The Final Update

It's important that I save some of the mystery of the bathroom for you all to (hopefully) ooo and ahhh over once it's finished, so this will be the last update post until the final (or perhaps semi-final) is ready to debut. I'm still wrenching my brain over light fixtures and mirrors, window blinds, and art - but the bones of the space are coming together and I have to tell you it's been a lot of fun.

We had this very awkward space between the toilet and the wall for the shower plumbing. A niche if you will, that was about 5.5" wide, and the same deep. It wasn't original to the house, just a wasted space after the wall was put up to accommodate the shower put in by the last owner. It was impossible to clean the floor in that area and despite the idea that any square footage is good square footage, that niche really made the wall feel 2.5" wide instead of 3' wide. So I tried my hand at drywall.

Pretty good huh? Cutting the drywall was the easy part. The difficulty was framing such a narrow space to be able to screw the drywall into something other than thin air. That took time, and loads of patience, but once that was done, we could tape and mud.

After taping and mudding, then sanding and mudding again (this is what you pay your contractor so much money for by the way - the process of mud/sand/mud/sand ... you get the idea) we put the floor down for the toilet area and started to panel the walls so that we could replace the toilet. Once the battens went up, I decided to put in the extra piece at the top to form a square/rectangle pattern that is seen in our doors. Because the battens are only 1/4" thick, I think it's a subtle touch that gives it a more custom look. The toilet is from Kohler, in a pattern called Memoirs. It's not cheap, but still much less than the Michael S. Smith Kallista toilet that looks pretty much the same with it's very square lines. Once we get the rest of the room done, we can add the wainscot cap, and then paint it all out in a smooth, snow white.

Notice the square footing on the toilet pedestal? Scott loved that it had a comfort height seat and an elongated bowl, but I loved the footprint. It's substantial and heavy - expensive looking. Of course that flush handle has to go, and I've got my thinking cap on for the toilet seat. Joni at Cote de Texas suggested a wooden toilet seat. Of course, something stained a dark and rich walnut with brushed nickel hinges. What do you think?

After we tiled the toilet area, and put it in, along with part of the floor mouldings and wainscot, we layed the pattern for the rectangle in the center of the room. This was much more difficult than I had assumed, and it took more than 4-hours to grid the floor, level the area, and then start to work with the tiles, which, were not spaced 100% accurately. You see, these come glued on sheet that's 12x12. It's not a mesh back, like glass or small mosaics would be, but a simple dollop of glue that holds the diamonds in place between the octagonal pieces. So, buyer beware - this tile might look easy enough to do, but it will take more time than you think.

The next day we layed the pattern, and will fill in with the white on white once this has had a chance to set up. I have to tell you that I am in love with this added detail, and the extra work that went into it will make all the difference once the room is finished and completely pulled together.

Of course, the black diamond does tie back into the black decorative pencil tile that we did in the shower. And speaking of showers, they're absolutely fabulous now that the faucets are installed and the duel shower heads are working their magic!

I expect another 2-weeks before this is semi-finished. I'm not sure if I will have sourced a mirror or sconces by then, but the walls, floor, and fixtures will be installed and working at full speed! And speaking of fixtures, thank you to everyone who voted in the sidebar poll about the faucet for the sink. You're voices were heard, and I purchased the winner:

This gorgeous brushed nickel bridge faucet which is going to look FABULOUS (am I overusing that word today?) on the new sink!

Tons of work still to do, as you can well see. But I hope it wows you all once it's complete! In the next few days I'll have polls on sconces, fabric, art, and accessories - and I hope you'll all give your input!