I had such a blast finding and purchasing everything for this bathroom renovation. At times it was stressful, but overall, it was so fun getting a new package every day with something pretty for our bathroom!
Which is why I am so very excited to share each element of the design and some of the decision making behind it. Starting with…
The Tile
This was the very first design decision I made for this bathroom. I knew from the get-go that black hex tile was what I wanted for the floor. I even wrote a whole post about my love for said tile.
I considered all of the above options but ultimately fell in love with the embossed black hexagon tile on the right (Soprano 8.62″ x 9.87″ Porcelain Field Tile in Black). I bought it here, but I’ve seen it under different names around the web like here, and here.
I was convinced this would be the showstopper of the bath and add enough texture that I’d feel comfortable letting everything else in the design remain calmer.
With the bathroom floor tile picked out, I went in search of a shower tile. I’ll be honest, I was looking for any white ceramic tile that would add a bit of bling but not really take any spotlight (or break the bank).
We ended up choosing this 3×12 subway tile from Floor & Decor and doing an offset pattern in thirds. I’m pretty happy with it overall, it does the job well and adds some subtle texture.
The shower ledge was a fun addition to this bathroom makeover. We had done a niche in our last bathroom, but it was a bit of a pain and actually didn’t add enough shelf space. So, this time we went for the ledge, and I have to say, I’m digging it! For the marble we used some marble threshold from Floor & Decor (I seriously love that place).
The Vanity
The vanity is my proudest accomplishment in this bathroom. We purchased it from Facebook as a dining room buffet, complete with granite top for $300.
Then Jake cut holes in the top for porcelain sinks… Now I have a confession to make: at first I confidently bought these beautiful sinks from Houzz intending to use them on the vanity.
They look pretty legit, right? Well they are! The sinks came in and they were GORGEOUS! But also… GIGANTIC. Like I did not plan for how mammoth they would look on my vanity and how puny my prized possession would appear. I went to go return then and found out that I would have to pay for return shipping… which would cost the price of the sinks!!!! (Lesson learned, just shop Amazon. #freereturnsforever)
Luckily I sold them for 80% of cost on Facebook marketplace and found these much more appropriate sized semi-recessed sinks.
And I think they are proportionately just right for the vanity! It was seriously so stressful to shop for these sinks because after making one fatal error, you worry you’ll make it again. Plus, Jake and I had some vigorous debates on whether or not overflows are necessary… Do you think they are? Weigh in in the comments!!
Next I had to pick out the handles. I was wanting to bring the black up some from the floor, so I went searching for a modern looking matte black handle.
It turned out to be much tougher than I thought because the holes from the previous handles weren’t standard sizes. So I had to find handles that covered up the old holes! After hours of internet searches, I settled on these pulls from Amazon, and they ended up being just wide enough to hide the old holes on the drawers.
Of course I forgot to measure the handles on the doors and my new handles didn’t cover those holes as well, but we just added some wood putty and called it good 😉
Since the moment I started designing this bathroom, I knew I wanted to try out wall faucets. I figured they were probably more difficult to install/plumb than regular ones, but I always like to help Jake learn new skills 😉 Ha!
Plus, with having the vessel type sinks, it was either that or a vessel faucet which I don’t always tend to love. It was a little rough finding the faucets to buy. Basically (as the story always goes) the most beautiful ones were far north of $100, and I felt more comfortable in the $50-$80 range. I found a few that looked really nice in that pricepoint, but they had no brand and too few reviews. I’m all about giving something undiscovered a try.. but if that something is going to be holding water inside of my walls, I’d much rather have the peace of mind that it won’t leak everywhere.
After hemming and hawing quite a bit, we purchased these Kingston Brass wall-mount faucets. Now to be honest, I think the intended use for these faucets is for laundry sinks. And I did not measure how far the faucet protruded. There was a very tense moment when Jake got the first faucet installed and the tip was closer to the front of the vanity than to the middle.
After some stress and regret over not planning better, Jake saved the day and figured out how to remove the knuckles off the faucet and install it straight into the plumbing in the wall. See how the one below from the Amazon picture has an extra piece? That’s what we had to remove. And now it comes to about the center of the sink, which is good enough for me. So major lesson learned there.
