think about it, you spend more time entertaining in your home and actually cooking in your kitchen during the holidays than any other time of year. And if you're not typically the host, you spend more time being entertained in the homes of others than any other time of year. So....observe, notice, critique and begin jotting down things you love, things you hate, things you would do differently if you could, etc..etc...And then after the hustle and bustle of the holidays is over you can begin the process of working on your space, on your terms.

Give yourself the greatest gift of all - choice. A kitchen or bath remodel is a fun process that deserves a lot of your attention and consideration. Don't sell yourself short.  Get what you want and take the time to figure out what that is. Then, before you know it, it will be November 7th, 2013 and you will be thrilled to showoff and utilize the space you poured so much of yourself into. And better yet, that time you spent pouring yourself into the project will not have resulted in you pulling your hair out so you will have beautiful locks and a new kitchen/bath to boot!

All photos are from google search.