Three Bathroom Reno Project: Primary Bath
I’m excited to share the final bathroom in my Three Bath Reno project with you today - the primary! We reimagined it completely to modernize it and make better use of the space, and it’s amazing how different it feels. The result is a fresh and clean-lined bathroom with a large walk-in shower designed to work for years down the road.
If you’d like sources for anything you see here, scroll on down to the end - I’ve listed them there!
Psst! Use the buttons below to see the other two bathrooms from this project!
Like the upstairs bathroom, this one feels completely different…the changes we made were due in large part to the placement of the window in this space. You’ll see why once you see the before photos below. You can see part of that window on the right in the first shot and then straight on in the second.
The Before:
Given the window placement, you can see that the vanity had to be off-center, making the sink on the left feel really squeezed. It was also very low. I couldn’t wait to get a modern height vanity in there!
We also didn’t love that the toilet was placed awkwardly in the center of the room. I can see what the previous owners might have been trying to do there by flanking it with storage on both sides (and a laundry chute on the right!), but the result didn’t offer particularly functional cabinetry, and the person using the toilet always felt a little exposed.
Lastly, though the photos don’t show it, the tub was set on the diagonal to fit in the alcove and had a drop ceiling. Combined with a low-set shower head, the result was a cave-like atmosphere with a tricky step-in to access the tub and shower.
We remedied all three of those issues by changing the floor plan and opening up the shower space! We streamlined the choppy space to give it a simpler, more cohesive design. Let’s take a look at the result…
The After:
This is the same view as the first before photo! It’s hard to believe this is the same bathroom, right?
To avoid contending with the off-center window, we decided to swap the toilet and vanity. The vanity moved from the window wall to the interior wall after removing the bump-out storage that surrounded the toilet. The toilet in turn got tucked away on the right as you walk into the room. It feels more private for sure.
I almost didn’t include a photo of the toilet since it looks so lonely over here with the white walls! It felt important for context though, and I’m hopeful we’ll add some art for some more visual interest!
We also removed the drop ceiling form the shower/tub area and the whole bathroom has nearly 9’ ceilings now, which makes it feel so much airier. You’ll also see that we decided to make this a curbless, walk-in shower without a tub. The homeowners plan to use this house for many years to come, and a curbless shower is great for folks as they get a little bit older.
That shower wall tile is probably my favorite part of this bathroom. I love that it added pattern and movement to this neutral space - it almost feels like wallpaper! The warmth of it feels so nice and helps it feel a little cozier even though it’s all tile and glass in there. We complemented it with a simple square mosaic tile for the shower floor.
The shower is large now that we removed the tub and opened up the ceiling. It’s a big improvement from the cave-like feel we had before!
You can see how there’s a little breathing room here between the glass shower enclosure and the vanity. It allowed us to have room on the side for a wall sconce - I really like to have them flank the mirrors when possible because I think it offers beautiful, even lighting for your face.
Here’s the opposite angle of the vanity. I love that we found a bathroom sconce that had a double light as an option for the middle between the two medicine cabinet mirrors. It’s a small touch but it offers just a little bit more light and feels like it was made to occupy a spot like that. For reference, this is a 72” vanity, which meant we had a good amount of space between the mirrors for a double sconce.
The vanity feels right at home here on this wall. Its depth matches up perfectly with the door opening to the primary bedroom - I can’t believe there was a toilet here before!
Here’s one last pulled back look at the bathroom. I’m so happy with how this and all the bathrooms turned out! Have questions about this project? Feel free to leave a comment or send them my way!
Sources
Vanity sconce (single)
Vanity sconce (double)
Shower wall tile (similar)
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