Another fun thing about this faucet is that the head turns. I don’t know why but that really tickles me. And those cross handles with hot and cold labels… are they they cutest?
Tub & Shower
Picking out the bathtub was weird… Like part of me could care less, but the other part wanted as clean and minimal lines as possible. And then you have to pick between acrylic and steel and read all the horrible reviews about everyone’s tub cracking. It’s just tough. But I bucked up and picked out this one from Home Depot. And it’s been nice so far! No complaints. It’s our first acrylic tub, which is different. So the jury is still out I guess…
Finding the right shower/tub fixtures was a little less weird, but about just as stressful. Basically, all the ones I liked felt like too much money.. And the ones I liked that were cheaper didn’t have name brands. I learned from Jake that plumbing items are one area where quality really counts. (I guess that makes sense, leaky tub valves sound like bad news bears) And sometime the best way to judge quality is by the brand. We settled on a chrome Pfister trim kit and a corresponding valve.
Toilet
Why did I make a separate section for this?? I guess because it didn’t fit in any other section… This was literally the first purchase we made for the Hoarder House on the day after we bought it. It works great, it’s seen a lot… What else is there to say? It’s a Kohler from Home Depot.
Lights
This was one of the more fun items to pick out… I have really been feeling the globe lights that have a bit of mid-century vibe going. And after sifting through google shopping (does anyone else use that feature all the time like me??). I found these fabulous globe lights from build.com.
I totally forgot to read the instructions though, because it turns out they need these super specific led’s. In the end, I was really glad because the inner frosted globe comes with the light. But it caused us a few days delay to order the LEDs off of Amazon.
Funny story, Jake added the wiring to install these sconces (because I am OBSESSED with sconces and would ask him to put them in every room if I didn’t feel too guilty). But we didn’t test the lights until a week or two after the wiring was done and the drywall was up and painted. The led bulbs came in, we put them in the light and flipped the power on… They lit up! Yay! Then we flipped the switch down… and they still were on……
So yeah, that was a sad realization for Jake that he had accidentally wired them to always be hot. The worst part was that particular piece of wire was a big pain to snake through in the first place (because in Chicagoland EVERYTHING has to be in conduit). So, you can only imagine that it was doubly hard to take out and replace with the walls up.
Suffice to say we spent a full 8 hours one Friday pulling wire… But eventually we got it fixed and now it works like a proper light. On. And then off. 🙂
Accessories
I got the mirror off Facebook Marketplace and painted it black. You know those really sleek looking thin metal frame mirrors from places like West Elm? Yeah that was kinda the look I was going for. But the space required a really specific and non-standard width so I had trouble finding a mirror the right size. And I really didn’t want to pay the primo price for a custom one. So this one will do for now, I may keep looking for a slightly wider one in the future. But this one was just $20 plus a can of spray paint 🙂
This fun llama art was my last purchase for the bathroom. I bought it at Home Goods but I’ve also seen it at Target. I think it adds a bit of whimsy to the bathroom. He seems to say to me: let’s not take ourselves too seriously!
I bought the towels off of Amazon. They are inspired by all the Turkish towels I’ve been seeing on Pinterest lately. I’ll let you know if they actually work as towels… ha! Haven’t tried them yet.
The towel hooks came in pack and they are pretty simple. But I like how they bring the black up onto the walls a bit. Same thing with the toilet paper holder. Simple, black and sleek.
And finally, the shower curtain came from Home Goods. And we bought a chrome tension rod at Menards for the shower.
I hope you’ve enjoyed following along as we renovated this bathroom. One done two to go!!
Sources
Black Hexagon Floor Tile
3×12 Subway Tile in Shower
Marble Shower Shelf
Vanity – Facebook Marketplace
Porcelain Semi-Recessed Sinks
Vanity Pulls
Wall Mount Sink Faucets
Bathtub
Bath and Shower Fixture Trim and Valve
Toilet
Globe Sconce Lights and LEDs
Mirror – Facebook Marketplace
Llama Art
Striped Turkish Towels
Towel Hooks
Toilet Paper Holder
Check out all the posts in the main bathroom renovation:
MAIN BATHROOM POSTS
Hoarder House Bathroom Situation
Main Bath Design
Tile Trend – Black Hexagon Tile Floors
Main Bathroom Reveal
Main Bathroom Sources
Main Bathroom Budget